Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 289

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 25^th May 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 19^th 1^st Jeremy & Sally 59% 2^nd Gastone & Kenneth = Dave & Ivy 56%

Wed 21^st 1^st Bob & Nick 62% 2^nd Ivy & Robbie 61%

Fri 23^rd 1^st Jean-Francois & Terje 61% 2^nd Bob & Robbie 58%

Bidding Quiz

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♦ in 1^st seat, what do you bid.

♠ 972 ♠ 82

♥ 85 ♥ AK72 With Hand B partner opens 1♥, RHO bids 1♠, you bid 2♥,

♦ Q ♦ J54 LHO bids 2♠. Partner bids 3♥ and RHO bids 3♠.

♣ K1097642 ♣ 9642 What do you do?

Hand C Hand D With Hand C you open 1♥ and LHO overcalls 1♠. Partner

bids 2♥ and RHO bids 2♠, what do you do?

♠ KQ75 ♠ QJ7

♥ J10985 ♥ J109854 With Hand D you open 1♥ and LHO overcalls 1♠. Partner

♦ AK2 ♦ AK2 bids 2♥ and RHO bids 2♠, what do you do?

♣ J ♣ J

Hand E Hand F With Hand E RHO opens 1♥ and you overcall 1♠. LHO

bids 2♥ and this is passed to you. What do you do?

♠ AJ1063 ♠ K4

♥ 6 ♥ Q9753 With Hand F partner opens 1♠. (a) What do you bid?

♦ Q109 ♦ J96 (b) Suppose you bid 1NT and partner raises to 2NT, what do

♣ K1075 ♣ K96 you bid?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♠ pass 1NT pass How strong is 2NT?

2NT

H 1♥ pass 2♥ pass What does 3♥ show?

3♥

J 1♥ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ What does 3♥ show?

3♥

The Weak Jump Shift Board 19 from Friday 23^rd

When partner opens one of a suit, then a jump in a new suit is traditionally a strong hand, game forcing, and a very good suit. These days most more experienced players play a weak jump shift, which shows a weak hand with a long suit, too weak for a normal reply so generally about 2-5 points with a 6-card suit (7-card if at the three level). Here is an example of the treatment working very well.

Dealer: ♠ 972 Table A

South ♥ 85 West North(A) East South

E-W vul ♦ Q - - - 1♦

♣ K1097642 pass pass (1) pass

♠ J85 N ♠ Q643 Table B

♥ J102 W E ♥ 9763 West North(A) East South

♦ A842 S ♦ KJ3 - - - 1♦

♣ AJ3 ♣ Q8 pass 3♣ (1) all pass

♠ AK10

♥ AKQ4

♦ 109765

♣ 5

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? This is the traditional bid – not enough points for a response.

Table B (1) This is the answer to question A if you play weak jump shifts. At the three level it should be a 7-card suit.

And what happened? 3♣ was the best spot for N-S and scored +1 for a joint top. 1♦ by South went one down for a bottom to N-S.

The bottom lines: -

- Weak jump shifts are probably a good idea if not abused. They are not ‘standard’ and need to be alerted.

- Note that many players play only 2♥ and 2♠ as weak jump shifts. This particularly applies to those who play Bergen

Raises or Mini Splinters.

Obey the Law of Total Trumps Board 17 from Friday 23^rd

This is a recurring theme, yet few seem to understand it!

Dealer: ♠ 82 Table A

North ♥ AK72 West North(B) East South(C)

Love all ♦ J54 - pass pass 1♥

♣ 9642 1♠ 2♥ (1) 2♠ (2) 3♥ (3) 3♠ (4) 4♥ (5) all pass

♠ AJ1063 N ♠ 94

♥ 6 W E ♥ Q43 Table B

♦ Q109 S ♦ 8763 West(E) North(B) East South(C)

♣ K1075 ♣ AQ83 - pass pass 1♥

♠ KQ75 1♠ 2♥ pass (2) pass

♥ J10985 dbl (6) 3♥ (7) all pass

♦ AK2

♣ J

Table A: (1) This is correct, 6-9 points and 3 or 4 card trump support.

