Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 265

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 2^nd Dec 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 26^th N-S 1^st Jeremy & Sally 63% 2^nd Paul S & Lennart 60%

E-W 1^st Derek & Gerard 59% 2^nd Alan P & Arnt 56%

Wed 28^th N-S 1^st Karre & Arnt 55% 2^nd Margit & Richard 55%

E-W 1^st Lewis & Terje 71% 2^nd Jan & Royd 56%

Fri 30^th N-S 1^st Lewis & Terje 58% 2^nd Alan P & Arnt 56%

E-W 1^st Derek & Gerard 69% 2^nd Arve & Geo 61%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1NT and RHO bids 2♠, what do you bid?

♠ J9 ♠ QJ932

♥ K10 ♥ 8 With Hand B LHO opens a Multi 2♦ and RHO relays with 2♥,

♦ A10764 ♦ AJ984 what do you bid?

♣ AQ52 ♣ J4

Hand C Hand D With Hand C RHO opens 1♦, what do you bid?

♠ AQJ ♠ - With Hand D it’s love all.

♥ AQ543 ♥ 954 (a) What do you open in 1^st or 2^nd seat?

♦ 9 ♦ AKJ872 (b) What do you open in 3^rd seat?

♣ 9762 ♣ K763 (c) What do you open in 4^th seat?

Hand E Hand F With Hand E you open 1NT, partner bids 2♣ Stayman and RHO

doubles, what do you do?

♠ A3 ♠ K5

♥ A108 ♥ AKQ3 With Hand F RHO opens 1♦. (a) What do you bid?

♦ Q82 ♦ AK75 (b) Suppose you choose to double and LHO bids 1♠,

♣ KQ1083 ♣ 987 partner passes and RHO bids 2♠. What now?

G 1NT 2♠ 3♠ What is the 3♠ cue bid? – It is obviously strong, but is it asking for a ♠ stop or what?

H 1NT dbl pass 2♥ What is 2♥? Is it strong or weak; natural or a transfer?

J 1NT dbl pass 2♥

pass 2♠ What is 2♠?

K 1NT pass 2♣ dbl What is 2♦? Obviously it’s no 4 card major, but does it say

2♦ anything about ♦’s?

L 1♦ dbl 1♠ pass The first double is take-out – often implying 4 ♠’s.

2♠ dbl What is the second double? – take-out or penalties?

M 1♠ pass 2♥ pass

3♦ 3♦ is strong, but is it forcing?

The Club Championships The current standings for the top 10 in each competition are: -

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1846.5 Jan v Koss 1845.0 Dave Cutler 1835.3 Lewis Berg 1824.7 Paul Savelkral 1816.8 Janne Roos 1797.0 Lars Gustaffson 1770.0 Bob Pelletier 1748.7 Ivy Schlageter 1747.1 Wolfgang Foitik 1731.7 Sally Watson	666.8 Janne Roos 664.8 Lewis Berg 655.4 Dave Cutler 655.2 Jan v Koss 646.9 Lars Gustaffson 644.1 Bengt Malmgren 643.8 Paul Savelkral 631.8 Derek & Gerard 627.1 Gunnar Barthel 624.3 Bob Pelletier	350.4 Janne Roos 346.9 Lewis Berg 343.2 Bengt Malmgren 341.1 Jan v Koss 336.7 Paul Savelkral 335.2 Dave Cutler 332.5 Lars Gustafsson 331.8 Derek & Gerard 328.7 Terje Lie 325.6 Gunnar Barthel

Bridge Cryptogram Each letter denotes a specific letter in the alphabet.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

