Contract Bridge

1. Three hearts. Since an over caller may hold anywhere from eight to 16 points, you’re not in a good position to judge whether 10 tricks can be made. You know from the bidding thus far that partner almost surely has a singleton club to go with the strong five-card or longer suit that an overcall promises. But whether or not his hand is good enough to escape four losers is something you have to let partner decide. You therefore make a jumpraise to invite partner to go on to game if he is on the upper end of his overcall.

2. Two hearts. Since an overcall is rarely made with a four-card suit, hearts must be regarded as a feasible trump suit. A raise to two hearts, even with your unimpressive trump support, is decidedly preferable to a two-spade bid. Hearts are known to be playable, spades are not. A two-spade call would ordinarily indicate a better spade suit than this one and tend to deny heart support.

3. Two notrump. This expresses a far greater interest in game than a two-diamond bid would. Two diamonds would sound like a competitive move for partscore purposes, while two notrump is a direct try for game. With 13 highcard points facing a vulnerable overcall, and two club stoppers to back you up, game cannot be far away. Indeed, a reasonable case can be made for bidding three notrump.

4. Three clubs. A cuebid in the opponent’s suit indicates a strong hand and, by implication, announces very good trump support. Several purposes are simultaneously served by the cuebid. Most importantly, your partner learns that there’s not only a game in prospect, but perhaps a slam.

In addition, by rejecting a leap to four hearts, you may forestall a difficult bidding problem that might arise later. Thus, a four-heart bid now might make it impossible for you to know what to do if the opponents continue on to five clubs. By your indicating a big hand immediately, partner may be better able to decide how high to go.

Tomorrow: Hidden asset.