Club News Sheet – No. 167 www.pattayabridge.com 14^th Jan 2006

Winner Runner-up

Mon 9^th N-S 1^st Bob P/Joe 64% 2^nd Chuck/Terry Ibbs 53%

E-W 1^st Dave/Ruth 66% 2^nd Gerard/Derek 60%

Wed 11^th N-S 1^st Birger/Ole 60% 2^nd Bill/Mike(Can) 57%

E-W 1^st Gerard/Derek 63% 2^nd Johm/Kenneth 55%

Fri 13^th N-S 1^st Jim(Sco)/Ursula 58% 2^nd Chuck/Terry Ibbs 57%

E-W 1^st Peter(Lux)/Tom 72% 2^nd Lis/Finn 55%

Please note. I am getting enormous amounts of junk spam, so I have changed my e-mail from terry@pattayabridge.com to terryQ@pattayabridge.com. Other addresses (info, admin etc still work).

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1NT, what do you bid?

♠ Q9 ♠ AK64

♥ AJ32 ♥ 2 With Hand B you open 1♣ and partner responds 1♠,

♦ 10652 ♦ AK86 what do you bid?

♣ 962 ♣ A1083

Hand C Hand D What do you open with Hand C?

♠ K1062 ♠ 72 With Hand D it’s love all and there are three passes to you.

♥ AJ5 ♥ AK (a) What do you open?

♦ AJ984 ♦ AQ10 (b) Suppose you open 1♣ for some reason, LHO overcalls 1♠

♣ 10 ♣ AK9875 and that’s passed to you, what do you do?

Hand E Hand F What do you open vul in 2^nd seat with Hand E?

♠ 6 ♠ AKQJ1097

♥ J85 ♥ A4 With Hand F you open 2♣ (or 2♦ playing Benji) and partner

♦ 864 ♦ AQ95 gives a waiting response. What do you bid now?

♣ AKQ942 ♣ -

Hand G Hand H With Hand G partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 1♠, what do

you bid?

♠ AQJ84 ♠ 8654

♥ 1054 ♥ KQ With Hand H you open 1♣, partner responds 1♦, you bid 1♠ and

♦ 852 ♦ K6 partner then bids 2♥, 4^th suit forcing. What do you bid?

♣ 32 ♣ AQ753

Bidding Sequences (no opposition bidding). Quite a few more interesting ones this week: -

Sequence J 1♣ - 1♠ - 3♥ 3♥ is a splinter agreeing ♠’s, is it game forcing or not?

Sequence K 1♣ - 1♠ - 3♥ - 3♠ is3♠ weak or encouraging (slow arrival)?

Sequence L 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♠ - 4♣ 3♠ is a solid suit and game forcing, what is 4♣?

Sequence M 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♥ what does the 2♥ bid show?
Adjusted scores

I had to adjust two sets of scores on Friday. On board 9 E-W managed to virtually play out the hand before East discovered that he had 14 cards and West had twelve. Now the rules are very clear here, and it’s written on the club convention cards – count your cards face down (and then compare with the curtain card). E-W were awarded zero on the board and N-S got 65%. I have mentioned this many times in the news sheets and people who look at their cards before counting them and then discover that they have an incorrect number will be penalised in future.

And board 16 got a similar adjusted score: -

A ‘Short’ ♣ - or a psyche? Board 16 from Wednesday 11^th

Dealer: ♠ J743

West ♥ Q10 West(C) North East South

E-W vul ♦ Q632 1♣ (1) pass 2♣ pass

♣ A72 2NT pass 3NT all pass

♠ K1062 N ♠ 95

♥ AJ5 W E ♥ K42

♦ AJ984 S ♦ 105

♣ 10 ♣ KJ965

♠ AQ

♥ 98763

♦ K7

♣ Q843

(1) What did you open with this West hand C in this week’s quiz. Obviously 1♦. This E-W pair play a ‘short’ or ‘prepared’ ♣ - that means that when you are 4432 shape exactly then you open 1♣ so that a 1♦ opening then always guarantees 4 cards. But I have made it quite clear recently in the club rules that if you play this system then the 1♣ opening needs to be alerted.

Now this East player knew this and claims that he ‘alerted’ (with a tap on the table). Neither North nor South noticed this – when you want to alert you say ‘alert’ and place the alert card on the table.

