Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 296

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 13^th July 2008

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

Mon 7^th 1^st Janne & Per-Ake 64% 2^nd Lewis & Terry = Jan & Jean-Charles 56%

Wed 9^th 1^st George & Oli 60% 2^nd Ivy & Robbie 56%

Fri 11^th 1^st Jean-Francois & Lewis 69% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 63%

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Bidding Quiz Stand American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A everybody is vulnerable. Partner opens 1♠ and

RHO overcalls 2♥, what do you bid?

♠ K94 ♠ J

♥ K963 ♥ AJ With Hand B you open 1♣ and partner bids 1♠, what do

♦ KJ6 ♦ J854 you bid?

♣ J96 ♣ AKQJ87

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 2NT, what do you bid?

♠ 9764 ♠ J10862

♥ Q1075 ♥ J84 With Hand D everybody is vulnerable. You open 1♠ and

♦ K93 ♦ AQ2 LHO overcalls 2♥, passed to you. What do you do?

♣ 54 ♣ AQ

Hand E Hand F With Hands E & F RHO opens 1♥, what do you bid?

♠ Q108 ♠ Q108

♥ AQJ3 ♥ AQJ43

♦ 4 ♦ -

♣ AKJ109 ♣ AKJ109

Is it a psyche?

Hand G The news-sheets come out on Mondays, and on 7^th there was the usual

(last week) gathering of people before the game. There was a discussion about Hand G

♠ K106 (reproduced here). RHO opens 1♥ and what do you bid? I actually bid 1NT

♥ KQ954 at the table and Jeremy said that it was a psyche. Dave sided with me, saying

♦ - that a 1NT overcall guarantees 15-18 and a stop but may be unbalanced.

♣ AKQJ8 Jeremy insisted that if unbalanced, then the shortage must be ace or king.

So who’s right? Well of course you know the answer. What did you bid with Hand E in this week’s quiz? It is from page 251 of Eric Crowhurst’s “Acol in Competition”.

Eric advocates a 1NT overcall. So a 1NT overcall does not guarantee a balanced hand nor an honour in the short suit, just a good ♥ stop. Move the ♦4 to the ♥ suit to get this week’s hand F (virtually the same as last week’s hand G) and it’s still a 1NT overcall in my opinion, as it would be if the ♦4 is moved to the ♠ suit. Never mind the void, show your values and stops.

Incidentally, apparently another player made a ‘trap pass’ with Hand G. On the same page and referring to the same hand, Eric Crowhurst says that “trap passes have become unfashionable in all the best circles”. Since the book was written 20 years ago, a ‘trap pass’ is now clearly unfashionable unless we’ve gone ‘full circle’.

Bid that slam Board 14 from Monday 7^th

Just one pair bid slam with these E-W cards on Monday, with 7♥ or 7NT cold.

Dealer: ♠ KQ542 Table A

East ♥ 1093 West North East(B) South

Love all ♦ K7 - - 1♣ pass

♣ 1052 1♠ pass 3NT (1) pass

6♥ (2) pass pass (3) pass

♠ A10987 N ♠ J

♥ KQ964 W E ♥ AJ ‘Expert’ Table

♦ A S ♦ J854 West North East(B) South

♣ 43 ♣ AKQJ87 - - 1♣ pass

♠ 63 1♠ pass 3NT (1) pass

♥ 752 4♣ (4) pass 4♥ (5) pass

♦ Q109632 4NT (6) pass 5♣ (7) pass

♣ 96 5♦ (8) pass 5NT (9) pass

7NT (10)

Hand A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? This 3NT rebid shows a good hand and a good long ♣ suit and is the best bid in my opinion.

(2) Showing a good hand and both majors.

(3) East is a little short of room to investigate now. The choices are pass, 6♠ or 6NT. Having already shown his hand, he elected to play in the trump suit with AJ rather than J singleton. Good choice. He did not bid 6NT because the ♦’s may be wide open.

‘Expert’ Our Experts have to be a bit devious in order to reach the optimum 7NT.

Table: (4) Setting ♣’s as trumps and usually looking for a ♣ slam.

(5) A cue bid, showing the ♥A.

(6) RKCB for ♣’s

(7) 3 keycards

(8) Do you have the trump queen?

(9) Yes, but no other king.

(10) West can hopefully count 6 ♣’s, 1 ♦. 5 ♥’s and 1 ♠.

And what happened? 6♥ makes +1 easily enough for a clear top. Seems everybody else was chicken. 3NT+4 (three times) and 5♣+1.

The bottom lines: -

- A 3NT rebid over a 1-level response generally shows a good hand with a good long suit or else 20+ with shortage in partner’s suit. With a balanced 18-19, rebid 2NT.

- How many chickens make up a roost?

- It’s difficult to bid this hand to 6NT or 7NT – West does not know that East’s ♣’s are running and East does not know that partner has the ♦A. The ‘Expert’ auction was realistic but West had to gamble on there being 5 ♥ tricks; it needs ♥’s 3-3 or partner with the ♥J – but if there were not 5 ♥ tricks then maybe there were 5 ♠ tricks? Maybe I prefer Lewis’ 6♥ bid!

