Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 313

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 9^th Nov 2008

It is best to use my home number to contact me unless I am at the bridge club.

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My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

Mon 3^rd N-S 1^st Guttorm & Tomas 61% 2^nd Bob P & Robbie 58%

E-W 1^st Janne & Hans 55% 2^nd Richard M & Sean 53%

Wed 5^th N-S 1^st Alain & Jean-Charles 67% 2^nd Lewis & Paul Q 60%

E-W 1^st Lars G & Bam Bam 63% 2^nd Johan & Sigurd 57%

Fri 7^th 1^st Gerard & Terry 70% 2^nd Lewis & Paul Q 63%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B What do you open with Hand A?

♠ 53 ♠ AK1062 (a) What do you open with Hand B? Suppose you bid 1♠,

♥ A1096 ♥ K5 partner bids 1NT and RHO bids 2♣, (b) what do you bid?

♦ KQJ10 ♦ K1052 Suppose you bid 2♦ and partner bids 2♠, (c) what do you do?

♣ A102 ♣ A4

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 1♦ (4+ cards), what do you bid?

♠ K4 ♠ A7

♥ 75 ♥ 94 With Hand D RHO opens 1NT and you pass. LHO passes

♦ AK9854 ♦ 1074 and partner bids 2♣ (showing both majors). What do you bid?

♣ A87 ♣ AK9753

Hand E Hand F What do you open with Hand E, 1^st seat, favourable vulnerability?

♠ Q86 ♠ A3 With Hand F you are opener and this is the auction at love all:

♥ AJ9432 ♥ AQ76 1♦ 1♠ 2♥ 3♣

♦ J7 ♦ QJ97653 4♥ 5♣ dbl pass

♣ K6 ♣ - ? What do you do? Pull partner’s double or pass?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♠ pass 3♠ 3NT What is 3NT? Natural (to play) or Unusual for the minors?

H 1♠ pass 1NT 2♣ Without the 2♣ intervention, 2♦ would show a weakish

2♦ hand with 5-4 or 5-5 in the pointed suits. The question

is, does it have the same meaning after the 2♣ overcall or

is it a free bid showing strength?

J 1♦ pass 1♥ pass 2♣ is 4^th suit forcing, which this pair play as game forcing.

1♠ pass 2♣ pass What is 3NT, showing strength or showing no slam interest?

3NT

K 1NT pass 2♥ pass 2♥ is a transfer, what is 4NT? Quantitive or Blackwood?

2♠ pass 4NT

The Club Championships

Here are the latest standings in the club competitions. Not much change this week, but Lewis had a couple of good sessions and is creeping up on Sally in the Gold Cup.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1873.1 Hans Vikman 1841.7 Dave Cutler 1833.7 Sally Watson 1816.0 Lewis Berg 1804.6 Janne Roos 1799.2 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 648.0 Lewis Berg 646.0 Lars Gustafsson 642.7 Ivy Schlageter 636.9 Tomas Wikman 636.4 Janne Roos 636.1 Bob Pelletier	347.2 Hans Vikman 342.3 Dave Cutler 341.1 Jeremy Watson 341.1 Sally Watson 337.1 Lars Gustafsson 335.3 Ivy Schlageter 334.0 Lewis Berg  328.5 Derek & Gerard 327.4 Tomas Wikman 326.2 Bob Pelletier

Fast Arrival Board 7 from Monday 27^th

Dealer: ♠ 6 West North East South

East ♥ 1097543 - - 1♦ pass

Love all ♦ K7 1♥ pass 1♠ pass

♣ Q1075 2♣ (1) pass 3NT (2) pass

pass (3) pass

♠ 1084 N ♠ AQJ5

♥ AKQJ2 W E ♥ 6 (1) 4th suit forcing, this pair play it as a game force

♦ 952 S ♦ AQ1043 (2) This East thinks this shows a strong hand.

♣ A6 ♣ K94 (3) This West thinks that 3NT was fast arrival and

♠ K9732 showing no slam interest.

