Out website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 258 

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880                  14th Oct 2007

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 8th                1st    Dave & Lewis                61%       2nd    Jan & Royd                          60%

Wed 10th              1st   Niels & Peter                 64%       2nd    Jean & Lars                          63%

Fri    12th              1st    Dave & Bill                    57%       2nd    Niels & Peter                       57%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 3♦, what

do you bid?

♠ AQ743         ♠ 107            

♥ AQ852         ♥ AK3          

♦ 8                  ♦ AKJ96          With Hand B RHO opens 2♥, what do you bid?

♣ 62                ♣ AJ6             

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C partner opens 1♠, what do you bid?

 

♠ 52                 ♠ J95

♥ AJ9              ♥ J8                 With Hand D partner opens 1♦ (promising at least 4 ♦’s), what

♦ J10876         ♦ 1094             do you bid?

♣ 1086            ♣ KJ1093                                             

                       

Hand E            Hand F            With Hand E RHO opens 3♠, what do you bid?

 

♠ AKQ            ♠ K92                                           

♥ Q                  ♥ J102             With Hand F you open 1♣ and LHO overcalls a weak 3♦. Partner       

♦ AK94          ♦ A2                bids 4♦, what do you bid?

♣ 109743        ♣ KQJ109

                       

 

Bidding Sequence quiz

 

G     1♣     3♦      4♦                3♦ is weak, what is 4♦?

H     2♦      pass   2♥      dbl     2♦ is Multi and 2♥ the normal relay response, what is dbl? Does it show ♥’s or something else?

 

We are Moving!

 

There’s just one more week at the Tropicana. As from Monday 22nd October we will be playing at the Bowling Green, Soi Fuengfa (Soi Xyte). There is a map on the website.
Preference – part 1                                              Board 13 from Monday 8th   

 

When partner ‘opens’ one suit and subsequently bids another, then he guarantees more cards in the first bid suit (or equal length). At Table B this went drastically wrong when South assumed that an unfamiliar partner knew this basic concept.

Dealer:             ♠ 1096                                           Table A

North               ♥ 76                                               West          North         East            South

Both vul            ♦ J9                                                -                 pass           2♦    (1)      dbl

                        ♣ AQJ92                                       4♦    (2)      pass           pass           4♠      (3)

all pass

♠ 5                        N             ♠ 732                      

♥ J432              W    E          ♥ 109                       Table B

♦ A10764             S              ♦ KQ8532              West          North         East            South

♣ K43                                   ♣ 106                     -                 pass           pass (1)      2♣     (4)

                        ♠ AKQJ84                                    pass           3♣             pass           3♠ 

♥ AKQ85                                      pass           4♣             pass           4NT   (5)

♦ -                                                  pass           5♦              dbl             7♥      (6)

♣ 75                                              pass (7)      pass   (8)    pass

 

Table A:     (1)  With the points in the suit, this is a reasonable weak 2♦ opener.

(2)   Good bid, certainly very safe according to the LAW.

(3)   This, in my opinion, is a pathetic. This is an eleven playing trick hand with just two losers; and what’s more – the opponents have shown weak hands with values in your void suit! I would bid 5♦ but opposite a pudding I would simply bid 6♠.

Table B:     (1)  This East chose to pass.

(4)  And this allowed South to show a big hand.

(5)  Ordinary Blackwood – this was a first time partnership

(6)  Since North had bid ♣’s twice and East has doubled ♦’s, South correctly assumed that the missing ace was the ♦A. Since South is not a hog and he had an excellent ♥ suit he decided to show his 2nd suit – after all, North may well have 3 or 4 ♥’s and a ♠ void.

(7)  West paused while he considered if South knew what he was doing. But as South was no other than your own humble Terry he decided that he must have a ♦ void.

(8)  Unfortunately it appears that this North considers a 7-level bid to end the auction, regardless of previous bidding? Or else he was simply sleeping.

