ACES ON BRIDGE

“I learned that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything... at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. “-- Dan Millman

These days, Bergen raises have become very popular, though I’m not a huge fan myself. After an opening bid of a major by his partner, responder jumps to three hearts with pre-emptive values and uses three clubs or three diamonds to show various sorts of four-card raises.

Here, you sit East after North makes a three-diamond call to show a limit raise with four trumps, and South has accepted the invitation. West leads the club four to your ace. Plan the defense.

At the table, East correctly diagnosed that the lead was a likely singleton, so he gave his partner a ruff, but this left West with no way to take two more tricks. That player tried the effect of the ace and another diamond, but declarer claimed the balance.

East should have foreseen that if he gave his partner a ruff immediately, it would set up a lot of tricks for declarer. Best defense was first to switch to the diamond queen -- playing partner for the diamond ace or both the diamond king and trump ace.

If declarer ducks the queen, you can give partner a ruff; if he covers, partner can put you in again with your diamond jack, and only now do you give him the ruff.

By the way, if you were to ask me how to play the direct raise to three of partner’s major, I could happily live with having it show mixed (6-9 HCP) values, while using three clubs and three diamonds either as limit with three and four trumps, respectively, or just as natural and invitational.

ANSWER: I agree with not opening one no-trump here. But how should you advance after the double? You could simply bid two clubs, or if you play redouble as strong (and not a support double promising three spades), that would be fine, too. Passing or bidding one no-trump just seems wrong, though -- you may never catch up.