(2) Not a bid I would make unless under an assumed name.

(3) What did you bid with this South hand C in this week’s quiz? You should pass. This is a competitive auction with the points approximately even, so The Law Of Total Trumps applies. South should only bid 3♥ here if he holds six ♥’s.

(4) This is also wrong of course as it shows six ♠’s.

(5) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? You should bid 4♥. This North is the player I have mentioned a few times recently who always gets bad scores with weaker players because he trusts his partner. He actually does know about the Law and partner has promised 6 ♥’s. Also, the opponent’s bidding indicates that they have 6+3= 9 minimum ♠’s. So there are a total of at least 19 trumps (ho-ho, there are only 16 because West, East and South all showed one more than they actually had). So given that there are 19 trumps then either 4♥ or 4♠ will make and with these great ♥’s it’s more likely to be 4♥ that is making. And if 4♥ goes -1 that’s a good score against their ‘sure’ ♠ contract.

Table B (2) This East sensibly passed of course.

(6) What did you bid with this West hand E in this week’s quiz? This double is best; it is take-out, showing 5 ♠’s and also playable in both minors.

(7) North simply obeys the Law. He knows that there are a total of 9 ♥’s and so bids to the level of the Law.

And what happened? 4♥ went -1 for a bottom. 3♥ is the top spot. The bottom lines: -

- Obey the Law of Total Trumps.

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

North South You are North, declarer in 6♣. East leads the ♠J.

♠ 4 ♠ A532 Trumps split 2-1, plan the play.

♥ AQ10 ♥ 987

♦ AK2 ♦ 94

♣ AKQJ42 ♣ 10983

Dave’s Column answer Board 1 from Wednesday 21^st

Dealer: ♠ 4 West North East South

North ♥ AQ10 - 2♣ pass 2♦

Love all ♦ AK2 pass 3♣ pass 4♣ (1)

♣ AKQJ42 pass 4♦ (2) pass 4♠ (2)

pass 6♣ all pass

♠ KQ87 N ♠ J1096

♥ 543 W E ♥ KJ62 (1) agreeing ♣’s and showing slam interest.

♦ Q10853 S ♦ J76 (2) a cue bid (showing the ace)

♣ 6 ♣ 75

♠ A532 East leads the ♠J, trumps are 2-1, plan the play.

♥ 987

♦ 94

♣ 10983

You have two possible ♥ losers – if East has both missing honours.

If this were a hand that could not be stripped before playing ♥’s, you should plan on taking two ♥ finesses – a 75% chance of making two ♥ tricks.

With this deal your plan should be to coordinate drawing trumps with stripping ♦’s and ♠’s before leading a ♥ from dummy. Is it possible?

Yes. Win the opening lead and ruff a ♠ high; enter dummy with a trump and ruff a 2^nd ♠ high; back to dummy with a trump and ruff dummy’s last ♠; now ♦AK and a ♦ ruff puts you in dummy. Everyone is down to 4 cards. Both you and dummy have 3 ♥’s and a trump and the lead is in dummy where it should be.

Lead a ♥ from dummy and play either the ♥10 or ♥Q. West wins but must either lead into your tenace or give you a ruff and discard.

Terry’s comment. A trump lead is more interesting. Declarer adopts the same line of play but he now comes down to a three card ending with just three ♥’s in each hand. There is no ruff and discard option now but fortunately East too is left perforce with just three ♥’s and the endplay works. Had East started with just 3 ♠’s then the endplay would not work as he could keep a ♦ and ♥Kx as his last three cards. Since a 4-4 ♠ fit is only 33% it is not at all clear that Eddie’s line is better than the double finesse on a trump lead; but I am not going to do the maths for the author.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? The hand was played 4 times. The two declarers in 6♣ both went one down, 3NT+1 was the top score and a very conservative 4♣+1 came second.

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 4♠. South leads a low ♣ and North

♠ 7653 ♠ QJ1098 plays the ♣J. Plan the play.