                 

And what happened? 7♥ went one down of course when the ♥’s failed to split. South’s  rather pathetic ‘effort’ at Table A earned him a complete top as nobody else bid slam and, indeed, the two other declarers in 4♠ miraculously both somehow failed to make 13 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

-         Always give preference back to partner’s first bid suit if you are equal length (or have more in the first bid suit!!!)

-         Do not bid a passable 4♠ with an eleven playing trick hand! - especially when the opponents are pre-empting in your void suit!

-         If partner is asleep – don’t give him a chance to go wrong? 


Preference – part 2                                              Board 8 from Monday 8th  

 

Here we have the same pair in action (this time E-W). East asked his partner to pick a major but unfortunately West decided to re-bid his 5-card ♣ suit.

Dealer:             ♠ 108                                             West(F)     North         East(A)      South

West                ♥ K                                                1♣             3♦              4♦    (1)      pass

Love all            ♦ KQJ9764                                    5♣   (2)      all pass

                        ♣ 874

(1)  What did you bid with this East hand A     in

♠ K92                   N             ♠ AQ743                 this week’s quiz? Double would be negative

♥ J102              W    E          ♥ AQ852                 showing at least one major; but E-W were an

♦ A2                     S             ♦ 8                          unfamiliar partnership and had not agreed

♣ KQJ109                            ♣ 62                        negative doubles or to what level. But this

                        ♠ J65                                             4♦ bid surely asks partner to pick a major?

♥ 9763                                     (2)  Presumably West put no thought into what 4♦

♦ 1053                                           could possibly mean and woodenly rebid his

♣ A53                                            5-card suit! Either 4♥ or 4♠ is clear.

And what happened? 5♣ went one down; it should make but that’s irrelevant when the rest of the field are in 4♥/♠ making one or two over-tricks.

The bottom lines: -

-         I guess that most partnerships have not discussed these sorts of sequences, but they really are just simple logic. If East had wanted to play in 5♣ he would have bid it.

 

Everybody bids ♥’s                                              Board 19 from Wednesday 10th  

 

An interesting auction – everybody at the table bid ♥’s

Dealer:             ♠ 83                                               West          North         East            South

West                ♥ J107532                                     1♣             2♥              dbl   (1)      3♥      (2)

E-W vul           ♦ 985                                             4♥    (3)      pass           5♥    (4)      pass

                        ♣ Q9                                             6♠              all pass

.

♠ KJ62                 N             ♠ A1074            (1)  Negative, promising 4 ♠’s and 10+ points here.

♥ A4                 W    E          ♥ Q                    (2)  Non-vul with 4 ♥’s I would bid 4♥.

♦ 6                       S              ♦ AK102           (3)  I like ♠’s and am interested in slam.

♣ AK8653                            ♣ 10742            (4)  OK, then pick a slam.

                        ♠ Q95                                            

♥ K986                                         

♦ QJ743                                        

♣ J                                                

And what happened? 6♠ made 13 tricks very comfortably. Just one other pair bid 6♠ but made only 12 tricks. The 3 other scores were 4♠+1, +2 and +3.

The bottom lines: -

-     Cue bid the opponent’s suit to show a good hand.


Respond with 6 points! – part 1                           Board 23 from Monday 8th  

 

E-W missed game here when West decided not to respond with just two of partner’s suit.

Dealer:             ♠ 10983                                         West(C)     North         East            South

South               ♥ Q86                                            -                 -                 -                 pass

Both vul           ♦ 943                                             pass           pass           1♠              pass

                        ♣ K73                                           pass (1)      pass

 

♠ 52                      N             ♠ AKQJ6           (1)  What did you bid with this West hand C    in

♥ AJ9                W    E          ♥ 104                       this week’s quiz? It’s 6 points but has a small

♦ J10876              S              ♦ KQ                      doubleton in partner’s suit, so pass?

