Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                           Club News Sheet – No. 464

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880                                                              2nd Oct 2011

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

My Windows Live Messenger is tj_quested@hotmail.com

 

Mon 3rd   N-S      1st  Bjoern R & Enrico          56%            2nd  Terry & Stephan            56%
               E-W      1st   Bob S & Roger              60%            2nd  Gerard & Derek             59%
Wed 5th  N-S       1st   Paul Q &  Terry             56%            2nd  Robbie & Ivy                 56%
               E-W      1st   Bob S & Roger              57%            2nd Alan K & Jan                 54%
Fri 7th      N-S      1st   Guttorm  &  Bjorn          55%            2nd  Jeremy & Ivy                54%
               E-W      1st   Jostein & Valur              63%            2nd Tobjorn & Johan            56%

 

Bidding Quiz          Standard American (short ♣) bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

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

♠ Q107            ♠ KJ95           
♥ 7                   ♥ A52            With Hand B partner opens 3NT, what do you bid?      
♦ Q4                ♦ A32                                     
♣ AKQJ1094  ♣ 865

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C partner opens 3NT, what do you bid?

♠ KJ95            ♠ AJ3
♥ Q52              ♥ 853               With Hand D you open 1♦ and partner bids 1♠
♦ 732               ♦ AQ86           (a)  what do you bid?
♣ 865              ♣ K53            (b)  what do you bid if RHO overcalls 2♥ over partner’s 1♠ ?          

Bidding Sequence Quiz            
                 
E      1NT   2♣    pass   2♦          2♣ is Multi-Landy (or Landy) promising at least 5-4 (or 4-5) in
                                                    the majors. What is the 2♦ response?

                                                       
Current club championship standings

 

Gold Cup = Best 30

Silver Plate = Best 10

Bronze Medal = Best 5

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

1827.5 Hans Vikman
1812.8 Janne Roos
1806.6 Bob Short
1774.2 Sigurd Zahl
1764.9 Gerard Hardy
1764.1 Paul Quodomine
1756.2 Derek Tyms
1737.3 Paul Scully
1725.6 Tomas Wikman
1718.3 Bob Pelletier

647.4 Hans Vikman
645.2 Bob Short
640.2 Paul Quodomine
639.8 Per Andersson
631.1 Janne Roos
627.2= Gerard Hardy
627.2= Derek Tyms
626.3 Sigurd Zahl
624.0 Lars Broman
620.1 Paul Scully

335.4 Bob Short
332.2 Per Andersson
329.9 Hans Vikman
328.9= Gerard Hardy
328.9= Derek Tyms
325.3 Paul Scully
321.7 Lars Broman
320.4 Janne Roos
319.9 Dave Hurst
319.8 Bengt Malmgren

Play in the 4-3 fit?                                               Board 7 from Monday 7th  

Dealer:             ♠ KQ74                                         Table A
South               ♥ 6                                                 West          North         East           South(D)
Both vul          ♦ 97                                               -                 -                 -                 1♦
                        ♣ AQJ1096                                   pass           1♠     (1)     2♥    (2)      2♠     (3)
                                                                              pass           4♠     (4)     all pass
♠ 10652                 N             ♠ 98                        
♥ KJ94              W    E          ♥ AQ1072               Table B
♦ KJ                       S              ♦ 105432                 West          North         East           South(D)
♣ 874                                     ♣ 2                          -                 -                 -                 1♦
                        ♠ AJ3                                            pass           1♠              pass (2)      1NT  (5)
                        ♥ 853                                             pass           2NT  (6)     pass           3NT  (7)
                        ♦ AQ86                                         all pass.
                        ♣ K53                                          

Table A:    (1)  The hand is probably not quite worth 2♣ followed by a ♠ bid.
                  (2)  A bit light, especially vulnerable in a situation where a double by dealer would be for penalties.
                  (3)  What did you bid with this South hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? Partner has by-
                        passed ♥’s and you have nothing there.  If you end up in NoTrumps then LHO
                        will lead a ♥ thorough partner’s possible holding and a NT contract will probably
                        be hopeless. So support partner with 2♠ and do not bid 1NT.
                  (4)  East’s overcall has actually helped North to reach the best contract.
Table B:     (1)  This East decided very sensibly not to enter the auction.
                  (5)  What did you bid with this South hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? With no ♥
                        overcall from East, 1NT is very reasonable.
                  (6)  North has a very difficult bid now, 2♣ is either weak or forcing (conventional)
                        and 3♣ would be a game forcing distortion. So this 2NT invitational bid is
                        probably the best of the evils.
                  (7)  With a maximum, 3NT seems obvious, but is it best? Partner by-passed ♥’s and
                        you have a very weak holding in that suit. With excellent ♠’s, a 3♠ bid may work
                        out better than 3NT (partner knows it’s only 3 cards).
                       