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21

22

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26

__		__		__			__			__	__		__		__		__		__		__		’		__			__		__		__			__		__		__		__		__	__	__
20		3		2			5			11	23		6		16		5		2		6				21			21		16		23			1		22		23		5		4	26	10
__		__				__			__	__		__		__		__		__		__				__		__		__		__				__		__		__		__		__	__	__
12		8				16			20	12		18		24		17		4		21				19		2		16		21				10		12		17		4		24	2	10
__		__		__					__	__	__		__			__		__		__				__		__		__		__		__				__		__		__		__	,
1		12		17					3	23	15		2			16		20		12				2		7		16		6		23				4		26		10		21
__		__		__			__			__	__		__			__		__		__		__			__		__		__		__		;			__		__		__
11		23		21			21			23	5		10			6		2		10		12			17		4		24		2					17		21		2
__	__		__		__			.
16	3		2		22

Stayman after an overcall Board 8 from Wednesday 28^th

Cue bidding the opponent’s suit often asks for a stop, but not in all sequences: -

Dealer: ♠ AQ10542 Table A

West ♥ 94 West North East South

Love all ♦ 2 1♥ 2♠ (1) 3♦ (2) pass

♣ J1074 3NT all pass

♠ K7 N ♠ J9 Table B

♥ AQ863 W E ♥ K10 West North East(A) South

♦ KQ53 S ♦ A10764 1NT (3) 2♠ 3♠ (4) pass

♣ K9 ♣ AQ52 4♥ (5) all pass

♠ 863

♥ J752

♦ J98

♣ 863

Table A: (1) Weak

(2) This is quite simple. You could play 3♠ here as asking for a ♠ stop but most experienced players play it as a sound raise to 3♥. The natural 3♦ is fine as it’s forcing and if partner has a ♠ stop he will presumably bid 3NT.

Table B: (3) This West decided to open 1NT.

(4) What did you bid with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? 3♦ (forcing) is reasonable, as is 3NT (hoping that partner has a ♠ stop). But the best solution is to play Lebensohl, when a 3NT shows values for game, denies 4 ♥’s and denies a ♠ stop – perfect. This actual 3♠ bid chosen is incorrect as it is Stayman, showing 4 ♥’s and game values.

(5) Obviously West was happy to play in ♥’s, especially as his ♠K is still protected as he is declarer.

And what happened? 4♥ made +1 and scored just below average; 3NT +3 or +4 were the top spots.

The bottom lines.

- When partner’s 1NT opening is overcalled then a cue bid is (game forcing) Stayman.

- This is true whether or not you play Lebensohl.

- Lebensohl is a great convention and allows you to bid 3NT either showing or denying a stop in the suit overcalled and it also allows you to bid Stayman either showing or denying a stop in the suit overcalled. It is a great convention and well worth the trouble of mastering. It’s written up on the website: Conventions > Section 1 > Lebensohl.

Multi Misunderstandings Board 5 from Friday 30^th

A familiar tale. This time it’s a defender who got himself into a silly contract – but he should have known better as he himself has played the Multi quite a lot.

Dealer: ♠ QJ932 West North(B) East South

North ♥ 8 - pass 2♣ (1) pass

N-S vul ♦ AJ984 2♦ (2) 2♠ (3) pass (4) pass

♣ J4 dbl (5) pass pass 3♣ (6)

dbl 3♦ pass pass

♠ K N ♠ A108754 dbl all pass

♥ AQJ62 W E ♥ 104

♦ Q732 S ♦ K6

♣ AQ9 ♣ 1076

♠ 6

♥ K9753

♦ 105

♣ K8532

(1) A Multi bid (a D&A two) – either weak with a 6-card major or some sort of strong hand.

(2) Relay

(3) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? It’s much the same in this actual sequence or if LHO had opened a multi 2♦ and RHO relayed with 2♥. This 2♠ bid is very silly because: -

(a) East may have a strong hand.

(b) East may have a weak hand with 6 ♠’s

(c) North has only 9 points and is vulnerable against not.

(d) North will always get another chance to bid.

(e) In this actual sequence the 2♦ relay may well be a very strong hand (as opposed to a 2♥ relay over a Multi 2♦ which is weakish).

