Aces on Bridge
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I picked up SPADES Q-6-4-2, HEARTS Q-9-2, DIAMONDS K-5, CLUBS A-10-8-3 and elected to pass in third seat. When my LHO opened one club and my RHO responded one heart, should I have stuck with my initially judgment and passed, or would you double here to show a maximum pass? — Silent Stephen
ANSWER: Passing in third seat when you don’t really have an opening bid or a suit that you want partner to lead does make sense, I suppose. Opening one club is fine by me, though. But having passed and heard partner fail to overcall, you shouldn’t back in unless you have a reason. With only two diamonds, you do not have a good reason to bid nor any guarantee of a fit. You made your bed; now lie in it.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I have just started learning Key-card Blackwood. When my partner answered my inquiry to show zero or three aces, I had one key-card, so I signed off. My partner then passed with three, thinking I should already know he could not hold zero key-cards because he had opened the bidding. Does this make sense? — Slamma Jamma
ANSWER: Your partner should never assume you know he has three keycards — unless he has either shown extras or initiated or co-operated in slam ventures earlier in the auction. Normal practice here would be to bid on with three by answering whether he has the trump queen. He can raise the trump suit to deny the queen, or cue-bid a king if he has the queen. DEAR MR. WOLFF: I picked up SPADES Q-9-8, HEARTS K-4,DIAMONDS A-Q-J8-5-4, CLUBS K-7, and in third seat decided that for tactical reasons this hand looked like a strong notrump. When my partner transferred into hearts with a call of two diamonds, I was tempted to pass. This would have worked well, but I didn’t think I should risk my partner having a heart attack. What are your thoughts?
— Swinging from
the Rafters
ANSWER: The no-trump opening bid in third seat is a perfectly sensible strategy in third chair. Since the call is hardly a psych, I would respond to it as if I had a regular opening bid. Passing in midauction is no way to encourage partnership trust.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I may be out of touch with modern expert thinking in many areas, but one that particularly confuses me is the use of doubles and redoubles these days. Where would you advise me to look to read up on these subjects?
— Red Card Ralph
ANSWER: I would advocate the general rule about doubling that, facing a passing partner or when the opponents have explicitly or implicitly agreed a suit, almost all low-level doubles are primarily for takeout. I recommend Mike Lawrence’s Complete Book on Takeout Doubles as a good place to start your reading. For beginners, bit. ly/ A oB Takeout Doubles is a simple online resource as well.