Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 259

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 21^st 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 15^th 1^st Bill & Dave 60% 2^nd Lewis & Terry 57%

Wed 17^th 1^st Ivy & Wolfgang 66% 2^nd= Lewis&Terry / Lars&Jean 57%

Fri 19^th 1^st Lars & Tomas 58% 2^nd Lewis & Bill 57%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B What do you open with Hand A?

♠ 974 ♠ 9742 With Hand B partner opens 1♥.

♥ 6 ♥ AK6 (a) What do you bid?

♦ AKQ8764 ♦ QJ7 (b) Suppose you choose 1♠ and partner rebids 1NT, what now?

♣ 32 ♣ J105

Hand C Hand D With Hand C you open 1♥ and : -

(a) LHO overcalls 1♠ and partner bids 4♥, what do you do?

♠ K9 ♠ 9842 (b) LHO overcalls 2♠ (weak) and partner bids 4♥, what do you do?

♥ KJ9876 ♥ 43

♦ AJ10 ♦ AK With hand D you open 1♣ and LHO doubles. Partner redoubles

♣ AJ ♣ KQ643 RHO bids 1♥, what do you do?

Bidding Sequence quiz There were loads of bidding mis-understandings this week

E 4♣ (a) What is a 4♣ opening?, and (b) What is a 4NT opening?

F 1♥ 1♠ 4♥ Is 4♥ weak or strong?

G 1♥ 2♠ 4♥ 2♠ is a weak jump overcall, is 4♥ weak or strong?

H 1♣ dbl pass 1♥ How strong is 1♥?

J 1♦ 1NT pass 2♦ What is 2♦?

K 2♥ pass pass 2NT

pass 3♥ What is 3♥?

L 1♥ pass 1♠ pass

2♦ Is 2♦ forcing?

M 1♥ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ Is 2♦ forcing?

N 1♥ pass 1♠ pass

2♦ pass 2NT How strong is 2NT?

P 1♣ dbl redbl 1♥

dbl What is dbl? is it showing ♠’s or penalties?

The Gambling 3NT Board 24 from Monday 15^th

The ‘gambling 3NT’ is not gambling at all! – you tell partner your hand pretty precisely and he should know what to do:

Dealer: ♠ J8652 West(A) North East South

West ♥ 943 3NT (1) pass pass (2) pass (3)

Love all ♦ 1053

♣ 97 (1) What did you open with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? This               really is too good for

♠ 974 N ♠ AK103 3♦ and a 1♦ opening will let the opponents

♥ 6 W E ♥ QJ102 in cheaply to find their major suit fit.

♦ AKQ8764 S ♦ J2 There really is only one sensible bid with

♣ 32 ♣ Q65 this hand type – the Gambling 3NT.

♠ Q (2) The 3NT opening promises absolutely no

♥ AK875 ace or king outside and partner should only

♦ 9 pass with cover in three suits. This East decided

♣ AKJ1086 to pass as it’s possible partner has the ♣J or

he may get a ♠ lead.

(3) West informed South that East had a decent hand (a stopper in each suit) but surely South should bid?

And what happened? 3NT got a ♠ lead and made +2 when declarer subsequently finessed the ♠J. At another table 3NT made exactly but was played by East. At another table the opponents were allowed in after a mere 3♦ opening and found the good ‘save’ in 4♥ doubled.

The bottom lines: -

- The Gambling 3NT is a great bid – it is very specific (a totally solid 7 or 8 card minor).

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

1822.1 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 641.9 Lewis Berg 332.0 Lewis Berg

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

West East You are West, playing in 3NT. How do you play on the ♠6 lead

♠ KQ2 ♠ 75 when South plays the ♠9?

♥ A974 ♥ K63

♦ AK8 ♦ 1076

♣ 972 ♣ AK864

Dave’s Column answer Board 27 from Wednesday 17^th

Dealer: ♠ AJ863 West North East South

South ♥ J85 - - - pass

Love all ♦ 954 1NT (1) pass 3NT all pass

♣ Q3

(1) The obvious opening. I understand that one

♠ KQ2 N ♠ 75 West arrived in a ridiculous contract after

♥ A974 W E ♥ K63 opening 1♣.

