Club News Sheet – No. 248 www.pattayabridge.com 5^th Aug 2007

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880

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 30^th 1^st Paul Sc.. & Ivy 63% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 62%

Wed 1^st 1^st Paul Sc.. & Terry 65% 2^nd Paul Sav.. & Mike G 61%

Fri 3^rd 1^st Kees Pr.. & Guy 59% 2^nd Bjorn & Sally 58%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1NT and you transfer with 2♥ and

partner obediently bids 2♠. What do you bid now?

♠ AQJ63 ♠ K1064

♥ 96 ♥ J1063

♦ 10842 ♦ KQ6 With Hand B partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 1♠, what

♣ Q7 ♣ A8 do you bid?

Hand C Hand D With Hand C you open 1♦ and partner bids 2♣, what do you bid?

♠ 54 ♠ J

♥ KQ98 ♥ K7 With hand D there are two passes and RHO opens 3♣,

♦ QJ94 ♦ AKQJ10654 what do you bid?

♣ A82 ♣ K6

Bidding Sequences Quiz All of these sequences occurred this week

E 1♦ pass 2♣ pass (a) How many ♦’s does opener promise?

2♥ (b) How many points is opener showing?

F 1♦ pass 2NT (a) How many points is 2NT by responder?

(b) How many ♥’s and how many ♠’s?

G 1♦ pass 3NT (a) How many points is 3NT by responder?

(b) How many ♥’s and how many ♠’s?

The Club Championships The current standings are: -

Gold Cup = Best 30 Silver plate = Best 10 Bronze medal = Best 5

1816.8 Janne Roos 666.8 Janne Roos 350.4 Janne Roos

1793.3 Jan v Koss 650.5 Jan v Koss 340.2 Jan v Koss

1763.4 Dave Cutler 634.9 Paul Savelkral 336.2 Bengt Malmgren

634.5 Lars Gustaffson 332.9 Paul Savelkral

627.2 Dave Cutler 325.6 Gunnar Barthel

Please note

My mobile phone number has recently changed. It’s now 083 6066880.

Tell partner your hand Board 22 from Monday 30^th

Dealer: ♠ AQJ63 Table A

East ♥ 96 West North(A) East South

E-W vul ♦ 10842 - - pass 1NT

♣ Q7 pass 2♥ pass 2♠

pass 4♠ (1) all pass

♠ 107 N ♠ 9852

♥ 10872 W E ♥ KQ4 Table B

♦ KJ96 S ♦ A5 West North(A) East South

♣ J92 ♣ 10543 - - pass 1NT

♠ K4 pass 2♥ pass 2♠

♥ AJ53 pass 3NT (1) all pass

♦ Q73

♣ AK86

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North A in this week’s quiz? The hand is worth game, but with two doubletons and a meager ♦ suit, this North chose 4♠.

Table B: (1) This North knew not to bid a 5 card suit having transferred and so chose 3NT. Should North bid 3NT or introduce a 2^nd 4 card suit with 3♦? Experts disagree on this, 3NT is obviously very reasonable (better than 4♠) but I would bid 3♦. This is game forcing and warns partner of the shortage in the two unbid suits. With this particular South hand he would always opt for 3NT of course as ♥’s and ♣’s are well covered, but with a weakness in either ♣’s or ♥’s then a 5-2 ♠ fit may play best.

And what happened? Three pairs bid and made 3NT (one with an overtrick). Two pairs bid 4♠ and both went down

The bottom lines: -

- If partner opens 1NT and you have game values with a 5 card major and a 4 card minor, then transfer and then bid the minor – this warns partner about the shortage in the other two suits.

- To transfer and then rebid the major promises a six card suit.

- Some experts believe that a 2^nd suit having transferred should be five cards but most agree that it only promises four. I strongly go along with this 2^nd group and this topic is fully discussed in the No Trump bidding book.

.

Negative double or show your stop? Board 12 from Monday 30^th

♠ K1064 Suppose you hold this hand. Partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 1♠.

