ACES ON BRIDGE

DEAR MR. WOLFF: I had ♠ K-10-5-2, ♥ 9-5, ♦ K-J-107, ♣ J-5-3. At game all, my lefthand opponent opened one spade, my partner overcalled two hearts, and my righthand opponent bid three diamonds. The opener rebid three spades and his partner repeated his diamonds at the four-level. That ended the auction, and the contract failed by two tricks. Should I have doubled?

— Demon Doubler, Waterbury, Conn.

DEAR READER: I would pass four diamonds because I’d usually expect the auction to continue, at which point I could double more profitably. Perhaps that is greedy, though, and I should just double what is under my nose. Your left-hand-opponent did well to pass four diamonds.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: How aggressively should I bid over a strong two-club opening?

— Their Hand, Hartford, Conn. DEAR READER: I think you should strive to bid when you have distribution, be it a single-suiter or a two-suited hand. Your opponents will have defined their methods over a two-club opener but may be less sure when you intervene. Overcall aggressively when the vulnerability is on your side, jumping to the three-level with reasonable frequency to take up bidding room. If it doesn’t work, though, don’t blame me.

DEAR MR. WOLFF:

Which card would you typically lead in dummy’s firstbid suit? Would you just plump for the conventional card? — Through Strength,

Albuquerque, N.M. DEAR READER: Against suit contracts, I’d tend to lead the normal card, including the top of any honor sequence. Against no-trump, the focus shifts to establishing long cards and scoring slow tricks, so I would tend to lead low from length (four or more cards) to unblock the suit when partner has a short honor. Occasionally when leading through dummy, it may be right to lead a high honor to pin a singleton in declarer’s hand or to lead low from three small.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: There are lots of bridge magazines out there. Which would you recommend?

— Well Read, Jackson, Miss. DEAR READER: The Bridge World has been publishing for over 90 years now and is certainly the experts’ choice. It includes difficult problem hands, editorials regarding pertinent bridge issues, treatises on modern conventions, bidding challenges and the famous Master Solvers Club. For a lighter read, I would recommend BeBridge or Le Bridgeur.

DEAR MR. WOLFF:

I recently held ♠♥ 7, K-6, ♦ J-7-3, ♣ A-K-Q-10-9-6-5. At favorable vulnerability, I saw my left-hand opponent open one heart and my right-hand opponent jump to two notrump, a game-forcing raise. I bid four clubs and then sold out to four hearts, making exactly. Five clubs would have cost only 500 even on best defense — not easy to find. Would you do more with my hand?

— Pressure Cooker, Spartanburg, S.C.

DEAR READER: I would bid five clubs over two no-trump to take away maximum space. The opponents will have to act without knowing if their partner is balanced or distributional, or whether they have extra values or not. This will also take away their key-card ask. Because four hearts is strongly favored to make, this bid has more to gain than to lose.