Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 259 

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880                   21st Oct 2007

It is best to use my home number to contact me unless I am at the bridge club.

My e-mail is terry@pattayabridge.com or pattayabridge@yahoo.com

My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

         
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Mon 15th              1st    Bill & Dave                    60%       2nd    Lewis & Terry                      57%

Wed 17th              1st   Ivy & Wolfgang              66%       2nd= Lewis&Terry / Lars&Jean    57%

Fri    19th              1st    Lars & Tomas                58%       2nd    Lewis & Bill                         57%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           What do you open with Hand A?

 

974               9742             With Hand B partner opens 1.

6                   AK6             (a) What do you bid?

AKQ8764    QJ7               (b)  Suppose you choose 1 and partner rebids 1NT, what now?

32                J105

                                                                       

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C you open 1 and : -

(a)  LHO overcalls 1 and partner bids 4, what do you do?

K9                9842             (b)  LHO overcalls 2 (weak) and partner bids 4, what do you do?

KJ9876        43

AJ10             AK               With hand D you open 1 and LHO doubles. Partner redoubles

AJ                KQ643        RHO bids 1, what do you do?

 

Bidding Sequence quiz           There were loads of bidding mis-understandings this week

 

E      4                                   (a) What is a 4 opening?, and (b) What is a 4NT opening?

F      1      1      4                Is 4 weak or strong?

G     1      2      4                2 is a weak jump overcall, is 4 weak or strong?

H     1     dbl     pass   1      How strong is 1?

J      1      1NT   pass   2    What is 2?

K     2      pass   pass   2NT  

pass   3                          What is 3?

L      1      pass   1      pass  

2                                    Is 2 forcing?

M    1      pass   2     pass  

2                                    Is 2 forcing?

N     1      pass   1      pass  

2      pass   2NT             How strong is 2NT?

P      1     dbl     redbl  1     

dbl                                   What is dbl? is it showing ’s or penalties?


The Gambling 3NT                                              Board 24 from Monday 15th   

 

The ‘gambling 3NT’ is not gambling at all! – you tell partner your hand pretty precisely and he should know what to do:

Dealer:             J8652                                         West(A)     North         East            South

West                943                                             3NT (1)      pass           pass (2)      pass (3)

Love all            1053                                    

                        97                                        (1)  What did you open with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? This                                                        really is too good for

974                    N             AK103                 3 and a 1 opening will let the opponents

6                    W    E          QJ102                  in cheaply to find their major suit fit.

AKQ8764         S              J2                         There really is only one sensible bid with

32                                      Q65                    this hand type – the Gambling 3NT.

                        Q                                          (2)  The 3NT opening promises absolutely no

AK875                                       ace or king outside and partner should only

9                                                 pass with cover in three suits. This East decided

AKJ1086                                   to pass as it’s possible partner has the J or

he may get a lead.

(3)  West informed South that East had a decent hand (a stopper in each suit) but surely South should bid?         

And what happened? 3NT got a lead and made +2 when declarer subsequently finessed the J. At another table 3NT made exactly but was played by East. At another table the opponents were allowed in after a mere 3 opening and found the good ‘save’ in 4 doubled.

The bottom lines: -

-         The Gambling 3NT is a great bid – it is very specific (a totally solid 7 or 8 card minor).

 

The Club Championships       The current standings for the top 5 in each competition are: -

 

Gold Cup = Best 30                 Silver plate = Best 10      Bronze medal = Best 5

 

1837.7  Jan v Koss                  666.8  Janne Roos                    350.4  Janne Roos

1822.1  Dave Cutler                 655.2  Jan v Koss                    343.2  Bengt Malmgren

1816.8  Janne Roos                  644.2  Dave Cutler                   340.3  Jan v Koss

1760.9  Bob Pelletier                644.1  Bengt Malmgren            332.9  Paul Savelkral

1725.8  Phil Lovell                   641.9  Lewis Berg                    332.0  Lewis Berg

 

 

Dave’s Column   Here is this week’s Dave input involving the best play for the contract.          

