Aces on bridge
DEAR MR. WOLFF: My partner opened one diamond (guaranteeing four, but we open relatively light), and I responded one heart, holding SPADES A-7-4-2, HEARTS 5-4-32, DIAMONDS A, CLUBS A-5-3-2. When my partner raised to two hearts, would you judge this hand worth a drive to game, an invitation to three hearts, or something else? Trumps didn’t split, and eight tricks were the limit. — Sky Pilot
ANSWER: Assuming partner has a normal minimum opener, typically with four trumps, why not make a game-try of two spades and see what he does? In theory, two opening bids facing each other will make game! I could imagine that going one down in three hearts here would score very well — beating all the pairs two down in game.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: I recently had an ethical problem when I led a king from kingqueen small against a suit contract, and dummy hit with jack-third, on which my partner took forever to contribute the two. Can you tell me my rights and obligations in this situation when my king held? — Moriarty
ANSWER: Don’t try to work out what partner might have been thinking about: You would normally make the play as you would have upon receiving discouragement. However, you do not have to stop playing bridge. If logic and your own hand combine to tell you that it is obviously right to continue the suit, you can do so. Here, declarer is unlikely to have the critical ace, or he would have won the trick. So partner has the ace and is signaling either count or suit preference depending upon the logical context.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: Holding SPADES K-2, HEARTS 9-85-3-2, DIAMONDS 10-5-4-2, CLUBS A-5, I imagine that if partner opened one spade and the next hand bid two clubs, you would stretch to make a negative double. But what if your RHO had bid two diamonds? Would you double, and if so, what would you do over a response of three clubs? — Flag Flier
ANSWER: Though you are light on high-cards, a negative double of two clubs is acceptable because you are playable in all the available suits. But doubling two diamonds would seem too rich for the reason you identify — moreover, you could not handle a response of two no-trump. So I’d pass two diamonds, hoping partner would reopen if short in diamonds.
DEAR MR. WOLFF: What is needed to double a strong no-trump? Is it worthwhile to consider playing a defense other than a penalty double against the strong no-trump if your opponents use it tactically at certain positions and vulnerabilities? — Samba Sam
ANSWER: I usually play penalty doubles in all seats, but I could be persuaded that a defense such as Meckwell or Woolsey makes sense. (Details of these are available at bit.ly/2o7ATyE.) Whatever you play, you must keep double of thirdseat no-trumps as strong.