Bridge

Dear Mr. Wolff: What opening leads are best against no-trump if you want your partner to unblock an honor because you have a strong suit? – Chunky Monkey, Dover, Del.

Answer: One method is to lead the king, requesting partner to drop the queen or jack, unless dummy has a singleton or void, when signaling reverts to standard. Leads of the ace and queen ask for attitude. Another method is to lead the ace, asking for the unblock of the queen. Leading the queen asks for the unblock of the jack, and leading the king gets an attitude signal. Be sure you and your partner are in agreement.

Dear Mr. Wolff: I held ♠ Q-4, ♥ K-J-2, ♦ A-Q-2, ♣ K-J-9-7-4. When I heard one spade on my right, I doubled. My partner bid two hearts, and the next hand repeated his suit, bidding two spades. What is right now? Should I double, pass, or bid three hearts? – Power Surge, North Bay, Ontario

Answer: Clearly bidding three hearts would be wrong with only three trumps. Double shows extras, is for takeout, asks partner to do something intelligent, and is not unreasonable. (With this shape, move the spade queen into the hearts and I’d like the hand more.) I’d guess to pass, treating this hand as a minimum because the spade queen is not pulling its weight.

Dear Mr. Wolff: Our partnership has just started to play two-over-one game-forcing. Should we extend this to competitive auctions? – Strong Medicine, Newport News, Va.

Answer: No, you definitely should not play this in competition. When you make a two-level bid in competition, my preference is that any minimum-sounding rebid by opener – in no-trump, his own suit, or a raise – should be nonforcing. Equally, responder’s second call will not create a game-force unless it is a new suit, a jump, or a cue-bid.

Dear Mr. Wolff: I held ♠ J-7, ♥ A-Q-10-3-2, ♦ K-J, ♣ A-Q-7-2 and opened one heart. Over a one-spade response I bid two clubs to end the auction. My partner had four clubs and eight points, enough to make three no-trump. Who was to blame? – Missed Chances, Salinas, Calif.

Answer: On the surface of it, neither of you did anything wrong. With your hand, the only options are a jump to three clubs, for which you are a queen short, or an ugly rebid of two no-trump. I prefer your choice. Might your partner have given false preference to two hearts with two or three hearts? I wonder if that might have kept the auction alive, but since I did not see his hand, I can’t say for sure.

Dear Mr. Wolff: What are symmetric playing cards? I saw them mentioned in a newspaper column and wondered about them. – Fearful Symmetry, Augusta, Ga.

Answer: The World Bridge Federation decided that the asymmetry of some playing cards (look at the clubs and spades on odd-numbered cards) created a potential for abuse, so they manufactured cards that are symmetrical. I’m not convinced that there have been any such abuses, but since no harm has been done, it is better to be safe than sorry.