Club News sheet No. 216

Club News Sheet – No. 216 www.pattayabridge.com 26^th Dec 2006

to news-sheet main page

to Pattaya Bridge home page

Mon 18^th 1^st N-S Lars & Gunnar 60% 2^nd Ian & Terry 56%

1^st E-W Bjorn & Knud 60% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 59%

Wed 20^th 1^st N-S Albert & Oddsom/Dave 60% 2^nd Geir & Henrik 55%

1^st E-W Bjorn & Knud 57% 2^nd Jo & Kenneth 56%

Fri 22^nd Dave & Terry 58% 2^nd Gun & Lennart 58%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A LHO opens 1♥, partner overcalls 1♠ and RHO

bids 2♥. What do you do?

♠ A842 ♠ AJ102

♥ 10972 ♥ KQ10 With Hand B RHO opens 1♠. (a) What do you bid?

♦ A ♦ 10764 (b) Suppose you pass and this is passed round to partner who

♣ J1032 ♣ K8 doubles. What do you bid now?

Hand C Hand D With Hand C RHO opens 3♥. What do you bid?

♠ AKJ3 ♠ KJ1092

♥ K5 ♥ K With Hand D partner opens 1♥ and RHO overcalls 2♦, what

♦ AQJ3 ♦ QJ do you bid?

♣ 987 ♣ K10852

Hand E Hand F What do you open with Hand E?

♠ AKQ6 ♠ J10632 With Hand F RHO opens 1NT. (a) What do you do?

♥ A42 ♥ A853 (b) Suppose you bid 2♣, or whatever your system bid to show

♦ 74 ♦ AK2 the majors is, and partner bids 2♥. Now what?

♣ K972 ♣ 4

Hand G Hand H With Hand G LHO opens 1♠ and this is passed to you. What do you do?

♠ 7 ♠ 102

♥ A963 ♥ K652 With Hand H partner opens 4♠, what do you bid?

♦ KQ9 ♦ AQ83

♣ 97432 ♣ A52

Bidding Sequences Quiz

J 1♥ 2♦ 2♠ How many ♠’s does 2♠ promise, and is it forcing?

K 1NT 2♣ pass 2♥ 2♣ shows the majors. How strong is the 3♥ bid?

pass 3♥

L 1♠ pass 2♥ pass How many points does 3NT show? Is it forward-going

3NT or shut-out?

The Bridge Club Championship Races

The current standings for all competitions are in the results folder and on the web-site. There was virtually no change again this week. The final results are fairly certain now as a few key players have gone home for Christmas and Alan Purdy is running out of time to get the Silver plate.

We currently have 8 people qualified for contention (30 results above 53%) in the Gold Cup:

1 Dave Cutler 1867.6

2 Bob Pelletier 1797.2

3 Bob Short 1784.3

4 Phil Lovell 1779.2

5 Michael Guin 1763.2

6 Kenneth Johansson 1754.4

7 Alan Purdy 1751.2

8 Bill Noe 1747.5

The top standings for the Silver Plate (best 10) and Bronze medal (best 5) are as follows. For clarity I have removed Dave, Bob P and Bob S who are now pretty secure in the top 3 positions of the Gold Cup since Phil has gone home.

Silver Plate Bronze Medal

2 Lewis Berg 644.5 2 Lewis Berg 337.8

5 Clive Bell 637.8 3 Clive Bell 334.3

6 Phil Lovell 633.8 6 Phil Lovell 328.5

7 Alan Purdy 628.6 7 Ruth Ibler 327.2

8 Hans Bijvoet 624.2 8 Jim Wallington 327.1

9 Derek & Gerard 623.7 9 Alan Purdy 325.8

10 Jan v Koss 618.4 10 Hans Bijvoet 325.1

We are moving.

We will be moving a soon as possible. I will let you know when the new venue is certain. The current plan is to make a clubhouse so that we don’t get messed about and lied to by bastards like the Mercure, Pattaya, again.

The Unassuming Cue bid yet again Board 22 from Monday 18^th

Here we go again, with a player who sometimes comes along only to get the news-sheets (where they have been covered a lot recently) not understanding an unassuming Cue bid. An easy 4♠ was missed.

Dealer: ♠ A842 Table A

East ♥ 10972 West North(A) East South

E-W vul ♦ A - - 1♥ 1♠

♣ J1032 2♥ 3♥ (1) pass 3♠ (2)

pass pass (3) pass

♠ 103 N ♠ J

♥ KQ84 W E ♥ AJ653 Table B

♦ 973 S ♦ J1052 West North(A) East South

♣ A974 ♣ KQ8 - - 1♥ 1♠

♠ KQ9765 2♥ 3♠ (1) pass 4♠ (4)

♥ - all pass

♦ KQ864

♣ 65

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? Any ♠ bid in this situation is weak. This hand, with no wasted values in ♥’s, is worth a raise to 3♠ and the way to show a sound raise rather than pre-empting is to cue bid the opponent’s suit – the Unassuming Cue Bid.