The bottom lines:

  1. Do not be afraid to play in a good 4-3 fit if there is an obvious weakness in another suit.

And what happened? 4♠+1 four times, 5♣=, 3NT= and 3NT-1.
Making 4♠ (+1) is easy on any lead but a ♥. Can you see how to make 4♠ on a ♥ lead? If you
ruff the second ♥ and attempt to draw trumps, hoping for a 3-3 split, you will go down losing a
trump and four ♥’s.

Dave’s Column

West                East                                     West          North         East            South
♠ 75                 ♠ A62                                 -                 pass           1NT            pass
♥ KQ3             ♥ A95                                 3NT           all pass
♦ K964            ♦ AJ52                                   
♣ A432           ♣ K65                          
                                     
You are East, declarer in 3NT. South leads the ♠4, North plays the ♠Q and you duck. North
continues with the ♠10, plan the play for nine tricks.                              
Dave’s Column Answer                 Board 13 from Wednesday 5th Oct. 
     
Dealer:             ♠ Q108                                          Bidding            
North               ♥ J8764                                         West          North         East           South
both vul             ♦ 107                                             -                 pass           1NT           pass
                        ♣ J107                                           3NT           all pass
                                                                             
♠ 75                       N             ♠ A62                     
♥ KQ3               W    E          ♥ A95                     
♦ K964                  S              ♦ AJ52                   
♣ A432                                 ♣ K65              
                        ♠ KJ943                                 
                        ♥ 102    
                        ♦ Q83                                 Plan the play for declarer on the ♠4 lead.
                        ♣ Q98                                    

With eight top tricks, you are looking for the ninth. You also need to cut communications
between the two defenders; you do this by ducking the first two rounds of ♠’s. Since it looks as if
South started with five ♠’s. you must keep that defender off lead, so forget any thoughts of
finessing in ♦’s. Instead, play the ♦A followed by a low one and if South  plays low, insert the ♦9
from dummy. Playing the ♦A and then running the ♦J also works (in fact better on this layout). The
contract is only in danger if South holds ♦Q10x along with five ♠’s.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT+1 five times, 3NT-1 three times and
3NT-2.

 

Dave’s 2nd Column

North               South                                  West          North         East           South
♠ AK4             ♠ 863                                  -                 -                 -                 1NT
♥ AK74           ♥ Q63                                 pass            2♣             pass           2♦
♦ J62                ♦ AQ75                               pass            3NT           all pass
♣ 974              ♣ AQJ          

You are South, declarer in 3NT. West leads the ♠Q, plan the play.
                                                                       
                                                       
                                                                        
Dave’s 2nd Column Answer           Board 15 from Wednesday 5h Oct. 
     
Dealer:             ♠ AK4                                           Bidding            
South               ♥ AK74                                         West          North         East           South
N-S vul            ♦ J62                                             -                 -                 -                1NT
                        ♣ 974                                            pass           2♣             pass           2♦
                                                                              pass           3NT           all pass
♠ QJ1095              N             ♠ 72                        
♥ 108                 W    E          ♥ J952              
♦ K94                    S              ♦ 1083                    
♣ K53                                   ♣ 10862                
                        ♠ 863                                      
                        ♥ Q63                               
                        ♦ AQ75                                   West leads the ♠Q, plan the play.
                        ♣ AQJ                                    

The only danger is a 5-2 ♠ split making it quite likely to lose two minor suit kings and three
♠’s. So, assuming 5-2, you should duck the first ♠ so that East is out of ♠’s if a minor suit king is
won by his hand.
You have seven top tricks and need two more without West getting the lead twice. That may
not be easy if West holds both minor suit kings. So, assuming the worst,  you must make West
play one of his kings on thin air. You need to lead up to an honour in dummy and the only one is
the ♦J.
So win the second round of ♠’s, cash the ♦A and lead a small ♦ towards dummy. If West plays
the ♦K you have two more ♦ tricks. But if West ducks you switch to ♣’s and establish the ninth
trick there. Of course if Naes held the ♦K he can do no harm as he has no ♠ left.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club?  3NT+2, 3NT+1, 3NT= twice, 4NT-2, 3NT-1 twice and 6NT-4 twice.

No psyches please                            West hand 1 from Wednesday 5th Oct

♠ 875               Weak jump overcalls are the norm at our club, but there are limits. One player
♥ -                   overcalled with a weak jump overcall of 3♦. This is not acceptable and in
♦ 10965432     general the Australian rule of 15 applies for both openings and weak overcalls.
♣ 653              We do allow a slight lee-way for an overcall but zero points (so 10 for the rule
                        of 15 here) is totally unacceptable. We do, however, (reluctantly) allow you make
                        these ridiculous bids if you really want to, if have already passed.     

