Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 302

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880              24th Aug 2008

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 18th      1st  Jeremy & Sally             63%       2nd    Bob & Robbie                              56%

Wed 20th      1st  Lewis & Terry              64%       2nd    Alan & Brian                                63%

Fri 22nd        1st  Bengt & Pedro             58%       2nd    George & Terry                            57%

 

Bidding Quiz                    Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A it’s favourable vulnerability. Partner opens 2,

and RHO passes, what do you do?

J107             KJ974                           

932               Q1092                                

732               8                  With Hand B partner opens 1NT, what do you do?

A832            1073                                         

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C you open 1NT and partner bids 2, what do

you bid?

AQ               K962                                   

AJ863          Q6                With Hand D RHO opens 2 and this is passed round to partner

Q93              Q9865         who bids 2NT, what do you do?

A42              J10

 

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz

 

E      2      pass   pass   2NT      

pass   3                             What is 3?

F      1NT   pass   2     pass      

3                                        What is 3? Is it sound and sensible?


The Club Championships

We now have five contenders qualifying for the Gold Cup competition. There are a lot of very good / expert players around now (Lewis, Paul Q, Jeremy, Hans V, Janne, to name but a few) so I think that there will be a few challengers to Dave emerging soon, there’s a busy four months coming up and more players means higher % winning scores.

 

 

Gold Cup = Best 30

Silver Plate = Best 10

Bronze Medal = Best 5

 

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

 

1821.3 Dave Cutler

1796.0 Sally Watson

1779.1 Ivy Schlageter

1766.2 Bob Pelletier

1707.4 Jan v Koss

 

661.8 Dave Cutler

661.1 Sally Watson

661.1 Jeremy Watson

656.9 Hans Vikman

642.0 Lars Gustafsson

641.3 Ivy Schlageter

634.3 Derek & Gerard

626.5 Bob Pelletier

615.7 Janne Roos

613.5 Terje Lie

 

 

342.3 Dave Cutler

341.9 Hans Vikman

341.1 Jeremy Watson

341.1 Sally Watson

336.9 Lars Gustafsson

335.3 Ivy Schlageter

328.5 Derek & Gerard

326.3 Tomas Wikman

320.5 Bob Pelletier

320.2 Terje Lie

...

 

 

 

Open 1NT with a singleton?                                South hand 25 from Friday 22nd  

 

Q864                  Two people opened this hand 1NT on Friday, this is against the club rules.

KJ93                  They both got bad scores and so no adjustments were necessary. 

A                        If you feel that we should allow this, then let Dave or me know and if

AQ107               there are enough people wanting to change the rule, we can have a vote.


It’s Stayman
                                                         Board 25 from Friday 22nd  

 

Dealer:             843                                             Table A

North               AJ10854                                    West          North         East(D)    South(A)

E-W vul           K                                               -                 2              pass         pass (1)

                        Q76                                           2NT (2)      pass           3   (3)    pass

pass (4)      pass          

AQ5                   N             K962                   

K7                  W    E          Q6                        Table B

AJ104                S              Q9865                 West          North         East(D)    South(A)

K954                                 J10                       -                 2              pass         pass (1)

                        J107                                          2NT  (2)     pass           3NT (3)    all pass

932                                           

732                                            

A832   

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? A very good basic rule is always raise partner’s pre-empt with three card support.

(2)   And West has a fairly clear 2NT bid, had South bid 3 then 3NT would not be so clear (or wise).

(3)   What did you bid with this East hand D in this week’s quiz? It’s surely best to look for a 4-4 fit and 3 here is Stayman.

(4)   Apparently West (and also the North-South pair at the table) thought that 3 was to play. I believe that South said that West cannot have a 4-card suit as otherwise he would have doubled. Total nonsense. A No-Trump overcall does not deny a 4-card major and most sensible pairs play systems on after a NoTrump overcall, so 3 is most certainly Stayman. And it would also be very silly/illogical for East to remove partner’s 2NT to 3 as then the opening lead goes right through partner’s stopper.

Table B:     (1)  This South also failed to raise – with disastrous consequences.

(3)  Presumably this East had a sound reason for not bidding Stayman?

 

And what happened? 3 went -1 for a clear bottom to E-W at Table A. At Table B North led the J which was won with dummy’s Q. Declarer took the losing finesse but North had no idea that the ’s were now good - because partner failed to support at (1). A switch would have worked but the unfortunate switch meant that declarer made his contract for the E-W top.

The bottom lines: -

-         Always raise partner’s pre-empt with three card support.

-         When partner overcalls in No-trumps, then systems (Stayman and transfers) are generally on unless you specifically agree otherwise.

 


Stayman Super-Accepts                                      Board 13 from Friday 22nd 

 

Everybody missed an easy 4+1 with these N-S cards. It seems that Stayman super-accepts are not well known?