Apart from all of the above, what can I say about opening 1♣ with this West hand. It is either ludicrous or psyching. If a partnership has a system that involves opening 1♣ with a singleton then they certainly need to fill out a convention card and pre-alert opponents (inform them before play that they play a freak system).

And what happened? North led a ♦ smack into declarer’s ♦ suit and obviously the defence could not defend sensibly as declarer could not possibly have his actual distribution. 3NT ‘made’ but I adjusted the score to give N-S 65% and E-W 0%. The bottom lines: -

- At this club psyching is not allowed – so you cannot open 1 of a suit that is a singleton.

- If your 1♣ opening may occasionally be just 2 cards (when exactly 4432 shape) then the 1♣ opening needs alerting with the explanation ‘may be two cards’ if asked.

- An alert involves placing the alert cards on the table, preferably also stating ‘alert’.

- A 1♣ (or 1♦) opening that may be 3 cards (so better minor) needs no alert.

- Opening 1♣ with just two ♣’s (or less) and any other distribution than 4432 is not allowed at this club unless you fill out a convention card and pre-alert opponents – for example if you play the Precision ♣ or some strange Nordic system or whatever.

- If you play the ‘short’ ♣ and have say 4342 shape then open 1♦. That’s what the short ♣ is all about, a 1♦ opening guaranteeing 4 cards.

‘Afraid’ of the ‘short’ ♣? Board 29 from Friday 13^th

I was asked about the bid at (4) on this deal. Whether you play better minor or a ‘short’♣, when you/partner open 1♣ then you should assume that it is a real suit (mathematically it usually is). If it turns out not to be a real suit then this usually becomes apparent later and you should not distort your bidding because of the possibility of the ♣ bid not being real: -

Dealer: ♠ 8654

North ♥ KQ West North(H) East South

Both vul ♦ K6 - 1♣ (1) pass 1♦

♣ AQ753 pass 1♠ (2) pass 2♥ (3)

pass 3♣ (4) and onto 5♣.

♠ KJ109 N ♠ Q72

♥ A92 W E ♥ 86543

♦ 107543 S ♦ 9

♣ 2 ♣ K1094

♠ A3

♥ J107

♦ AQJ82

♣ J86

(1) This pair play a short club, so at this stage it could be a two card ♣ suit.

(2) But a 1♣ opening with a two card ♣ suit is rare, and this bid confirms that opener has at least 3 ♣’s (a 1♣ opening on a two card suit can only be when opener is exactly 4432 and he would have rebid 1♥ here with that shape).

(3) 4^th suit forcing.

(4) What did you bid with this North hand H in this week’s quiz? This North thought that as he has only promised 3 ♣’s he should show his 5 card ♣ suit. This is incorrect, the top priority when replying to 4^th suit is to bid NT with a stop; 3♣ here denies a ♥ stop.

And what happened? 5♣ went 3 down. 3NT was a popular contract at other tables and usually made.

The bottom lines: -

- When partner bids 4^th suit forcing he is asking you to describe your hand further, but the top priority is to bid NT with a stop in the 4^th suit (and you should not bid NT without a stop).

Can I rebid a 5 card major? FAQs – Frequently asked Questions

I was asked on Friday if you are ‘allowed’ to rebid a major which is just 5 cards when playing Standard American. Now I am often asked the same questions and so I have written a separate web page with them all (and answers of course). There are copies in the ‘convention’ folder if you have no internet access.

Hand N Anyway, the answer to this question is that to rebid a major usually shows a

6 card suit, but not always – it depends upon the sequence.

♠ 9 Consider this Hand N. You open 1♥ and partner responds 2♦, what do you bid?

♥ AKJ92 2NT now shows 12-14 points but would be a distortion with a singleton ♠

♦ 843 and so a 2♥ rebid is the only sensible option. If you play 2/1 and agree that a high

♣ KQ82 reverse does not show extras then you can bid 3♣ with this hand.
A mis-understanding Board 11 from Wednesday 11^th

A bit of a shambles here, so what went wrong?

