Club News Sheet – No. 222    www.pattayabridge.com        4th Feb 2007

 

       
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Mon 29th    1st N-S     Jan Roos & Lassee             60%         2nd    Arne & Lars                     59%

                  1st E-W    Clive & Gerry                     66%         2nd    Douwe & Jacques            62%

Wed 31st    1st N-S     Gastone & Terry                63%         2nd    Hugh & Sally                    61%

                  1st E-W    Paul Save.. & Ursula          62%         2nd    Jan v Koss & Royd          54%  

Fri 2nd        1st N-S     Gunnar & Lars                   60%         2nd    Alan & Hans                    54%

                  1st E-W    Bengt & Wolfgang              57%         2nd    Janne & Lasse                  56%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A RHO opens 1, what do you bid and what are your intentions?

A93              KQ873      

AQ2             2                   With Hand B partner opens 1and you bid 1. Partner then

K102            84                 bids 2, what do you bid?

AK92           KJ972

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz

 

C     1      pass   2      2NT       What is 2NT, is it natural and strong or Unusual?

D     1     pass   1      pass       What is 1, is it natural or 4th suit forcing?

1      pass   1     

E      1      dbl     pass   2         How many points is the 2NT bid?

pass   2NT

F      1      pass   1      pass       is 2 weak, encouraging or forcing? How many ’s?

2      pass   2     

 

Editorial

 

I continue to get the odd complaint about this and that, but opinions seem to differ about the suitability of the Tropicana. Here is an e-mail from John Bartlett: -

 

I am very happy at the Tropicana.

 

The sandwiches are great, the free 'as much as you want' tea/coffee is just amazing.

Big fat room with big fat tables and no interruptions from the Thai staff, luvvly !!!.

 

I keep my bladder in check and have never used the toilets, I have no idea where they are.

I don't smoke, so no smoking upstairs is wonderful.

I like to walk up the stairs, it keeps one fit and it’s only 1 flight !

 

It's a perfect venue, thanks for finding this place, I just love it here and hope we never have to move away !

 

Manners at our club – another one bites the dust.

 

Rudeness will not be tolerated at the Pattaya Bridge Club. Emil has finally received a life ban. Dave refunded his playing fee on Wednesday and he’s thrown out for good, to join the other dozen or so mis-fits who simply cannot behave in a civilised manner.


A balanced 20 count when RHO opens              Board 8 from Wednesday 31st

 

North at Table A asked me what he should have done. As it happens I remembered the board as I was North at table B

 

Dealer:             A93                                            Table A

West                AQ2                                           West          North(A)    East          South

Love all            K102                                          1              2   (1)      pass         pass

                        AK92                                         pass    

                       

KQJ107            N             842                       Table B

KJ5                W    E          1096                     West          North(A)    East          South

J6                        S              98754                  1              dbl   (1)      pass         2   (2)

QJ7                                    103                      pass           2NT (3)      pass         pass (4)

                        65                                               pass

8743                                          

AQ3                                         

8654

 

 

Table A:     (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? This North went into a huddle and did not know what to do. He thought that he had read in the news-sheets that a double of 1 promises 4 ’s and he had also read that if you have to lie, then lie in a minor. So he bid 2 and awaited developments. Unfortunately he is still waiting.

Table B:     (1)  This North doubled, the correct answer to question A.

(2)   2 is a better bid as doubler generally has 4 ’s.

(3)   But North bids 2NT anyway, showing a balanced 19-21 with a stop.

(4)   And South is in a spot now. Partner has a big hand but does he have 4 ’s? South was not quite sure how strong North was (this was a first time partnership) and so passed.

 

And what happened? There are only 7 immediate tricks in No Trumps; with the finesse and setting up a as extra chances. At Table B declarer in 2NT ducked two round of ’s and won the third round discarding a from dummy. He crossed to dummy and took the finesse. West was later in a bit of difficulty on the 3rd round of ’s; he thought that he had to keep the KJ and was reluctant to throw a winning , so he threw a - this losing decision may well have been influenced by declarer’s deceptive discarding of a from dummy at trick three. Declarer thus made 10 tricks for a near top, only beaten by the one declarer in 3NT: -.

Dave was declarer in 3NT at another table (he doubled and then bid 3NT). For some strange reason he did not receive a lead, but a . Dave found a nice line to secure the contract when he ducked a (thus setting up a long trick provided that the ’s split 3-2) and later took the finesse for the 9 tricks needed.

The bottom lines:

-         A double of 1 generally promises 4 ’s, but not if you bid again over partner’s response –

-         Double followed by a NoTrump bid shows a balanced 19-21 with a stop.