Go for the penalty? Board 10 from Monday 7^th

Dealer: ♠ K94 Table A

East ♥ K963 West North(A) East South(D)

Both vul ♦ KJ6 - - pass 1♠

♣ J96 2♥ pass (1) pass pass (2)

♠ AQ5 N ♠ 73 Table B

♥ AQ1052 W E ♥ 7 West North(A) East South

♦ 98 S ♦ 107543 - - pass 1♠

♣ 1087 ♣ K5432 2♥ 2NT (1) pass 3NT

♠ J10862 all pass

♥ J84

♦ AQ2

♣ AQ

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? At equal vulnerability I think it’s best to look for game. These ♥’s are not really good enough to for the ♥ penalty.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? It looks like an automatic re-opening double to me. Whether South forgot or considered that it was unlikely that North had a penalty hand when he held ♥J84 I am not sure.

Table B: (1) West’s overcall has made it slightly difficult for North given that he does not want to go for the penalty, but he has two options. He can bid 3♥, showing a sound raise to 3♠ or better; or he can bid 2NT, showing +- 11 points and a good ♥ stop. It’s very close but with decent ♠’s, 3♥ probably just has the edge and gets my vote for the answer to question A.

And what happened? Nobody reached the best contract of 4♠. 3NT made +2 and 660 for the top, 2♥ went minus 2 for 200 and 2♠+3 also scored 200. Two others somehow failed to bid game (2NT+2 and 3♠=).

The bottom lines: -

- At equal or unfavourable vulnerability, K963 is not good enough to go for the penalty.

- Remember the re-opening double if you play negative doubles.

Dave’s Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the play of the hand.

North South You are North, declarer in 4♠, East leads the ♥9, plan the play.

♠ QJ108 ♠ 9764 You win with the ♥K and play the ♠Q to West’s ♠K.

♥ AKJ ♥ Q1075 West returns the ♣J. You cover with the ♣K but East wins with

♦ AQ2 ♦ K93 the ♣A and returns the ♣2 to the ♣8 and ♣Q.

♣ KQ3 ♣ 54 At trick 5 you lead the ♠J which holds, East discarding a small ♦.

How do you continue?

Dave’s Column answer Board 5 from Wednesday 9^th

Dealer: ♠ QJ108 Table A

North ♥ AKJ West North East South(C)

N-S vul ♦ AQ2 - 2NT pass 3NT (1)

♣ KQ3 all pass

♠ K N ♠ A532 Table B

♥ 8643 W E ♥ 92 West North East South(C)

♦ J875 S ♦ 1064 - 2NT pass 3♣ (1)

♣ J1098 ♣ A762 pass 3♠ pass 4♠

♠ 9764 all pass

♥ Q1075

♦ K93 (1) What did you bid with this South hand C in this

♣ 54 week’s quiz? It seems two South’s have apparently

not yet mastered Stayman.

Anyway, just as last week, Eddie Kantar assumes that anybody reading his book knows about Stayman and will automatically be in the sensible contract of 4♠.

East leads the ♥9, plan the play.

As it is always safer to draw all of the opponents’ trumps if possible, you must ask yourself what can happen if you play a 3^rd round of trumps?

For one thing, East can win and play a 4^th round. Will that hurt you? Count your tricks. If East plays back a 4^th trump you will have two ♠ tricks, four ♥ tricks, three ♦ tricks and one ♣ trick, that’s ten.

So why put this hand in the book?

Because many players panic when they run into a bad trump division and neglect to count tricks. For example, if declarer has decided to trump a ♣ before playing a 3^rd round of trumps, he goes down! For now when East wins the ♠A (with no trump remaining in dummy) he plays a 4^th ♣ forcing declarer to ruff with his last trump and East’s last trump becomes the setting trick.

So why did Dave put this fairly simple hand in the boards for Wednesday?

To teach people to use Stayman! Last week two got away with it, not this week.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Two pairs were in the best contract of 4♠ and made exactly or made +1 (when East inexplicably popped up with the ♠A on the first round of trumps). At the two other tables, where South made the totally hideous bid of 3NT at (1), they both quite deservedly went one down scoring what they deserved – a bottom.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the play of the hand.

West East You are West, declarer in 4♥.

♠ 763 ♠ KQJ North leads the ♣Q which South wins and returns the ♣7,

♥ AJ9832 ♥ K54 plan the play.

♦ J ♦ AK74

♣ K65 ♣ 432

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 4 from Wednesday 9^th

Dealer: ♠ 982 West North East South

West ♥ Q1076 2♥ pass 2NT (1) pass

both vul ♦ Q98 3♠ (2) pass 4♥ all pass

♣ QJ10

(1) Ogust – how good is your hand?

♠ 763 N ♠ KQJ (2) Max with points in the ♥ suit.

