to news-sheet main page |
|||||
to Pattaya Bridge home page |
|||||
to bridge book reviews | to bridge conventions | to No Trump bidding | |||
to bridge CD's and computer games and software |
Mon 19th 1st Jeremy &
Wed 21st 1st Bob &
Fri 23rd 1st Jean-Francois & Terje 61% 2nd Bob & Robbie 58%
Bidding Quiz
Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♦ in 1st seat, what do you bid.
♠ 972 ♠ 82
♥
85 ♥
AK72 With Hand B partner opens 1♥,
♦ Q ♦ J54 LHO
bids 2♠. Partner bids 3♥ and
♣
K1097642
♣ 9642 What do you
do?
Hand C Hand D With Hand C you open 1♥ and LHO overcalls 1♠. Partner
bids 2♥ and
♠
KQ75 ♠ QJ7
♥ J10985 ♥ J109854 With Hand D you open 1♥ and LHO
overcalls 1♠. Partner
♦ AK2 ♦ AK2 bids 2♥ and
♣ 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?
♣
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 23rd
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
♠
AK10
♥ AKQ4
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
Raises or Mini
Splinters.
Obey the Law of Total Trumps Board 17 from Friday 23rd
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
♠
KQ75 1♠ 2♥ pass (2) pass
♥ J10985
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 21st
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.
♠ A532 East leads the ♠J,
trumps are 2-1, plan the play.
♥
987
♦ 94
♣ 10983
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 2nd
Column answer Board 2 from Wednesday 21st
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.
♠ 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 2nd
♣ 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 2nd ♥. South should win and lead a 2nd ♣. 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.
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♦