Dealer: ♠ Q108732

South ♥ Q109 West North East South(B)

Love all ♦ 97 - - - 1♣

♣ J4 pass 1♠ pass 3♥ (1)

dbl 3♠ (2) pass 4♣

♠ 9 N ♠ J5 dbl 4♥ (3) pass etc to 6♠

♥ AJ83 W E ♥ K7654

♦ Q32 S ♦ J1054

♣ KQ762 ♣ 95

♠ AK64

♥ 2

♦ AK86

♣ A1083

(1) What did you bid with this South hand B in this week’s quiz? A 3♥ splinter, agreeing ♠’s and showing ♥ shortage is the best bid. Now what was your answer to Sequence J in this week’s quiz? Basically, it’s up to partnership agreement. South thought that it was game forcing, North did not.

(2) Weak or encouraging? What was your answer to Sequence K in this week’s quiz? Obviously this depends upon the previous answer. South thought that it was encouraging, North thought that it showed a weak hand.

(3) I’m not sure what happened from here on, I believe that North bid 4♥ here because he may have thought that South was bidding ♥’s naturally, South took it as a cue bid showing the ♥A and off they went to slam.

And what happened? A bottom.

The bottom lines: -

- You and your partner need to decide upon sequences like this. I guess that you could play them either way, you simply have to agree.

Total Garbage Board 6 from Wednesday 11^th

Now I hope that we all know about Garbage Stayman by now (there were a couple of examples last week). The bidding on this deal was not Garbage Stayman, it was just garbage: -

Dealer: ♠ 108653

East ♥ 105 West(A) North East South

E-W vul ♦ Q43 - - 1NT pass

♣ AK7 2♣ (1) pass 2♦ pass

2♥ (2) all pass

♠ Q9 N ♠ KJ2

♥ AJ32 W E ♥ K64

♦ 10652 S ♦ AKJ87

♣ 962 ♣ 85

♠ A74

♥ Q987

♦ 9

♣ QJ1043

(1) What did you bid with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? Now I realise that this hardly deserves the name of a question as pass is so obvious, but this West did actually find a 2♣ bid!

(2) What an amazing stroke of luck! Partner did not bid an unwelcome 2♠ and if West passes now then he is in an excellent 5-4 ♦ fit. Unfortunately West decided to bid 2♥. If you answered Sequence M correctly in this week’s quiz you will know that this bid promises 5 ♥’s and 4 ♠’s.

And what happened? Appalling bidding to a reasonable spot, 2♥ went one down for only just below average.

The bottom lines: -

- You need invitational values or better to bid Stayman (so a decent 8+ playing a strong NT) unless you have the ‘garbage shape’.

- ‘Garbage shape’ is 54xx or 45xx or 4441 or similar. It is not 2443, you will be fixed over a 2♠ response.

Wednesday’s Big hand Board 10 from Wednesday 11^th

A lay-down 7♠, nobody bid it and only 3 tables out of 8 managed even a small slam. Dave was not playing on Wednesday and jotted down the bidding at a few tables. I was asked how to bid to a slam (hopefully a grand). Actually, it’s surprisingly easy using a bidding sequence that I mentioned only last week (news-sheet 166, Bidding Sequence N).

Dealer: ♠ 532 Table A

East ♥ Q10632 West(F) North East South(E)

Both vul ♦ 32 - - pass 1♣ (1)

♣ 853 4♠ (2) all pass

♠ AKQJ1097 N ♠ 84 Table B

♥ A4 W E ♥ K97 West(F) North East South(E)

♦ AQ95 S ♦ KJ107 - - pass pass (1)

♣ - ♣ J1076 6♠ (3) all pass

♠ 6

♥ J85 Table C

♦ 864 West(F) North East South(E)

♣ AKQ942 - - pass pass (1)

2♣ (3) pass 3♣ (4) pass (5)

Table F 4♠ (6) all pass

West(F) North East South

- - pass pass Table D

2♠ (9) pass 3♣ (10) dbl West(F) North East South

4♠ (11) pass pass pass - - pass pass

2♠ (7) pass 3♣ pass

Table G 4♠ all pass

West(F) North East South

- - pass pass Table E

2♦ (12) pass 2♥ pass West(F) North East South

2♠ pass 3♦ (13) pass - - pass pass

3♠ pass 4♠ pass 2♣ pass 2♦ 3♣

5♣ (14) pass 5♠ (15) pass 3♠ pass 3NT pass

6♣ (16) pass 6♦ (17) pass pass (8) pass

6♥ (18) pass 6♠ all pass

Table A: (1) Did you open with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? I guess it’s partnership style. I would open 3♣ but I was playing with Chuck and I know what he thinks of a 3♣ opening with a 6 card suit, so I passed (I was at table F). I would not argue with this 1♣ if that’s your style.

