Club News Sheet – No. 222    www.pattayabridge.com        4th Feb 2007

 

       
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Mon 29th    1st N-S     Jan Roos & Lassee             60%         2nd    Arne & Lars                     59%

                  1st E-W    Clive & Gerry                     66%         2nd    Douwe & Jacques            62%

Wed 31st    1st N-S     Gastone & Terry                63%         2nd    Hugh & Sally                    61%

                  1st E-W    Paul Save.. & Ursula          62%         2nd    Jan v Koss & Royd          54%  

Fri 2nd        1st N-S     Gunnar & Lars                   60%         2nd    Alan & Hans                    54%

                  1st E-W    Bengt & Wolfgang              57%         2nd    Janne & Lasse                  56%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A RHO opens 1♠, what do you bid and what are your intentions?

♠ A93              ♠ KQ873      

♥ AQ2             ♥ 2                   With Hand B partner opens 1♥ and you bid 1♠. Partner then

♦ K102            ♦ 84                 bids 2♦, what do you bid?

♣ AK92           ♣ KJ972

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz

 

C     1♠      pass   2♥      2NT       What is 2NT, is it natural and strong or Unusual?

D     1♣     pass   1♦      pass       What is 1♠, is it natural or 4th suit forcing?

1♥      pass   1♠     

E      1♠      dbl     pass   2♣         How many points is the 2NT bid?

pass   2NT

F      1♥      pass   1♠      pass       is 2♠ weak, encouraging or forcing? How many ♠’s?

2♦      pass   2♠     

 

Editorial

 

I continue to get the odd complaint about this and that, but opinions seem to differ about the suitability of the Tropicana. Here is an e-mail from John Bartlett: -

 

I am very happy at the Tropicana.

 

The sandwiches are great, the free 'as much as you want' tea/coffee is just amazing.

Big fat room with big fat tables and no interruptions from the Thai staff, luvvly !!!.

 

I keep my bladder in check and have never used the toilets, I have no idea where they are.

I don't smoke, so no smoking upstairs is wonderful.

I like to walk up the stairs, it keeps one fit and it’s only 1 flight !

 

It's a perfect venue, thanks for finding this place, I just love it here and hope we never have to move away !

 

Manners at our club – another one bites the dust.

 

Rudeness will not be tolerated at the Pattaya Bridge Club. Emil has finally received a life ban. Dave refunded his playing fee on Wednesday and he’s thrown out for good, to join the other dozen or so mis-fits who simply cannot behave in a civilised manner.

A balanced 20 count when RHO opens              Board 8 from Wednesday 31st

 

North at Table A asked me what he should have done. As it happens I remembered the board as I was North at table B

 

Dealer:             ♠ A93                                            Table A

West                ♥ AQ2                                           West          North(A)    East          South

Love all            ♦ K102                                          1♠              2♣   (1)      pass         pass

                        ♣ AK92                                         pass    

                       

♠ KQJ107            N             ♠ 842                       Table B

♥ KJ5                W    E          ♥ 1096                     West          North(A)    East          South

♦ J6                        S              ♦ 98754                  1♠              dbl   (1)      pass         2♣   (2)

♣ QJ7                                    ♣ 103                      pass           2NT (3)      pass         pass (4)

                        ♠ 65                                               pass

♥ 8743                                          

♦ AQ3                                         

♣ 8654

 

 

Table A:     (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? This North went into a huddle and did not know what to do. He thought that he had read in the news-sheets that a double of 1♠ promises 4 ♥’s and he had also read that if you have to lie, then lie in a minor. So he bid 2♣ and awaited developments. Unfortunately he is still waiting.

Table B:     (1)  This North doubled, the correct answer to question A.

(2)   2♥ is a better bid as doubler generally has 4 ♥’s.

(3)   But North bids 2NT anyway, showing a balanced 19-21 with a ♠ stop.

(4)   And South is in a spot now. Partner has a big hand but does he have 4 ♥’s? South was not quite sure how strong North was (this was a first time partnership) and so passed.

 

And what happened? There are only 7 immediate tricks in No Trumps; with the ♥ finesse and setting up a ♣ as extra chances. At Table B declarer in 2NT ducked two round of ♠’s and won the third round discarding a ♣ from dummy. He crossed to dummy and took the ♥ finesse. West was later in a bit of difficulty on the 3rd round of ♦’s; he thought that he had to keep the ♥KJ and was reluctant to throw a winning ♠, so he threw a ♣ - this losing decision may well have been influenced by declarer’s deceptive discarding of a ♣ from dummy at trick three. Declarer thus made 10 tricks for a near top, only beaten by the one declarer in 3NT: -.

Dave was declarer in 3NT at another table (he doubled and then bid 3NT). For some strange reason he did not receive a ♠ lead, but a ♦. Dave found a nice line to secure the contract when he ducked a ♣ (thus setting up a long ♣ trick provided that the ♣’s split 3-2) and later took the ♥ finesse for the 9 tricks needed.

