Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 285

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 27^th April 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 21^st 1^st Jeremy & Sally 65% 2^nd Frode & Kenneth 56%

Wed 23^rd 1^st Dave & Kenneth 60% 2^nd Hans M & Jean 60%

Fri 25^th 1^st Dave/Bengt & Jan/Ken = Bob/Tomas & Philip/Gene 51%

Bidding Quiz

Hand A Hand B With Hand A everybody is vulnerable. RHO opens a weak 1NT, what do you bid?

♠ KJ107542 ♠ AQ32

♥ 109 ♥ A108 With Hand B you open 1♣ and partner bids 1♦.

♦ 4 ♦ 5 (a) What do you bid now? Suppose you choose 1♠ and partner

♣ J54 ♣ AK642 bids 2♦, (b) What do you bid now?

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

♠ A84 ♠ A10 With Hand D LHO opens a weak 2♠ and this is passed to you.

♥ 7653 ♥ 9 (a) What do you bid now? Suppose you choose 3♣ and partner

♦ AK ♦ J1082 bids 3NT, (b) What do you bid now?

♣ J874 ♣ AKQ1074

Hand E Hand F With Hand E it’s both vulnerable. You open 1♦, LHO doubles

and partner redoubles. What do you bid?

♠ AJ43 ♠ KJ643

♥ 1095 ♥ - With Hand F it’s both vulnerable. You choose to open 1♦, LHO

♦ AK43 ♦ KJ76532 doubles and partner redoubles. What do you bid?

♣ 54 ♣ 3

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♠ 2NT What is 2NT?

H 2♠ 2NT What is 2NT over the weak 2♠ opening?

J 1♥ 1♠ pass 1NT How many points does 1NT show?

K 1♦ dbl redbl What does the redbl show?

L 1♦ dbl redbl pass

1♠ What type of hand does this 1♠ bid show?

M 1♣ pass 1♦ pass

2♠ Is the 2♠ jump shift invitational, forcing or game forcing?

Bridge Without a Partner

On Monday we had a bad number (a 4-board sit-out with me left over) and so I called for dummies. After four years of news-sheets I had hoped that the standard of bidding at the club had improved.

I did not call over any extremely weak players to bid with me, the next six articles are examples of how some of the ‘better’ players bid when they partnered me!

When a pre-empt is not pre-emptive Board 23 from Monday 21^st

Here’s the first of my sextet of appalling bids I faced on Monday with spurious partners.

Dealer: ♠ 83 West(A) North East South

South ♥ KJ - - - 1NT (1)

Both vul ♦ AKQ985 3♠ (2) dbl (3) all pass

♣ K62

(1) Weak (12-14)

♠ KJ107542 N ♠ A6 (2) What did you bid with this West hand A in

♥ 109 W E ♥ Q7542 this week’s quiz? This hand is not good

♦ 4 S ♦ J107 enough for a 3-level bid when vulnerable

♣ J54 ♣ 987 and 2♠ is quite adequate if you want to bid.

♠ Q9 Also, 3♠ here is extremely dangerous when

♥ A863 RHO has opener a weak No Trump – it has

♦ 632 little pre-emptive effect as RHO has already

♣ AQ103 stated her hand as balanced 12-14 and also dbl by LHO is penalties.

(3) North knows that there is no ♥ fit their way (they do not allow 5-card majors in their 1NT opening) and so taking the penalty was easy.

And what happened? Even though there were no trump losers 2♠ went two down for -500 and a complete bottom. Other N-S’s missed the doomed (on a ♠ lead) 3NT and most ended in sensible ♦ contracts.

The bottom lines: -

- Beware of pre-empting over a 1NT opening with a very weak hand – RHO has said her hand and LHO knows the points situation and also can double for penalties. Such a pre-empt actually has little pre-emptive value and is often simply sticking your neck out.

17 points is worth a try! Board 21 from Monday 21^st

A different partner this time, he made no effort with a 17 count when I responded twice.

Dealer: ♠ K965 West(B) North East South

North ♥ J6532 - pass pass pass

N-S vul ♦ K93 1♣ pass 1♦ pass

♣ 7 1♠ (1) pass 2♦ pass

pass (2) pass

♠ AQ32 N ♠ J7

♥ A108 W E ♥ K7 (1) What did you bid with this West hand B(a) in

♦ 5 S ♦ AQ10862 this week’s quiz? A jump to 2♠ looks reasonable

♣ AK642 ♣ 1095 but unfortunately that is game forcing and this

♠ 1084 hand is only worth an effort. 2NT is just about

♥ Q94 OK but a slight overbid and so I think that 1♠

♦ J74 is probably best.