(4) Confirming a weak hand with a 6-card (unknown) major.

(5) West is fairly sure that East has ♠’s (and if East has ♥’s he will bid)

(6) It does not matter what South does, North has dug a very deep hole.

And what happened? 3♦ doubled went for 800 and a complete bottom. Just one E-W pair bid and made game, 3NT +1 (so 430), but deep finesse says that 2NT or 3♥/♠ is the limit for E-W.

Incidentally, North complained during the play that he was so ‘unlucky’ with the ♥ and ♣ AQ’s sitting over dummy. Had he been patient enough to pass rather than make the undisciplined 2♠ bid, then he would have known just about everything about the opponent’s hands and know that things lay badly for him. Very often, you simply make your own ‘luck’.

The bottom lines.

- Know how to defend against these multi bids. It is virtually always correct to pass and wait until you find out opener’s hand type.

- This is especially true when it’s 2♣ (rather than 2♦) that shows a hand that may well be weak in a major, as both defenders have a chance to pass and subsequently bid again when the opening side have clarified their holdings.

- D and A twos are written up on the website – together with the tip about defending against them (wait and see what the opening hand is before interfering).

Open according to the rule of 20 Board 17 from Friday 30^th

One of the club’s above average players unfortunately feels that the rule of 20 is silly – he will never open with less than 12 points. It cost him an easy game on this deal at table A.

Dealer: ♠ - Table A

North ♥ 954 West North(D) East South

Love all ♦ AKJ872 - pass (1) 1NT 2♦ (2)

♣ K763 2♠ (3) all pass

♠ J10632 N ♠ AKQ Table B

♥ Q3 W E ♥ J87 West North(D) East South

♦ 105 S ♦ 964 - 1♦ (1) 1NT (4) dbl (5)

♣ Q1092 ♣ AJ84 2♠ pass pass dbl (5)

♠ 98754 pass 3♦ (6) pass 4♥

♥ AK1062 all pass

♦ Q3

♣ 5

Table A: (1) Did you open with this North hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? This particular North is of the opinion that shape is irrelevant and that one should always open with 12 points and pass with less. He does not read the news-sheets so there is no fear of my comments offending him. Anyway, this North hand is 21 for the rule of 20 and a very clear 1♦ opener.

(2) Both majors (playing Cappelletti). Playing Multi-Landy 2♣ is the bid.

(3) Natural and weak

Table B: (1) This North made the obvious 1♦ opening with Hand D(a).

(4) This hand has the values (just about) for a 1NT overcall, but I can’t see the ♦ stop. I would pass, especially as it’s totally flat.

(5) Penalties

(6) North, with his ‘light’ opener, correctly removed the penalty double.

(7) An excellent bid, partner is obviously very short (probably void) in ♠’s and so he must have something in ♥’s and South has no wasted ♠ values. Apart from their play technique, it’s deductions like this in the bidding that set world-class internationals apart from good club players.

And what happened? 4♥ made exactly for a near top.

The bottom lines.

- Obey the rule of 20 in first and second seats.

Terje’s Column Dave put a hand in as usual on Wednesday, but unfortunately somebody subsequently shuffled it. However, Terje Lie pointed out

North South the correct play on this board which I witnessed a couple of players

♠ AKQ ♠ J10854 getting wrong.

♥ A8 ♥ Q75

♦ K1087 ♦ A63 You are North, declarer in 3NT and you get a ♠ lead.

♣ AK74 ♣ 96 You have 10 tricks on top, what is the best play to safely

try for 11 tricks?

Terje’s Column answer Board 15 from Friday 30^th

Dealer: ♠ AKQ West North East South

South ♥ A8 pass (1) 2NT pass 3♥ (2)

N-S vul ♦ K1087 pass 3♠ pass 3NT

♣ AK74 pass pass (3)

♠ 3 N ♠ 9762 (1) At this vulnerability, 2♥ would be reasonable.

