Aces on Bridge
Dear Mr. Wolff: I know you are a fan of opener raising his partner’s one-level response with three trumps rather than introducing a second suit or making a flawed oneno-trump rebid. How does responder diagnose the 4-3 fit? And why not rebid one no-trump with only three trumps if the hand is almost balanced?
— Butterfingers, Cartersville,
Georgia ANSWER: I believe raising partner is the best way to get to game when you do have a fit — and to stay low when you know you don’t. Hands with a small doubleton and three reasonable trumps often offer as much trump support as balanced hands with four trumps. If responder needs to know, one way is to ask with Spiral Scan. This is a relay of two no-trump after the raise. The four step responses show three trumps (minimum), three trumps (maximum), four trumps (minimum) and four trumps (maximum), respectively.
Dear Mr. Wolff: I assume that you would be comfortable in responding one spade to one heart with this hand: ♠ A-Q-9-6-4, ♥ 4, ♦ J-7-5-2, ♣ 10-8-6. When partner rebids two diamonds, are you supposed to raise or pass? If you would let sleeping dogs lie here, how much more would you need before you raise?
— Jump Street Jimmy, Salinas ANSWER: I would pass, expecting there was a fair chance that if game could make, partner would have done more at his second turn. But change the diamond jack to the queen, and I’d dredge up a raise to three diamonds. Even at teams, going plus is more important than stretching for what would surely be a thin game.
Dear Mr. Wolff: I play rubber bridge every week with the same group of women. One of the players seems to get all the cards. Over the years, would you not expect the cards to average out?
— Calendar Girl, Springfield,
Illinois ANSWER: The Dyspeptics Club stories are based on a real player (now dead) who used to say: “It’s not the cards; it is how much I get out of them.” But, of course, he was the luckiest player you ever saw in your life. I don’t know any other player who would admit to having had his fair share of the cards at rubber, but the laws of probability have not been seriously impeached in the last 400years.
Dear Mr. Wolff: I opened one heart, holding ♠ A-Q-2,
♥ A-J-7-3-2, ♦ Q-10-3-2, ♣ Q, and when my partner bid a game-forcing two clubs, I had a comfortable bid of two diamonds. Now my partner bid three clubs, and since we were in a game-force, I bid three no-trump. My partner said that this action was premature — what do you think? — Sausages, Dover, Delaware ANSWER: With weaker spades or more values, I might probe for three notrump, since I would not be prepared to end the auction by bidding it myself. I agree that if your partner has seven good clubs plus a couple of working aces and kings, you might make 12tricks; singleton honors in partner’s suit are always hard to evaluate. Even so, I think a bid of three no-trump is your only practical call here.
Dear Mr. Wolff: You recently answered a letter about splinters, suggesting that immediate splinters might be limited in strength by the failure to use a Jacoby two-no-trump call. What about splinters by opener at his second turn? How much do they promise in the way of extras?
— Strawberry Shortcake,
Panama City, Florida ANSWER: A splinter by opener after a response at the one-level shows 17-20in high cards, give or take. You do not have to make such a call when facing a passed hand, in that you may jump to game with low slam potential. A splinter facing a game-forcing two-level response should be better than minimum, but it doesn’t guarantee real extras.