Dear Mr. Wolff: How does the rule of 11 work if your opponents play thirdand-lowest leads, not fourth highest? - Number Cruncher, Texarkana, Texas
Dear Reader: Just to clarify for nonexperts: With fourthhighest leads, third hand and declarer can subtract the spot-card lead from 11 to find out how many cards higher than the lead are held by the other three players.
If partner leads the six, with K-10-4 in dummy and the A-J-8 in your hand, declarer won’t be able to beat the eight, since you can see five cards higher than the six.
Against a third-highest lead, you subtract the spot-card led from 12. If you believe the card is lowest from five, subtract it from 10.
Dear Mr. Wolff: South held ! K-Q, J-3-2, Q-7-4, " Q-J-10-9-4. After a threediamond bid by West, North doubled, and you recommended a bid of three no-trump as the game most likely to succeed despite the “diaphanous diamond stop.”
Why trade the near certainty of a smaller plus for the uncertainty of the higher score? - On the Line, Casper, Wyo.
Dear Reader: I might feel different if my side-cards were sure tricks. But consider that facing a minimum double with the club A-K and spade ace, three no-trump our way and three diamonds their way might make!
The softer my side-suit cards are, the less I feel like defending. And in this example I don’t really have a sure trick in my hand.
Dear Mr. Wolff: My partner and I were on different wavelengths when I opened one diamond and heard two clubs on my left, pass from my partner, and a two-spade bid on my right.
When I doubled for takeout, my partner assumed that I actually had spades! Who is right here? - Trump Trouble, Little Rock
Dear Reader: In the old days, a double here would have been intended to expose the psyche, but perhaps we are less suspicious these days.
The general rule is that all doubles (except perhaps those of a no-trump call) facing a partner who has not bid, or has only passed, are for takeout.
This is simple and pretty close to optimal.
Dear Mr. Wolff: My partner disagreed with my bidding. Holding ! A-J-3-2,
K-Q-7-4, K-J-4-3, " Q in fourth seat, I opened one diamond and heard a oneheart overcall.
When that was passed back to me, I thought our best chance to go plus was to defend, but I found my partner with five small spades and ace-third of clubs.
Even four spades had a chance to come home on accurate card-reading. - Missed Moment, Atlanta
Dear Reader: Imagine finding ace-fifth of clubs and three small spades opposite instead!
Bidding one spade here might be a reasonable choice, but you assumed that the one suit you wouldn’t be facing was spades, in the absence of even a negative double, and you surely weren’t going to find diamond support as you hadn’t been raised.
Dear Mr. Wolff: With no one vulnerable, I opened one diamond, my LHO said one heart, and my partner had a dilemma, holding ! A-Q-2,
7-3-2, 7-4-2, " K-10-4-3.
A bid of one no-trump would promise a heart stop, double would promise four spades, two diamonds could catch partner with a three-card suit, and two clubs is an overbid by a queen or so.
What do you suggest - other than an out-of-tempo pass? - None of the Above, Houston
Dear Reader: I’d guess to double, and hope we don’t find a 3-3 spade fit facing a hand without a heart stop.
A bid of two clubs is too much for me. (The club jack or a fifth club might make it palatable, especially by a passed hand.) Bidding two diamonds with no honor in the suit feels wrong.
So double looks like the least lie, with passing a close second, planning to back in as appropriate, or to defend one heart and hope for 100 if all pass.
TO CONTACT BOBBY WOLFF, E-MAIL HIM AT BOBBYWOLFF@ MINDSPRING.COM.
Our Town, Pages 9 on 02/20/2011