Lead Quiz                                 

♠ A32              You hold this hand      
♥ 983                                                              
♦ KJ865           (a) What do you lead if RHO opens 1NT and it is passed out?        
♣ 32                (b) What do you lead if RHO opens 2NT and it is passed out?      
                        (c) What do you lead if RHO opens 3NT (gambling) and it is passed out?  

Answers below.


The Gambling 3NT
                  
                          Board 4 from Monday 3rd

Dealer:             ♠ A32                                            Table A
West                ♥ 983                                             West(A)    North         East(C)      South
Both vul          ♦ KJ865                                         3NT (1)      pass           pass (2)      pass  (3)
                        ♣ 32                                       
                                                                              Table B
♠ Q107                  N             ♠ KJ95                    West(A)    North         East(C)      South
♥ 7                     W    E          ♥ Q52                      3NT (1)      pass           4♣   (2)      4♥
♦ Q4                      S              ♦ 732                       pass           pass           pass (4)
♣ AKQJ1094                        ♣ 865                     
                        ♠ 864                                       (1)  This was explained as a long solid minor with
                        ♥ AKJ1064                                   nothing outside.
                        ♦ A109                                         
                        ♣ 7                                               

Table A:    (1)  What did you open with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? This is a decent
                        example of the gambling 3NT, a solid 7-8 card minor suit with no outside ace or
                        king.
                  (2)  What did you bid with this East hand C in this week’s quiz? This pass is a poor
                        choice with only the ♠ suit stopped, 3NT is very likely to go seven or eight down.
                  (3)  South could bid 4♥.
Table B:     (1)  Obviously, with two suits unstopped, East has to bid and the normal bid is 4♣
                        (pass or correct) although since he knows that the opponents can make an easy 4♥
                        it may be best to bid 5♣ (pass or correct) immediately.
                  (4)  5♣* is a good save, but perhaps he should have bid that last go?
                       
The bottom lines:

  1. When partner opens a gambling 3NT, you should bid 4♣ (or 5♣) if you do not have three

      suits stopped (or some expectation of making 3NT). There are other options with a strong
      hand – see the conventions page on the website.

And what happened? Every N-S played in ♥’s or else doubled E-W in 5♣. That is, with the exception of table A …

... Worst Defence Ever?

First of all, the answers to the lead quiz on the previous page.

  1. ♦6, fairly clear, lead 4th highest while you still have the ♠A as an entry.
  2. ♦6, fairly clear, lead 4th highest while you still have the ♠A as an entry.
  3. ♠A. With a gambling 3NT opening it’s completely different. You know that declarer has
    no ace or king and it is imperative that you do not let the dummy win the first trick.
    So lead the ♠A and literally ‘have a look at dummy’. Further defence is then double-dummy.

So what happened at table A? North led the ♠A upon which South played the ♠8 (possibly suit
preference for ♥’s). North then continued with ♦6, planning to get the five ♦ tricks in the bag
before leading a ♥ through dummy’s ♥Q. This would lead to an obvious eight down and a nice
800 top to N-S. It’s all double-dummy as declarer is known to have only the  ♣AKQxxxx(x).
But it did not quite go as planned. South won the ♦A at trick two, cashed the ♥A and then,
after considerable thought, led the …
                                                                        ♣7 !

3NT+1 was obviously a (very lucky) top instead of bottom for E-W. South’s excuse was that
he did not understand the ♠A lead and that North should have shifted to a ♥ at trick two. East’s
excuse for his pass at (2) was equally lame (he said he would have bid if doubled).


 

Bidding Quiz Answers  

Hand A:   3NT, gambling, no outside ace or king.
Hand B:    pass. You have three suits covered.
Hand C:   4♣ (pass or correct). 3NT will go way down.
Hand D:   (a)  1NT, This is fairly obvious. I would bid 2♠ if the ♥’s were just a doubleton.
                  (b)  2♠. But after RHO has bid ♥’s 1NT is no longer attractive, especially as partner
                        has by-passed the suit.

Bidding Sequence Quiz            
                 
E      1NT   2♣    pass   2♦          2♣ is Multi-Landy (or Landy) promising at least 5-4 (or 4-5) in
                                                     the majors. The 2♦ response is generally played as showing equal
length (usually 2-2 or 3-3) in the majors. This is the advantage of Multi Landy over Cappelletti where
you have to guess and if partner is 5-4 (or 4-5) you will get it wrong half the time and play in a 4-2 or 4-3 fit.