Describe your hand as exactly as possible by Bobby Wolff

A: 3♠: Where you have a weak hand with a long suit, you may have trouble deciding whether to bid initially, and at what level. Here, I would risk a bid of three spades, intending it as pre-emptive, both to make the opponents' lives harder and to plan a possible sacrifice. With a strong hand, I would start with a two-club cue-bid, so partner should not assume my hand is strong.

Your result so far:

A: 3NT: Not all five-card suits are created equal; as George Orwell might say, some are more -- or less -- equal than others. I will make an executive decision that I don't want to look for a five-three heart fit (for example, by a Smolen call of three spades to show this major-suit pattern), but I will simply bid three no-trump directly and forget about the hearts.

Your result so far:

A: 3♥: Some play the call of two no-trump in this sequence as a relay, asking for range and the number of trumps in support. Failing that (and one can survive quite nicely without it), this hand is worth one game try, and the most appropriate call seems to me to bid three hearts, showing length and looking for help there.


Your result so far:

A: 1♠: There is no way in standard bidding to show this exact two-suiter, since a cue-bid shows the majors and a jump to two no-trump shows the red suits. But you must bid, and despite the fact that your diamonds are better than the spades, I would overcall one spade now. The space-consuming nature of the bid, and the fact that spades are the ranking suit, tips the balance for me.

Your result so far:

A: 1♠: Your partner's redouble is an SOS, suggesting a two- or three-suited hand with short hearts, after your LHO has passed his partner's takeout double for penalties. For the time being, you have absolutely no problem bidding your three-card spade suit, as requested.

Your result so far: