Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 271

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 20^th Jan 2008

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 14^th N-S 1^st Paul Sav. & Ursula 64% 2^nd Oli O & Olaf 55%

E-W 1^st Bengt & Per-Ake 60% 2^nd Ole & Tom 59%

Wed 16^th N-S 1^st Mike & Robbie 66% 2^nd Gastone & Jean-Charles 63%

E-W 1^st Derek & Gerard 60% 2^nd Britta & Kenneth 58%

Fri 18^th N-S 1^st Hans V & Lard G 60% 2^nd H Renken & Lars F 57%

E-W 1^st Gerard & Derek 64% 2^nd Paul S & Paul S 58%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A everybody is vulnerable. RHO opens 1♠, what do you do?

♠ 98 ♠ AJ106

♥ 74 ♥ AK7 With Hand B RHO opens a Multi (D&A) 2♥ (either weak with

♦ Q96543 ♦ 7 ♠’s and a minor or very strong with ♥’s). What do you bid?

♣ KQ10 ♣ A5432

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 1NT and RHO overcalls 3♣, what do you do?

♠ 1063 ♠ A1074

♥ K7542 ♥ J6 With Hand D you open 1♦ and partner responds 1♠, what do

♦ K93 ♦ KJ1083 you do?

♣ K5 ♣ A4

Hand E Hand F What do you open with Hand E?

♠ 10 ♠ Q4

♥ AKQ96432 ♥ AJ9 (a) What do you open with Hand F?

♦ K2 ♦ QJ42 (b) Suppose you open 1♦, partner bids 1♠ and RHO bids 2♥,

♣ 92 ♣ Q1062 what do you bid?

Bidding Sequence quiz

G 1♣ pass 1NT pass 2♥ is a reverse, but how many ♣’s does opener have?

2♥

H 1♦ pass 1♠ 2♥ How strong is 2NT?

2NT

A two-level overcall? Board 23 from Friday 11th

There was an amusing result (for some of the players involved) on this board from Friday two weeks ago.

Dealer: ♠ KQ64 West North East South(A)

South ♥ Q10982 - - - pass

both vul ♦ - pass pass 1♠ (1) 2♦

♣ J652 dbl (2) pass pass (3) pass

♠ J5 N ♠ A10732 (1) 1♦ is the alternative opening, but then there

♥ KJ63 W E ♥ A5 would be no story to tell.

♦ J S ♦ AK10872 (2) A negative double. I play it as showing 4 ♥’s

♣ A9874 ♣ - but it’s the same bid if you play it as showing

♠ 98 the two unbid suits.

♥ 74 (3) This should be fun.

♦ Q96543

♣ KQ10

And what happened? 1100 away when E-W have nothing more than a dubious 4♠.

The bottom lines.

- 7 points and a suit of Q96543 is nowhere near good enough for a two-level overcall.

Defending against the Multi Board 27 from Friday 11th

.

Dealer: ♠ AJ106 West North(B) East South

South ♥ AK7 - - - pass

Love all ♦ 7 2♥ (1) dbl (2) pass (3) 4♥ (4)

♣ A5432 pass pass pass (5)

♠ Q8732 N ♠ K5 (1) A D&A weak two; 2♥ shows a weak hand

♥ - W E ♥ QJ10862 with ♠’s and a minor or a strong hand with ♥’s.

♦ KJ1065 S ♦ 932 (2) Unwise, it’s usually best to pass and find out

♣ J97 ♣ Q6 opener’s hand type before making a bid.

♠ 94 (3) No need to bid. This could be fun.

♥ 9543 (4) South, quite reasonably, bid what he had.

♦ AQ84             (5) This will be fun      

♣ K108

And what happened? 4♥ went minus one, with 3NT making for N-S.

The bottom lines.

- It’s usually best to wait and see what the opponent’s hand type is before intervening over a multi bid.

- D&A twos (and suggested defence) are written up on the website.

When partner’s 1NT is overcalled Board 18 from Monday 14^th

Dealer: ♠ AQ85 Table A

North ♥ AQJ West North East South(C)

N-S vul ♦ Q752 - - pass pass

♣ 72 pass 1NT 3♣ (1) dbl (2)

all pass

♠ KJ742 N ♠ 9

♥ 1063 W E ♥ 98 Table B

♦ 106 S ♦ AJ84 West North East South(C)

♣ A108 ♣ QJ9643 - - pass pass

♠ 1063 pass 1NT 3♣ (1) 3♥ (2)

♥ K7542 pass pass (3) pass

♦ K93

♣ K5

Table A: (1) A bit weak, but it does have shape, it’s favourable vulnerability, and perhaps South does not know what to do over interference?

(2) What did you bid with this South hand C in this week’s quiz? This South did not know what to do. He later uttered some nonsense about stolen bid.

Table B: (2) This South knew what to do – with ♥’s, bid them! It’s up to you if you play the 3♥ bid here as forcing or not. It’s probably best to play it as invitational, in which case 4♥ is an alternative here.

(3) With a minimum North decided to pass.

And what happened? 3♣ doubled at Table A made for a complete bottom to N-S. The top N-S score was 3♥+1 by South and there were the usual mixed bag of results.

The bottom lines: -

- Understand how to bid when partner’s 1NT gets overcalled.

- Forget about ‘stolen’ bids and similar nonsense; play natural methods and more advanced pairs should play Lebensohl over two-level overcalls.

- It’s simplest and usually best to play that double is always for penalties.

An adjusted score Board 17 from Wednesday 16^th

Dealer: ♠ 7532 West North East South(E)

North ♥ 8 - pass pass 2♣ (1)

Love all ♦ QJ963 pass (2) 2♦ pass 2♥

♣ 874 3♣ pass pass 3♥

3♠ dbl pass pass

♠ AKQ9 N ♠ J864 4♣ all pass

♥ J7 W E ♥ 105

♦ 7 S ♦ A10854 (1) Alerted

♣ AJ10653 ♣ KQ (2) South asked what the bid was, and West

♠ 10 replied ‘strong’.

♥ AKQ96432

♦ K2

♣ 92

(1) What did you open with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? The best opening is 4♥ (which South found against me at another table). If you play Namyats then 4♣ is easily the best bid and describes the hand perfectly. I guess you could open 1♥ or 2♣ Benjamin but these are both poor options.

Anyway, this particular South decided to open with 2♣, which in his system (I mean that literally – it is a system that he dreamed up) shows either a very good strong game forcing hand or just an 8 playing trick hand or just a 9 playing trick hand; apparently attempting to incorporate the Benjamin 2♣ and 2♦ bids into just one opening bid.

West asked at (2) and the answer he got indicated that this was a normal Standard American 2♣ opening – which it clearly is not. As a result of this mis-information E-W ended up in 4♣ making for a bottom (4♠ makes +1).

And what happened? I adjusted the score to E-W bidding 4♠ making +1 which was the result at the majority of the other tables.

The bottom lines.

- All bids that are out of the ordinary need to be alerted and fully explained if asked. If your opponents get a bad result because of an insufficient explanation, you’ll get an adjusted score.

- If this happens again, South will be penalized, N-S got off lightly this time.

How often does partner lead the suit that you want? Half the time if you’re lucky. But sometimes you can influence his decision by doubling an opponent’s artificial bid. And that is the subject of Dave’s two columns this week:

Dave’s 1^st Column Board 26 from Wednesday 16^th

There are several situations where a lead-directing double is possible. One is when the opponents have used some form of Blackwood and the artificial response is the suit that you want to be led. If it is, you can double to tell partner that you are strong in that suit. Here is a typical deal:

Dealer: ♠ 86 West North East(D) South

East ♥ 10752 - - 1♦ pass

Both vul ♦ A92 1♠ pass 2♠ (1) pass

♣ QJ95 4NT pass 5♥ dbl (2)

6♠ all pass

♠ KQJ932 N ♠ A1074

♥ A8 W E ♥ J6 (1) What did you bid with this East hand D in this

♦ Q5 S ♦ KJ1083 week’s quiz? This is actually the bidding from

♣ K103 ♣ A4 Dave’s book and is correct, 2♠ is quite adequate

♠ 5 with this East hand and 3♠ (as bid at one table) is

♥ KQ943 an unnecessary overbid.

♦ 764

♣ 8762

East responds 5♥ to the RKC Blackwood enquiry, showing two keycards. This is no time to be asleep in the South seat! With a solid KQ holding in ♥’s you should double the 5♥ response to suggest a good opening lead.

West, knowing that there is just one keycard missing, bids 6♠ regardless but a ♥ lead defeats the slam. Without the lead-directing double North would probably lead the ♣Q . Declarer then draws trumps, sets up the ♦’s, and makes the slam easily.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Five pairs out of eight bid the slam; three made and two went down on a ♥ lead. The other three pairs were all in 4♠ making +2.

The bottom lines: -

- With a good holding in a suit that RHO bids as a response to Blackwood, double for a lead.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Board 27 from Wednesday 16^th

When you are on lead against a slam contract you must sometimes take note of the fact that partner did not make a lead-directing double of a Blackwood response:

Dealer: ♠ AKQ1086 West North East South

South ♥ J75 - - - 1♥

Love all ♦ K3 pass 2♠ (1) pass 3♥

♣ Q9 pass 4♥ pass 4NT

pass 5♦ pass 6♥

♠ 974 N ♠ 52 all pass

♥ A6 W E ♥ 3

♦ 10742 S ♦ J9865 (1) Strong. Many players play this a weak these

♣ 8652 ♣ KJ1074 days and you need to discuss jump shifts with

♠ J3 a regular partner. If I am playing with a new

♥ KQ109842 partner I never jump shift!

♦ AQ

♣ A3

Suppose you are West after this auction, what do you lead? You will normally lead one of the unbid suits - ♦’s or ♣’s. Here you have nothing special in the suits yourself. Think this way:

‘If partner had something good in ♦’s , he might have doubled 5♦’. It is more likely that partner has a good holding in ♣’s and that is the suit that you should lead, other things being equal. On this layout a ♣ lead is the only one to beat the slam.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? Played nine times, the results were all over the place. Four pairs reached 6♥ and just one went down. The bottom lines: -

- If partner had a chance to double an artificial response to Blackwood and did not, then don’t lead that suit unless you have a very good reason to.

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

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

__	__				__			__			__					__			__		__		__			__		__			__	__				__			__		__	__
2	5				21			12			8					8			24		24		8			7		19			7	1				11			2		4	23
__	__		__			__			__			__		__			__			__				__			__		__			__		__			__				__	__		__		__		__		__
11	21		15			13			22			10		8			8			4				15			7		4			6		12			8				17	15		22		19		23		15
__		__		__			__			__			__		__			__				__			__					__			__		__			__		__			__		__		__		__
6		19		23			24			8			7		23			19				2			7					15			23		3			2		1			1		12		15		1

__	__		__			__			__		__		__		__			__		__		__		__		__		__		__		__	__		__	__
26	8		3			12			15		9		19		15			16		8		8		4		12		8		21		4	2		7	16
__		__		,			__			__		__		__		__	__		__		__		__		__		__		__		__			__
2		7					1			12		19		7		4	8		3		11		21		19		5		8		6			15
__		__		__	__			.
21		19		15	4

Impossible to go down? Board 10 from Friday 18^th

The majority were in 6NT by West on this board and the lie of the cards means that 12 tricks fall into your lap however the play goes. But at Pattaya bridge club only one player managed 12 tricks and he was in 3NT!

