Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 298

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880              27th July 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

Mon 21st     1st  Jeremy & Sally             59%       2nd    Arne & Oystein                      56%

Wed 23rd      1st  Jan & Janne                  60%       2nd    Dave & Ivy = Bob & Nick     58%

Fri 25th         1st  Dave & Ivy = Terry & Lewis             57%

       
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recommended bridge books reviewed to bridge book reviews to bridge conventions to No Trump bidding
   
   
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Bidding Quiz                    Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls with

a weak 2♥, what do you do?

♠ AQ95           ♠ KQ              

♥ AKQ982      ♥ A5                With Hand B RHO opens 1♣ (could be short), (a) what do you do?

♦ K                 ♦ 1083             (b)  Suppose you pass, LHO bids 1♦ and RHO bids 1NT,

♣ 32                ♣ KJ9852              what do you do now?

                       

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C partner opens 1♦ and you bid 1♠. Partner then

rebids 2♦, what do you do?

♠ KQ8742       ♠ J104                                     

♥ KJ95            ♥ J                   With Hand D you open 1♣ and LHO overcalls a weak 2♥,  

♦ K7               ♦ Q107            this is passed to you, what do you bid?

♣ 5                  ♣ AK10965                            

                                                                       

     

Bidding Sequence Quiz

 

E    1♦        pass     1♠      pass    

1NT     pass     2♥                  Is 2♥ weak or forcing?

F    1♦        pass     1♠      pass    

2♦        pass     2♥                  Is 2♥ weak or forcing?

G   1♦        pass     1♠      pass    

2♦        pass     3♠                  Is 3♠ invitational or forcing?

H   1♦        pass     1♠      pass    

3♦        pass     3♠                  Is 3♠ weak, invitational or forcing?

J    1♣       2♣                             1♣ may be short, what is the 2♣ overcall?


The long pause                                                     Board 19 from Wednesday 23rd

 

If you think for a long time and then pass, it often causes problems:

 

Dealer:             ♠ 102                                             Table A

South               ♥ 1032                                           West(B)     North         East          South

E-W vul           ♦ AK742                                      -                 -                 -               1♣   (1)

                        ♣ 743                                            pass (2)      1♦              pass         1NT (3)

                                                                              pass (4)      pass           pass (5)    pass

♠ KQ                     N             ♠ A9843                 

♥ A5                  W    E          ♥ Q986                    Table B

♦ 1083                   S             ♦J5                          West(B)     North         East          South

♣ KJ9852                              ♣ 106                      -                 -                 -               1♣   (1)

                        ♠ J765                                          pass (2)      1♦              pass         1♥    (3)

♥ KJ74                                          2♣   (6)      all pass

♦ Q96                                     

♣ AQ                                      

 

Table A:     (1)  Playing a short club – this is the only distribution where 1♣ is two cards.

(2)   What did you bid with this West hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? When RHO bids your suit (even if it may be short) it’s usually best to pass. 2♣ here would be a Michaels cue bid, usually weak with both majors.

(3)   This N-S pair were playing Walsh, and playing Walsh one by-passes 4 card majors after a 1♦ response in order to bid 1NT. Great treatment.

(4)   What did you bid with this West hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? 2♣ now would be natural and quite reasonable and is what I would bid. However, it is a bit dangerous at this vulnerability and a cautious pass is probably better, especially if partner understands balancing. So two very reasonable options. The only option that is NOT reasonable is to pause for a long time and then pass.

(5)   Unlike his partner (who has been warned about pausing and passing on numerous occasions), this East is totally ethical. He later explained to his partner (waste of time – he has been told umpteen times) that it is unethical to pause for a long time and pass – it passes unauthorized information to partner and frequently bans him from the bidding when he would otherwise have bid. East would have doubled without the long pause and the West would have bid 2♣ - the top spot.

Table B:     (1)  Most of our club seems to play a short club.

(3)   Playing Standard South correctly responds 1♥.

(6)  And West has the same choice of passing (in tempo) or bidding 2♣.

 

And what happened? 1NT made +1 for the top score. Three E-W’s were in 2♣ making (once) or making +1 (twice). 3♦ by N-S went -1. The bottom lines: -

-         You are allowed to think. But if you pause for a log time, then do not pass. It is better to make a possibly poor bid than to pause and then pass – this only causes problems for partner (and the director if partner bids).

-         Obviously you cannot pause and pass with the intention of banning partner from the auction – that is most certainly cheating.

-         Note the effect of playing Walsh at table A, E-W had no idea that South had two 4-card majors, making the defense difficult.

