ACES ON BRIDGE

DEAR MR. WOLFF: I know I’m supposed to lead top of a sequence, and as third hand I’m supposed to play the lowest of a touching sequence when trying to win the trick. Is there a rule as to wha t card I should play from a sequence when declarer leads a suit — or, as declarer, whether I should win the trick with the lower or higher card from a sequence to make my opponents’ life harder?

Top Spin, Pottsville, Pa.

DEAR READER: As declarer, win the trick with the higher card from a sequence. (In fact, as declarer, always follow with the higher card from equals, except at trick one in no-trump, when you should win the king from ace-king.) This is the most deceptive strategy. As a defender, follow with the lower card from a sequence when in second seat.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Playing pairs, I was in second chair with no one vulnerable, holding Q-J-7-3-2, K-4,

9-8-5-2, K-10, while my partner had A-10-9-6, 5-3,

A-J-10-7, A-5-4. I passed at my first turn, of course, and my LHO’S three-club opening bid was passed out. The contract went down a trick, but we still scored very poorly. Should either of us have acted over the pre-empt? — Calamity Jake,

Sioux Falls, S.D. DEAR READER: Fourth hand has a balanced minimum opening — one that could not comfortably bid over one club. Just because your opponents pre-empted is no reason to go mad. Can a passed hand balance with a three-spade bid with your cards? I say maybe. Change your cards to include a singleton club and you might have an easier action. I suspect the three-club call was off-center — and you were just fixed.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Are there some general guidelines as to when a redouble should be SOS as opposed to business? — Redouble Trouble,

Aurora, Colo. DEAR READER: The simple answer is that anytime the double is penalty, a redouble from either hand should be rescue. The utility factor of redoubling a making contract is that you stand to gain very little, so the redouble should mean something else. In other words, we’ve made a mistake — not they’ve made a mistake. In all other cases, a redouble should show extra values if the double was not penalty.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Holding K-Q-2, —,

A-K-J-10-9-8-5, K-Q2, I bid one diamond, and my partner responded one heart. I guessed to bid three diamonds, knowing it was something of an underbid, but my partner passed, holding two small diamonds with the spade ace and heart acequeen, and four small clubs. Five diamonds was cold, and six was makable if I finessed for the diamond queen. I thought he should have gambled out three no-trump, but how should the bidding have gone? — The Grinch, Monterey, Calif. DEAR READER: Slam is indeed good but far from laydown. On your actual auction you made a small underbid — but a reasonable one — with three diamonds, while your partner has a crystal-clear call of three no-trump. He won’t always make it, but with 10 points and a balanced hand, he has no choice but to try for game.