Dealer: ♠ J76 West North East South

East ♥ 98 - - 1♣ pass

Both vul ♦ 10852 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

♣ Q1032 4NT pass 5♥ (1) pass

6NT all pass

♠ AKQ3 N ♠ 10

♥ AQ6 W E ♥ K1072 (1) Two keycards (assuming ♥’s).

♦ KJ73 S ♦ Q4

♣ 75 ♣ AKJ984

♠ 98542

♥ J543

♦ A96

♣ 6

As it happens, whatever North leads is likely to cost a trick, but West still has work to do.

At one table North led the ♥9. If declarer covers with the ♥10 then there are 4 ♥ tricks. Declarer played low, however, and so has just 10 tricks after knocking out the ♦A. There is actually an automatic squeeze on North but a simple way to make the contract as the cards lie is to take the double finesse in ♣’s. This declarer simply played everything form the top and went two down.

At another table a ♦ was led and when dummy played low South hopped up with the ♦A, thus giving declarer a ♦ trick. Declarer now has 11 top trick and the simple ♣Q finesse provides the 12^th. This declarer also decided not to take a ♣ finesse and went one down.

Dealer: ♠ - How should the hand be played on a ♦ lead?

East ♥ - Play low from dummy and let’s assume that South

Both vul ♦ 10 correctly plays low. West should win with the ♦J

♣ Q1032 and play back a ♦. This sets up the 2^nd ♦ trick and

also rectifies the count if there is a squeeze.

♠ Q3 N ♠ - South wins the ♦A and returns a ♦. Declarer now

♥ - W E ♥ - has 10 tricks and should try the ♥’s first to see

♦ 7 S ♦ - if they break 3-3. They do not so declarer has to

♣ 75 ♣ AKJ98 resort to desperate measures. The simple line

♠ 985 is to take the double ♣ finesse, which works.

♥ J Another possibility is to cash the winners outside ♣’s

♦ and end up with this 5-card ending with the lead in

♣ 6 the West hand. Play the ♠Q and North is squeezed. He has to keep the ♦10 and so discards a ♣. A simple finesse of the ♣Q brings home the contract.

And what happened? Five pairs were in 6NT. One went two down and the others all went one down. 5NT was bid once and also went one down. The only pair to make 12 tricks were in 3NT but they got a complete top anyway! The bottom lines:

- Eight Ever Nine Never. Missing 5 cards including the queen, finesse.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Pass, obviously. I note that two players found a very poor 2♦ (it’s nowhere near good enough and a weak 3♦ would be lunacy). One player was doubled and went for 1100. The other player was not doubled and got away with an average.

Hand B: Pass. Wait and see what hand type opener has. If, as is most likely, RHO has the weak ♠-minor type hand you can bid 2NT over the expected 2♠ from LHO and pass from RHO.

Hand C: 3♥, simple. If you play 3♥ as non-forcing you might like to try 4♥, but it’s close. Double is for penalties of course and is preposterous.

Hand D: 2♠. This is quite enough, the hand is not good enough for a jump to 3♠.

Hand E: 4♥, or preferably 4♣ if you play Namyats. 1♥ let’s the opposition in too low and it’s nowhere near a 2♣ opening in my style. If you play Benjamin twos then 2♣ is possible, but that again lets the opposition in. A Namyats 4♣ is ideal for this hand.

Hand F: (a) 1♣. I always prefer 1♣ when 4-4 in the minors, but some experts (including Max Hardy) do indeed advocate 1♦.

(b) Pass. Do not bid 2NT ‘to show your ♥ stops’. Partner has promised only 6 points and a 2NT bid here shows 18-19 points. Remember, it is an opponent, and not partner, who has pushed the bidding up to the two level.

Bidding Sequence Answers

G 1♣ pass 1NT pass Opener should have 5+ ♣’s.

2♥

H 1♦ pass 1♠ 2♥ 2NT here is strong, about 18-19; partner has promised no more

2NT than 6 points for his 1-level response.