1. You hold:
♠ 9 6 3
♥ Q J 2
♦ A J 10 6 5
♣ A 5.
You open one diamond, your partner responds two clubs, you rebid two diamonds and he tries two hearts. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: Partner's bid in a new suit is forcing, but you shouldn't bid notrump with no spade strength or raise to three hearts with only three-card support for his/her second suit (although that action would be defensible here). Return to three clubs.

2. You hold:
♠ A Q J 10 4
♥ 8 7 5
♦ 7
♣ A Q J 6.
Your partner opens one club, and the next player passes. What do you say?
ANSWER: If your partnership uses "strong jump shift", bid two spades and support the clubs next. This is a light hand for a jump-shift, suggesting slam, but it's better to show slam interest quickly. If partner has only ♠ K 5, ♥ A Q 4, ♦ 5 3 2, ♣ K 10 7 4 3, six clubs will be all but cold, but he/she'll be reluctant to cooperate in a slam hunt if you respond one spade. However, if your partnership does not use that convention, bid one spade.

3. You hold:
♠ K 6 3 2
♥ A K Q
♦ A 5 3 2
♣ A Q.
With your side vulnerable, the dealer, at your right, opens three clubs. You double, and your partner bids three diamonds. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: Your opponent's preempt has made accuracy difficult. To avoid missing an easy game, you must assume your partner has a few of the missing high cards. You may not make it, but bid 3NT. If he/she has a decent diamond suit, you'll be a favorite.

4. You hold:
♠ J 10 9 5 4
♥ 8
♦ Q 10 8 7 3
♣ A 7.
Your partner opens one heart, you respond one spade and he next bids two clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: This is a miserable problem. Your best call may be one borrowed from chess: "Resign." Although game is possible, the evidence suggests otherwise. Heed the misfit and pass. A bid of 2NT would promise about 11 points, and a bid of two diamonds would be forcing and might lead to disaster.

5. You hold:
♠ A Q 8 6
♥ 7 6 4
♦ 9 7 5
♣ A J 7.
Your partner opens one club, you bid one spade and he raises to four spades. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: Partner's leap to game is not a "shutout" bid; he/she has about 20 total points, enough to offer a play for game even if you had a minimum response. He/she also promises balanced distribution (otherwise, he/she would have used Splinter to show singleton or void); nevertheless, slam is possible. Partner may hold ♠ K 10 5 4, ♥ A K, ♦ A 3 2, ♣ K Q 9 3. Cue-bid five clubs or bid 4NT asking key cards.

6. You hold:
♠ A J 6
♥ A K J 8 4
♦ Q
♣ Q 10 5 2.
Your partner opens one diamond, you respond one heart and he bids two clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: Slam is very likely and even grand slam is possible. Bid two spades (4th suit game forcing) to ask for more information about partner's hand (both strength and distribution). If partner bids 2NT or three hearts next, you'll bid four clubs, showing a strong hand with diamond shortness. Biding 4NT (to ask key cards) will most likely land you in six clubs and has two drawbacks. First, heart fit will never be discovered when slam in heart is better (e.g., partner holds: ♠ x, ♥ Q x x, ♦ A K J 10 x, ♣ A x x x, ). Second, if partner has a minimum hand (e.g., ♠ K, ♥ Q x, ♦ K J x x x, ♣ A x x x x), you may be forced to overbid six clubs.

7. You hold:
♠ 7 3
♥ K 10 9 8 3
♦ 10 8 7 6
♣ 9 3.
Your partner opens 1NT, and the next player passes. What do you say?
ANSWER: Bid two diamonds (Jacoby transfer), forcing partner to bid two hearts, which you'll pass. Since you have a weak, unbalanced hand, it's correct to sign off in your long suit at the cheapest level rather than playing 1NT.

8. You hold:
♠ A K Q
♥ 5 4
♦ K J 3
♣ A J 10 8 3.
You open one club, your partner bids one spade, you jump to 2NT and he next bids three diamonds. What do you say?
ANSWER: Just like you, partner also seems to be concerned about notrump (suggesting unbalanced distribution). Bid four spades to avoid 3NT, pretending your A-K-Q constitutes four-card support.

9. You hold:
♠ J 6
♥ K 10 7 4
♦ A 4
♣ K Q 6 4 2.
You open one club, and your partner responds one spade. The opponents pass. What do you say?
ANSWER: Bid 1NT, promising balanced pattern (which you don't quite have) and minimum values. A rebid of two clubs would usually suggest a six-card or longer suit unless you have singleton or void in heart or diamond. A bid of two hearts would be a "reverse." Since that bid might oblige partner to return to clubs at the level of three, it would show a much stronger hand.

10. Matchpoints, both sides vulnerable. You hold:
♠ Q 8
♥ J 7 6
♦ A K 10 2
♣ A K 7 6
The dealer, your RHO, opens 3H. What do you say?
ANSWER: Below is the voting result from a group of pros.

