ACES ON BRIDGE

DEAR MR. WOLFF:

I often find I have trouble judging an 11-count facing a minimum balanced opener. I assume you would respond one spade to one club, holding A-J-3-2,

K-J-4, Q-6-3, 10-6-2. When your partner rebids one no-trump, should you invite game? If not, how much more would you need to bid on?

— Lucky Luke, Vancouver, British

Columbia DEAR READER: Your lack of intermediates argues that you don’t have enough for an invitation at pairs, where going plus is your primary objective. Make the spade two the 10 (or give me a 4-4 pattern), and you may tempt me to invite game. Yes, game might make facing your actual hand, but probably less than half the time.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Has the overall standard of bridge in the United States dropped? If not, why do so many foreigners win our major teams events? What is going on in these events? — Home Groan,

Provo, Utah DEAR READER: The explanation is simple. Twenty-five years ago, no one but North Americans came to our major events, but as bridge professionalism has grown around the world, more foreign teams are attending. They have raised the standards to make our major competitions the equivalent of world championships. Not surprisingly, it takes a world-class team to win them, and while more U.S. teams than foreigners still win, the ratio has shifted dramatically.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: If you play Crawling Stayman, using a two-heart bid by responder after Stayman for a weak hand with both majors, then how should you play the equivalent calls after Stayman over a two no-trump opener?

— Blue Leaves, West Palm Beach, Fla. DEAR READER: This is a trap for the unwary: The two auctions are not parallel. The two parallel auctions are Stayman followed by three of a major over one no-trump, and Stayman followed by three of a major over two no-trump. In both cases, responder is showing both majors, with four cards in the bid suit and at least five in the other suit. This is called Smolen, and it allows the strong hand to be declarer if there is a 5-3 fit.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: I held A-J, A-K-J-3,

K-Q-J-4, Q-6-4 and heard my RHO open one spade in third seat. I doubled and heard a response of two clubs from my partner, and I was not sure how to advance the auction. What are your ideas?

— Lumpfish,

Troy, N.Y. DEAR READER: I agree with the double, and I would hope to know more by my second turn. The two-club response doesn’t help me at all. A call of two no-trump would be a mild underbid, while a call of three no-trump would be a wild gamble. So that leaves only a two-spade cue-bid, but you may be none the wiser after partner’s next call — especially if that call is three clubs.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: What is your preferred form of tournament: pairs or teams? In teams, do you prefer knockout matches or Swiss? — Yule Log,

Detroit DEAR READER: I find this hard to answer. There was a time when I loved pairs because of the idea of every trick counting. These days, the fact that there is such an element of randomness about the game means that I am happy to play teams and be able to relax from time to time without working quite so hard. So Swiss teams and knockout works equally well for me.