♥ 8

♦ J86 What was your answer to sequence J in this week's quiz?

♣ J832

And what happened? East made 12 tricks, but that was with poor defence. Virtually everybody was in 3NT making anything from 9 to12 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- If you jump to game in a game forcing auction; then most play that as fast arrival, showing little slam interest.

Qui Culpa? Board 26 from Monday 3^rd

E-W missed an easy (27 point!) game on this board at Table A, who would you blame?

Dealer: ♠ 985 Table A

East ♥ AJ1086 West(B) North East South

both vul ♦ 8764 - - pass pass

♣ 8 1♠ (1) pass 1NT (2) 2♣

2♦ (3) pass 2♠ (4) pass

♠ AK1062 N ♠ Q7 pass (5) pass

♥ K5 W E ♥ Q9742

♦ K1052 S ♦ A3 Table B

♣ A4 ♣ Q932 West(B) North East South

♠ J43 - - pass pass

♥ 3 1NT pass 2♦ pass

♦ QJ9 2♥ pass 3NT all pass

♣ KJ10765

Table A: (1) What did you open with this West hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? It looks like exactly ½ of the field chose 1♠.

(2) This pair play 2/1 and this hand is not good enough for a game forcing 2♥.

(3) What did you bid with this West hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? A good 17 points, absolutely no quacks, two tens, and good shape. 2♦ is feeble. But is it worth a game-forcing 3♦? Close. West considers that the fact that he made a free bid shows a good hand, I disagree. 2NT is the alternative having failed to open 1NT.

(4) With no rebid from partner, East would bid 2♥, but it looks like a mis-fit with a poor ♣Q and so East simply gave preference, he did not consider partner’s 2♦ bid to be showing any extras - see answer to sequence H. Maybe 2NT by East is reasonable (as West suggested) but it does not look good enough to me, especially with the known mis-fit.

(5) What did you bid with this West hand B(c) in this week’s quiz? Surely West must make an effort now? He now has the luxury of being able to make an effort and not force to game, 2NT and 3♣ both seem reasonable and enable the partnership to stop below game if East is minimum.

Table B: (1) ½ of the field opened 1NT in answer to question B(a) and that looks very reasonable (although it may be a slight underbid). The hand is reasonably balanced, has a stopper in both doubletons, and opening 1NT solves any rebid problem as experienced at Table A. The only reason that I can see not to open 1NT is that the hand is too strong (with great shape and two tens) and so 1♠ with a 2NT rebid in mind is probably best.

And what happened? E-W make 10 or 11 tricks in NoTrumps and virtually everybody was in 3NT. 2♠ +2 scored a near bottom.

The bottom lines: -

- 17 points + two working tens is worth an effort somewhere in the auction.

- And the answer (Qui Culpa) - West

Inverted minors Board 29 from Monday 3^rd

Raising partner’s minor suit opening with a game-going hand can be a problem:

Dealer: ♠ J10632 basic bidding

North ♥ 1032 West(C) North East South

both vul ♦ - - pass 1♦ pass

♣ K6542 2♣ (1) pass 2NT (2) pass

3NT (3) all pass

♠ K4 N ♠ Q9

♥ 75 W E ♥ AKJ9 playing inverted minors

♦ AK9854 S ♦ QJ762

♣ A87 ♣ 103 West(C) North East South

♠ A875 - - 1♦ pass

♥ Q864 2♦ (1) pass 2♥ (4) pass

♦ 103 3NT all pass

♣ QJ9

basic (1) What did you bid with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? This sort of hand is very difficult playing standard methods because neither 2♦ nor 3♦ are forcing. You could simply bid 3NT and hope that partner has a ♥ stop; you could simply bid 5♦; but best is probably to ‘invent’ a non-existent ♣ suit. Of course none of these are very satisfactory.

(2) A balanced 12-14. Some play that a reverse into 2♥ shows a big hand, others play that a reverse after a two-level response does not show extra values, simply shape. If you play the latter then 2♥ is obviously best.

(3) Pretty obvious now.