Action	Score	Votes
------------------------------------
Pass	100	24
3 NT	50	6
Double	30	1
4 NT	20	0
4 ♣	10	0
4 ♦	0	0

JOHN LOWENTHAL: "Pass. I ran a 100-deal computer simulation of this problem, which showed that it is clearly right to pass (and to pass again if partner reopens with a double). Another simulation, with East-West nonvul., revealed that an immediate three-notrump overcall is best by a small margin."

As you can see from the vote, an overwhelming majority of the panel saw the problem through the same eyes as Lowenthal's computer. But before we let some of them explain why they believe it is right to pass, let's deal with this bit of harsh reality...

MIKE PASSELL: "Pass. Despite the fact that my partner in the GNP National Finals bid three notrump (which worked)."

No one doubts that three notrump might work out. We'll listen to the Optimists Club shortly. But first, a word from a quiet man...

ARTHUR ROBINSON: "Pass. I am a yellow dog."

The jury is still out determining whether those vulnerable premptors are the dog catchers or the dogs' dinner. A phrase that snuck into nearly every passer's comment was "play for a plus." Gabino Cintra noted that his love affair with the plus would induce him to pass at any form of scoring. Berah, who stipulated that his policy at matchpoints is to obtain a plus, no matter how small it might be, suggested that this was a good hand for the Fishbein convention. I'm not so sure about that, but it is a very appropriate situation for a Weiss double (strong-notrump values with no obvious reason to bid three notrump). Rubens estimates that the East-West hearts will not run more than half the time (with blockages, among other things), but he feels that this is not enough to justify a bid of three notrump. Quaintly (I think), he states that his "penalty pass" figures to spare him any future agony in the auction (North does not rate to reopen very often; Parker estimates this possibility as something like 10%), and that a plus might bring in a few matchpoints, even if his decision is wrong.

Miles goes so far as to state that a double will almost surely change a plus to a minus. I can think of at least six Italians who might not put their lira behind Marshall's position, but there is a natural North American antipathy toward a takeout double on hands such as South's; it is easy to understand the evolution to rhetoric along the lines of "almost surely."

Eisenberg fears that a takeout double might (disastrously) catch North with four spades and a longer minor, landing the partnership in the wrong strain (Haberman claims that those disastrous four-two spade fits have finally taught her to be patient). And Roth, who has been declarer in a few of those pungent memories, passes with an (!), and announces that he stays fixed.

LARRY COHEN: "Pass. I bid three notrump as much as anyone in these situations, but this hand has too many flaws: no trick source, poor spots, no place to run if doubled, no sure heart stopper--or even spade stopper! Double is silly--I would rather defend and collect 100's than hear partner bid spades."

MIKE LAWRENCE: "Pass. On this vulnerability, East isn't likely to be far out of line--i.e., three hearts may be a frequent action. Since bidding with this hand will get a lot of minus scores, I like the odds on passing, even though some of our plus scores will be embarrassing ones..."

Roth suggested that the real problem might well come later, after a direct pass and a reopening action by North. The only panelist to deal with this afterworld to any serious degree was Josh Parker, who gets my vote as (a) the neatest, and (b) the most conscientious panelist of all time...

JOSH PARKER: "Pass...if partner reopens...my votes go to (1) five spades over three spades, which should ask him to look at both his spades and his hearts (four hearts followed by five spades would ask about spades only, and five hearts would ask about hearts only), and (2) four hearts over double, intending to bid four notrump (for the minors) over four spades. I would pull in my belt a notch over the reopening double to compensate for the likely bad breaks, and the fact that we have no great source of tricks."

The tiny three-notrump group includes some very successful players, and I think it would be a mistake to dismiss the aggressive action as either impatient or patently ill-considered. Hamman, for example, thought it unnecessary to comment.

IRA RUBIN: "Three notrump. Had this occurred vs. third-seat preempt, three notrump would be much easier, and vs. second-seat preempt, three notrump would probably be much worse than pass, the only reasonable alternative. Here, pass figures to miss most reasonable contracts (other than three spades!).

JEFF MECKSTROTH: "Three notrump. I hate to put too much pressure on partner to reopen at this high level, and my spade holding rules out a takeout double. I think that three notrump, when right, will reap a higher reward than will passing, when that is right."

EDDIE KANTAR: "Three notrump. Best chance for a top...or a bottom. When strapped, why not go for the brass ring?"

JOEY SILVER: "Three notrump. I hope these boys are not sound preemptors, and that we can produce a combined heart stopper."

On a bad day these girls run the spade suit, but it's silly to waste your time worrying about the bad days.

The last word goes to someone who loves the last word...

BOBBY WOLFF: "Double. This hand should lead up to an article on 'how to react to adversity.' I'll listen to everyone, but I doubt if I'll be convinced by anyone! Three notrump 60, Pass 30."