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Responder's 1st bids - After 1 suit, Weak freak

Question 1 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10 2
6 5

What should you bid?

1. 2 Diamonds
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts

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Answer 1 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10 2
6 5

What should you bid?
( 4 ). 4 Hearts

You have a guaranteed 20 HCP combined hand - or 22 points including distribution. Not enough for game. But you have at least nine trumps. Given that you have more than 6 HCP, you can risk a pre-emptive 4-Hearts. This destroys the enemy's bidding space, and gives you a more than a slight chance of a game.

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Question 2 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 8-HCP 8-loser hand

8 7 2
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10
6 5

1. 2 Diamonds
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts

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Answer 2 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 8-HCP 8-loser hand

8 7 2
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10
6 5

( 2 ). 2 Hearts

You hand is not unbalanced really. Even though you have 9 trumps between you, you have relatively few chances to use your trump length for ruffing. Best to give a standard limit response, and see what happens.

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Question 3 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 diamond. You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
K Q 10 2
Q J 6 4 2
6 5

What should you bid?
1. pass
2. 1 Heart
3. 2 Diamonds
4. 3 Diamonds
5. 4 Diamonds
6. 5 Diamonds

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Answer 3 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 diamond. You have this 8-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
K Q 10 2
Q J 6 4 2
6 5

What should you bid?
( 4 ). 3 Diamonds

If the 9-card fit had been in a Major, you could have bid 4. But getting to game in a minor is harder, so best to give a standard limit response (3 diamonds), even though you do have a 9-card trump fit.The other option is to tell a slight lie with a 2-Heart response. Your partner might be able to steer you towards game in NT.

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Question 4 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 club. You have this 8-HCP 6-loser hand

8 7
K Q 10 3 2
6
Q J 6 4 2

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 1 Heart
3. 2 Clubs
4. 3 Clubs
5. 4 Clubs
6. 5 Clubs

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Answer 4 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 club. You have this 8-HCP 6-loser hand

8 7
K Q 10 3 2
6
Q J 6 4 2

What should you bid ?
( 6 ). 5 Clubs

You have a singleton, so not only is NT is not looking so great, but you'll have a better chance to use the long trump suit to ruff the enemy's winners. With a singleton, you can consider a minor suit "weak freak". The Losing Trick Count analysis suggests that game could actually be on in the minor: 18 - (7 +6) = 5. By bidding 5 clubs, you are certainly excluding the enemy from the contest.

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Question 5 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 club. You have this 6-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
K 10 9 3 2
6
Q J 6 4 2

What should you bid ?
1. pass
2. 1 Heart
3. 2 Clubs
4. 3 Clubs
5. 4 Clubs
6. 5 Clubs

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Answer 5 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 club. You have this 6-HCP 7-loser hand

8 7
K 10 9 3 2
6
Q J 6 4 2

What should you bid ?
( 5 ). 4 Clubs

Hearts might be best, since it's a forcing bid so you'll have a chance to rebid the clubs. However, the Losing Trick Count analysis suggests that game could be close in the minor: 18 - (7 +7) = 4. By bidding 4 clubs, you are excluding the enemy from the contest, and asking partner to raise to 5 if he has more than the minimum 7-loser 12-HCP 4-trump hand that he promised.

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Question 6 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 11-HCP 7-loser hand

K 7 2
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10
6 5

What should you bid ?
1. 2 NT
2. 2 Hearts
3. 3 Hearts
4. 4 Hearts

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Answer 6 (of 6 on this page)
Your partner opened 1 Heart. You have this 11-HCP 7-loser hand

K 7 2
Q J 6 4 2
K Q 10
6 5

What should you bid ?
( 1 ). 2 NT

The problem with bidding 4 Hearts, the "weak freak" bid, is that you are too strong. You might miss a Slam. Best to try Jacoby 2NT, assuming that you and your partner have agreed to use this more advanced technique. Failing that you'll have to bid 4 Hearts.

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