ACES ON BRIDGE
DEAR MR. WOLFF: What sort of values would you associate with the advance to one no-trump facing an overcall? Specifically, with: A-5-3-2, A-Q-9-8-5, 2, J-4, would you overcall one heart over one club, or would you double? And if you overcall and your partner responds one no-trump, what should you do next? — Entry Level,
Pueblo, Colo. DEAR READER: I don’t hate doubling one club, but I would overcall and hope to find a way back into spades if appropriate. Your partner’s one-no-trump call could be anywhere in the 7-11 range. I would guess to pass now, but if I could bid a second suit economically, I would do that.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Say you hold decent values and three-card support for your partner, the opening bidder, after a double to your right. Should I redouble, or make some other call? With: 7-62, A-6, A-9-8-4-2, K-93, what is your best call after your partner opens one spade and your RHO doubles? Do you raise partner, bid your suit or redouble to show strength?
— Call Waiting, Fort Walton Beach, Fla. DEARREADER: Without the double, I’d go through the forcing no-trump (if I had it available) to show a limit raise rather than force to game. My bad trumps mean I should pull in a notch here. Over a double, redouble shows 10 or more, tending to deny spade support. So I would redouble, then raise spades — indirectly suggesting good values but bad trumps.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: What is the difference between an Eastern and a Western cue-bid? Are both methods still in common use — and are these still the common names for these calls?
— Bicoastal, Worcester, Mass. DEARREADER: Before I answer, I remember the days when cue-bids below three no-trump showed a control in the opponent’s suit and a slam-going hand. These days, most cheap cue-bids are attempts to reach three notrump. Western cue-bids are attempts to get to no-trump by asking partner for a stopper or half-stopper in the opponent’s suit. Eastern cue-bids are less popular in that they actually suggest a stopper.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: My partner and I play weak-twos and are wondering whether we should play a convention recommended to us called McCabe, after the opponents double or overcall our bid?
— Gas Fitter, St. John’s, Newfoundland DEAR READER: After a double of a weak-two, but not after an overcall — since you now rate to be on lead — one can play a redouble as strong, with raises natural and pre-emptive. New suits are natural and to play at the two-level, but lead-directing at the three-level, guaranteeing at least a partial fit, while jumps show decent suits together with a real fit for partner. To bail out into your suit, bid two no-trump to puppet three clubs from your partner. Then you can name the final contract or show a high-card raise in your partner’s suit.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I would like our partnership to have a simple rule to the effect that all doubles of our opponents’ artificial trump raises (such as Drury or Bergen) request the lead of that suit. But is it ever better to play such doubles as takeout of the opponent’s known suit? — Whacked Out,
Charleston, S.C.
DEAR READER: You should double an artificial no-trump response for takeout of the bid suit, but the blanket rule for all other sequences might well be to use value-showing doubles as lead-directing. The only exception might be to use the double of an artificial call that shows a raise with less than limit values as takeout of the agreed suit.