(2) a bit feeble.

Table B: (3) Simple and fairly effective – it scored a joint top.

Table C: (3) But most players opened 2♣ and that’s obviously correct.

(4) I guess that this was a positive? Playing 2♦ waiting and 2♥ negative really is a far better scheme. 3♣ raises the level unnecessarily with a very poor suit.

(5) I would double here.

(6) The level is unnecessarily high and presumably it was not clear that this was forcing.

Table D: (7) Presumably a strong 2♠. I don’t know what system they were playing but it’s much too good for a strong 2♠ playing Acol. In Acol it’s a 2♣ opener.

Table E: (8) I would not pass 3NT with this West hand.

Table F: (9) This pair play a complex structure of opening two bids. 2♠ here was either a weak minor two suiter or a very strong hand with ♠’s.

(10) East responds assuming it is a weak minor two suiter.

(11) Obviously a strong ♠ hand but I am not familiar with the system and I do not know if this is forcing. In the equivalent Standard American (or Acol) system you are one level lower (see 2^nd Expert table) and it’s obviously forcing.

Table G: (12) Benjamin, so game forcing. The 2♥ response is an automatic relay.

(13) I guess 2NT is an alternative.

(14) A cue bid (1^st round control)

(15) Denying the ♦ or ♥ ace.

(16) A cue bid (2^nd round control). Now this may have been the root cause of this pair missing the grand. One normally cue bids all 1^st round controls before a 2^nd round control and so I think that 6♥ here is probably better.

(17) Cue bidding the ♦K.

(18) A cue bid, but is it showing the ♥A or a singleton? The problem is that at (16) West cue bid a 2^nd round control and so East presumably thought that this could not be the ♥A. But then why is West cue bidding if there is an ace missing? I guess that East could have worked it out but West could have made life easier for him.

Now let’s see how our ‘experts’ do it. The 1^st table is Chuck’s contribution and the 2^nd table is mine. Either are fine.

1^st Expert Table 2^nd Expert Table

West(F) North East South West(F) North East South

- - pass pass - - pass pass

2♣ pass 2♦ pass 2♣ pass 2♦ pass

2♠ pass 2NT pass 3♠ (5) pass 4♦ (6) pass

5♣ (1) pass 5♦ (2) pass 4♥ (7) pass 5♥ (8) pass

6♣ (3) pass 6♠ (4) pass 7♠ all pass

7♠ all pass

‘1^st (1) Exclusion Blackwood, showing a ♣ void and asking for aces outside ♣’s.

Expert (2) no ace outside ♣’s

Table’ (3) Kings? (outside ♣’s)

(4) two

‘2^nd (5) This is sequence N from last week. It shows a completely solid suit (and sets

Expert trumps) and asks partner to cue bid (either aces or kings).

Table’ (6) ♦K (and denying the ♣A or K)

(7) A cue bid (♥A) and asking partner to continue cue bidding if he has another ace or king.

(8) ♥K

The bottom lines: -

- This deal is a perfect illustration of why 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♠ (or 3♠) cannot be passed.

- 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♠ shows a completely solid suit and asks partner to cue bid.

- At (1) at the 1^st expert table 4NT would be a quantitative raise of NT, 4♣ would be Gerber and so 5♣ is Exclusion Blackwood if you play that.

Incidentally, if South had opened 3♣ then it would probably not have been quite so easy for our experts. West presumably starts with 4♣ (showing an enormous hand) instead of a mere double but I’m not sure that it’s that easy to reach 7♠ with confidence. I guess that the 1^st expert would bid 5♣ if that’s still Exclusion Blackwood and Bob’s your uncle.