 

West                East                  You are West, playing in 3NT. How do you play on the 6 lead

KQ2             75                 when South plays the 9?

A974            K63             

AK8             1076            

972              AK864


Dave’s Column answer                      Board 27 from Wednesday 17th

 

   

Dealer:             AJ863                                         West          North         East            South

South               J85                                            -                 -                 -                 pass

Love all            954                                             1NT (1)      pass           3NT           all pass

                        Q3

(1)  The obvious opening. I understand that one

KQ2                  N             75                         West arrived in a ridiculous contract after

A974              W    E          K63                     opening 1.

AK8                   S              1076              

972                                    AK864           Anyway, onto the play.      

                        1094                                     North leads the 6 against 3NT and South plays the

Q102                                    9. You win the trick and note that South is now the

QJ32                                     ‘danger hand’., since a through your remaining honour

J105                                     may well spell defeat. You need to set up dummy’s ’s without the danger hand gaining the lead.

 

How can this be done? Suppose you play the A, K and another . If North has started with three ’s all would be well. He would have to win the 3rd round and you would be safe. When South has 3 ’s, as in the diagram, you would go down. South would win the 3rd round of ’s and the defenders would score 4 tricks.

When North has only two ’s, you will need him to hold the Q in order to make the contract. Lead a towards dummy. If North should happen to play the Q, you will duck and have the safe hand on lead. It is more likely that North will play low on the first round; so you win with dummy’s A and return to the West hand to lead another towards dummy. The Q appears from North and you duck, leaving the safe hand on lead. You thus ensure 9 tricks and 10 if North elects to lead another .

 

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT was bid 3 times and made just once. The 4th pair were in a somewhat bizarre 6 going minus two. 

The bottom lines: -

-     Sometimes you can duck a trick to the defender who sits over your strong holding in a suit.

 

Message from Osama to Bush

 

After numerous rounds of “We don’t know if Osama is still alive”. Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know that he was still in the game.

Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a line of coded message:

370H – SSV – 0773H

Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Condoleezza Rice. Condi and her aides had not a clue either, so they sent it to the FBI.

No one could solve it at the FBI, so it went to the CIA and then onto NASA.

Eventually they asked Britain’s MI-6 for help.

Within a minute, MI-6 called the White House with this reply:

“Tell the President he’s holding the message upside down”  


That 4333 type shape again
                                Board 18 from Wednesday 17th    

 

I say it time and time again, but everybody except me failed to deduct a point for the 4333 shape on this deal and they all went two down as a result.

Dealer:             86                                               Table A

East                  J953                                           West          North         East(B)       South

N-S vul            854                                             -                 -                 pass           pass

                        AK86                                         1              pass           1    (1)      pass

1NT           pass           3    (2)      pass

A10                   N             9742                     4  (3)        all pass

Q10742          W    E          AK6                    

AK2                   S              QJ7                      Table B

943                                    J105                    West          North         East(B)       South

                        KQJ53                                      -                 -                 pass           pass

8                                                 1              pass           1    (1)      pass

10963                                         1NT           pass           2    (2)      all pass

Q72                                                  

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this East hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? I think it’s best to bid the suit in case there’s a fit. A 3 bid now would show 4 ’s. If the hand were 3 or so points weaker I would simply bid 2.

(2)   What did you bid with this East hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? It appears that everybody but one said ‘eleven points with good trump support’ and so bid an ‘automatic(?)’ 3.

(3)   This raise to 4 is borderline, but the hand does have two tens.

Table B:     (2)  At this table I was East, and I practice what I preach. I deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape and I bid a simple 2.

                       

And what happened? Every West made 8 tricks exactly so 2 making scored a complete top.

The bottom lines: -

-     Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape. Note that even if the trumps did split 3-2 then 4 still has no play whatsoever and would go down.

