Dear Mr. Rigal: How would you open the bidding with ? Q-10-3-2, ? A-Q-J-10, ? A-7, ? A-7-2?

Answer: I would upgrade this hand to the 18-19 range and open one club. The combining heart cards are strong, and the spade 10 might also be useful. Picture partner with three-small hearts; your ace-queen-jack-10 will play for four tricks if the king is onside. By contrast, holding ace-queen-fourth in hearts and an outside jack will likely produce at least one fewer trick.

Dear Mr. Rigal: What does it mean if I open one spade and jump to three spades over partner’s game-forcing response of two hearts?

Answer: As you are already in a force, there is no need to take up space with jumps. Good hands can start slowly, while jumps should carry specific meanings. Here, it is traditional for opener’s jump rebid to show a solid or semisolid suit (missing the ace or king), playable for at most one loser facing a singleton. That is ace-king-queen-seventh, king-queen-jack-10-sixth or something similar. Such a call should not be made on a dead minimum hand.

Dear Mr. Rigal: I did not know what to bid over my partner’s one-spade opening when I held ? J-9-6-3, ? 9-3, ? 9-6, ? Q-8-7-6-5, everyone vulnerable. What would you recommend?

Answer: You could pass, but that would give the opponents an easy way into the auction. I would probably respond with a forcing one no-trump, intending to give preference back to spades. This also keeps alive our slim hope of a game while perhaps persuading my left-hand opponent to stay silent with a marginal hand.

Dear Mr. Rigal: How would you handle the suit of ace-jack-nine-sixth in dummy facing king-10 in hand, needing five tricks and having no outside entries to the long suit?

Answer: Some players like to run the 10 here. The idea is that the fourth hand might win with the queen, after which you can overtake the king with the ace to run the suit. If second hand hops in with the queen, you can afford to duck. The trouble is that this approach loses out to queen-third onside (and queen-third offside if fourth hand is clever enough to realize why their partner did not play the king). It depends a bit on your estimation of the opposition, but I would recommend simply cashing the king and then finessing the jack on the next round.

Dear Mr. Rigal: Is it permissible to converse in a language other than English at the bridge table during international matches?

Answer: When the board is on the table, English is the official table language — no matter which countries are involved. However, if everyone agrees on another language, they can use it. This is done at their own risk, though, for there is no recourse if something is misunderstood. In international events, this is not uncommon. I remember a time when Brazil met Australia, and the organizers asked if they needed a translator. No, everyone present spoke Hungarian!

Contact Barry Rigal, email him at barryrigal@hotmail.com