♣ QJ83 (2) What did you bid with this West hand B(b) in

this week’s quiz? Partner can have anything from 6-10 points and with 17 I think that West has to make an effort this time. 2NT looks right.

And what happened? 2♦ made +3 for a complete bottom. Everybody else was in 3NT making anything from 9 to 12 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- With 17 points opposite a response, you have to make an effort 2^nd time round (if you did not 1^st time).

With a long solid minor, don’t remove partner’s 3NT! Board 18 from Monday 21^st

Here we have my partner failing to make a good 3NT bid, and then removing 3NT when I bid it!

Dealer: ♠ A10 West North(D) East South

East ♥ 9 - - 2♠ pass

N-S vul ♦ J1082 pass 3♣ (1) pass 3NT (2)

♣ AKQ1074 pass 5♣ (3) all pass

♠ 5 N ♠ KJ9762 (1) What did you bid with this North hand D(a) in

♥ KQ1086 W E ♥ J72 this week’s quiz? I would bid 3NT but this

♦ AQ75 S ♦ K North chose a rather feeble 3♣.

♣ 985 ♣ 632 (2) I was South and knew that I was partnering

♠ Q843 a rather erratic player who could well have

♥ A543 a very good hand, so with a ♠ stop I bid 3NT.

♦ 9643 (3) What did you bid with this North hand D(b) in

♣ J this week’s quiz. North proved just how erratic he is with this crazy 5♣ bid, pass is clear.

And what happened? 5♣ went -2 for a clear bottom. The top score was 3NT making by North.

The bottom lines: -

- If 3NT is an option, then bid it.

- If partner bids 3NT at some stage and you have AKQ10xx in a minor, then PASS!

- 5♣/♦ is hardly ever a better contract that 3NT.

Obey the Law – part 1 Board 21 from Monday 21^st

This time my partner ignored The Law and got us way too high vulnerable.

Dealer: ♠ AJ6 West North East South

South ♥ Q95 - - - pass

N-S vul ♦ K73 pass 1♣ 1♥ 1♠

♣ K1064 pass pass (1) 2♥ 2♠ (2)

3♥ (3) 3♠ (4) all pass

♠ 1093 N ♠ K2

♥ 62 W E ♥ AK8743 (1) This is fine with three card support.

♦ Q1042 S ♦ A65 (2) This is in accordance with the Law – a 5-3 fit.

♣ AJ95 ♣ 32 (3) A spirited bid with just a doubleton.

♠ Q8754 (4) This is totally undisciplined, especially

♥ J10 vulnerable. It would be acceptable with

♦ J98 4 ♠’s but not with just 3 ♠’s. Simply defend!

♣ Q87

And what happened? 3♠ went -2 for 200 away and a clear bottom. Most E-W’s were scoring 140 in ♥’s. The bottom lines: -

- Obey The Law, especially vulnerable

Obey the Law – part 2 Board 7 from Monday 21^st

This time my partner again ignored The Law when vulnerable.

Dealer: ♠ AQ6 West North East South

South ♥ 852 - - - pass

both vul ♦ K532 pass 1♦ 1♥ 1♠

♣ A106 pass pass (1) 2♥ dbl (2)

pass 2♠ all pass

♠ J9753 N ♠ 2

♥ 109 W E ♥ AKQJ74 (1) This is fine with three card support.

♦ Q4 S ♦ 1076 (2) Apparently take-out. I would pass – it’s

♣ KQ32 ♣ J87 vulnerable and probably just a 4-3 ♠ fit.

♠ K1084 Partner has opened in 3^rd seat and this bid

♥ 63 simply takes the partnership too high, vulnerable.

♦ AJ98

♣ 954

And what happened? For the first time I don’t get an absolute bottom. I was North and at another table North passed the double at (2) and 2♥ doubled made.

The bottom lines: -

- Obey The Law, especially vulnerable

When Partner redoubles – part 1 Board 10 from Monday 21^st

This is the last (and worst) of my bidding partners’ eccentricities from my Monday session.