 

Rebid a 6-carder or bid a 4-carder?                    Board 7 from Wednesday 23rd

 

Dealer:             ♠ KQ8742                                     Table A

South               ♥ KJ95                                          West          North(C)    East          South

both vul            ♦ K7                                             -                 -                 -               1♦   

                        ♣ 5                                                pass           1♠              pass         2♦   

                                                                              pass           3♠    (1)      pass         pass (2)

♠ 3                         N             ♠ AJ10965               pass

♥ A876              W    E          ♥ Q                         

♦ 952                     S             ♦ J10                       Table B

♣ KQ984                              ♣ 10732                  West          North(C)    East          South

                        ♠ -                                                -                 -                 -               1♦   

♥ 10432                                         pass           1♠              pass         2♦   

♦ AQ8643                                     pass           2♥    (1)      pass         3♥

♣ AJ6                                            pass           4♥              all pass

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this North hand C in this week’s quiz? This 4♠ is a poor bid for two reasons – it is not forcing and a ♥ fit may get lost.

(2)  Very reasonable with a miss-fitting minimum.

Table B:     (1)  This North chose the obvious bid, a descriptive (forcing) 2♥ which leaves room for a later ♠ bid if necessary.

 

And what happened? 4♥ made or made +1 but somebody did manage to go -3 in 4♥.  3♠ was bid twice and went one or two down.

The bottom lines: -

-         A new suit by responder is forcing except over a 1NT rebid by opener.

-         Don’t automatically rebid a 6-card ♠ suit if you have 4 ♥’s – look for the golden 4-4 fit.

 

 

 

Dave’s Column           Here is this week’s Dave input involving the play of the hand.

 

North               South               You are South, declarer in 4♠, West leads the ♦K and

♠ K2                ♠ AJ1095         continues with the ♦Q. Plan the play 

♥ J2                 ♥ AKQ105                             

♦ 5432             ♦ 10                                        

♣ K7432         ♣ A5

 

Dave’s Column answer                Board 26 from Wednesday 23rd  

     

Dealer:             ♠ K2                                              West          North         East            South

South               ♥ J2                                               -                 -                 -                 1♠

E-W vul           ♦ 5432                                          pass           1NT           -                 3♥

                        ♣ K7432                                       pass           3♠              pass           4♥

pass           4♠              all pass

♠ Q874                  N             ♠ 63                        

♥ 97                   W    E          ♥ 8643               Ruff the 2nd ♦ and play the ♠A,K leaving

♦ KQJ6                 S              ♦ A987             two ♠’s outstanding. You can afford to lose

♣ J86                                     ♣ Q109             two trump tricks but cannot afford to be

                        ♠ AJ1095                                 shortened again (♠’s may well be 4-2).

♥ AKQ105                              Play out your ♥ and ♣ winners allowing the

♦ 10                                        opponents to score their two trump tricks.

♣ A5                               

 

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♠+1 twice, 4♥+1, 3NT= 3♠= and 4♠-1

Terry’s Comment. This is another type of safety play, generally inapplicable at pairs scoring; but in this case I think that Eddie Kantar’s line is possibly also correct at pairs scoring as the odds are that trumps are 4-2 and it’s 50% that you’ll guess wrong.

 

 

 

Dave’s 2nd Column       Another Dave problem involving the play of the hand.

 

West                East                  You are West, declarer in 3NT, and North leads the ♠Q,

♠ A43              ♠ K976            plan the play.

♥ 843               ♥ K2 

♦ KJ104          ♦A53             

♣ AKQ            ♣ J742                                   

                                   

                                     

                       


Dave’s 2nd Column answer              Board 4 from Wednesday 23rd  

     

Dealer:             ♠ QJ108                                        Table A

West                ♥ QJ9                                            West          North         East          South

both vul            ♦ Q872                                         1♦    (1)      pass           1♠            pass

                        ♣ 53                                              3♠    (2)      pass           4♠            all pass

                       

♠ A43                    N             ♠ K976                    Table B

♥ 843                 W    E          ♥ K2                        West          North         East          South

♦ KJ104                S              ♦A53                      1NT           pass           2♥    (3)    pass

♣ AKQ                                  ♣ J742                     3♠              pass           3NT         pass

                        ♠ 52                                              4♠              all pass

♥ A10765                   

♦ 96                            This was the bidding at two of the table, with both

♣ 10986                      failing to reach the sensible 3NT. What I think of bids

1,2 and 3 is unprintable. The bidding should be so trivial that I did not put anything in the quiz.