♣ 1086                                  ♣ AJ42                    I would always bid 1NT – apart from the fact

                        ♠ 74                                              that you should virtually always respond with

♥ K7532                                        6 points, just look at those tens and intermediates!

♦ A52                                           

♣ Q95                                          

And what happened? 1♠ made 11 tricks but scored a near bottom when two pairs played in game making exactly. The bottom lines: -

-         Always respond to partner’s opening with six points.

 

Respond with 6 points! – part 2                           Board 19 from Friday 12th  

 

N-S missed game here when North decided not to respond with a good 6 count.

Dealer:             ♠ J95                                             West          North(D)    East            South

South               ♥ J8                                               -                 -                 -                 1♦  (1)

E-W vul           ♦ 1094                                           pass           pass (2)      pass

                        ♣ KJ1093                                     

(1)  Playing a short ♣, so promising 4+ ♦’s

♠ 10642                N             ♠ Q8                  (2)  What did you bid with this North hand D   in

♥ K1076           W    E          ♥ 5432                     this week’s quiz? I would always bid 1NT –

♦ J                        S              ♦ A8732                 apart from the fact that you should virtually

♣ AQ62                                 ♣ 74                        always respond with 6 points, just look at that

                        ♠ AK73                                        5- card suit, two tens and the intermediates!

♥ AQ9                                          

♦ KQ65                                        

♣ 85                                             

And what happened? 1♦ made +1 but scored a near bottom; 3NT is fairly comfortable.

The bottom lines: -

-         Always respond to partner’s opening with six points.

 

 

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

 

North               South                   You are South, playing in 4♠. How do you play on the ♦K lead

♠ Q94              ♠ KJ1073            and a ♦ continuation?

♥ KJ62            ♥ AQ4          

♦ 97                ♦ 6                

♣ K985           ♣ A1073                                 


Dave’s Column answer                              Board 27 from Wednesday 10th

 

   

Dealer:             ♠ Q94                                      You are South, declarer in 4♠. West leads the ♦K

South               ♥ KJ62                                    and it wins. He continues with another ♦, how do

Love all            ♦ 97                                         you make the contract?

                        ♣ K985                                        

Let’s see what will happen if you ruff the 2nd ♦.

♠ A862                 N             ♠ 5                     You play a trump to the ♠Q and continue with a

♥ 93                  W    E          ♥ 10875             2nd round of trumps. Bad news arrives when East

♦ KQJ103            S              ♦ A8542            shows out, throwing a ♦. It gets worse when West

♣ 42                                      ♣ QJ6                allows the 2nd round of trumps to win. Do you see        

                        ♠ KJ1073                                the problem now?    

♥ AQ4                                                    

♦ 6                                           This is the remaining position in the trump suit.  

♣ A1073                                  If you play a 3rd round of trumps, West will win

and play another round of ♦’s to force your last

♠ 9                                           trump. You will have lost control. West will be able  

♠ A8                                     ♠ -                     to ruff in at some stage and cash his remaining ♦’s.

                        ♠ J10                                            

 

Do you see how to overcome the 4-1 trump break? At trick 2 you should discard a ♣ instead of ruffing. A 3rd round of ♦’s will not damage you now as you can take the ruff in dummy – with the short trump holding. Whatever else West tries you will be able to win and knock out the ace of trumps. Since you have one more trump than West, he cannot hurt you by holding up the ♠A for two rounds. You have preserved trump control.

That’s an important technique to remember. You can discard a loser from the long trump hand waiting to trump in the short trump hand.

                                                                             

Terry’s comments: - ‘Bad news’ only happens 10% of the time. I note that one E-W pair found the fine save of 5♦ going only two down; Dave’s book does not give any bidding.

