Chilmark’s Miles Jaffe spends his winters playing bridge, among other things, in New Zealand and France, but a lesson he learned at the Hartford, Conn., Bridge Club really struck home.

Jaffe was playing with Doug Doub, a leading player and teacher. Inevitably, someone bid 1NT, which was passed out. Aha, Doub thought, a teaching moment. When 1NT is passed to the balancing (pass-out) seat, points are likely to be roughly even between North-South and East-West. Therefore, Doub said, the player in the balancing seat should try to bid something. Even with nothing more than two four-card suits, he maintained, a bid other than pass is desirable.

Cut to June 2 at the Martha’s Vineyard Bridge Club. I was sitting North-South with Jaffe on Board 15, with East dealing and East-West vulnerable:

NORTH (Kaplan)
♠ K 9 8
♥ 9 7 6 3
♦ K Q 8 7
♣ J 7

WEST                              EAST
♠ 7 6 4                           ♠ A J 5 3
♥ 8 5 2                           ♥ A J 10
♦ J 6 5                            ♦ A 9 2
♣ A Q 10 5                    ♣ K 9 4

SOUTH (Jaffe)
♠ Q 10 2
♥ K Q 4
♦ 10 4 3
♣ 8 6 3 2

The bidding proceeded as follows:

East            South            West            North
1NT            Pass              Pass             2 ♦*
Pass            2♥ **          All Pass

* Shows diamonds and a higher suit
** Willing to play contract in hearts or spades

Opening lead: ♣ A

Jaffe and I were playing DONT, (Disturb Opponents’ NoTrump) a system used to compete over 1NT. Double shows a 6+ suit, partner replying 2 ♣ to allow the doubler to place the contract. With two four- or five-card suits, overcaller bids the lower of the two suits.  Partner passes with three-card support or raises to the next suit, allowing the overcaller to pass if that is his suit, or to bid yet a higher suit.  Here Jaffe had three cards in diamonds, but chose hearts, knowing he had three-card support in each major as well. The system also applies with 5-4 in the two suits. With 5-5 in the minors you can bid 2NT.

Recalling the play from the rheumy mists of aging memory, all I recollect is that we went down one. Our score of -50 gave us a top board, because 1NT by East was making at other tables to leave North-South with an inferior -90 or -120.

Please note that we used DONT under the least favorable conditions. East-West had 24 high-card points, the most possible to pass out a 1NT bid, and we had 16. Moreover, we sallied forth with just a seven-card trump suit.

And yet we got a top. A critic reminds me that we might have just been lucky, and that 5-5 and 5-4 distributions are preferable to the potentially suicidal lot I had. But you have to admit: Doug Doub and Miles Jaffe are on to something about combatting that nasty 1NT opener.

Here’s the lineup of duplicate bridge clubs for the summer:

Monday 1 p.m.: Edgartown Bridge Club, which has switched play to the Tisbury Council on Aging, 34 Pine Tree Road in Vineyard Haven.

Tuesday at 7 p.m.: Martha’s Vineyard Bridge Club at Christ United Methodist Church on the corner of Church and Williams streets, Vineyard Haven.

Thursday at 7 p.m.: Island Bridge Club at the Up-Island Council on Aging across the street from Alley’s General Store in West Tisbury.

Saturday at 9:30 a.m. (registration and coffee start at 9), beginning June 20: Bridge Club of Martha’s Vineyard at the Tisbury Council on Aging.