Bridge Quiz 30-1
Quiz 29 - Quiz Page - Previous - Next - Quiz 27

West
5 3
♥ A Q J 10 7
♦ 8 4 2
♣ A K 5
  East
A 9 7 2
♥ K 9 8 3
♦ 9
♣ 10 9 7 4

W N E S
1♥ - 4♥ -
Pass -    

This is an iconic suit raise* response (showing 6-10 HCP, 4+ trumps and a singleton or void) which has been around for many many years, but apparently forgotten by many players at the basic level.

But what about losers you might ask.
East has 8 losers and West can have as many as 7, which means 24 - (7 + 8) = 9 tricks only.
Experts claim that with a 9-card trump fit, one loser can be subtracted from the total.
Especially when combined with at least one unbalanced hand, this is certainly warranted. Empirical results from numerous deals have also shown this to be correct.
With trump rich, unbalanced hands like these, Game is within reach with 20 HCP or less.


Now let us look at what the Opposition should do about this.

* It is in fact the "little brother" of yet another spectacular suit raise many basic level players don't seem to understand : the Splinter raise (but that is an Intermediate level topic).