♥ K106432 W E ♥ J9 (2) A transfer, although I did note one very

♦ J54 S ♦ Q92 experienced player bidding 3NT - presumably

♣ 1085 ♣ QJ32 (correctly) hoping that the same number of tricks

♠ J10854 are available in ♠’s or NoTrumps.

♥ Q75 (3) This North chose to play in No Trumps but

♦ A63 about ½ of the field chose to play in ♠’s.

♣ 96

You are in 3NT, get the ♠2 lead and have 10 tricks on top. What is the best play to safely try for 11 tricks? This is my write-up and is an expansion of a comment made by Terje, I hope it’s 100% accurate.

You have two possibilities for an 11^th trick – the ♥K with East or the ♦’s splitting 3-3. The ♥K onside is slightly better odds than a 3-3 ♦ split and so playing up to the ♥Q seems a good play. But actually, since you have two stoppers in both black suits you can combine your chances. The best play at trick two is to duck a ♦. You win the return in the North hand and then play a ♥ up to the ♥Q. As it happens this loses and West returns a ♥ but you then run your winners and have 11 tricks when the ♦’s break 3-3.

And what happened?

One player played a ♥ to the ♥Q immediately and was held to 10 tricks. Another received a ♣ lead and then you cannot adopt the line of ducking a ♦ to combine chances as you have only one more ♣ stop. So this player correctly played a low ♥ immediately but did actually make 11 tricks eventually when he got some help from the defence.

One other player made 3NT+1 and other results were 5NT=, 4♠+1 (twice), 6♠-1 and 6♠ making.

It’s interesting to note that the line mentioned above for combining your chances only works if you get a ♠ lead. If South transfers then East will probably lead a ♣ and North cannot then safely try both ♦’s and ♥’s.

Take-out or penalty Board 24 from Friday 30^th

I (as director) was called over on Friday when a player made a double that was apparently take-out but the opposition thought it was penalties. What was you answer to this week’s bidding sequence L ?

Dealer: ♠ AJ109 West North East(F) South

West ♥ 6 pass 1♦ dbl (1) 1♠

Love all ♦ QJ1093 pass 2♠ dbl (2) pass

♣ K53 3♥ pass pass pass

♠ 87 N ♠ K5 (1) What did you bid with this East hand F(a) in

♥ J8542 W E ♥ AKQ3 this week’s quiz? 19 points really is a bit too

♦ 62 S ♦ AK75 good for 1NT and I think that dbl (with the

♣ QJ64 ♣ 987 intention of bidding 1NT over 1♠ from partner)

♠ Q6432 is best.

♥ 1097 (2) What did you bid with this East hand F(b) in

♦ 84 this week’s quiz? 2NT now would be too

♣ A102 much and I agree with this 2^nd double – it’s

quite likely on the auction that partner has a weakish hand with ♥’s.

And what happened? North-South called me over, saying that they assumed that the 2^nd double was penalties and that they would have competed to 3♠ had they known that it was take-out.

My Ruling. I said that in my opinion the 2^nd double was take-out and there was absolutely no problem. I would have bid exactly the same as this East. I later consulted with Terje and he confirmed that the 2^nd double was definitely take-out.

The bottom lines.

- When the opponents bid and agree a suit at the two level, then a double is take-out.

- A double of 1♦ usually shows a distributional hand playable in the other three suits but there are other possibilities (including a balanced hand too strong for 1NT – as in this deal).

- A take-out double followed by another double is usually also take-out.

When Stayman gets doubled Board 1 from Friday 30^th

If you open 1NT, partner bids 2♣ and RHO doubles this, you have two extra bids (pass and redouble). They should have meanings but North at Table A did not realise this.

