Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 312

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 2^nd Nov 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 27^th N-S 1^st Alain & Jean-Charles 59% 2^nd Frode & Johan 58%

E-W 1^st Bob S & Gerard 64% 2^nd Guttorm & Tomas 60%

Wed 29^th N-S 1^st Phil & Tomas 60% 2^nd Wolfgang & Bob 59%

E-W 1^st Hans V & Janne 60% 2^nd Gerard & Terry 57%

Fri 31^st N-S 1^st Alain & Jean-Charles 53% 2^nd Guttorm & Tomas 52%

E-W 1^st Gerard & Lewis 61% 2^nd Dave & Royd 58%

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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 you raise to 2♠. Partner then

bids 3♥ (a help-suit-game try), what do you bid? 3♠ or 4♠?

♠ J75 ♠ QJ8

♥ K73 ♥ AKJ86

♦ A2 ♦ AQ With Hand B you choose to open 1♥ and partner bids 2♥,

♣ 87542 ♣ 962 what do you do?

You can support the Pattaya Bridge Club by using one of these search boxes to shop at Amazon or by joining the RonKlinger.com club.

Editorial

The numbers have been very good for the off season, 10 tables on Wednesday was certainly a record for this time of year. It seems that our policy of keeping it a friendly club and throwing out rude/arrogant players is paying off. I got a nice e-mail from “John from Bangkok” – it said … ‘I would also like to join the Club, as I think it is very professionally run and has a nice atmosphere with pleasant people.’…

And that is just how Dave and I intend to keep it. Aggressive troublemakers, no matter how good a player they think they are, will continue to get banned. The club rules are quite clear and up on the site. For example, psyching is not allowed. There was a case where a player psyched two hands in a row; he was suspended and later permanently expelled for his subsequent rude behavior. Dave and I will continue to keep our club a friendly one.

I have recently received some interesting conventions from Paul Quodomine and Janne Roos (thank you both) and they are now on the website in the conventions section. I find Paul’s ‘Walsh notrump responses’ very interesting if you do not play 4-way transfers and Paul's ‘two-way game tries’ are also interesting for more advanced players. Janne’s ‘Sweedish responses to 1NT’ is probably only of interest to those from Sweden.

The Club Championships

Here are the latest standings in the club competitions. The big move this week was Lewis entering the Gold cup at position 4.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1872.8 Hans Vikman 1841.7 Dave Cutler 1831.9 Sally Watson 1803.4 Lewis Berg 1801.3 Janne Roos 1797.4 Bob Pelletier 1782.5 Ivy Schlageter 1727.5 Jan v Koss	672.7 Hans Vikman 663.6 Sally Watson 661.8 Dave Cutler 661.1 Jeremy Watson 647.2 Lewis Berg 643.4 Lars Gustafsson 642.7 Ivy Schlageter 636.4 Janne Roos 636.1 Bob Pelletier 634.3 Derek & Gerard	347.2 Hans Vikman 342.3 Dave Cutler 341.1 Jeremy Watson 341.1 Sally Watson 336.9 Lars Gustafsson 335.3 Ivy Schlageter 334.0 Lewis Berg  328.5 Derek & Gerard 327.4 Tomas Wikman 326.2 Bob Pelletier

That 4333 shape again Board 7 from Monday 27^th

Dealer: ♠ K987 Table A

South ♥ 743 West North East South(A)

both vul ♦ A10 - - pass 1NT

♣ Q632 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

pass 2NT (2) all pass

♠ Q10654 N ♠ 3

♥ AJ63 W E ♥ 98 Sensible Table

♦ K82 S ♦ J9643 West North East South(C)

♣ J ♣ A10987 - - pass 1♣ (1)

♠ AJ2 1♠ 1NT all pass

♥ KQ105

♦ Q75

♣ K54

Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? This player decided not to deduct a point for 4333.

(2) This looks right, even with good intermediates 3NT is an overbid.

Table B: (1) This South knows all about how bad the 4333 type shape is.

And what happened? N-S have a combined 24 points with decent intermediates, yet 1NT is the limit on the hand! 4333 type shape is lousy and it was no good in this NoTrump contract.

The bottom lines: -

- Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

Michaels can be strong Board 20 from Wednesday 29^th

Dealer: ♠ KQ987 Table A

West ♥ KJ West North East South

both vul ♦ J974 pass 1♠ 4♥ (1) 4♠

♣ A10 pass pass 5♣ all pass

♠ 1054 N ♠ A Table B

♥ 109 W E ♥ AQ86543 West North East South

♦ KQ83 S ♦ - pass 1♠ 2♠ (1) pass

♣ J762 ♣ KQ943 2NT (2) pass 3♠ (3) pass

♠ J632 4♣ (4) pass 6♣ (5) all pass

♥ 72

♦ A10652

♣ 85

Table A: (1) This looks reasonable; some simply overcalled 2♥ and came in again later.

Table B: (1) This East chose a different route. This pair play Michaels cue bids as either weak or very strong, clearly this is a rare example of the latter type. It may be better to bid the ♥’s with this hand, but this choice of Michaels turned out very well.

(2) Asking for partner’s minor. This bid generally shows ♥ shortage and both minor suits, as with this hand.

(3) Showing the very strong Michaels type hand.

(4) West can do no more than bid his cheapest minor.

(5) Knowing that partner has 4+ ♣’s and that the ♥ finesse, if needed, is probably right, East bid the reasonable slam.

And what happened? 6♣ is the best spot and scored a top. 5♥ was bid and doubled twice and came in second place when it made exactly. 5♣ made +1 but scored badly, but it did beat the E-W pair who allowed N-S to play in 4♠ undoubled -2.