Dealer: ♠ Q106 West North East(E) South

East ♥ 83 - - 1♦ dbl

both vul ♦ 97652 redbl (1) pass 1♠ (2) pass

♣ Q98 3NT (3) all pass

♠ K8 N ♠ AJ43 (1) 10+ points and looking for a penalty.

♥ KJ74 W E ♥ 1095 (2) What did you bid with this East hand E in

♦ 108 S ♦ AK43 this week’s quiz? Pass is totally obligatory

♣ KJ1072 ♣ 54 without an extremely distributional hand.

♠ 9752 This East showed his lack of knowledge

♥ AQ62 about basic bridge with this appalling bid.

♦ QJ (3) By this stage I was getting totally fed up.

♣ A63

And what happened? 3NT went -1 for a joint bottom (somebody else was in 2NT-1). It would have been nice to take the 1100 on offer, but if your partner does not understand the very basics of bridge bidding then I guess that’s just life.

The bottom lines: -

- If you open, LHO doubles and partner redoubles, then PASS!!!!

- The only exception is a very distributional hand like Hand F.

- The meaning of redouble is clearly defined on the website: -

General Bridge Topics > When RHO Doubles.

- I only played 18 boards on Monday – and 6 of them were worthy of writing up. Fortunately the other 12 were fairly sensible and I scrambled about 50%

When Partner redoubles – part 2 Board 16 (2^nd session) from Friday 25^th

Here we have another player who simply does not understand the redouble

Dealer: ♠ A84 West North(C) East South

East ♥ 7653 - - pass pass

E-W vul ♦ AK 1♦ dbl (1) redbl (2) pass (3)

♣ J874 pass (4) 1♥ dbl 1♠

pass pass dbl pass

♠ 952 N ♠ QJ10 2♦ (5) pass 3NT (6) all pass

♥ KJ4 W E ♥ AQ102

♦ J8432 S ♦ Q9 (1) What did you bid with this North hand C in

♣ AK ♣ 10952 this week’s quiz? With over 1/2 of the points

♠ K762 in ♦’s and two miserable major suits I would

♥ 98 pass.

♦ 10765 (2) Looking for the penalty.

♣ Q63 (3) A bid here should show a 5-card suit.

(4) This West got it right and passed…

(5) … but unfortunately he fell from grace here.

This bid is terrible and pass is very clear.

(6) Like me in the previous deal, this East was annoyed and bid 3NT in desperation.

And what happened? 3NT went -1 for 50 away when 1♠ doubled would have netted anything from 300 to 800, depending upon the line of play adopted and the defence.

The bottom lines: -

- If you open, LHO doubles and partner redoubles, then pass; and what’s more, pass when partner subsequently doubles anything for penalties.

- The only exception is a very distributional hand; with three trumps it is maniacal to pull the double.

- The meaning of redoubleis clearly defined on the website and all subsequent doubles are for penalties.

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

North South You are South, declarer in 4♥. The defence take three ♠ tricks

♠ J52 ♠ 963 and switch to the ♦K. Plan the play.

♥ J109 ♥ AKQ75

♦ A942 ♦ 3

♣ Q87 ♣ AK32

Dave’s Column answer Board 11 from Wednesday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ J52 West North East South

South ♥ J109 - - - 1♥

Love all ♦ A942 pass 2♥ pass 3♣ (1)

♣ Q87 pass 4♥ all pass

♠ KQ7 N ♠ A1084 (1) A help-suit game try.

♥ 642 W E ♥ 83

♦ 108765 S ♦ KQJ West leads the ♠K and ♠Q and a ♠ which East

♣ J9 ♣ 10654 wins with the ♠A. East shifts to the ♦K.

♠ 963 Plan the play.

♥ AKQ75

♦ 3

♣ AK32

Your only loser is the 4^th ♣. Given that you cannot discard it on a side suit winner from dummy, there are still three other ways to avoid losing it:

(1) The suit breaks 3-3

(2) Draw two rounds of trumps and then play 3 rounds of ♣’s. If ♣’s are 4-2 and the player with the remaining trump(s) also has long ♣’s you can ruff the 4^th ♣ in dummy.

(3) Discard it on a trump!

In order to do (3) you must ruff 3 cards in your own hand leaving dummy with one more trump than you. On that extra trump you can discard your ♣.