1♠ doubled down six? Board 27 from Friday 13^th

Dealer: ♠ 10 Table A

South ♥ J862 West(G) North East(D) South

Love all ♦ J9643 - - - pass

♣ J64 pass pass 1♣ 1♠

dbl (1) pass 3NT (2) all pass

♠ AQJ84 N ♠ 72

♥ 1054 W E ♥ AK ‘Expert’ table

♦ 852 S ♦ AQ10 West(G) North East(D) South

♣ 32 ♣ AK9875 - - - pass

♠ K9653 pass pass 1♣ (3) 1♠

♥ Q973 pass (4) pass dbl (5) pass

♦ K7 pass pass

♣ Q10

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand G in this week’s quiz? If you play negative doubles then you should pass and await partner’s ‘automatic’ re-opening double. This E-W pair do play negative doubles but West did not know what to do. You cannot double as that shows ♥’s, so if you are unsure the only other sensible alternative is 1NT.

(2) East has no ♠ stop, but since partner has promised values (6+) he presumably has something in ♠’s?

‘Expert’ (3) What did you open with this East hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? I would open

Table 2NT, but let’s suppose that our expert chose 1♣ for some reason. Maybe he doesn’t like to open 2NT with a weak doubleton (it would not worry me).

(4) With these glorious ♠’s it must be best to go for the penalty, and so our West expert passes as he knows that is partner will re-open with a double.

(5) What did you bid with this East hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? Double is almost mandatory in this situation and very clear with this hand which has excellent defensive tricks if partner is going for the penalty. Note that re-opening with a double cannot cost, if partner bids then you bid on to show a very big hand.

And what happened? Virtually everybody ended up in 3NT, making anything from 9-12 tricks. The computer says that E-W can make 12 tricks in ♠’s and so 1♠ doubled would presumably have gone 6 down for 1400 away. Unfortunately I don’t know the bidding at other tables, I guess that many East’s opened 2NT with which I concur.

The bottom lines: -

- Playing negative doubles, pass with a penalty double hand.

- Playing negative doubles, re-open with a double if partner may have the penalty hand.

- Don’t listen to people who say that you can’t get lucrative doubles at the one level, here South had a sound overcall but should have been taken to the cleaners.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Pass. Not enough to invite and the wrong shape for any kind of ‘Garbage’ Stayman.

Hand B: 3♥. A splinter agreeing ♠’s (2♥ would be a forcing reverse and so 3♥ is a splinter).

Hand C: 1♦ of course. Silly question? Yes, but somebody did actually open 1♣!! On Friday.

Hand D: (a) 2NT. Don’t worry about the small doubleton.

(b) Double. Partner may have a ♠ stack and wish to defend 1♠ doubled (yes, despite

what some people say, you can often get a lucrative penalty at the one level). If partner has a weak hand without ♠’s then he will bid and you can then make a strong move. It would be wrong to make this strong move prematurely (instead of double) as you may miss a big penalty and with these top tricks this hand is great for defence.

Hand E: 3♣. At least that’s what I would open if I was playing with a partner who accepts that you can open 3♣ with a good 6 card suit. Note that in 2^nd seat and vulnerable a pre-empt should be pretty decent. If your partnership does not ‘allow’ a pre-empt with a 6 card ♣ suit then I guess either pass or 1♣ are reasonable.

Hand F: 3♠. This shows a completely solid suit, sets trumps, and asks partner to start cue bidding (kings if he has no aces). You could bid a simple 2♠ if you are sure that your partnership has the methods to find out partner’s red king holding.

Hand G: Pass. Assuming that you play negative doubles. You cannot double as that is negative – showing ♥’s. So you pass and await partner’s ‘automatic’ re-opening double which you then pass for penalties.

Hand H: 2NT. Partner’s 4^th suit forcing asks you to describe your hand further and showing a stop in the 4^th suit is always the top priority, this is more important than informing partner that you have a 5 card ♣ suit.

Bidding Sequences (no opposition bidding): -

Sequence J 1♣ - 1♠ - 3♥ 3♥ is a splinter agreeing ♠’s, is it game forcing or not?

It’s really up to your partnership, I prefer game forcing.

Sequence K 1♣ - 1♠ - 3♥ - 3♠ is 3♠ weak or encouraging (slow arrival)? This carries on from the previous question. I play 3♥ as game forcing so 3♠ is encouraging (slow arrival).

Sequence L 2♣ - 2♦ - 3♠ - 4♣ 3♠ is a solid suit and game forcing, what is 4♣?

A cue bid. I could be the ace or else the king if responder has no ace.

Sequence M 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - 2♥ What does the 2♥ bid show? It’s weak with 5 ♥’s and 4 ♠’s. Standard Garbage Stayman.