Island of the Coconuts

Two bridge teams are stranded on an island and decide to play for coconuts. Each IMP is worth seven coconuts, which are converted to palm points on a 25-nut scale, reduced by the logarithm of the difference. Got that? After 88 deals the losing team is covered in a white, pulpy residue. What color is the winner? Oh, never mind.

Whether the above slice of Americana means anything or not, I invite you to try these six bidding problems from a past tournament. Perhaps my clues will help you guess the venue, but don’t worry about that. As South, simply select your call.

In January 2006 these problems were presented as a poll, with 1603 entrants from 126 locations.
The poll is closed, but you can still try it as a quiz and find your score immediately.

Assume both sides use Standard American bidding (unless noted otherwise) with 15-17 notrumps,
five-card majors and weak two-bids. The object is to determine the best calls based on judgment,
so only basic conventions are allowed. For a system reference, see Standard American Bridge.

Now forget about coconuts, and just try to keep from going plain nuts as you tackle these problems.

Problem 1

IMPs		Both vul		You, South, hold:
West Pass	North Pass	East 1	South ?	9 5 4 A K J 9 Q 5 3 K J 8
			Your call? Pass Dbl 1  1 NT

Problem 2

IMPs		E-W vul		You, South, hold:
West 2	North Pass Pass	East Pass Pass	South 1 ?	A K J 9 6 A J 7 10 Q J 8 3
			Your call? Pass Dbl 2  2 NT 3

Problem 3

IMPs		E-W vul		You, South, hold:
West Pass 2	North Pass 3	East 1 Pass	South 2 ?	A Q 6 A J 9 7 6 4 A J 8 9
			Your call? Pass 3  3  3  3 NT 4

Problem 4

IMPs		None vul		You, South, hold:
West Pass 1 NT	North Pass Dbl	East 1 1 2	South Pass ?	K 9 8 6 4 3 — Q 6 3 A K J 8
1. 4+ cards			Your call? Pass 2  3  3  3  4

Problem 5

IMPs		N-S vul		You, South, hold:
West Pass 2 2	North 1 Dbl Pass	East Dbl Pass Pass	South Pass Rdbl Pass ?	A K 9 Q 9 2 9 8 7 K 8 3 2
			Your call? Dbl 2  2 NT 3  3  3  3 NT

Problem 6

IMPs		None vul		You, South, hold:
West Pass	North 1	East Pass	South ? ?	— K Q 5 4 3 5 A 10 9 7 6 4 3
			Your two calls?	A. Pass then 2 (natural) B. Pass then 2 C. 1 then 2 D. 1 then 2 E.  1 then 2

 Click to see how you did

Challenge 8W65 Main Analyses

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© 2006 Richard Pavlicek