 

The Club Championships       The current standings for the top 5 in each competition are: -

 

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

 

1837.7  Jan v Koss                  666.8  Janne Roos                    350.4  Janne Roos

1817.7  Dave Cutler                 655.2  Jan v Koss                    343.2  Bengt Malmgren

1816.8  Janne Roos                  644.2  Dave Cutler                   340.3  Jan v Koss

1760.9  Bob Pelletier                644.1  Bengt Malmgren            332.9  Paul Savelkral

1725.8  Phil Lovell                   636.9  Lars Gustaffson             332.0  Lewis Berg

Another word about alerts and pre-alerts

 

I seem to be continually bombarded by complaints. If you play 4-card majors, a weak NoTrump or a short ♣ then these either need to be pre-alerted or alerted when the bid is made.

The Precision ♣ is different – OK Sally? Most people do no understand Precision, so not only does the system need to be pre-alerted but the 1♣, 1♦ and 2♣ openings all also have to be alerted. It’s best to announce the 1NT as ‘13-15’.

 

Don’t double if a NoTrump overcall is better – part 1         Board 13 from Friday 12th  

 

On Friday somebody tried to quote me as saying “if you double a major then that promises a good holding in the other major”. Unfortunately that is a mis-quote, as I always add “… or a very good hand”. This came up twice on Friday, but as it happens double was a poor bid on both occasions.

Dealer:             ♠ 107                                             Table A

South               ♥ AK3                                           West          North(B)    East            South

Love all            ♦ AKJ96                                        -                 -                 -                 pass

                        ♣ AJ6                                            2♥              dbl   (1)      4♥    (2)      4♠      (3)

pass           pass (4)      pass

♠ KQ2                  N             ♠ A865                   

♥ QJ8754         W    E          ♥ 10962                   Table B

♦ 7                       S              ♦ 543                      West          North(B)    East            South

♣ 973                                    ♣ K5                      -                 -                 -                 pass

                        ♠ J943                                          2♥              dbl   (1)      4♥    (2)      4♠      (3)

♥ -                                                 pass           6NT (4)      dbl             all pass

♦ Q1082                                       

♣ Q10842                                            

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? I don’t really like double with just two ♠’s and I would bid 3NT. The problem with double is that if LHO raises ♥’s then partner may bid 4♠.

(2)   Good bid – always immediately raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit to make it difficult for the opponents.

(3)   I too would bid 4♠ here.

(4)   North has got himself into the predictable pickle and decided to hope that partner had good ♠’s.

Table B:     (4)  This North thought that he was not in a ‘pickle’. He assumed that partner had a stronger hand and bid 6NT!

                       

And what happened? 4♠ went minus one. At another table North overcalled just 2NT and played there making 11 tricks. 4♥ got doubled once and went one down. 6NT obviously has 4 losers but when East got in with the ♣K he failed to take the ♠A for the setting doubled down trick and decided to lead another ♥; 6NT then made when bothe defenders held onto their ♠’s.

The bottom lines: -

-         If you double a 2♥/♠ opening bid then you have to be prepared for a 4-level bid of the other major from partner.

-         If you have AKx of the opponent’s suit, then that’s usually a good enough stop for NoTrumps.

-         With a good 20 points and good stops, overcall 3NT over 2♥/♠ rather than 2NT (15-18).

Don’t double if a NoTrump overcall is better – part 2         Board 13 from Friday 12th  

 

Here’s the other similar deal from Friday.

Dealer:             ♠ 74                                               Table A

South               ♥ AK1084                                     West(E)     North         East            South

N-S vul            ♦ 108632                                       -                 -                 -                 3♠      (1)

                        ♣ J                                                 dbl   (2)      pass           4♥    (3)      pass

4NT (4)      pass           5♣   (5)      pass

♠ AKQ                 N             ♠ 2                           pass (6)      dbl (7)        all pass

♥ Q                   W    E          ♥ J972                    

♦ AK94               S              ♦ Q5                       Table B

♣ 109743                              ♣ KQ8652             West(E)     North         East            South

                        ♠ J1098653                                  -                 -                 -                 2♠  (1)