Inv minors (1) This is the only real solution to question C – play inverted minors. This 2♦ bid shows invitational values or better (so about 11+), denies a 4-card major and is forcing to 2NT or 3♦.

(4) This simply shows a ♥ stop.

(5) With both black suits stopped West bids 3NT to protect his ♠K and show game values.

And what happened? Despite my continual writing about 3NT usually being better than 5♣/♦, no less than three pairs out of seven bid 5♦, the other 4 bid 3NT. 5♦ makes exactly but 3NT made +1 on three occasions for the joint top.

The bottom lines: -

- Inverted minors really do make life easy after a 1♣/♦ opening. When you have a good hand the level is nice and low in order to establish that you have all suits stopped for 3NT.

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

North South You are South, declarer in 3NT and West leads the ♠J.

♠ A4 ♠ K6 East plays an encouraging card and you win with the ♠K.

♥ 63 ♥ AJ72 How do you play the ♣ suit for four tricks?

♦ 10642 ♦ AK75

♣ AK653 ♣ 1074

Dave’s Column answer Board 3 from Wednesday 5^th

Dealer: ♠ A4 West North East South

South ♥ 63 - - - 1NT

E-W vul ♦ 10642 pass 3NT all pass

♣ AK653

♠ J10975 N ♠ Q832 West leads the ♠J to South’s ♠K, with East

♥ K109 W E ♥ Q854 signaling encouragement. It is imperative for

♦ 8 S ♦ QJ93 declarer to collect 4 ♣ tricks, how should he

♣ J982 ♣ Q play the suit?

♠ K6

♥ AJ72

♦ AK75

♣ 1074

Most South’s simply went for the probable 3-2 ♣ break (68%) and played low to the ♣A and ♣K. With this particular layout that loses.

The best play is to play the ♣10 at trick two. Holding ♣J982 West could not resist the temptation to cover, and dummy’s ♣A dropped East’s ♣Q. South continued with a low ♣ to the ♣7 to force West’s ♣8 and a later against west’s ♣9 brought home the 4 ♣ winners and the game.

Was it wrong for West to cover the ♣10? Yes, because East had the singleton ♣Q.

Was South’s play of the ♣10 correct? Yes, it was. Since any lead wins when ♣’s are 3-2, the lead of the ♣10 also wins against 4-1 breaks when East has a singleton ♣8 or ♣9. West is forced to cover the ♣10; after dummy wins. A low ♣ to declarer’s ♣7 allows South to win 4 ♣ tricks. Further, as the actual deal demonstrates, it also wins when West is given the opportunity to choose a losing option.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? All 9 South’s were in 3NT but only one declarer made 9 tricks. Everybody else was -1 or -2.

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

West East You are West, declarer in 3NT after North has opened 2♥

♠ J108 ♠ AQ97 which partner doubled for take-out.

♥ KQ2 ♥ 74 North leads the ♥J, plan the play.

♦ K763 ♦ A54

♣ Q63 ♣ AK42

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 1 from Wednesday 5^th

Dealer: ♠ 52 West North East South

North ♥ AJ10985 - 2♥ dbl pass

Love all ♦ J92 2NT pass 3NT all pass

♣ 85

North leads the ♥J, plan the play.

♠ J108 N ♠ AQ97 At one table West took the first trick and ran the

♥ KQ2 W E ♥ 74 ♠J. South won this with the ♠K and returned his

♦ K763 S ♦ A54 2^nd ♥ to set the contract.

♣ Q63 ♣ AK42 This was fairly predictable and the best play is

♠ K643 for declarer to duck the first trick. North can then

♥ 63 establish his ♥ suit but he has no entry. Declarer

♦ Q108 will take three ♠’s, one ♥, two ♦’s and three ♣’s.

♣ J1097

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 8 out of 9 ended up in 3NT and only two went down; however, many North’s did not lead a ♥ or else led the ♥A and this made life very easy for declarer. The bottom lines

- With a holding like AJ109(x)(x), lead the J against NoTrumps, especially if the bidding indicates that dummy may be short in the suit (and declarer probably holding the KQ).