(2) I assume that this South forgot all about the unassuming cue bid. With 6 trumps and superb shape this hand is well worth game opposite a sound raise.

(3) North has already fully shown his values.

Table B: (1) The simple bid if you do not play it as pre-emptive.

(4) As I said, this hand is well worth game opposite a limit raise.

And what happened? All but two N-S pairs bid the comfortable 4♠ game.

The bottom lines: -

- Understand the Unassuming Cue bid.

- Then a jump raise of partner’s major is pre-emptive.

- 6052 shape is superb when partner supports your 6-carder and the opponents bid and support your void.

Bid 3NT or the 4-card major? Board 25 from Monday 19^th

When the level is so high that you cannot safely show both your stop for No Trumps and a four card major then you have to make a decision. The decision for East is very similar to problem F from news-sheet 213.

Dealer: ♠ 92 West North East(C) South

North ♥ AJ98642 - 3♥ dbl (1) pass

E-W vul ♦ 8 4♦ pass 5♦ (2) all pass

♣ Q103

♠ 87 N ♠ AKJ3 (1) What did you bid with this East hand C in

♥ Q3 W E ♥ K5 this week’s quiz? A similar problem has

♦ K106542 S ♦ AQJ3 come up twice recently; should you bid

♣ KJ2 ♣ 987 3NT with a stopper or try for a 4-4 major

♠ Q10654 fit with a double? My advice is unchanged

♥ 107 and I would bid 3NT as you will go past 3NT

♦ 97 and may get too high if you double.

♣ A654 (2) And here we are; past 3NT and too high.

And what happened? Only one East bid 3NT. Three pairs went to 5♦(-1) and one bid 6♦(-2).

The bottom lines: -

- As I said in news-sheet 213: “When you have no room to show both a 4-card major and a stop for NoTrump you have to make the decision. I think it’s usually best to opt for 3NT but it depends upon the exact hand”.

The hold-up Board 14 from Wednesday 20^th

This is not the title of a John Wayne movie, but a simple technique used to increase the odds of a contract (usually in No Trumps) making.

Dealer: ♠ J Table A

East ♥ 1087 West North East South(E)

Love all ♦ KQ9863 - - pass 1♣ (1)

♣ QJ3 pass 1♦ pass 1NT (2)

pass 2♦ pass 2NT (3)

♠ 109432 N ♠ 875 pass pass (4) pass

♥ QJ93 W E ♥ K65

♦ J S ♦ A1052 Table B

♣ 1086 ♣ A54 West North East South(E)

♠ AKQ6 - - pass 1NT (1)

♥ A42 pass 3NT all pass

♦ 74

♣ K972

Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? A balanced 16 count and 1NT is clear. For some reason this South chose to make life difficult for himself.

(2) Having failed to open 1NT this 1NT rebid, showing just 12-14, is terrible. 1♠ is the only remotely sensible bid.

(3) Partner’s 2♦ bid says that 2♦ is better than NoTrump. South decided to make it a hat-trick of really poor bids.

Table B: (1) Totally obvious.

Anyway, the main point of this deal is not the bidding, which is trivial, but the play.

How should South play the hand on a ♥ lead?

There are a couple of points. South can easily set up 8 tricks (4 ♠’s, 1 ♥, 1 ♦ and 2 ♣’s) and has the get his 9^th either from a ♦ or a ♣. The first important point is that South should duck two rounds of ♥’s and hope that the player with the last ♥ does not have one of the missing aces. If he does not duck twice then he has 5 automatic losers (3 ♥’s and two aces). Having taken the 3^rd round of ♥’s it’s best to try a ♦ to the ♦K but when the ♦J appears and the ♦A takes the ♦Q then it’s best to try for the ♣’s 3-3 rather than playing West for an initial doubleton ♦J10.

And what happened? Every pair except Table A were in 3NT; four made and three went down. At Table A South’s play matched his bidding and he went one down in 2NT!

The bottom lines: -

- With just Axx opposite xxx in a NT contract is best to hold up twice (and hope that the player with 4 cards does not have an entry) if you cannot afford to lose three tricks in the suit.

The Rule of 7 – Is a simple guide when playing a Notrump contract with losers in opponents' suit and insufficient quick tricks to guarantee the contract. The Rule of 7 is useful to disrupt communications between opponents when their suit splits 5-2 and similar. It states that declarer should add his card length in the suit to dummy’s and subtract the total from seven and duck that number of times. So here it is 7 - 6 = duck just once. However, this particular hand is an exception to the rule as declarer cannot afford to let the defenders take 3 ♥ tricks and so he has to duck twice.