 


It’s penalties                                                        Board 6 from Friday 19th   

 

Dealer:             107                                             West          North         East(D)      South

East                  K10965                                      -                 -                 1             dbl

E-W vul           9742                                           redbl    (1)  1              dbl   (2)      pass

109                                            pass           pass (3)

 

AQ3                  N             9842               (1)  With no interference, 2NT is best; but after

A87                W    E          43                         the double 2NT is conventional and redouble

J108                    S              AK                      (showing 9+ points) is surely correct.

J752                                   KQ643          (2)  What did you bid with this East hand D in

                                                                              this week’s quiz? This double is nonsense -

                        KJ65                                         it’s penalties! East later claimed that it was

QJ2                                            showing ’s. If East really wants to show his

Q653                                          ’s then he can bid 1; but pass is very clear

A8                                              - it’s forcing and partner can double ’s if he wishes or else make a bid (2NT here)

(3)  Obviously North has been gifted a top, quite why he had to think for a whole minute before passing baffles me.     

And what happened? 2NT by E-W was bid and made exactly and 3NT was bid once making +1. 1 doubled made exactly for a clear top to N-S. The bottom lines: -

-     After an opening, a double and a redouble, all subsequent doubles are penalties.

 

It’s a strong bid                                                    Board 12 from Friday 19th   

 

Dealer:             AQJ842                                      West(C)     North         East            South

West                3                                                 1              2              4    (1)      pass

N-S vul            96                                               4NT (2)      pass           5              pass

10952                                        6              all pass

 

K9                     N             65                   (1)  What was you answer to sequence G?

KJ9876          W    E          AQ4                     4 here is a strong bid – there’s no such

AJ10                   S              K8752                 thing as a pre-empt after a pre-empt. The

AJ                                      K43                    alternative is 3 but 4 is simpler.

                        1073                                     (2) What did you bid with this West hand C in

1052                                           this week’s quiz? Blackwood is clear as

Q43                                            long as you understand that partner has a

Q876                                         good hand.

And what happened? Just this one pair bid the slam. Others played in 4 or 5 making 12 or 13 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

-     There’s no such thing as a pre-empt after a pre-empt.

-         The sequences 1 - pass - 4; 1 - 1 - 4; 1 - dbl - 4 are all weak. But the sequence 1- 2 - 4 is strong if the 2 bid was weak.


Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     3NT, showing a solid 7-8 card minor with absolutely no outside ace or king.

Hand B:     (a)  1. This is a decent hand and I like to show the ’s. A direct 3 now promises 4-card support.

(b)  2. 3 would show 11-12 points and three ’s – but this hand is not worth 11 points! Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

Hand C:    (a)  pass. Partner’s 4 bid is weak (sequence F)

(b)  4NT, Blackwood. Partner’s 4 bid is strong (sequence G)

Hand D:    Pass. Double is penalties and you should pass – forcing, just in case partner wants to double 1. 1 is a poor bid as partner is the captain and may have a penalty hand.

 

Bidding Sequence Answers

 

E(a) 4                                   A 4 opening is weak (8-9 ’s) unless you have agreed something else (like Namyats).

E(b) 4NT                                 A 4NT opening is rare. It asks partner to bid the suit of his ace. Responses are 5 = no ace; 5// or 6 = that ace; 5NT = 2 aces.

F      1      1      4                4 here is weak and pre-emptive

G     1      2      4                4 here is strong – you do not pre-empt over a pre-empt.

H     1     dbl     pass   1      A non-jump response to a double is about 0-8 points, with more you have to jump.

J      1      1NT   pass   2      2 is a transfer to ’s; systems are on after over a NoTrump overcall

K     2      pass   pass   2NT  

pass   3                          Again, 3 is a transfer (showing 5 ’s).

L      1      pass   1      pass  

2                                    2 is not forcing, it’s generally around 12-15 points.

M    1      pass   2     pass  

2                                    2 is forcing after a two-level response playing Standard American.

N     1      pass   1      pass  

2      pass   2NT             2NT here is 11-12, as it almost always is when bid by responder.

P      1     dbl     redbl  1     

dbl                                   Double is 100% penalties, and surely also is in France?