♥ J1063 What do you do? Should you show your 4 card ♥ suit (with a negative double)

♦ J62 or should you show your excellent ♠ guards by calling 1NT? It’s a close call,

♣ Q8 your hand is worth just one bid and you have to choose. Either may turn out best.

But give the hand more points and you can do both! South at Table A could not work it out and ended up making a ludicrous bid that stopped short of game.

Dealer: ♠ Q9 Table A

West ♥ AK98 West North East South(B)

N-S vul ♦ 1094 pass 1♣ 1♠ 2NT (1)

♣ K543 pass pass (2) all pass

♠ 72 N ♠ AJ853 Table B

♥ Q542 W E ♥ 7 West North East South(B)

♦ 52 S ♦ AJ873 pass 1♣ 1♠ dbl (1)

♣ QJ972 ♣ 106 pass 2♥ pass 4♥ (3)

♠ K1064 all pass

♥ J1063

♦ KQ6

♣ A8

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand B in this week’s quiz? Should you show your ♥’s or bid NoTrumps? This South chose to bid 2NT but unfortunately that shows just 11-12 points and is not forcing

(2) And with this 12 count North correctly passed.

Table B: (1) This South got it spot on. With game forcing values you negative double first to show four ♥’s (and 6+ points) and if partner does not bid ♥’s you bid 3NT next go, easy.

(3) Here the 4-4 ♥ fit is located and the easy game reached.

And what happened? 4♥ is the best contract, even with the adverse 4-1 split. Three pairs bid 4♥ which should make +1 but one managed to go down. 2NT should make 10 tricks easily but this South vindicated his bidding by totally mis-playing the hand and making just 8 tricks - a ♠ was led, East played the ♠J and South ducked! At another table South got a complete top for 3NT +2. 10 tricks in No trumps is easy: (2 ♠’s, 4 ♥’s, 2 ♦’s and 2 ♣’s).

The bottom lines: -

- A 2NT bid by responder is always a balanced 11-12 unless you have another agreement.

- Don’t let the ♠J win when you have 6 cards in the suit including the K, Q, 10 and 9!

A Reverse? Board 23 from Monday 30^th

Dealer: ♠ AQ108 Table A

South ♥ 3 West(C) North East South

Both vul ♦ 72 - - - pass

♣ J109763 1♦ pass 2♣ (1) pass

2♥ (2) pass 4NT (3) pass

♠ 54 N ♠ K73 5♦ pass 6♦ all pass

♥ KQ98 W E ♥ A102

♦ QJ94 S ♦ AK85 Table B

♣ A82 ♣ K54 West(C) North East South

♠ J962 - - - pass

♥ J7654 1♦ pass 2♣ (1) pass

♦ 1063 2NT (2) pass 3NT (4) all pass

♣ Q

Table A: (1) This is the best response unless you have agreed to play Inverted Minors or Baron 2NT. A 2NT bid here is normally 11-12 and 3NT is normally 13-15.

(2) What did you bid with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? This 2♥ bid is a reverse and promises 16+ points unless you have agreed that a reverse over a two level response does not guarantee extra values. However, this 2♥ bid is incorrect as a reverse always guarantees 5 + cards in the first bid suit.

(3) East thought that West had a bigger and more shapely hand and charged off into the rather fortunate slam.

Table B: (2) This West got question C spot on. 2NT here shows 12-14 and may or may not contain a 4 card major. You should not bid a 4 card major here as partner has generally denied one and to reverse into a major promises 5+ ♦’s whether or not you play it as 15+ points.

(4) East knows that there is a probable 4-4 ♦ fit but it’s a dicey slam with a combined 29-31 points.

And what happened? The hands fitted well and with the ♠A onside 6♦ made at the two tables where it was bid (pretty much identical auctions).

The bottom lines: -

- A reverse guarantees 5+ cards in the first bid suit.

- It’s up to you whether a reverse over a two-level response shows extra values (standard is that it does) but the above statement (5+ cards) is true whichever option you choose.

If 3NT is an option … Board 19 from Monday 30^th

We had 5 different auctions on this board from Monday (South passed as dealer at every table): -

Dealer: ♠ K62 Table A West North East South

South ♥ 852 pass pass (1) 5♦ (2) all pass

E-W vul ♦ 3

♣ A109754 Table B West North East South

pass pass (1) 2♣ (2) 2♥

♠ AQ1094 N ♠ J 2♠ 3♥ 4♦ (3) pass

♥ 1093 W E ♥ K7 5♦ all pass

♦ 82 S ♦ AKQJ10654

♣ J82 ♣ K6

♠ 8753 Table C West North East(D) South

♥ AQJ64 pass 3♣ (1) 5♦ (2) all pass

♦ 97

♣ Q3 Table D West North East(D) South

pass 3♣ (1) 3NT (4) all pass

Table E West North East(D) South

pass 3♣ (1) 3NT (4) 4♣

4♠ pass 5♦ (5) all pass

Table A: (1) At this vulnerability I prefer the bid chosen at tables C-E

(2) A silly opening bid with this huge hand.

Table B: (1) This North also passed.

(2) Much more sensible.

(3) But East made a poor choice here. It looks like you’re getting a ♥ lead and I would bid 3NT.

Table C: (1) A sensible pre-empt in this seat at this vulnerability.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand D in this week’s quiz? This hand has a ♣ stop and I would never bid 5♦ if 3NT is a reasonable option.

Table D: (4) This East got it right.

Table E: (5) This East was a bit unlucky to get pushed up to 5♦.

And what happened? The defence has to be very accurate to defeat 3NT. At table D they should have done because of the opening 3♣ bid! The ♣Q was led and North won with the ♣A. A ♥ switch looks like the only chance to defeat the contract but North woodenly continued with a ♣. I’m not sure at which table, but at one table E-W pushed on to 6♦ and went one down. 4♦ made exactly and the 5♦ contracts made once and went two down once.

Deep Finesse says that 4♦ and 1NT are the limit, but the defence has to be spot on to beat 3NT and that is where I would want to play.

The bottom lines: -

- If 3NT is an option – then bid it.

- With a ling solid minor, think No-Trumps.

Totally Insane ! Board 10 from Friday 3^rd

I nearly got very angry (with myself?) on this deal from Friday.

Dealer: ♠ 87 West North East South

East ♥ K93 - - pass pass

Both vul ♦ KQ10965 1♣ 2♦ 2♠ (1) pass

♣ 73 3NT (2) all pass

♠ 94 N ♠ KQ102 I was West and calling for dummies. I was

♥ A842 W E ♥ QJ5 playing against a poor pair and had called

♦ A S ♦ 842 over an equally poor bidding partner.

♣ AQJ842 ♣ K96

♠ AJ653 (1) This East does not know about negative doubles

♥ 1076 (2) You know me, if 3NT is an option…

♦ J73

♣ 105

North led the ♦K and I won with the ♦A perforce. I had 8 tricks and the only hope of a 9^th (before North runs the ♦’s) is that the ♥K is with South. So I cashed the ♣A, went over to the ♣K and played the ♥Q – it held! I now had 9 tricks, but I knew the caliber of the defenders, so I thought that I might as well try the ♥J for an overtrick – South may not cover or they may throw their ♥’s away on the run of the ♣’s.

To my utter amazement North won the trick with the ♥K! I had been gifted 9 tricks and then, stupidly assuming that the defence had some idea of what they were doing – I blew it!

So North belatedly won his ♥K and cashed the ♦Q. I was muttering all sorts of unprintable comments under my breath but then North played the ♦10 and South won with the ♦J – he had failed to unblock the suit. So my faith in these defenders abilities was totally vindicated when I made 9 tricks anyway!

North explained that he ducked the ♥Q because he thought that I may have ♦Jx and he needed a ♦ through from partner. With ♦842 on view on table and six ♦’s in his own hand I leave it to the reader to work out this tricky mathematical problem. Apart from the mathematics, any sane declarer would have ducked the ♦K lead if holding ♦AJx, but then can you name anybody at this table who appears to be remotely sane?

The bottom line : -

- I guess two (or three?) absurd plays can cancel each other out?

- Don’t be greedy?

- If partner leads the K of his suit against NoTrumps then that promises the Q – so unblock if you hold the J.

- If South had unblocked at trick1 then I doubt if even these defenders could have got it wrong?

- To quote Lewis, who was playing with a partner a few weeks back who I won't name (not me!) against two equally competent opponents : "It's like playing in a zoo!"

Dave’s Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the best play for the contract.

North South You are South, playing in a somewhat optimistic 4♠ contract.

♠ K8 ♠ AQJ1092 How do you play when the defenders lead three rounds of ♦’s?

♥ K762 ♥ 3

♦ 10962 ♦ 54

♣ 872 ♣ AQJ6

Dave’s Column answer Board 27 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ K8 West North East South

South ♥ K762 - - - 1♠

Love all ♦ 10962 pass 1NT pass 3♠ (1)

♣ 872 pass pass (2) pass

♠ 64 N ♠ 753 (1) This looks about right to me, it’s encouraging

♥ Q1084 W E ♥ AJ95 but not forcing

♦ KQJ3 S ♦ A87 (2) North has nice ♠’s (he has already denied 3 ♠’s)

♣ 943 ♣ K105 but it’s still only 6 points and I agree with the pass

♠ AQJ1092

♥ 3 Everybody played in a ♠ contract, but what is the

♦ 54 best line for 10 tricks after the defence lead 3 rounds

♣ AQJ6 of ♦’s?

You need to take a repeat finesse in the ♣ suit. Since you may need both the ♠K and ♠8 as entries you should ruff the 3^rd round of ♦’s with the ♠9. You then lead a ♥ towards the ♥K, hoping to set up a discard for the 4^th ♣. No luck there, the ♥K loses to the ♥A and East returns another ♥. You ruff with the ♠10 and lead the ♠2 to dummy’s ♠8. A finesse of the ♣Q wins and you return to dummy with the ♠K. After finessing the ♣J you can draw East’s last trump and play the ♣A. Luckily the ♣’s split 3-3 and the contract is made.

And what happened? Two Souths made 10 tricks, two made 9 and one managed just 8 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- If you are short of entries for a necessary finesse, you sometimes have to delay pulling trumps if the trump suit is your only source of entries.

Dave’s 2^nd Problem

North South This one is a bit easier (at least I think it's fairly easy).

♠ A10765 ♠ KQJ9 You are North, declarer in 7♠, how do you play the hand ?

♥ 76 ♥ AKJ1032 when East leads the ♦Q?

♦ A97 ♦ K This hand was played five times on Wednesday, three

♣ A104 ♣ KQ pairs went down in the poor 7NT and the other two pairs both stopped in 6♠ but made only 12 tricks. Can you do better?

!

Which grand slam? Board 7 from Wednesday 1^st

All five N-S pairs went wrong on this deal; how did you play the 7♠ contract?

Dealer: ♠ A10765

South ♥ 76 West North East South

Both vul ♦ A97 - - - 2♣

♣ A104 pass 2♠ pass 3♥

pass 3♠ pass 6♠

♠ - N ♠ 8432 all pass

♥ Q9854 W E ♥ -

♦ 86543 S ♦ QJ102 This was the bidding at one table, and one other

♣ 852 ♣ J9763 table also stopped in 6♠. At the other three tables

♠ KQJ9 N-S knew that there was probably a grand there,

♥ AKJ1032 but they ALL ignored the superb 5-4 ♠ fit and

♦ K charged into the doomed 7NT.

♣ KQ

And what happened? The three pairs in 7NT deservedly went down when the ♥Q was offside. The two in 6♠ got a joint top when they both made the contract exactly.

So how did you play the hand set out on the previous page? 13 tricks in ♠’s by North looks automatic to me – win the ♦K, go to North with a trump, ruff a ♦, draw trumps, cash ♣KQ and ♥AK, over to North by trumping a ♥ and you have the ♣A and ♦A left – making 5 ♠’s, 1 ♠ ruff, 2♥’s, 2 ♦’s and 3 ♣’s. This line is 100% and cannot fail on any distribution; the ♥ finesse is not needed and the location of the ♥Q is irrelevant as only 2 ♥ tricks are needed.

♠ - The totally inferior line of drawing trumps and

♥ - hoping to pick up the ♥Q somehow does

♦ A9 not work as I believe there is insufficient

♣ A104 communication between the two hands having

pulled trumps. Others (Dave, who I understand

♠ - N ♠ - put the hand in, and Guy) think it does.

♥ 98 W E ♥ - Say you adopt their line and pull 4 rounds of

♦ 86 S ♦ J10 trumps. Play a ♥ to the ♥A and discover the

♣ 8 ♣ J97 ♥ position. You play ♥K and ♥J which West

♠ - covers and North ruffs. That leaves this position

♥ 1032 with the lead in the North hand.

♦ How do you get all of the last 5 tricks? You have

♣ KQ 5 top tricks but the entries are in a tangle.

Looks like you must lose one more trick to me.

Maybe the answer is to unblock the ♣KQ earlier so that the ♣A does not crash an honour, but you then have no entry to the ♥10. It’s all very complex and beyond a simple soul like me – I would simply ruff a ♦ at trick three and claim 13 tricks on any distribution whatsoever.

And how did I fare on the board? I got a shared bottom as my opponents were one of the pairs who stopped in 6♠ and made just 12 tricks having drawn trumps, but they scored a joint top anyway. The bottom lines: -

- Good 5-4 fits play very well!

- A ruff in the short trump hand is an extra trick.

- Count your tricks; 5 trumps, a ruff (in the short hand), and 7 top cards in the other suits = 13 !

The Jump Cuebid overcall

In news-sheet 247 I wrote up the Jump Cuebid Overcall. There was nothing about it on the internet and so I wrote a new page and thought that I’d monitor how long it takes to be noticed by the search engines. I put links to the new page from my conventions page and the main news page. These are currently indexed by all of the major search engines and so at least the link from these pages should show up soon, although the actual dedicated page may take months to be indexed. The situation at the moment is that nobody has found the new page, but:

Google has an entry at number 12 (so near the top of page 2) for the Conventions page section and an entry at number 21 (top of page 3) for the main news-sheet page. There is currently nothing in Yahoo or MSN.

In a similar vein, in News-sheet 238 I wrote up a defence to the Multi 2♦. The page I wrote has not yet been recognised by Google (so 10 weeks so far) but Google does have the link from the convention section listed at entry number 10 on the first page. MSN has nothing but Yahoo has found the page and it is listed at entry number 6 on the first page.

Just why Google takes such a long time to recognise a new page is a mystery that they keep a closely guarded secret.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3♦, show the 2^nd suit, even though it is only ten high. This is not offering 5♦ as an alternative contract but simply showing your shape and warning partner of your shortage in ♥’s and ♣’s. 3NT is a reasonable alternative but 4♠ is not as that promises 6 ♠’s.

Hand B: dbl, negative and showing 4 ♥’s. If partner bids 2♥ then raise to 4♥ and if partner bids some other non-strong bid then bid 3NT.

Hand C: 2NT. A balanced 12-14. 2♥ is a reverse and is incorrect here (even if you have agreed that it does not show extra values over a two-level response) at it shows a 5-card ♦ suit.

Hand D: 3NT. You have a ♣ stop and probably 9 tricks. Partner must have some values and I would hope that he has something in ♠’s if it is needed.

Bidding Sequences Answers

E 1♦ pass 2♣ pass (a) A reverse promises 5+ cards in the first bid suit.

2♥ (b) A reverse is 15+ points unless you agree otherwise over a two level response.

F 1♦ pass 2NT (a) 2NT is 11-12

(b) 2 or 3 ♥’s and 2 or 3 ♠’s; 2NT denies a 4 card major.

G 1♦ pass 3NT (a) 3NT is 13-15

(b) 2 or 3 ♥’s and 2 or 3 ♠’s; 3NT denies a 4 card major.