Dealer: ♠ A3 Table A

North ♥ A108 West North(E) East South

Love all ♦ Q82 - 1NT pass 2♣ (1)

♣ KQ1083 dbl (2) 2♦ (3) pass pass (4)

pass

♠ 985 N ♠ KQJ6

♥ J64 W E ♥ K9 Expert Table

♦ A94 S ♦ K106 West North(E) East South

♣ AJ94 ♣ 7652 - 1NT pass 2♣ (1)

♠ 10742 dbl (2) redbl (3) pass 2♥ (5)

♥ Q7532 all pass

♦ J753

♣ -

Table A: (1) Garbage Stayman

(2) I would never double with this ♣ holding – I would need much better/longer ♣’s.

(3) What did you bid with this North hand E in this week’s quiz? This North simply did not realize that he now had two extra bids and woodenly replied 2♦ just as if there has been no intervention.

(4) With no discussion, South assumed that North had ♦’s for his free bid.

Expert (3) Our expert finds the correct bid of course. Redouble here denies a 4-card major and

Table: shows good ♣’s.

(5) This South has received no inference that partner has ♦’s and so bids the obvious 2♥ to reach the top spot.

And what happened? 2♦ did not score well. Most N-S’s were in 2♥ making.

The bottom lines.

- There is a page on the website that suggests what to bid when Stayman is doubled:

Conventions > Section 3 > When Stayman gets doubled.

Bid again having pre-empted Board 8 from Monday 26^th

With a weak hand one should pre-empt to the limit and not bid again; but one possibility is when you have a weak two-suiter which cannot be bid using Michaels or the UNT.

Dealer: ♠ Q986 Table A

West ♥ K98 West North East South

Love all ♦ 9 pass pass 1♠ 3♦ (1)

♣ KJ8733 dbl (2) pass 4♥ (3) 5♦ (4)

dbl all pass

♠ A53 N ♠ KJ1042

♥ 10432 W E ♥ AQJ75 Table B

♦ AJ108 S ♦ 2 West North East South

♣ 54 ♣ Q6 pass pass 1♠ 3♦ (1)

♠ 7 dbl (2) pass 4♥ (3) 5♣ (4)

♥ 6 all pass

♦ KQ76543

♣ A1092

Table A: (1) Weak. This is much better bid than 2NT (UNT) as the UNT here promises 5 cards in each minor

(2) Negative, promising 4 ♥’s.

(3) With this shape this hand is worth game.

(4) With this great shape South decided to bid again. Unfortunately he did not realize that he had an alternative to the cardinal sin of rebidding his pre-empt suit.

Table B: (4) This South got it right and showed his ♣ suit.

And what happened? 5♦ doubled went for 500 and a near bottom. 5♣ was not doubled but it actually made! Most E-W’s were playing in 4♥ making 10 or 11 tricks.

The bottom lines.

- Once you have pre-empted you have said it all – do not bid your suit again.

- The only exception is when you have a shapely two-suiter (and are non-vul) when it may sometimes be correct to bid your 2^nd suit at a relatively high level.

A jump cue bid overcall? Board 27 from Monday 26^th

There are a number of points on this deal. The dubious jump cue bid overcall, a silly opening lead, subsequently leading away from AQx over KJx, and a revoke with the follow-on controversy.

Dealer: ♠ KQ3 West North East South

South ♥ AQ982 - - - pass

Love all ♦ J543 pass 1♥ 3♥ (1) pass

♣ 5 3NT all pass

♠ 985 N ♠ 106 (1) East has a difficult bid here, but this bid - the

♥ KJ743 W E ♥ - jump cue bid overcall – is pushing it a bit!

♦ K972 S ♦ AQ8 The bid asks partner to bid 3NT if he has a

♣ 9 ♣ AKJ108643 stop in the suit opened; this is pushy as the

♠ AJ742 minor suit is not solid and also there is no

♥ 1065 semblance of a ♠ stop.