♥ KQ8 ♥ 72

♦ A42 ♦ KQJ

♣ 753 ♣ AK9

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 2 from Wednesday 21^st

Dealer: ♠ AK West North East South

East ♥ J653 - - 1♠ pass

N-S vul ♦ 10873 2♠ pass 3♠ (1) pass

♣ J64 4♠ (2) all pass

♠ 7653 N ♠ QJ1098 (1) With no suit particularly needing help there

♥ KQ8 W E ♥ 72 is no suit suitable for a help-suit game try, so

♦ A42 S ♦ KQJ 3♠ is a simple invitation.

♣ 753 ♣ AK9 (2) With 4 trumps and a maximum West accepts

♠ 42 of course.

♥ A1094

♦ 965 South leads the ♣2 to North’s ♣J, plan the play.

♣ Q1082

You have two ♠ losers, one quick ♥ loser and one slow ♣ loser. It is always the slow losers that you have to concentrate on.

Notice that the ♣’s and the ♦’s are evenly divided between your hand and dummy – the worst possible arrangement.

In order to get rid of a slow loser in an evenly divided suit attack an unevenly divided suit. Here ♥’s is the unevenly divided suit.

If South has the ♥A you can establish a ♥ winner for a ♣ discard – but you must act before your 2^nd ♣ stopper is removed.

Win the ♣A and lead a low ♥. If South wins you have established a ♥ winner for a ♣ discard. South does best to duck but it makes no difference: re-enter your hand with a ♦ and lead a 2^nd ♥. South should win and lead a 2^nd ♣. You win, cross to dummy with a ♦ and discard your losing ♣ on the good ♥.

Only now do you begin to draw trumps. If you had started trumps earlier North wins and returns a ♣ and it’s too late to set up the ♥ for a ♣ discard.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge Club? Just for a change, everybody was in 4♠. Just one made it, the other three all going one down.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3♣, provided that you play weak jump shifts. In standard you should pass; a 1NT response is reasonable but may well get you into the wrong spot.

Hand B: 4♥, partner has promised six ♥’s and the Law of Total Trumps says to compete to the four level.

Hand C: Pass. This is a Law Of Total Trumps situation. The points are roughly even and partner has only promised three ♥’s. So there may be only a total of 8 ♥’s and you should pass. Also, of course, you have excellent ♠’s and have no qualms about defending a ♠ contract. It is, of course, allowable to ‘sacrifice’ by bidding one more than the Law

says, but you should only do that in the pass-out seat.

Hand D: 3♥. The same problem of course but this hand is different. Although it has less points than hand C, that is irrelevant. The only thing that matters in this situation is the number of trumps. With one more than already shown, bid one more.

Hand E: dbl. You want to compete; you have already shown 5 ♠’s and a take-out double is the best bid now.

Hand F: (a) 1NT. You do not have enough for a 2♥ bid unless you are playing a weak NT.

(b) 3NT. I prefer this to a (forcing) 3♥ because the ♥ suit is rather poor and also partner is most likely 5143 or 5134 shape as he did not open 1NT (assuming you allow 5-card majors in your 1NT opening). This hand actually comes from the 16-31 May issue of Pattaya Today which I bought to check up on Robbie’s complaint that they do not mention the Pattaya Bridge Club (he’s right, it appears that they don’t do much on local clubs/associations or local activities, I recommend the Pattaya Mail or the Pattaya People which both mention our club; but I have sent Pattaya Today an e-mail). Anyway, the author of their bridge column says “it’s probably best to pass”.

I disagree, partner’s raise of 1NT to 2NT should show around 17 points and you should clearly bid game; it’s maximum and the ♠K is a great card.

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♠ pass 1NT pass 2NT is around 17 points. This awkward sequence comes

2NT up more often when playing a weak NoTrump

H 1♥ pass 2♥ pass 3♥ is generally played as invitational, so about 16-17 points

3♥ but a hand not suitable for a help-suit game try. Some players do play it as pre-emptive (to inhibit the next player from balancing and maybe finding a ♠ fit) but that’s not common.

J 1♥ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ This is totally different. 3♥ here shows no more than a basic

3♥ opener but guaranteeing six ♥’s. To make a game try opener

would have to bid 3♣ or 3♦