 

Anyway, let’s assume the totally obvious bidding 1NT - 2♣ - 2♦ - 3NT.

You start with 8 sure tricks, 4 ♣’s, 2 ♦’s and 2 ♠’s. You were fortunate not to get a ♥ lead and you don’t want North to lead one later.

It is easy enough to set up a 9th trick in ♦’s but you must be careful to finesse ♦’s into South, the player who cannot hurt you with a ♥ switch.

Win the ♠A and run the ♦J. If it loses you have 9 tricks and if it wins you may make more if the ♦’s come down or if the ♥A is with North.

Incidentally. It would be a good idea to unblock the ♣’s before using up all of dummy’s entries.

 

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♠ went minus 1 and minus 2. 3NT made exactly twice, +1 and +2. I understand that at one table North made it easy for declarer when he led the ♠8 and dummy’s ♠9 won the trick.

The bottom lines: -

-     Don’t lead 4th best from QJ108

The re-opening double                                         Board 3 from Monday 21st

 

Dealer:             ♠ 2                                                 West(D)       North       East(A)      South  

South               ♥ 106543                                       -                 -                 -                 pass

E-W vul           ♦ AJ85                                           1♣             2♥    (1)      pass (2)      pass

♣ Q84                                           dbl     (3)    all pass

                                                     

♠ J104                  N             ♠ AQ95             (1)  A (very) weak jump overcall, presumably

♥ J                     W    E          ♥ AKQ982              made because of the vulnerability.

♦ Q107                 S              ♦ K                         Unfortunately for North he was playing

♣ AK10965                           ♣ 32                        against opponents who understand negative

                        ♠ K8763                                       doubles.

♥ 7                                           (2)  What did you bid with this East hand A in

♦ 96432                                         this week’s quiz? This is easy – pass and pass

♣ J7                                               partner’s subsequent re-opening double.

(3)  What did you bid with this West hand D in this week’s quiz? This hand has 13 cards and that is the main criteria for the automatic re-opening double.

And what happened? 1100 and a complete top.

 

 

 

 

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     Pass, and pass partner’s subsequent re-opening double.

Hand B:    (a)  pass. It’s usually best to pass when RHO bids your suit unless you are strong enough for 1NT. I play 2♣ as Michaels even if the 1♣ may be short.

(b)  Pass or 2♣, either is fine. The only action that is not fine is to pause for a long time and then pass.

Hand C:    2♥, forcing. There is plenty of time to rebid the ♠’s later if necessary. 3♠ is a poor bid as you may well lose a ♥ fit and it’s not forcing.

Hand D:    Double, automatic. If you think that 2♣ is better, then do not play negative doubles.

 

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

 

E    1♦       pass     1♠      pass         2♥ is weak. Responder does not like 1NT and opener must

1NT     pass     2♥                      pass or correct.

F    1♦        pass     1♠      pass         2♥ here is forcing. This is different from sequence E

2♦        pass     2♥                      because opener has a good/long suit.

G   1♦        pass     1♠      pass         3♠ here is invitational.

2♦        pass     3♠                     

H   1♦        pass     1♠      pass         3♠ here is forcing. Opener has shown a good hand and

3♦        pass     3♠                      responder is looking for the best game.

J    1♣       2♣                                 I think it’s still best to play this as Michaels, the 1♣ opening bid is short only about 5% of the time. Of course you can agree to play it as natural if you so desire.

More Editorial

 

Club Rules. The club rules are clearly written up on the website and there is always a copy in my bag. If club members (here for 6 months a year or more) would like anything changed then we can vote on it. At the moment, psyches are not allowed and opening 1NT with a singleton is not allowed. Please inform Dave or myself if you disagree with either of these rules (or any of the others) and we can have a vote. This is a friendly club and I don’t give a hoot what the ACBL or WBF says, in my opinion psyches are not part of the game with a lot of inexperienced players around. Since we are not affiliated to the ACBL or WBF and do not hand out master points, we can have whatever rules we choose.

Something different. I understand from one of our members that the so-called ‘Dutch Club’ was raided by the police and that one of their members accuses me of sending them. When I left the ‘Dutch Club’ I advised them to get their own legal paperwork as I would not vouch for them. IF I had sent the police, you can be sure of two things:

(a)    I would advise them to check that the paperwork was not a copy of mine.

(b)   I would have told them to go on a Sunday, when you blatantly disregard the laws of Thailand by illegal gambling. Indeed, you even advertise the fact that you play (illegal) rubber bridge on your website. Fortunately for you, few Thai police understand Dutch.