BridgeBridge

Dear Mr. Wolff: Holding •Q-8-7-4, •K-J-6-4, •2, •A-K-9-2, I opened one club and heard my partner respond one diamond. When the next hand overcalled one spade, should I have doubled or bid one no-trump, or would it have been right to pass now? —Jugular Vein, Portland

Answer: Doubling is a little too bloodthirsty for me. Give me the spade king instead of a small spade and I could understand that action. Since one no-trump should always be a balanced hand — and incidentally not a dead minimum either — passing and awaiting developments seems best to me.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Are you allowed to open a suit and then rebid in no-trump (either with a simple rebid or a jump rebid) with a singleton in partner’s suit? Or must you always have a balanced hand? — Flat Bread, Eau Claire, Wis.

Answer: Let’s take an example. With •4, •K-Q-6, •A-9-7-2, •A-9-7-5-2, I would open one club and rebid one no-trump over one spade. Give me the heart ace instead of the six, and I’d jump-rebid to two no-trump, I suppose. However, with five diamonds and four clubs, I could (and would) open one diamond and rebid two clubs in either case. The no-trump rebid with a singleton ought to be the last resort, not an act of volition.

Dear Mr. Wolff: All the fancy bidders at my club play Lebensohl if the opponents intervene over their no-trump opening. What is it, and is it a good thing? — Relay Truly, Alexandria, Va.

Answer: In a nutshell, Lebensohl acts to distinguish between weak and strong hands wanting to bid after intervention over one no-trump. Strong hands jump, cue-bid, or bid new suits at the three-level. Weak hands with a long suit bid at the two-level, or bid two no-trump as a puppet to three clubs and then pass with clubs or correct to their own suit. Lebensohl has its uses, but do not play it without discussing all the follow-ups.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Holding •Q-9, •K-10-9-5-2, •8-6, •A-K-9-5, I opened one heart and rebid two clubs over the one-spade response. What was I supposed to bid when my partner used the fourth-suit-forcing rebid of two diamonds? —Toasting Fork, Nashville, Tenn.

Answer: You have to choose between a call of two spades, which you might think would normally deliver three trumps on this sequence, and a rebid of hearts, where you have already shown your shape. That is because a three-club rebid would virtually guarantee five clubs, and two no-trump should promise a diamond stop. My strong preference is to bid two spades — and in good tempo if you can! Since you might have raised spades with three on the round before, a doubleton honor is about the par holding for delayed support on this specific auction.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Are there any individual tournaments played anywhere these days, or has the event gone out of fashion? — One for All, Tupelo, Miss.

Answer: Strange you should ask that question! Next month the World Bridge Federation is organizing an individual in Italy, which I shall be attending. About 50 of the best men players in the world and a slightly smaller number of the world’s top women will be participating, using a simple standardized system. At the U.S. Nationals there are similar games, open to all, with an entry fee and decent prizes. Try it — you might like it!