Aces on Bridge

Dear Mr. Wolff: A long time ago, people were taught that Michaels cuebids should be used on strong or weak hands, not on average hands. Where do you stand here?

— Steve Conrad, Duluth, Minnesota

Answer: I believe you should make a Michaels cue-bid when you can, unless you have a decent hand with lots of defense and poor suits. Also, if the higher suit is much better than the lower, you might want to make a simple overcall.

Dear Mr. Wolff: How would you recommend we bid good hands with both minors in response to partner’s one-no-trump opening?

— Minor Problem, Dodge City, Kansas

Answer: A lot of pairs play that a three-of-a-major response to one no-trump shows shortness in the suit bid and 5-4 in the minors. With more extreme distributions, you can employ a three-diamond response to show 5-5 or longer in the minors. That is eminently playable, as long as you have another way to show single-suited diamond hands.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Iwas watching this hand recently. South held ♠ 106-3, ♥ 7-6-5-4-3-2, ♦ ---, ♣ Q-7-6-2. At game all, his left-hand opponent opened one diamond, his partner doubled and his right-hand opponent passed. What do you think the right call is?

— Double Trouble, Little Rock, Arkansas

Answer: I would bid one heart. It looks like partner has a strong balanced hand with length in diamonds, given that East did not raise and I have a void. If partner bids one no-trump as expected, I will try to sign off in two hearts.

Dear Mr. Wolff: You pick up ♠ A-Q, ♥ Q-J-9, ♦ J-8-7-5-3, ♣ K-Q-7 at love all and open a strong no-trump. You hear your left-hand opponent overcall two spades, passed back to you. Would you act?

— Balancing Act, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Answer: No, I would let this go. It is often right to compete the partscore, but with so much of my hand in the opponents’ suit and only one long suit of my own (and a pretty poor one at that), I cannot expect the three-level to be a safe venture. The prototype hand for a protective double after a one-no-trump opening is a 4-4-3-2 shape with a small doubleton in the suit overcalled. The higher they bid, the more disciplined you must be.

Dear Mr. Wolff: I keep leading fourth-highest from my longest and strongest against no-trump games and slams, but I usually give away a trick, and occasionally the contract. Am I doing something wrong?

— Active or Passive,

Honolulu, Hawaii

Answer: The situations when you are on lead in a no-trump game or slam, against which you have no obvious lead, fall into two categories. In one case, you have a blind lead; in the others, the opponents have bid suits. In the latter case, lead the suit the auction suggests; in the former case, look to find the safest lead you can. This is especially true at pairs. For instance, I would rather lead from three or four small than honor-fourth against one no-trump passed out or raised to game or slam. Five-card suits on lead are a horse of a different color.