When is the next bridge tournament?

The Connecticut unit of the American Contract Bridge League has not yet announced whether its annual spring sectional tournament will actually be held. It is scheduled for the weekend of May 29 to May 31 in Orange.

The ACBL had announced that all tournaments scheduled through May 11, including a regional tourney that would have been this weekend in Cape Cod, had been canceled due to the coronavirus crisis. But no further announcements regarding later dates have been issued.

Another factor, of course, in whether the Orange tournament will be held, is whether the powers-that-be in Connecticut will allow a gathering of such size to take place at that time. We will keep you posted on a final decision on the tournament, when it has been made.

Today’s quiz: Here is another in the current series of introductory quizzes on overcalls and takeout doubles. Simply decide whether each of the following statements is essentially true or false.

1. It is possible to pass as the opening bidder and then to make a takeout double subsequently.

2. An overcaller holding five hearts and five diamonds would almost always bid the diamonds first if the diamonds were significantly stronger.

3. The partner of a takeout doubler must bid even if he has no points at all. Answers:

1. True. This is the ideal way to describe a hand not quite worth an opening bid, but with shortness in the opponents’ suit (or suits) and support for the unbid suits.

2. False. With two suits of the same length, the higher-ranking one is nearly always bid first, even if the lower one contains more high cards.

3. True. In fact, the less the partner of the doubler has, the more reason there is for him to bid, as he cannot afford to leave the opposition in a doubled contract they are virtually certain to make, possibly with several overtricks.