ACES ON BRIDGE
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I had 8 points with a five-card club suit and a singleton diamond when my partner overcalled my left-hand-opponent’s opening two-spade bid with three diamonds. I felt an obligation to keep the bidding open, so I bid four clubs. My partner raised to five clubs, and we went down two. Should I have just passed?
— Warren Richards, Monterey, Calif.
DEAR READER: Your hand is no stronger than your partner might have expected when he first bid. With an ill-fitting 8-count, you probably do not want to try to improve the strain, so passing is prudent. With a long major suit, the temptation to act may be harder to ignore.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: How would you value this hand: ; A-Q-J-8-5-3-2, k Q-6, l 7, ' J-7-2, as dealer at love all?
— Allowed To Be Maximum, Portland, Ore.
DEAR READER: I would open three spades. At equal vulnerability, and while I have more than I would usually have, the rounded-suit honors are not likely to be valuable offensively. Meanwhile, three spades gets in the opponents’ way very effectively. One defensive trick is not quite enough for a one-level opening, and I cannot bear to pass with such length and strength in the boss suit. I will never catch up.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Say you open one heart, partner responds one spade, and you rebid two diamonds. When partner continues with a twono-trump invitation, is your three-heart rebid forcing?
— Strain over Level, Wilmington, N.C.
DEAR READER: Three hearts should show six hearts and offer a choice of games. If you wanted to sign off in three hearts, you would have rebid two hearts rather than two diamonds, then continued with three diamonds over two no-trump. Conversely, to repeat the diamonds over two no-trump would be non-forcing. You must bid the fourth suit to show a game-forcing hand with five cards in each red suit.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Do you think players should have to prove they have been vaccinated before being allowed to return to face-to-face play?
— Legal Eagle, Kansas City, Mo. DEAR READER: It would be a mistake to exclude bridge players who do not wish to get vaccinated. They have had to cope without live bridge as well. I think it should be similar to how it was before the pandemic: If someone feels ill, they should not play, for the benefit of themselves and others. But until the newer variants are under control, I’d expect tournaments to require proof of vaccination.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Would you recommend the Smith Echo at no-trump?
— Smith Peter,
Danville, Ill. DEAR READER: The Smith Echo, (a high-low at trick two against no-trump by either player to encourage the suit originally led) is a useful tool. It can clear up any ambiguity as to whether opening leader or third hand has unexpected extra length or strength in that suit. But the play is tempo-sensitive: If you play it, try to plan your carding in advance, and signal count as the priority when dummy has a long suit and few entries.