♦ 106

♣ Q72

And what happened? West dutifully bid 3NT and North was on lead. On the bidding West obviously has a ♥ stop and to me the ♠K lead is totally obvious. North got it half right – he led a ♠ but selected the ♠3! thus blocking the suit when partner won with the ♠A. There was a ♠ return and North cashed his ♠KQ and the ♥A and continued with a small ♥. Quite why he donated two ♥ tricks to declarer is also a mystery to me, but this North is not the club champion. West won the ♥ continuation with the ♥J and then played the ♦A and ♦Q. On the lead of the 3^rd ♦ to West’s ♦K both North and South discarded. West, assuming that the ♦9 was good, led it. It is at this point that the problems started; North acknowledged that he had revoked and wanted to take his previous discard back. Of course he could not do this after the revoke has been established and was informed that he has to simply follow suit now. He played the ♦5 – presumably unaware that he was allowed to win the trick with the ♦J! Declarer now had 4 ♦ tricks, and two ♥’s and would make 9 tricks if the ♣’s came home. Unfortunately there was a ♣ loser but South had been squeezed on the ♦’s and ♥’s and so when she won the ♣Q after a finesse she had to give the last two tricks to dummy. So West made 8 tricks and thus the contract because of the revoke.

At the end of the session North complained to me that he has effectively been penalized two tricks (instead of one) for the revoke and said he obviously would have played the ♦J had he realized that he was allowed to.

I agreed, West did not. As I was at the table I obviously should have informed North of what he could play and I failed in my duties. Sorry, but I too sometimes make errors. North said that he would accept one down or an average board, whichever was more favorable to E-W. I think that that was very fair and averaged the board accordingly. Both North and East were happy with this ruling. West is not and claims that North was not penalized enough.

Now I guess it’s fair to say that North defended appallingly (blocking the ♠’s, gifting the declarer two ♥ tricks and then revoking) and deserved to make just the four tricks when eight are easy; but had he been aware of the rules he would presumably have made five which, even though three less than the norm, was enough for 60% with E-W in the poor contract. The bottom lines: -

- Being a club director is not easy – you can never please everyone!

- Lead the K from KQx.

- Do not subsequently play the ♥A and a low ♥ from ♥AQx in a No Trump contract when you know that RHO has the ♥K and quite likely the ♥J also.

- A jump cue bid overcall should be a solid minor suit with at least a ½ stop in the other two suits.

An outright psyche Board 3 from Monday 26^th

North made an outrageous psyche on this board. Had he not got a bottom anyway he would have been awarded one – psyching is not allowed in this club.

Dealer: ♠ AQ West North East South

South ♥ 103 - - - pass

E-W vul ♦ A975432 pass 2♣ (1) pass 2♦ (2)

♣ 95 pass pass (3) dbl pass

2♥ 3♦ (4) 3♥ pass

♠ J932 N ♠ K875 4♥ 5♦ (5) dbl all pass

♥ KJ862 W E ♥ Q95

♦ K S ♦ QJ

♣ Q87 ♣ AKJ6

♠ 1064

♥ A74

♦ 1086

♣ 10432

(1) This is N-S’s strongest bid and I believe that South must always bid 2♦ in their system. If so, then this is a controlled psyche and illegal in most competitions.

(2) I believe that this is mandatory in their system, but it really does not matter.

(3) Thus revealing the psyche.

(4) Quite why North wants to bid on now is a mystery to me. His psyche may well have kept E-W out of game (but he would have been awarded a bottom score for psyching anyway).

(5) Carrying on regardless?

And what happened? 5♦ doubled scored a bottom and so there was no need for me to adjust the score.

The bottom lines.

- Controlled psyches are not allowed in most competitions. A controlled psyche is where there is no danger to your side, as was the case for North here as he knew his partner would respond 2♦.

- Controlled or not, any form of psyching is not allowed at our club.

- All psyches will receive an adjusted (unfavorable) score.