Do not pre-empt then bid again Board 9 from Friday 7^th

Dealer: ♠ Q86 West North(E) East South

North ♥ AJ9432 - 2♥ (1) pass pass

E-W vul ♦ J7 2♠ (2) 3♥ (3) 3♠ 4♣ (4)

♣ K6 pass pass pass

♠ K10543 N ♠ A97 (1) What did you open with this North hand E in

♥ K107 W E ♥ 85 this week’s quiz? It’s a bit too strong for 2♥ in

♦ Q94 S ♦ A532 my style and I would open 1♥ - the hand has a

♣ 42 ♣ J987 reasonable suit and conforms with the rule of 20.

♠ J2 (2) A bit light, but reasonable in the balancing seat.

♥ Q6 (3) This is, of course, ridiculous. One should never

♦ K1086 bid again having pre-empted. Pass would have

♣ AQ1053 led to -2 and that 200 would be a complete top for N-S.

(4) Apparently meant as lead directional – he did not know partner had an opening hand and assumed that E-W were going to bid game.

And what happened? South is a fine player of the cards and managed to go just one down for -50 and about average. If West had not bid then 2♥+1(170) would have been a near top for N-S, and if North had not bid again then 2♠-2 (200) would have been a clear top for N-S.

The bottom lines: -

- Do not bid again having pre-empted.

- More often than not you undo the good work that the pre-empt did (as in this case).

- Obey the rule of 20 in 1^st and 2^nd seat.

A Lucky misunderstanding Board 11 from Wednesday 5^th

E-W at table A lucked out on this deal.

Dealer: ♠ 10 Table A

South ♥ Q532 West(A) North East South

Love all ♦ 862 - - - pass

♣ J9654 1NT (1) pass 2♥ pass

2♠ pass 4NT (2) pass

♠ 53 N ♠ AKJ872 pass (3) pass

♥ A1096 W E ♥ K

♦ KQJ10 S ♦ 943 Table B

♣ A102 ♣ KQ3 West(A) North East South

♠ Q964 - - - pass

♥ J874 1♦ (1) pass 1♠ pass

♦ A75 1NT pass 4♠ pass

♣ 7 pass (4) pass

Table A: (1) What did you open with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? This West added on for those three tens and the ♥9 and opened a strong NoTrump. And that’s my answer to question A, this hand is easily worth 1NT, if you think that it is 14 points so open 1♦ and rebid 1NT, then read any book on hand evaluation.

(2) This East thought that this was RKCB for ♠’s…

(3) … but West thought it was a quantitive NoTrump raise and obviously passed.

Table B: (1) It looks like every other West simply added up to 14 and opened 1♦.

(4) I know of one West who had a long think here – he knew he had a good hand but decided not to bid on because of the poor ♠’s. There would be no need to think if he had opened 1NT.

And what happened? 4NT was a nice comfortable contract that actually made +1. Virtually everybody else was in 4♠ which just makes exactly because of the two ♠ losers.

The bottom lines: -

- Add on for good 10’s and 9’s, especially if thinking about a 1NT opener.

- After a transfer is simply completed, then 4NT is quantitative, 4♣ is the ace ask.

- I like to play that 4♣ is RKCB for the transfer suit, but you would have to agree this.
There is an article on the website that explains when 4♣ is Gerber and when 4NT is Blackwood or something else.

The director was called a number of times on Friday. Here are two of the deals:

A Director call – part 1 Board 23 from Friday 7^th

Dealer: ♠ 862 Table A

South ♥ AJ West North East(D) South

Both vul ♦ AKQ5 - - - pass

♣ J1086 pass 1NT (1) pass pass

2♣ (2) pass pass (3) pass

♠ KQJ103 N ♠ A7

♥ K10875 W E ♥ 94 Table B

♦ 82 S ♦ 1074 West North East South

♣ 4 ♣ AK9753 - - - pass

♠ 954 pass 1♦ (1) 2♣ 2♦ (4)

♥ Q632 2♥ (5) 3♦ (6) pass pass

♦ J963 dbl (7) pass pass (8) pass

♣ Q2

Table A: (1) A clear strong 1NT opener.