♥ 653                                             dbl   (8)      3♠              pass (9)      pass    

♦ J7                                                dbl   (10)    pass           4♥    (11)    pass

♣ A                                                pass (12)    all pass      

 

Table A:     (1)  With these great intermediates in the ♠ suit, I think that 3♠ is fine. To quote Marty Bergen – “A good pre-empt is topless with a good body”

(2)   What did you bid with this West hand E in this week’s quiz? I think that double is an appalling bid, but it was chosen by 3 out of 4 West’s. If you double, partner will doubtless bid 4♥ and you are in a total mess. 3NT stands out a mile. Note that a 1NT opening is not permitted with a singleton but any NoTrump overcall with a singleton is perfectly acceptable.

(3)   3♣ is an option here, but as partner has doubled 3♠ he should be able to cope with an expected 4♥ response. I too would bid 4♥, but then I don’t expect my partners to double with Hand E.

(4)   West is in the 100% totally predictable mess. He chose to bid 4NT – apparently thinking that it is natural – it is not, it’s RKCB. Obviously I would not be in this mess, but 4♠ must be best now – hopefully partner will take it as ‘pick a minor’?

(5)   0 (or 3) keycards.

(6)   Finally West has found a reasonable spot.

(7)   This double is very silly. Partner has pre-empted and North has a singleton ♣ - West has shown a strong hand and opps obviously have a good ♣ fit. The double is silly not only because 5♣ is probably making, but also it’s clear that the opponents have gone past 3NT which surely must be the best spot.

Table B:     (1)  This South decided to open just 2♠

                  (8)  It’s one level lower, obviously West should bid 2NT.

(9)  This is slightly different situation from (3) above in that East is not forced to bid, but I would bid 4♥.

(10)  Apparently meant as penalties, I play it as a 2nd take-out.

(11)  This is what I would bid (but I would have done so last go).

(12)  West decided to let his partner go way down in 4♥ rather than look for a minor suit fit (bid 4♠) or bid 4NT – Blackwood, and pass the expected 5♣/♦ response.

                 

And what happened? The board was played 4 times. 5♣ doubled made exactly as did 5♣ undoubled at another table. 4♥ went 3 down for a bottom and just one West (Bjorn/Lars) bid the obvious 3NT making +1.

The bottom lines: -

-         Do not double 3 of a major if you cannot cope with a four level bid of the other major from partner.

-         If you have AKQ of the opponent’s suit, then that’s usually a good enough stop for NoTrumps.

-         A No Trump overcall with an outside singleton is perfectly acceptable – the important thing is to have stop(s) in the suit opened.

-         It’s only 1NT openings with a singleton that are not allowed.

 

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     4♦, asking partner to pick a major. Double (negative) followed by 4♦ if partner does not bid a major is a good alternative.

Hand B:     3NT. It’s too good for 2NT (15-18). If you double (with the intention of bidding 3NT over a 2♠ response) then you will get in a mess if LHO raises ♥’s and partner bids 4♠.

Hand C:    1NT, far too good to pass.

Hand D:    1NT, far too good to pass.

Hand E:     3NT. Double is take-out and when partner bids 4♥ you will be in a totally predictable mess.

Hand F:     4♥ or 4♠. In my opinion partner is asking you to bid your best major. 5♦ (showing 1st round ♦ control and slam invitational in either major) is a pushy alternative. 5♣ simply sucks. A cue bid in this sort of situation often shows a good hand with support for partner’s opening, but I don’t think that that’s the case here when partner has opened a (possibly 2 card) minor and there are two unbid majors.

 

 

Bidding Sequence Answers

 

G     1♣     3♦      4♦                3♦ is weak, what is 4♦? I think it should mean ‘pick a major’.

H     2♦      pass   2♥      dbl     2♦ is Multi and 2♥ the normal relay response, what is dbl? I play this as showing a good ♥ suit (at least 5 cards).