-         There is no point in leading your own suit of 98754 when you have no entry!

-         It’s usually best to lead partner’s suit.

-         With a worthless hand, definitely lead partner’s suit.

 


Beware of mis-fits                                                Board 5 from Wednesday 31st

 

East got his side way too high on this mis-fitting deal, and then tried to blame his partner!

 

Dealer:             A1092                                       

North               10874                                         West          North         East(B)     South

N-S vul            76                                               -                 pass           pass (1)    pass

                        AQ3                                           1              pass           1            pass

2              pass           2    (2)    pass

-                        N             KQ873                 3  (3)        pass           3NT (4)    all pass

AKQ963        W    E          2                    

K9532                S              84                  

106                                    KJ972                 

                        J654                                          

J5                                              

AQJ10                                      

854

 

(1)   A perfect Muiderberg 2 opener – I guess this pair were playing normal weak twos.

(2)   What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? This East hand started off as a good 9 points, but it has got worse with every bid that partner has made. 2 here is mildly encouraging and promises a 6-card suit – I would never dream of encouraging nor rebidding this poor 5 card suit. 2 is clearly the best bid.

(3)   West chose to show his 5th rather than his 6th ♥, but it does not really matter as East has got the partnership too high anyway.

(4)   This is a terrible bid, with East overbidding again with nowhere near the values for 3NT. It’s a mis-fit and East should simply pass or bid 3.

 

And what happened? 3NT went two down for a totally deserved complete bottom for East. Most pairs were playing in various numbers of ’s making anything from 7 to 10 tricks. Note that the A, A, Q and A all lay well for declarer but he still went two down – just goes to show what a really lousy bid 3NT is; swap the North and South hands and declarer will probably only scrape up about 4 tricks! At the end of the deal East was quick to criticise West’s 3 bid, saying that he should have bid 3. A classic ‘doing a Chuck’ – immediately try to blame partner for your own mistakes.

The bottom lines:

-         Beware of mis-fits.

-         Bail out at the earliest opportunity (at (2) here) with a mis-fit.

-         It is hardly ever correct to play a mis-fit in NoTrumps.

-         If you ‘do a Chuck’ then expect to be written up if I am within earshot. But no names.

 


Opening 1NT out-of range is not allowed.                East hand 24 from Wednesday 31st

 

Q1096          I was called over when this East apparently opened this with a 15-17 1NT

A43              and thus fixed the opposition. You are not allowed to open 1NT way out 

A105            of range and if you do so you will receive an adjusted (unfavourable) score.

K102           This hand is two points shy. Those (like me) who do not simply add points but

also adjust for intermediates and shape will then adjust – add on a point for the good intermediates but deduct a point for the very bad totally flat shape. So this hand is still two points outside the stated range and I adjusted the score. One point outside is acceptable, two is not. Incidentally, you should have a specific (2-4 point) range for your 1NT opening; a statement like “15-17 but could be as much as 20” is totally unacceptable – especially when it turns out to be 13.

 

A108            Improve the hand to something like this and I would not argue with a 1NT

K10              opening. It’s still 13 ‘points’ but in reality is worth 15-16 because of the

K105            good shape, the tens and good intermediates.

QJ1098       

 

AQ4             And with a hand like this I would not argue if you chose to open 1 and

K43              rebid 1NT – showing 12-14 points. The hand is 16 ‘points’ but the miserable 

AJ2               shape and lack of intermediated make it worth about 14.

Q432          

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:    Dbl, with the intention of bidding 2NT over partner’s non-jump response. The initial double implies 4 ’s but the subsequent NoTrump bid negates that inference and simply shows a hand too strong to overcall 1NT (so around 19-21).

Hand B:    2. The hand is a mis-fit and you should stop as soon as possible. The hand does not have the values for 2NT and a mildly encouraging 2 with just a 5 card suit is a very poor bid.

 

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz Answers

 

C     1      pass   2      2NT       2NT here in the sandwich seat is the same as an unusual

No Trump, weak and 5-5 or better in the unbid suits.

D     1     pass   1      pass       This is generally played as natural and forcing, with a 

1      pass   1                    jump to 2 as 4th suit forcing.

E      1      dbl     pass   2         The 2NT bid having doubled shows a hand that is too strong

pass   2NT                           for an immediate 1NT (15-18) overcall; so 19-21.

F      1      pass   1      pass       2 here is mildly encouraging but not forcing. It most certainly

2      pass   2                    should be a 6+ card suit.