Don’t bid your hand twice Board 10 from Wednesday 20^th

When you force partner to bid and he responds without jumping, then he may have very few points.

Dealer: ♠ 85

East ♥ Q942 West North East South(F)

Both vul ♦ QJ94 - - 1NT 2♣ (1)

♣ KQ3 pass 2♥ pass 3♥ (2)

pass 4♥ (3) all pass

♠ Q97 N ♠ AK4

♥ J107 W E ♥ K6

♦ 1075 S ♦ 863

♣ 8752 ♣ AJ1086

♠ J10632

♥ A853

♦ AK2

♣ 4

(1) What did you bid with this South hand F(a) in this week’s quiz. A natural 2♠ is far too unilateral and it’s for this sort of two-suited hand that most conventions for overcalling 1NT cater. Playing Multi Landy 2♣ is the bid, showing both majors.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand F(b) in this week’s quiz? RHO has 15-17 points and partner may be bust. This raise shows a hand that was too strong and/or shapely to double 1NT, so the equivalent of 19 + points. Bidding 3♥ with this hand is sheer lunacy.

(3) North has plenty to go to game as his original 2♥ bid promised no points at all.

And what happened? 4♥ went two down for a joint bottom (yes, one other N-S pair also overbid to 4♥!). 2♥ making would have scored a joint top. The most popular contract was 1NT by East, either making or going one down; so it appears that about ½ of the field chose not to bid with this South hand F(a).

The bottom lines: -

- When you force partner to bid and he responds without jumping, then he may have very few points.

- In this particular scenario where RHO has opened a strong No Trump, then this invitational 3♥ bid (sequence L) shows a huge hand, worth more than 18 points.

- Natural overcalls over the opponent's 1NT are simply not good enough.

- You need a decent convention for overcalling their 1NT. I recommend Multi Landy.

Balancing Board 13 from Wednesday 20^th

Two North’s failed to balance on this deal and got a very poor score: -

Dealer: ♠ 7 Table A

North ♥ A963 West North(G) East South(B)

Both vul ♦ KQ9 - pass 1♠ pass (1)

♣ 97432 pass pass (2)

♠ 83 N ♠ KQ9654 Table B

♥ 82 W E ♥ J754 West North(G) East South(B)

♦ J832 S ♦ A5 - pass 1♠ pass (1)

♣ QJ1065 ♣ A pass dbl (2) pass (3) 1NT (4)

♠ AJ102 all pass

♥ KQ10

♦ 10764

♣ K8

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? Pass is absolutely correct assuming that your partner understands balancing.

(2) What did you bid with this North hand G in this week’s quiz? In the direct seat you generally need about 11 points for a take-out double. But in the balancing seat you “borrow a king” from partner. This hand should certainly double in the balancing seat.

Table B: (2) Most North’s got it right.

(3) A number of West’s bid 2♠ here and so would I.

(4) What did you bid with this South hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? You have to remember that partner is already bidding three of your points and 1NT is absolutely correct. To bid 2NT would be ‘hanging partner’.

And what happened? 1♠ was passed out twice and made exactly for a near top to E-W. 1NT by South made +1. Three East’s were pushed up to 3♠ and all went down.

The bottom lines.

- Do not let LHO play in a one level contract unless you have length and strength in his suit.

- Understand balancing.

A good or bad 4♠ opening? Board 27 from Wednesday 20^th

Three pairs got too high with these E-W cards: -

Dealer: ♠ 743 Table A

South ♥ AQ10987 West North East(H) South

Love all ♦ 5 - - - pass (1)

♣ K97 4♠ (2) pass 4NT (3) pass

5♦ pass 5♠ (4) all pass

♠ AKQJ986 N ♠ 102

♥ 4 W E ♥ K652 Table B

♦ 94 S ♦ AQ83 West North East(H) South

♣ QJ4 ♣ A52 - - - pass (1)

♠ 5 4♠ (2) pass pass (5) pass

♥ J3

♦ KJ10762

♣ 10863

Table A: (1) With good intermediates and a 2^nd suit I would open with a weak 2♦.

(2) What would you open with this West hand? It’s far too good for 3♠ but a 1♠ opening may let the opponents in if they have ♥’s. A four level opening is called for and 4♠ is the best bid.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand H in this week’s quiz? It will only make slam if partner has a very good 4♠ opener and I would pass.

(4) Having invoked Blackwood, one should bid the small slam if there is just one ace missing. This bid demonstrates that the previous bid was unsound.

Table B: (2) This E-W play Namyats, so the 4♠ opening shows a weak 4♠ opening. Give the hand an 8^th ♠ in place of a red card and it would be worth a Namyats 4♦.