♦ AK8 S ♦ 1076

♣ 972 ♣ AK864 Anyway, onto the play.

♠ 1094 North leads the ♠6 against 3NT and South plays the

♥ Q102 ♠9. You win the trick and note that South is now the

♦ QJ32 ‘danger hand’., since a ♠ through your remaining honour

♣ J105 may well spell defeat. You need to set up dummy’s ♣’s without the danger hand gaining the lead.

How can this be done? Suppose you play the ♣A, ♣K and another ♣. If North has started with three ♣’s all would be well. He would have to win the 3^rd round and you would be safe. When South has 3 ♣’s, as in the diagram, you would go down. South would win the 3^rd round of ♣’s and the defenders would score 4 ♠ tricks.

When North has only two ♣’s, you will need him to hold the ♣Q in order to make the contract. Lead a ♣ towards dummy. If North should happen to play the ♣Q, you will duck and have the safe hand on lead. It is more likely that North will play low on the first round; so you win with dummy’s ♣A and return to the West hand to lead another ♣ towards dummy. The ♣Q appears from North and you duck, leaving the safe hand on lead. You thus ensure 9 tricks and 10 if North elects to lead another ♠.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT was bid 3 times and made just once. The 4^th pair were in a somewhat bizarre 6♣ going minus two.

The bottom lines: -

- Sometimes you can duck a trick to the defender who sits over your strong holding in a suit.

Message from Osama to Bush

After numerous rounds of “We don’t know if Osama is still alive”. Osama himself decided to send George Bush a letter in his own handwriting to let him know that he was still in the game.

Bush opened the letter and it appeared to contain a line of coded message:

370H – SSV – 0773H

Bush was baffled, so he e-mailed it to Condoleezza Rice. Condi and her aides had not a clue either, so they sent it to the FBI.

No one could solve it at the FBI, so it went to the CIA and then onto NASA.

Eventually they asked Britain’s MI-6 for help.

Within a minute, MI-6 called the White House with this reply:

“Tell the President he’s holding the message upside down”

That 4333 type shape again Board 18 from Wednesday 17^th

I say it time and time again, but everybody except me failed to deduct a point for the 4333 shape on this deal and they all went two down as a result.

Dealer: ♠ 86 Table A

East ♥ J953 West North East(B) South

N-S vul ♦ 854 - - pass pass

♣ AK86 1♥ pass 1♠ (1) pass

1NT pass 3♥ (2) pass

♠ A10 N ♠ 9742 4♥ (3) all pass

♥ Q10742 W E ♥ AK6

♦ AK2 S ♦ QJ7 Table B

♣ 943 ♣ J105 West North East(B) South

♠ KQJ53 - - pass pass

♥ 8 1♥ pass 1♠ (1) pass

♦ 10963 1NT pass 2♥ (2) all pass

♣ Q72

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? I think it’s best to bid the ♠ suit in case there’s a ♠ fit. A 3♥ bid now would show 4 ♥’s. If the hand were 3 or so points weaker I would simply bid 2♥.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? It appears that everybody but one said ‘eleven points with good trump support’ and so bid an ‘automatic(?)’ 3♥.

(3) This raise to 4♥ is borderline, but the hand does have two tens.

Table B: (2) At this table I was East, and I practice what I preach. I deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape and I bid a simple 2♥.

And what happened? Every West made 8 tricks exactly so 2♥ making scored a complete top.

The bottom lines: -

- Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape. Note that even if the trumps did split 3-2 then 4♥ still has no play whatsoever and would go down.

It’s penalties Board 6 from Friday 19^th

Dealer: ♠ 107 West North East(D) South

East ♥ K10965 - - 1♣ dbl

E-W vul ♦ 9742 redbl (1) 1♥ dbl (2) pass

♣ 109 pass pass (3)

♠ AQ3 N ♠ 9842 (1) With no interference, 2NT is best; but after

♥ A87 W E ♥ 43 the double 2NT is conventional and redouble

♦ J108 S ♦ AK (showing 9+ points) is surely correct.

