ACES ON BRIDGE

Dear Mr. Wolff: I picked up the hand of a lifetime in a recent knockout match: ♠ Q , ♥ —-, ♦♣ J, A-Q-J-10-9-8-7-5-4-3-2, only to hear partner open one heart! I bid two clubs and wound up in six clubs, making 13 when clubs were 1-1. How would you have bid the hand?

— Freak Hand, Rockford, Ill.

Dear Reader: These wild hands are tough. I might just take the practical route of asking for aces with a direct four-no-trump response. If partner shows zero with five clubs, I can pass. If he has one or two, I am happy to punt six clubs. If he has three aces, I will try seven clubs and hope either that he has a club or that trumps split!

Dear Mr. Wolff: Holding ♠ A-10-4, ♥ 10-6-5, ♦ 8-6-3, ♣ J-6-5-2 at game all, I heard my right-hand opponent open one spade, raised to two spades on my left. Partner jumped to four diamonds, showing the red suits, and my RHO bid four spades. When partner reopened with a double, I bid, and we suffered a small penalty with four spades going two down. Should I have passed four spades doubled?

— Action Stations, Mitchell, S.D.

Dear Reader: I think it is reasonable to defend, expecting one-and-a-half tricks in the black suits, with partner providing at least two or three red-suit winners. While you might not beat four spades, having three low cards in each of partner’s suits might mean he has too many slow losers playing the hand. If partner had 6-5 shape and near-solid suits, he might have bid four no-trump to force me to choose.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Is there a procedure for how to continue after a bad claim, one that is incorrect or has not been accepted? Does the procedure change when online as opposed to playing face to face?

— Rules Schmules, Harrisburg, Pa.

Dear Reader: There is only one correct procedure: Call the director! Trying to handle these things yourself will only make matters worse and will leave you on less firm ground in terms of the ruling you will receive than if you had called the director right away.

Dear Mr. Wolff: When you make a value-showing redouble and then bid a new suit, is that forcing?

— Standard Methods, Casper, Wyo.

Dear Reader: If you redouble as partner of the opener, I think new suits at your next turn are forcing, with raises and no-trump calls being non-forcing, and doubles being for penalty. Jumps are very good hands, and cue-bids are generally stopper-asking for notrump or shortness in the opponents’ suit with a fit for partner, which you will clarify at your next turn.

Dear Mr. Wolff: We had a misunderstanding when my right-hand opened one spade, my left-hand responded one no-trump and my partner doubled for takeout of spades. I heard a rebid of two spades to my right, back to partner, who bid two no-trump. I thought this was for takeout, but my partner had a strong balanced hand. How would you interpret the sequence?

— Alone Again,

Newport News, Va.

Dear Reader: I think partner would just double again with a strong hand and short spades, so I think partner’s two no-trump is natural, showing the equivalent of about a twono-trump opener. To be fair, this is not a frequently discussed auction.