The bottom lines: -

- My style is to play Michaels and Unusual NT as weak or else very strong.

- With a hand like this East, don’t let the opponents play in 4♠!

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

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

♠ J75 ♠ KQ1096 plan the play.

♥ K73 ♥ A862

♦ A2 ♦ 54

♣ 87542 ♣ AK

Dave’s Column answer Board 19 from Wednesday 29^th

Dealer: ♠ J75 West North(A) East South

East ♥ K73 - - pass 1♠

Both vul ♦ A2 pass 2♠ pass 3♥ (1)

♣ 87542 pass 4♠ (2) all pass

♠ A832 N ♠ 4 (1) A help suit game try

♥ Q5 W E ♥ J1094 (2) What did you bid with this North hand A

♦ QJ1063 S ♦ K987 in this week’s quiz? With a near maximum

♣ 93 ♣ QJ106 and the useful ♥K, North should accept the

♠ KQ1096 invitation and bid 4♠.

♥ A862

♦ 54 West leads the ♦Q, how should South play the hand?

♣ AK

Most South’s took the ♦A, cashed the ♥A,K and led a 3^rd ♥ intending to ruff the 4^th ♥ if necessary. West threw one ♣ on the third ♥ and his last ♣ when East forced dummy to ruff the 4^th ♥. When North led a trump next, West took the ♠A led a ♦ to East’s ♦K and ruffed the ♣ return for one down.

The best play is to cash the ♣A,K before starting the ♥’s and the contract then makes.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Only three out of ten pairs reached 4♠ and just one made it. A few people made 10 tricks but they were not in game.

The bottom lines

- This South hand is worth a try after partner supports, and a 3♥ help suit game try is best. This also has the advantage of uncovering a possible 4-4 ♥ fit should North be maximum with 4 ♥’s.

- This North hand, with 8 points, decent shape, and the ♥K which is known to be a good card (after the help suit game try) should accept despite the relatively poor trumps.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd input involving the play of the hand.

West East You are East, declarer in 4♠ and South leads a ♥ after

♠ J32 ♠ KQ765 North had opened with 1♥. Plan the play.

♥ 7654 ♥ A8

♦ AQ ♦ K32

♣ Q765 ♣ KJ4

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 21 from Wednesday 29^th

Dealer: ♠ A9 West North East South

East ♥ KQJ93 - 1♥ 1♠ pass

Both vul ♦ J54 2♠ pass 2NT (1) pass

♣ A109 4♠ (2) all pass

♠ J32 N ♠ KQ765 (1) A game try showing a ♥ control.

♥ 7654 W E ♥ A8 (2) This is similar to the last hand. Here West has

♦ AQ S ♦ K32 similar poor trumps but he has no wasted ♥

♣ Q765 ♣ KJ4 values and with max values he should accept.

♠ 1086

♥ 102 You (East) win the opening ♥ lead, plan the

♦ 109876 play.

♣ 832

Declarer must lose the ♠A. ♣A and one ♥. The danger is losing a 2^nd trump trick when the ♠’s are breaking favourably. Some East’s failed when they played the ♠K at trick two; North won and continued ♥’s, Whether declarer ruffs the 3^rd round high or low he must lose a trick to South’s ♠10.

It is no better for declarer if he starts with a low trump to the ♠J and ♠A. Two rounds of ♥’s again promote South’s ♠10.

To Avoid the trump promotion, declarer must cross to dummy in ♦’s to lead the first ♠ through North. If North wins to play ♥’s declarer can ruff the 3^rd round high and draw the outstanding trumps with his remaining honour and dummy’s ♠J. If North ducks the first ♠ declarer should return to dummy with another ♦ and lead a 2^nd ♠ through North. North is marked with the outstanding high cards on the auction, but even without this clue, the missing trump intermediates should alert you to the possibility of a trump promotion.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Only two E-W’s bid game and they both went minus one. Four East’s made 10 tricks in 2♠ or 3♠.

The bottom lines

- This East hand is worth a try for game after partner supports.

- This West hand, with 9 points, with no wasted values in ♥’s, should accept despite the relatively poor trumps.

Bid game or just try? Board 1 from Friday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ QJ8 Table A

North ♥ AKJ86 West North(B) East South

Love all ♦ AQ - 1♥ (1) pass 2♥ (2)

♣ 962 pass 4♥ (3) all

♠ A1032 N ♠ 654 Table B

♥ Q105 W E ♥ 94 West North(B) East South

♦ K965 S ♦ J108 - 1♥ pass 2♥ (2)

♣ A5 ♣ QJ1087 pass 2♠ (3) pass 3♥ (4)

♠ K97 all pass

♥ 732

♦ 7432

♣ K43

Table A: (1) A 1NT opening is the alternative.

(2) This South hand is barely worth a response (knock off a point for 4333 type) but it does have two kings.

(3) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? This hand is only good enough to invite and 4♥ is an overbid.

Table B: (2) This South also chose to respond.

(3) This North got question B right – a help suit game try.

(4) South does have help in ♠’s, but with miserable trumps and the horrid 3343 shape he sensibly declined the game invitation

And what happened? 4♥ went -3! 3♥ made once and went -1 once. Two North’s opened 1NT and played there making and making +1. The others stopped in 1♥ or 2♥.

The bottom lines: -

- Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

- If you open with +- 16 points and partner supports your major, then make a game try – it’s not enough for game opposite a minimal response.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 4♠. On the minus side the trumps are poor. On the plus side you are near maximum in points, have decent shape, and the all important ♥K which you know is a good card after the help-suit game try. The plusses outweigh the minuses and you should bid game.

Hand B: 2♠. A help-suit game try. It’s not good enough for 4♥.