♣ J752 ♣ KQ643 (2) What did you bid with this East hand D in

this week’s quiz? This double is nonsense -

♠ KJ65 it’s penalties! East later claimed that it was

♥ QJ2 showing ♠’s. If East really wants to show his

♦ Q653 ♠’s then he can bid 1♠; but pass is very clear

♣ A8 - it’s forcing and partner can double ♥’s if he wishes or else make a bid (2NT here)

(3) Obviously North has been gifted a top, quite why he had to think for a whole minute before passing baffles me.

And what happened? 2NT by E-W was bid and made exactly and 3NT was bid once making +1. 1♥ doubled made exactly for a clear top to N-S. The bottom lines: -

- After an opening, a double and a redouble, all subsequent doubles are penalties.

It’s a strong bid Board 12 from Friday 19^th

Dealer: ♠ AQJ842 West(C) North East South

West ♥ 3 1♥ 2♠ 4♥ (1) pass

N-S vul ♦ 96 4NT (2) pass 5♦ pass

♣ 10952 6♥ all pass

♠ K9 N ♠ 65 (1) What was you answer to sequence G?

♥ KJ9876 W E ♥ AQ4 4♥ here is a strong bid – there’s no such

♦ AJ10 S ♦ K8752 thing as a pre-empt after a pre-empt. The

♣ AJ ♣ K43 alternative is 3♦ but 4♥ is simpler.

♠ 1073 (2) What did you bid with this West hand C in

♥ 1052 this week’s quiz? Blackwood is clear as

♦ Q43 long as you understand that partner has a

♣ Q876 good hand.

And what happened? Just this one pair bid the slam. Others played in 4♥ or 5♥ making 12 or 13 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- There’s no such thing as a pre-empt after a pre-empt.

- The sequences 1♥ - pass - 4♥; 1♥ - 1♠ - 4♥; 1♥ - dbl - 4♥ are all weak. But the sequence 1♥ - 2♠ - 4♥ is strong if the 2♠ bid was weak.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3NT, showing a solid 7-8 card minor with absolutely no outside ace or king.

Hand B: (a) 1♠. This is a decent hand and I like to show the ♠’s. A direct 3♥ now promises 4-card ♥ support.

(b) 2♥. 3♥ would show 11-12 points and three ♥’s – but this hand is not worth 11 points! Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

Hand C: (a) pass. Partner’s 4♥ bid is weak (sequence F)

(b) 4NT, Blackwood. Partner’s 4♥ bid is strong (sequence G)

Hand D: Pass. Double is penalties and you should pass – forcing, just in case partner wants to double 1♥. 1♠ is a poor bid as partner is the captain and may have a penalty hand.

Bidding Sequence Answers

E(a) 4♣ A 4♣ opening is weak (8-9 ♣’s) unless you have agreed something else (like Namyats).

E(b) 4NT A 4NT opening is rare. It asks partner to bid the suit of his ace. Responses are 5♣ = no ace; 5♦/♥/♠ or 6♣ = that ace; 5NT = 2 aces.

F 1♥ 1♠ 4♥ 4♥ here is weak and pre-emptive

G 1♥ 2♠ 4♥ 4♥ here is strong – you do not pre-empt over a pre-empt.

H 1♣ dbl pass 1♥ A non-jump response to a double is about 0-8 points, with more you have to jump.

J 1♦ 1NT pass 2♦ 2♦ is a transfer to ♥’s; systems are on after over a NoTrump overcall

K 2♥ pass pass 2NT

pass 3♥ Again, 3♥ is a transfer (showing 5 ♠’s).

L 1♥ pass 1♠ pass

2♦ 2♦ is not forcing, it’s generally around 12-15 points.

M 1♥ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ 2♦ is forcing after a two-level response playing Standard American.

N 1♥ pass 1♠ pass

2♦ pass 2NT 2NT here is 11-12, as it almost always is when bid by responder.

P 1♣ dbl redbl 1♥

dbl Double is 100% penalties, and surely also is in France?