- A repeat psycher will be suspended from the club. Be aware that I mean this – Chuck was suspended (It was the 1^st of his three suspensions) after he psyched twice in a row and did not gracefully accept my reprimand written in the news-sheet No 42 – he tore up the news sheet in the middle of the room and threw it on the floor! News-sheet 42 is well worth a re-read. The subsequent News sheet 43 explains why Chuck was suspended.

- If a schoolteacher can be jailed for calling a Teddy Bear Mohamed, then surely the equally outrageous sacrilegious gesture of repeated psyching and tearing up a sacred bridge news-sheet deserves a similar punishment?

- Note that there is a convention, fairly common in Holland, where a 2♣ opening is either a strong hand or a weak 2♦ (2♦ opening is Multi). I do not like this treatment as it is unclear to me how opener shows the weak hand if partner has a good hand and does not respond 2♦. I assume that there is a way but I cannot be bothered to find out as I will not play it anyway. But the convention is allowed if it is alerted.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3NT. Unless you play Lebensohl there is no way to show partner that you have values for game with no ♠ stop. Playing Lebensohl the correct bid is actually again 3NT – showing game values, denying 4 ♥’s and denying a ♠ stop. What a great convention Lebensohl is! My partner bid 3♠, mistakenly believing that it was asking for a ♠ stop. It is not – whether you play Lebensohl or not the cue bid is Stayman.

Hand B: Pass. LHO may well have a strong hand or have a weak hand with ♠’s. You have a partner, and if you pass and opener passes then partner will probably bid unless he has a ♥ stack.

Hand C: 1♥. This is the North hands 27 from Friday. It is short in the suit opened and playable in the other three suits and so one North chose to double. Double is not totally unreasonable, but it’s usually best to overcall with a 5-card major (and only 3 cards in the other major) as you will miss a possible 5-3 major suit fit if you double.

Hand D: (a) 1♦. This hand is 21 for the rule of 20 and easily worth a 1♦ opener. It’s far too good for a weak 2♦ and pass is simply not playing bridge (feeble).

(b) In 3^rd seat either 1♦, 2♦ or 3♦ may work out best, at equal vulnerability I would open 3♦ but not argue if you chose 1♦ or 2♦.

(c) Pass. In 4^th seat everything is different. If you open with a marginal hand then a competitive auction may well result – and the side with the ♠ suit will win. The rule of 15 (point + ♠’s) applies and this hand (just 11) is an obvious pass.

Hand E: Redouble. Showing good ♣’s and denying a 4-card major. 2♦ is the lazy bid of somebody that does not realize that he has two extra options (pass and redouble). You have to agree what pass and 2♦ mean and there are a few suggestions on the website (Conventions > Section 3 > When Stayman gets doubled).

Hand F: (a) Double. With the intention of bidding 1NT if partner responds the likely 1♠. 1NT is possible but the hand really is a bit too good as 1NT is 15-17/18.

(b) Double, take-out. 2NT would be too high and partner probably has a weak hand with ♥’s on the bidding.

Bidding Sequence Answers

G 1NT 2♠ 3♠ 3♠ is (game forcing) Stayman, promising exactly 4 ♥’s.

H 1NT dbl pass 2♥ 2♥ is weak and natural of course. Now I know that this is a very easy trivial question, but this is not the first time that I have come across somebody who thought that 2♥ was a transfer “because partner has shown a balanced 15-18”. This is, of course, total twaddle. 2♣/♦/♥/♠ are all weak natural bids (less than 6 points).

J 1NT dbl pass 2♥

pass 2♠ 2♠ is strong and natural of course.

K 1NT pass 2♣ dbl This is up to partnership understanding. Without any agreement

2♦ I would say that 2♦ shows a ♦ suit and no 4-card major.

L 1♦ dbl 1♠ pass

2♠ dbl This 2^nd double is also take-out.

M 1♠ pass 2♥ pass

3♦ 3♦ is 100% game forcing. It is also forcing in Acol where 2♥ only promises 8+ points.