ACES ON BRIDGE

I passed in first chair with both sides vulnerable, and heard my LHO open two spades, which was then passed back to me. Would it have been right to pass, double or bid a suit, looking at

DEAR MR. WOLFF:

— Safe Haven, Newport News, Va.

DEAR READER: I would not feel like passing, because of my relatively short spades, but a double might result in partner bidding too many hearts. I go for a call of two notrump, surely for the minors, as a passed hand, as opposed to a three-club call. If partner takes my bid as natural, which he shouldn’t, no great harm will have been done.

DEAR MR. WOLFF:

Please tell me how signals are supposed to work. What are the messages the defenders are supposed to send?

— Zazzy, Union City, Tenn.

DEAR READER: Signaling is the play by a defender to tell your partner what you have or to advise him what to play. A simple signaling system incorporates attitude (high spot cards encourage, while low ones discourage) and count (high for even, low for an odd number of cards). For the advanced player, you can signal suit preference. When your cards can’t win a trick or a continuation is impractical, your cards may tell partner which suit you like. Suits rank in order: spades, hearts, diamonds then clubs. Take a look at: bit.ly/1nTVjrV.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: If you play forcing no-trump in response to the opening bid of a major, should you extend this treatment to play it by a passed hand? — Keeping It Open,

Worcester, Mass. DEAR READER: The logic of the forcing no-trump is to allow responder to make that call with hands up to and including balanced invitations, or forces to game. Once you pass, you do not have to worry about the no-trump call concealing forcing hands or hands with trump support. So opener should treat the response of one no-trump as non-forcing, and pass unless he has extra shape or high cards.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Several times over the years, you have recommended opening two clubs with at least 5-4 or 4-5 in the majors, rather than opening at the one-level, which risks getting passed out. In a recent column, you were dealing with this hand: Since game might make opposite -kingfourth in hearts, shouldn’t I open two clubs here? — Flaming Lips, Houston DEAR READER: Consider that a hand with an ace in response will almost always keep the bidding open, and all six-counts respond to an opening bid. Since king-fourth of hearts on its own won’t make game that good, I would open one spade without any worries. But let me change the hand to make it a two-club bid. How about Now I might make game when facing as little as the diamond queen and four small hearts.

DEAR MR. WOLFF: Should I open one no-trump with a five-card major? If so, is there any suit so strong that you would rather bid it and not one no-trump when you have 15 to 17 points? — Drawing the Line,

Naples, Fla. DEAR READER: With a balanced 17 points (5-3-3-2 shape) and a five-card major, I generally open the suit and treat my hand as 18 or 19 points. With a bad major (only one top honor) and 15 to 16 points, I normally open one no-trump. However, if all my points are in two suits, I may opt for bidding the major; and a 5-4-2-2 pattern with a long major is not balanced.