Bridge

Dear Mr. Wolff: I often think I can bid the hands in your column as well as the experts, using old-fashioned Goren methods. What’s more, the new conventions generally give away information that is at least as useful to the opposition as it is to one’s partner. What do you think? — Auntie Delusion, Tucson, Ariz.

Answer: They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Still, I’m learning more and more as I get older. And I do not agree that new bidding is less effective; you just have to know when to be subtle and when to blast. Incidentally, the hands I take from tournaments often feature fancier bidding than I would have produced. Otherwise, I try to mix simple stuff with the odd occasional convention, hoping to widen the readership’s horizons.

Dear Mr. Wolff: I held the following hand: “K-5-4, “Q-10-5-2, “J-10-6, “Q-5-3. When my partner opened one diamond, I responded one heart. Over one spade I bid one no-trump and passed his raise to two no-trump. Was that unduly pessimistic? — Lying Too Low, Hobbs, N. M.

Answer: Yes. Since partner’s sequence suggests an unbalanced 17-count or so (probably with five diamonds and four spades, else he would have opened one no-trump), you probably ought to have raised to game. It is your diamond fillers that would convince me to bid on.

Dear Mr. Wolff: What are keycards, a term you often use when responses to Roman Keycard Blackwood are being discussed? — Thirsty for Truth, Midland, Mich.

Answer: There are five keycards: the four aces, and the king of trumps. The trump queen is also sometimes shown at once (when you have two keycards) or can be enquired about at the next turn. Keycard Blackwood’s main virtue is keeping you out of bad slams. It can also get you to good ones – so long as you remember the responses. But system is rarely a substitute for judgment!

Dear Mr. Wolff: Should you open one no-trump with a good five-card major if the rest of your hand looks appropriate for that action? — Round the Houses, Orlando, Fla.

Answer: An example of a hand that might be opened one no-trump despite a good five-card major would be “A-Q-10-8-3, “Q-5-2, “A-Q-8, “Q-5. With honors in all suits, there are positional advantages to be gained, and any other action will lead to a problem the next time. However, if you added the spade jack, I’d upgrade the hand to a one-spade opening and treat it as 18-19. Change the club queen to the jack, and I’d treat it as a minimum balanced hand and open one spade again.

Dear Mr. Wolff: In a recent column you were dealing with the likelihood of a 2-2 split as opposed to a 3-1 split. Maybe I misunderstood you, but isn’t a 3-1 break rather more likely than the 2-2 split? — Hair Splitter, Newark, N.J.

Answer: Yes. In the abstract, four outstanding cards in a suit figure to split 3-1 rather than 2-2.

Somewhere along the line I got distracted from what I was trying to say (that a specific 2-2 break was fractionally more likely than a specific 3-1 break). Therefore, when you are deciding whether to drop the queen or finesse, then — all things being equal — playing for the drop has a slight edge.