What is your view on attitude leads, where against no-trump the smaller the card you lead, the more likely it is that you have a good or long suit?

Wally Pipp, Seneca, S.C.

The idea of attitude leads is to help partner work out at once whether the lead is from a strong or weak suit, relative to the rest of the hand. To that extent they are a good idea, but I’m not convinced they are a major improvement on standard fourthhighest leads. I give them a qualified approval!

We play negative doubles, with the agreement that the higher the level of the double, the more optional they become. So when I held: ♠ —, ♥ A-Q-6-4-3-2, ♦ J-6, ♣ A-Q-7-4-3, and opened one heart, and heard my LHO bid four spades, doubled by my partner, I did not know what to do. I chose to bid five clubs, and found my partner with a 4-2-5-2 shape. Was I out of line to bid here?

Missed Doubt, Jackson, Tenn.

I’m happy to tell you that I agree with your choice absolutely. Your partner’s double tends to show ‘transferable values’ — cards that will work well on offense or defense, and you were right to remove with your extreme distribution, whatever the result. If your partner just has trump tricks he should pass and await your re-opening double.

When your right hand opponent opens one diamond, and you have a balanced hand with a five-card major in the range to overcall one no-trump, such as ♠ K-10-5-3-2, ♥ J-6-3, ♦ A-Q-6, ♣ A-Q, should you double, overcall in spades, or bid one no-trump?

Balanced Response, Augusta, Maine

With a respectable five-card major I would try to avoid either doubling or bidding one no-trump, since the risk of losing your suit altogether is a little too high for me. I am not a fan of doubling with 5-3 in the majors – partner does the wrong thing rather too often. I know many players bid one no-trump here; it is not unreasonable, I admit.

Have you ever heard of the principle of the transferred king? It sounds like a Sherlock Holmes story, but my partner referred me to it after a bidding accident following a protective no-trump sequence.

Weighed in the Balance, Charlottesville, Va.

The idea of action in the balancing seat is that the minimum for any call is about a king less than in the direct seat. So in responding to a balancing call, you need about a king more to act than you would have done. In other words if a balancing one no-trump bid is 12-14, you can only invite facing it with a 12count, not a nine-count.

What would you bid with the following hand: ♠ K-10-5, ♥ 9-6, ♦ A-K-Q-6-3, ♣ J-7-4 after opening one diamond and hearing a one spade response? I could not decide between a raise, and rebidding in diamonds or no-trump.

Seconds Out, Las Vegas, Nev.

I prefer the raise to an anti-positional rebid in no-trump or a rebid of my own suit — which ought to show six. Yes, a raise of spades delivers four trump more often than it does three, but when as here you have ruffing values and good trump, the raise seems right to me.