 

Dealer:             KJ974                                        Table A

North               Q1092                                        West          North(B)    East          South(C)

both vul            8                                                -                 pass           pass         1NT (1)

                        1073                                          pass           2   (2)      pass         2    (3)

pass           pass (4)      pass

853                     N             1062                    

7                     W    E          K54                      ‘Expert’ Table

AKJ65               S              10742                  West          North(B)    East          South(C)

KQJ5                                 986                      -                 pass           pass         1NT (1)

                        AQ                                            pass           2   (2)      pass         3    (3)

AJ863                                       pass           4    (5)      all pass

Q93                                           

A42     

 

Table A:     (1)  This is a typical hand for advocating opening 1NT with a 5-card major. Open 1 and you have no way to show the strength and balanced nature of the hand.

(2)   What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? This is a typical Garbage Stayman bid; if partner responds 2 then you bid 2 to play.

(3)   What did you bid with this South hand C in this week’s quiz? 2 is pretty obvious unless you have delved into the theory of Garbage Stayman a little deeper (or have read about it).

(4)   North could try 3, but it’s really a gamble.

‘Expert’      (1)  Again the clear 1NT opening.

 Table:        (3)  Out experts know all about Stayman Super-accepts of course. This 3 bid is totally sound even playing Garbage Stayman – you are guaranteed a fit or else partner has invitational + values and you want to be in a game contract.

(5)  South has shown a maximum with 5 ’s and North has an easy raise to game.

 

And what happened? Everybody was in 2 or 3 and everybody made 11 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

-         Most bidding books say that when playing Garbage Stayman (2 bidder promises no points) then only the responses 2, 2 or 2 are allowed. This is superficial however, and super-accepts are logical and conform with the Law of Total Tricks. It is all explained in chapter 2.7 of “The Definitive Guide to NoTrump Bidding, Stayman and Transfers” – read it!

-     See the website: conventions > Section 2 > Stayman Super Accepts.

 

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

 

North               South               You are South, declarer in 4, West leads the Q, plan the play.

864               Q93

J5                 AKQ1098

QJ65             A

A832            K74                            

                                                                                     
Dave’s Column answer                      Board 7 from Wednesday 20th  

     

Dealer:             864                                             West          North         East            South

South               J5                                               -                 -                 -                 1

both vul            QJ65                                           pass           1NT           pass           4

                        A832                                          all pass

 

KJ10                  N             A752                   

732                 W    E          64                  

K104                 S              98732            

QJ109                                65                       

                        Q93                                     

AKQ1098                           

A                                        

K74                             West leads the Q, plan the play.

 

You have three losers unless East has both the A and K, plus a loser. Do not despair. You have a hidden treasure in the suit.

Win the first trick with the K, cash your red aces, enter dummy with a trump and run the Q, discarding a if the Q is not covered.

Assuming the Q loses to West’s K, the opponents can cash only two tricks and the J becomes a parking place for the loser.

You have exchanged a and a loser for a loser. What a bargain.

 

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4= three times, 4-1 and 2+1.

 

 

 

Dave’s 2nd Column   Here is Dave’s second input involving the play of the hand.

 

West                East                  You are West, declarer in 4, North leads the Q, plan the play.

KJ87            A1096       

AQ10           K983         

32                 A9             

A986            542


Dave’s 2nd Column answer              Board 8 from Wednesday 20th 

     

Dealer:             32                                               West          North         East            South

West                J42                                             1             pass           1              pass

Love all            QJ106                                        1              pass           3              pass

                        KJ73                                          4              all pass

 

KJ87                  N             A1096                 

AQ10             W    E          K983             

32                      S              A9                 

A986                                  542                     

                        Q54                                     

765                                      

K8754                                

Q10                             North leads the Q, plan the play.

 

You have a possible loser, a loser and two losers. On the plus side you have a possible extra winner in a 4th .

You could go all out and take the finesse one way or the other, if you guess right you make the contract and if you guess wrong you are down.

But there is another play, a play that combines chances (the magic words) in ’s and ’s. Play the A,K, if the Q drops draw the last trump and try to discard a on the 4th . If the ’s split 3-3 you make 11 tricks.

However, if the Q does not drop, you can always fall back on the suit breaking 3-3 or J doubleton or 4 ’s with the player holding Qxx. In any of these cases you still make the contract by getting rid of your before the holder of the Q can ruff a and cash a .

 

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4+2, 4+1 twice, 4= and 4-1.

 

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     3, always raise partner’s pre-empt with three trumps.

Hand B:    2, (Garbage) Stayman.

Hand C:    3, that’s if you know all about Stayman super-accepts.

Hand D:    3, Stayman – look for a 4-4 fit. If there is none then bid 3NT or pass 3 if you are in a pessimistic mood.

 

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

 

E      2      pass   pass   2NT      

pass   3                             3 is Stayman, obviously.

F      1NT   pass   2     pass       You would have to agree this, but I play that 3 here shows

3                                        a good 16-17 with a 5-card suit. And yes, it is sound.