ACES ON BRIDGE

Dear Mr. Wolff: Am I allowed to draw inferences from my opponents’ hesitations?

— Table Presence, Montreal

Dear Reader: Yes, you are, but do so at your own risk. Unless you feel that you have been deliberately misled, perhaps by someone taking a long time to play a singleton, you will receive little sympathy from the director if you make a losing bid or play and then seek redress. Of course, you must strain not to infer anything from partner’s tempo, as difficult as that may seem.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Say I hear a three-diamond opening on my left, and then my partner bids three no-trump. What do my bids mean now?

— Jubilant Jeremy, Little Rock, Ark.

Dear Reader: Partner could have the equivalent of a strong one-no-trump opening, or as much as a two-no-trump opener. He could certainly have a running suit of his own. For this reason, you should not pull to a different game without good reason. Four clubs can be used as a range-ask, by steps, or as Stayman, with four no-trump in response suggesting a long suit. Combine that with transfers, I suggest.

Dear Mr. Wolff: I held this monster the other day: ♠ A-K-Q-8-7-5-4-3, ♥ —-, ♦ A, ♣ K-9-5-3, and heard my partner open one heart! How would you proceed?

— Slam Force, Dover, Del.

Dear Reader: I would not stop below slam, I think. I could bid four no-trump, which ought to be ace-asking rather than a key-card ask, but partner’s response would only be of use if he showed zero or two aces. So I would start slowly with one spade, or two spades if you play that as strong, and hope to set spades as trump later on. If partner can cuebid four clubs at some stage, I may know that he has the ace and be able to try for greater things.

Dear Mr. Wolff: What would you bid over a oneheart opening from your right-hand opponent, holding ♠ A-K-8-7-6-3, ♥ 10, ♦ Q-9-8-5-2, ♣ 3?

— Two-suited, Duluth, Minn.

Dear Reader: With a sixth card in my major and such better spades than diamonds, I would usually bid my longer suit first, but I really only have the values for one action here, so I suppose I ought to try two hearts, a Michaels cue-bid showing spades and a minor. This gets the hand off my chest for the most part. At some vulnerabilities, I might jump to three or four spades.

Dear Mr. Wolff: What honor leads would you recommend against no-trump contracts?

— Plain and Simple, Willoughby, Ohio

Dear Reader: I would advocate standard honor leads, except that the king is a strong lead, asking partner to unblock any honor he has or otherwise provide a count signal. This makes it easier to cash out in a suit when you have a strong holding. Be warned, though — you should only lead the king from a holding that is solid apart from partner’s hoped-for honor. Lead the king from kingqueen-10-nine-low, but not from king-queen-nine-fifth. The queen may therefore be either from queen-jack or a weak king-queen holding. All honor leads other than the king ask for an attitude signal.

If you would like to contact Bobby Wolff, email him at bobbywolff@mindspring.com