(5) And this is the beauty of Namyats. East knows that partner does not have 8 – 8½ playing tricks (or he would have bid 4♦) and so correctly passes.

And what happened? 5♠ went down at Table A when declarer finessed the opening ♦ lead. One pair made 5♠ and one pair went one down in 6♠. The rest sensibly stopped in 4♠, generally making exactly.

The bottom lines.

- Do not use Blackwood to try to gauge partner’s strength. One should establish that there are sufficient values for slam, bid Blackwood and then bid a small slam if there is just one ace missing. To ‘chicken out’ when there is an ace missing simply means that you have mis-used Blackwood.

- Play Namyats. Playing Namyats a 4♣/♦ opening shows a good 4♥/♠ opener - about 8-8½ playing tricks.

How do you play your negative doubles? Board 20 from Friday 22^nd

N-S at Table A got into an inferior contract here because the individuals played their negative doubled differently: -

Dealer: ♠ A87 Table A

West ♥ A109864 West North East South(D)

Both vul ♦ 97 pass 1♥ 2♦ dbl (1)

♣ A9 pass 2♥ (2) pass 3♦ (3)

pass 3♥ (4) pass 4♥

♠ Q643 N ♠ 5 all pass

♥ J32 W E ♥ Q75

♦ 865 S ♦ AK10432 Table B

♣ 743 ♣ QJ6 West North East South(D)

♠ KJ1092 pass 1♥ 2♦ 2♠ (1)

♥ K pass 3♠ pass 4♠

♦ QJ all pass

♣ K10852

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? Perhaps it may depend upon how you play your negative doubles; this South apparently doubles to show the two unbid suits. I would always bid as Table B even if a negative double did promise both ♠’s and ♣’s. Telling partner that you have 5 ♠’s is far more important than telling him about a ♣ suit.

(2) North did not know that South had 5 ♠’s.

(3) Do you have a ♦ stop?

(4) No.

Table B: (1) This is the best answer to question D. It shows 5 ♠’s and is forcing (sequence J). This is a much better bid than a negative double which only shows 4 ♠’s.

And what happened? Most pairs played in ♠’s, making 9 or 11 tricks. As it happens the ♥’s broke 3-3 so 4♥ made for a good score when an initial ♠ lead located the ♠Q for declarer.

The bottom lines.

- 5-3 fits usually play better than 6-1 fits.

- When a major and a minor have been bid it is best to play that a negative double only promises 4 cards in the unbid major and says nothing about the unbid minor.

- Thus bidding the major at the two level promises 5 cards and it is forcing (sequence J).

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3♥. The Unassuming Cue bid – showing a sound raise to 3♠. A direct 3♠ bid here is best played as pre-emptive.

Hand B: (a) Pass. It’s not enough for 1NT and double would show a much more shapely hand that is short in ♠’s. You should pass as you have a partner who will balance if necessary.

(b) 1NT. Partner’s balancing double may be a little as 8 points – he is bidding three of your points.

Hand C: 3NT. This problem is very similar to problem F in news-sheet 215 and problem H in news-sheet 213. When the opponents are up at the three level should you bid 3NT with a stop or try for the 4-4 major suit fit (and necessarily go past 3NT)? My advice is unchanged – go for 3NT.

Hand D: 2♠, showing 5 ♠’s and forcing. Even if you play negative doubles to show the other two suits (so ♠’s and ♣’s here) 2♠ is a far better bid than dbl because you have 5 ♠’s.

Hand E: 1NT of course. If you open 1♣ and rebid 1♠ that does not show the strength and balanced nature of the hand.

Hand F: (a) 2♣, or whatever conventional bid you have to show the majors. If you only play natural methods then this hand demonstrates why you should play something like Multi Landy – you do not want to defend 1NT and want partner to bid a major.

(b) Pass, obviously. RHO has 15-17 points and partner has promised nothing other than hopefully three ♥’s. Bidding 3♥, as one player did, shows a huge 19+ hand.

Hand G: Double. This is called balancing; you only need a shapely 8 count to balance with a double in the pass-out seat.

Hand H: Pass. This hand will only make slam opposite a very good 4♠ opener. If you play Namyats then pass is easy. If partner opens a good 4♠ (i.e. 4♦ playing Namyats) then I would still only bid 4♠ as I don’t think that it’s usually going to be good enough for slam.

Bidding Sequences Quiz Answers

J 1♥ 2♦ 2♠ 2♠ here promises 5 ♠’s and is absolutely forcing.

K 1NT 2♣ pass 2♥ 3♥ is huge. Partner has promised nothing for his 2♥ bid. Thus

pass 3♥ this 3♥ must be an very good shapely hand, too strong to double.

L 1♠ pass 2♥ pass 3NT here is 18-19 and is certainly not shut-out.

3NT