The bottom lines:

-         A double of 1♠ generally promises 4 ♥’s, but not if you bid again over partner’s response –

-         Double followed by a NoTrump bid shows a balanced 19-21 with a stop.

-         There is no point in leading your own suit of ♦98754 when you have no entry!

-         It’s usually best to lead partner’s suit.

-         With a worthless hand, definitely lead partner’s suit.

 

Beware of mis-fits                                                Board 5 from Wednesday 31st

 

East got his side way too high on this mis-fitting deal, and then tried to blame his partner!

 

Dealer:             ♠ A1092                                       

North               ♥ 10874                                         West          North         East(B)     South

N-S vul            ♦ 76                                               -                 pass           pass (1)    pass

                        ♣ AQ3                                           1♥              pass           1♠            pass

2♦              pass           2♠    (2)    pass

♠ -                        N             ♠ KQ873                 3♦  (3)        pass           3NT (4)    all pass

♥ AKQ963        W    E          ♥ 2                    

♦ K9532                S              ♦ 84                  

♣ 106                                    ♣ KJ972                 

                        ♠ J654                                          

♥ J5                                              

♦ AQJ10                                      

♣ 854

 

(1)   A perfect Muiderberg 2♠ opener – I guess this pair were playing normal weak twos.

(2)   What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? This East hand started off as a good 9 points, but it has got worse with every bid that partner has made. 2♠ here is mildly encouraging and promises a 6-card suit – I would never dream of encouraging nor rebidding this poor 5 card suit. 2♥ is clearly the best bid.

(3)   West chose to show his 5th ♦ rather than his 6th ♥, but it does not really matter as East has got the partnership too high anyway.

(4)   This is a terrible bid, with East overbidding again with nowhere near the values for 3NT. It’s a mis-fit and East should simply pass or bid 3♥.

 

And what happened? 3NT went two down for a totally deserved complete bottom for East. Most pairs were playing in various numbers of ♥’s making anything from 7 to 10 tricks. Note that the ♦A, ♣A, ♣Q and ♠A all lay well for declarer but he still went two down – just goes to show what a really lousy bid 3NT is; swap the North and South hands and declarer will probably only scrape up about 4 tricks! At the end of the deal East was quick to criticise West’s 3♦ bid, saying that he should have bid 3♥. A classic ‘doing a Chuck’ – immediately try to blame partner for your own mistakes.

The bottom lines:

-         Beware of mis-fits.

-         Bail out at the earliest opportunity (at (2) here) with a mis-fit.

-         It is hardly ever correct to play a mis-fit in NoTrumps.

-         If you ‘do a Chuck’ then expect to be written up if I am within earshot. But no names.

 

Opening 1NT out-of range is not allowed.                East hand 24 from Wednesday 31st

 

♠ Q1096          I was called over when this East apparently opened this with a 15-17 1NT

♥ A43              and thus fixed the opposition. You are not allowed to open 1NT way out 

♦ A105            of range and if you do so you will receive an adjusted (unfavourable) score.

♣ K102           This hand is two points shy. Those (like me) who do not simply add points but

also adjust for intermediates and shape will then adjust – add on a point for the good intermediates but deduct a point for the very bad totally flat shape. So this hand is still two points outside the stated range and I adjusted the score. One point outside is acceptable, two is not. Incidentally, you should have a specific (2-4 point) range for your 1NT opening; a statement like “15-17 but could be as much as 20” is totally unacceptable – especially when it turns out to be 13.

 

♠ A108            Improve the hand to something like this and I would not argue with a 1NT

♥ K10              opening. It’s still 13 ‘points’ but in reality is worth 15-16 because of the

♦ K105            good shape, the tens and good intermediates.

♣ QJ1098       

 

♠ AQ4             And with a hand like this I would not argue if you chose to open 1♣ and

♥ K43              rebid 1NT – showing 12-14 points. The hand is 16 ‘points’ but the miserable 

♦ AJ2               shape and lack of intermediated make it worth about 14.

♣ Q432          

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:    Dbl, with the intention of bidding 2NT over partner’s non-jump response. The initial double implies 4 ♥’s but the subsequent NoTrump bid negates that inference and simply shows a hand too strong to overcall 1NT (so around 19-21).

Hand B:    2♥. The hand is a mis-fit and you should stop as soon as possible. The hand does not have the values for 2NT and a mildly encouraging 2♠ with just a 5 card suit is a very poor bid.

 

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz Answers

 

C     1♠      pass   2♥      2NT       2NT here in the sandwich seat is the same as an unusual

No Trump, weak and 5-5 or better in the unbid suits.

D     1♣     pass   1♦      pass       This is generally played as natural and forcing, with a 

1♥      pass   1♠                    jump to 2♠ as 4th suit forcing.

E      1♠      dbl     pass   2♣         The 2NT bid having doubled shows a hand that is too strong

pass   2NT                           for an immediate 1NT (15-18) overcall; so 19-21.

F      1♥      pass   1♠      pass       2♠ here is mildly encouraging but not forcing. It most certainly

2♦      pass   2♠                    should be a 6+ card suit.