Win the ♦A and ruff a ♦ high. Cross to the ♥9 and ruff a 2^nd ♦ high. You now have two trumps in each hand. Cross to dummy with the ♥10 and ruff the last ♦ with your last trump. Enter dummy with the ♣Q and discard your 4^th ♣ on dummy’s ♥J. This is a dummy reversal.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge Club? Just one pair out of four bid and made 4♥.

Terry’s Comment. Trump lead or trump switch at trick 4 anyone? It looks fairy clear for East to switch to a trump at trick 4.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd input involving the best play for the contract.

West East You are East, declarer in 7NT and South leads the ♠10.

♠ KQ6 ♠ AJ3 Plan the play.

♥ QJ6 ♥ AK10

♦ Q63 ♦ AK42

♣ AK42 ♣ Q65

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 10 from Wednesday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ 542 West North East South

East ♥ 97 - - 2NT pass

both vul ♦ J1098 7NT all pass

♣ J1098

South leads the ♠10, what is your plan?

♠ KQ6 N ♠ AJ3

♥ QJ6 W E ♥ AK10 You have three sure tricks in each suit for a

♦ Q63 S ♦ AK42 total of twelve. Besides that, you have an extra

♣ AK42 ♣ Q65 trick in a minor if one breaks 3-3.

♠ 10987 When playing a contract in which you have all

♥ 85432 the tricks but one, play the suits in which you

♦ 75 have no chance of an extra trick first.

♣ 73 In this example North must make a fateful

discard when the 6^th major suit card is led – this is a very basic squeeze play.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge Club? Three pairs bid 7NT and made it with the line given. The 4^th pairs stopped in 6NT and made that exactly.

Don’t ask unnecessary questions

♠ Ax You hold this hand and RHO opens a weak 2♠. You choose to bid 2NT – fine.

♥ x LHO then asks partner what 2NT means and partner dithers – saying that some

♦ AKJ10xx play it as the minors and some as natural. He eventually come up with the

♣ QJxx (incorrect) explanation that it is for the minors. So LHO passes and partner

bids 3♣, what do you do now?

This is really a problem as you have the unauthorized information that partner has misunderstood your bid. But what do you do? Do you pass? Do you treat partner’s bid as Stayman and bid 3♦? Or do you bid what you think you can make (3NT)?

I was in this spot last week, and after considerable thought I decided that it was not unethical to bid 3NT, which made for a top.

Why did I decide this? Because in my opinion the whole mess was caused by LHO asking a question during the auction when he had no intention of bidding. I mentioned this to him at the end and his answer was “I wanted to know”. In my opinion that is not good enough and I will rule in a similar way in future if people ask totally unnecessary questions during the auction and get an erroneous reply.

The bottom lines: - Do not ask unless the answer will affect your bid – leave your questions to the end of the auction if you have no intention of bidding.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Either pass or 2♠. 3♠ is too much vulnerable as you are very likely to get doubled (for penalties) as LHO knows RHO’s strength.

Hand B: (a) 1♠. It’s not quite good enough for a game-forcing 2♠ (which I would bid if partner had responded 1♥). Also, it’s not quite good enough for 2NT (but very close).

(b) 2NT. You really have to make an effort now. It’s a mis-fit but partner may well have 10 points or so (he did).

Hand C: Pass. With 7 points in the suit opened and horrible majors, this is a very poor hand for a double.

Hand D: (a) 3NT. You have a ♠ stop and hopefully 7 top tricks.

(b) Pass. Partner has corrected your error for you. 5♣ is sheer lunacy but is not the worst bid I faced on Monday.

Hand E: Pass. Partner says you have the majority of the points and he is looking for the (vulnerable) penalty. You have no reason whatsoever to bid and lose the 1100 on offer.

Hand F: 1♠. This type of very weak distributional hand with no defence is the ONLY example of when you can bid opposite partner’s redouble.

Bidding Sequence Answers

G 1♠ 2NT 2NT is Unusual, showing the minors and usually weak.

H 2♠ 2NT 2NT is natural, just the same as 1NT over a 1♠ opening.

J 1♥ 1♠ pass 1NT 1NT opposite a 1-level overcall is about 10-11 points.

K 1♦ dbl redbl 10+ points, very often a mis-fit and looking for a penalty.

L 1♦ dbl redbl pass 1♠ shows a VERY shapely WEAK hand that cannot stand to

1♠ defend.

M 1♣ pass 1♦ pass The jump shift is game forcing.

2♠