♥ AJ9832 W E ♥ K54

♦ J S ♦ AK74 North leads the ♣Q which South wins and

♣ K65 ♣ 432 returns the ♣7, plan the play.

♠ A1054

♥ -

♦ 106532

♣ A987 .

Things look pretty rosey. You can discard your losing ♣ on a top ♦ and you have only a ♠ and perhaps a trump loser.

But wait! When things look too good you ask yourself what can possibly go wrong? In this case the most likely thing that can go wrong is all four trumps in one hand.

So take out a little insurance. Remember, you can afford to lose one trump trick but not two.

The safety play is to win the ♣K and play the ♥A. If everybody follows cross to the ♥K. Assuming ♥’s are 3-1 and the ♥Q is outstanding, play off the top ♦’s, discarding a ♣, conceding a ♠ and a trump to the opposition.

However, if somebody shows out on the ♥A, you must proceed with a bit more caution. Say, for example, that North shows out. Fine, cross to the ♥K, discard your losing ♣ on the top ♦, and lead up to the ♥J. You only lose one trump trick that way.

Say that South shows out – as in the diagram. Fine. Play the ♥8 which North must cover, win the ♥K, discard the ♣ loser on the top ♦ and concede a ♥ to North’s ♥Q.

Terry’s comment. This is a typical IMPs safety play. You give up the chance of an overtrick to ensure the contract. The odds of North having ♥Q1076 are 4.78%. I put the hand into our suit play program and it played the ♥K in pairs mode (as played at the Pattaya Bridge Club most of the time) and played the ♥A at IMPs. Playing the ♥A gains in just 4.78% of the cases and playing the ♥K is far superior at pairs scoring.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Everybody was in 4♥, three went down and one made it, I believe by some sort of end-play.

Play Problem Here’s another play problem that was randomly dealt.

West East You are West, declarer in 3NT against mediocre opponents,

♠ A109 ♠ KJ873 how do you play the ♠ suit?

♥ K53 ♥ AQ2

♦ KQ3 ♦ 10976

♣ 9765 ♣ A

Play problem answer Board 21 from Monday 7th

Dealer: ♠ 42 West North East South

North ♥ J96 - pass 1♠ pass

N-S vul ♦ AJ4 2♣ (1) pass 2♦ pass

♣ QJ1043 2♠ (2) pass 3♣ (3) pass

3NT (4) pass pass (5) pass

♠ A109 N ♠ KJ873

♥ K53 W E ♥ AQ2 (1) game forcing playing two-over-one

♦ KQ3 S ♦ 10976 (2) showing 3-card support

♣ 9765 ♣ A (3) A cue-bid, showing the ♣A

♠ Q65 (4) I don’t like this bid at all. Partner has shown

♥ 10874 an unbalanced hand with 9+ cards in the

♦ 852 pointed suits and with no slam ambitions

♣ K82 West should bid 4♠.

(5) East assumed that West had 3 very poor ♠’s.

Anyway, onto the play in 3NT with East as dummy, how do you play the ♠ suit?

This is very similar to the play problem last week. You should play North for the ♠Q as you can pick up ♠Qxxx with North but not with South.

But there is an extra chance here. The ♠J is exposed on table and the best play is to lead it – an inexperienced South may just cover! If South smoothly plays low you go with the percentages and overtake with the ♠A and lead the ♠10 and let it run.

And what happened? South was an inexperienced player and he covered the ♠J. 3NT thus made an overtrick but only scored an average as others were scoring more in the superior 4♠ contract. The bottom lines: -

- Do not automatically cover an honour with an honour – you should only do so if it promotes a card in your hand or is likely to promote a card in partner’s hand.

- In this particular case, when the ♠J was played from table, and astute South should know West’s holding exactly. He is marked with ♠A109 as with any other holding he would play a ♠ up to table and finesse the ♠J. Also, it is very unlikely that an experienced declarer will play the ♠J with the intention of running it – if he was going to finesse South he would fist cash the ♠K to cope with a singleton ♠Q with North.

- Onto the bidding – A decent 5-3 fit is generally better than NoTrumps if either hand is unbalanced, here East has shown an unbalanced hand and the contract should be 4♠.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3♥, a sound raise to 3♠ or better. Another very good option is 2NT as this hand has 1½ ♥ stops. The third option is to go for the penalty and pass, and pass partner’s presumed re-opening double, but these trumps are not really good enough and this is my 3^rd choice by a long way.

Hand B: 3NT. 2NT is 18-19 and 3NT is best used to show a good hand with a good long minor.

Hand C: 3♣, Stayman. Now I know that this is totally obvious with two 4-card majors and a very weak doubleton, but two out of four bid the totally ludicrous 3NT.

Hand D: Double. Automatic when playing Negative Doubles.

Hand E: 1NT, 15-17 and a ♥ stop. A 1NT overcall does not promise a balanced hand.

Hand F: 1NT, 15-17 and a ♥ stop. As above but more so.