The Aces on Bridge: Sunday, 7 June 2026
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Dear Mr. Rigal:
What should I do if I overhear something pertinent at another table about a board I have yet to play?
Listening Post, Grand Junction, Colo.
This is an awkward one. I would recommend trying to put it out of your mind. By the time you play the board, you may have forgotten, or the board in question might come and go without you noticing. If, however, you think that what you have overheard could affect your decisions, you should call the director. To take advantage of the information would be clearly unethical.
Dear Mr. Rigal:
Say partner opens one heart, the next hand overcalls one spade and I bid two diamonds. If my left-hand opponent’s raise to four spades is passed back to me, what are my options?
Sky High, Portland, Ore.
Double now should just show a good hand. Partner’s default action is to pass unless he has something special. If you want partner to choose a suit, you must bid four no-trump. Partner will assume you have the minors with a two-card disparity for a start (you would have bid five clubs with equal length or 6-5), but if you pull his five clubs to five diamonds, you will be offering between diamonds and hearts.
Dear Mr. Rigal:
Your hand is ♠ 3, ♥ A-4, ♦ A-K-9-4-3, ♣ A-K-10-3-2. With no one vulnerable, you open one diamond in third seat, and your left-hand opponent overcalls three spades. Your partner doubles. What is your call?
Tower of Strength, Bremerton, Wash.
Partner is suggesting 10 or 11 points with his negative double here, given he is a passed hand and is forcing the bidding to a high level. I like a stab at six clubs in that case. If partner has a fit for either of my suits, which is likely, we should have a good chance at 12 tricks. I could cue-bid four spades to show a good hand, but I think that is more likely to cloud the issue than help partner judge the hand.
Dear Mr. Rigal:
Are there any special carding agreements when it comes to following in trumps on defense?
Default, Casper, Wyo.
Some pairs use suit preference in trumps, but unless I think partner desperately needs to know, I may simply follow suit up the line. In the old days, a trump echo showed three cards. This also applies when you are ruffing. If partner has the trump ace, he might like to know whether you still have a trump to ruff with when he gets in. Completing an echo will show an original holding of three trumps. Thus, if you ruff low and follow up the line in trumps after that, he will know you have no more trumps.
Dear Mr. Rigal:
Would you open the bidding with ♠ K-J-10-9-7, ♥ J-6, ♦ A-10-6, ♣ Q-9-4 as dealer at favorable vulnerability?
Good Suit, Jackson, Tenn.
I consider this a clear one-spade opener. My primary suit is strong, and I have an ace — what more do I need? I have often proclaimed that the strength of my long suit should be the deciding factor in marginal opening bid decisions, so I would pass if my spades were Q-9-x-x-x and my clubs K-J-10.
Barry Rigal
Barry Rigal is an English-born bridge player, author, commentator, and journalist who has won major national titles in both the UK and the United States and served as a VuGraph commentator for decades at European and World championships. He has written and edited numerous bridge books and articles and has been President of the International Bridge Press Association, contributing widely to the game’s literature and education.
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