Aces on bridge
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Please share your opinion on whether a jump overcall of three clubs over one club can be more usefully assigned to a meaning other than natural and weak. I don’t believe that a jump cue-bid as an attempt to find partner with a club stopper for no-trump comes up as often as a specific two-suiter. That lets the simple cue-bid be a specific major-minor twosuiter. What is your view? — Ghestem Well
ANSWER: Over a one-club opener, I think using the jump cue-bid as a two-suiter makes reasonable sense. Over any other opener, I’m not so sure: I can see both sides of this issue. A lifetime of playing Michaels as an unspecified two-suiter suggests that accidents when not knowing the second suit are rare — though they are extremely expensive!
DEAR MR. WOLFF: After my RHO opened a weak two spades, I tried three diamonds and heard three spades to my left. When this came back to me, I wasn’t sure if I should bid or pass, holding: SPADES 7-3, HEARTS A-2, DIAMONDS K-Q-7-4-3, CLUBS A-K-10-3. As it turned out, both three spades and four clubs were cold, but I didn’t think I could act facing a passing partner. — Standing Stone
ANSWER: You have a decent hand but only limited extras. Double would be takeout, and I think this hand is too balanced to drive your partner to the four-level in a four-card suit; if you bid four clubs, wouldn’t your partner raise to game? So passing and hoping to beat three spades is reasonable, as is the call of four clubs.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Do you believe the U.S. will continue to fight it out for world domination in bridge? If not, who will take over at the top? — Nostradamus
ANSWER: A few years ago (in this column in 2007), I predicted that the Polish training schemes for juniors would give them a real chance to dominate at the junior level, and that in 10 years, many of those players would be at the very top of the tree. They have won the last two world titles — so kudos to me! My next forecast: Watch the Swedish juniors in the next decade compete at the very top level, while the U.S. juniors will not be far behind.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: If I get paired with a new partner whom I have never met before, what are the critical agreements I need to establish? Would it make a difference in the context of having played for a long time ? — Questing Beast
ANSWER: How about asking these questions: “Do you play 2/1 game-forcing and forcing no-trump? Do you play two-suit or foursuit transfers? What is a two-no-trump response to a major, and to a minor? What kind of carding do you use, and what kind of jump shifts and no-trump defense do you play? Do you play New Minor Forcing or any kind of checkback after opener’s no-trump rebids?”