(2) Showing Both majors.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand D in this week’s quiz? With a 6-card club suit pass seems very reasonable to me. But East should alert the 2♣ bid if it had been agreed.

Table B: (1) This pair play a weak NoTrump. I would open 1♣ but that’s just my style.

(4) Playing Acol South knows that North is unlikely to have 4 ♥’s.

(5) This is difficult for West; a responsive double may be best but 2♠ is certainly better than this 2♥ bid chosen.

(6) North felt that 15 points needed another bid, but I would need another ♦.

(7) West has got himself into a spot now and cannot show his ♠’s safely. So he made a nebulous double.

(8) After some thought, East took the winning action of passing.

And what happened? The director was called at the end of play at Table A with 2♣ making +1. The 2♣ bid had not been alerted and North pointed out that they can make 2♦. However, East was an inexperienced player and E-W had not agreed that 2♣ showed the majors, and even if the bid had been alerted I cannot see how N-S can reach 2♦ (nobody in the room was allowed to play in 2♦). I think East’s pass of 2♣ is fine even if he knew that 2♣ showed the majors and I cannot see that South can bid anything. I let the result stand.

At Table B 3♦* went -1 for a perhaps undeserved top to E-W.

A Director call – part 2 Board 14 from Friday 7^th

This one was a bit mor tricky, involving the all too frequent problem of hesitation.

Dealer: ♠ 95 West North East(F) South

East ♥ KJ5 - - 1♦ 1♠

Love all ♦ 4 2♥ (1) 3♣ 4♥ (2) 5♣

♣ AJ86543 dbl (3) pass 5♦ (4) pass

5♥ all pass

♠ J764 N ♠ A3

♥ 1098432 W E ♥ AQ76

♦ A10 S ♦ QJ97653

♣ K ♣ -

♠ KQ1082

♥ -

♦ K82

♣ Q10972

(1) This bid promises 5+ ♥’s, but the hand is not strong enough in my opinion. I would make a negative double.

(2) A 4♣ splinter would solve all of the subsequent problems.

(3) Apparently after considerable thought. Long pause or not, this is a TERRIBLE bid. Pass (forcing) or 5♥ are the sensible options. Of course if East had splintered with 4♣ at (2) then West would know that N-S had 11+ ♣'s between then and would obviously not dream of doubling.

(4) This is where the controversy happened. What did you bid with this East hand F in this week’s quiz? Partner has made a long pause before doubling, thus passing the unauthorized information that his double was dubious. But, East knows that partner has a good hand (or should have because of his two-level response) with at least 5 ♥’s. With a ♣ void I too would pull the double. Either 5♦ or 5♥ are reasonable.

And what happened? South was unhappy with my decision to let the bids stand. He has my sympathies, apart from the long pause West made an appalling bid (double with a singleton trump). But West’s very poor bidding is not the issue here, the issue is if East should pull the double. I think he should, whether 75% of East’s peers would I don’t know.

Anyway, 5♥ went -1 for a good score to N-S. I guess that West’s declarer play is as bad as his bidding as three players made 5♥ as Deep Finesse says you should.

The bottom line:

- Try not to take a long time before bidding. In particular, problems are caused by a long pause followed by a pass or a double.

- The partner of the long pauser must not take advantage of the unauthorized information, and should only bid if it is very clear (75% of his peers would do the same).

- This one is not totally obvious to me, but I would bid. As it turned out the innocent side got a good score anyway.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: lNT. The ♥10,9 and the two other tens mean that this hand is worth upgrading to a strong NoTrump.

Hand B: (a) 1NT maybe. The hand is fairly balanced and has stops in both doubletons. But it is a bit strong (good shape and two tens) and so 1♠ to be followed by a jump in NoTrumps is probably best.

(b) 2NT, or maybe 3♦. The problem here is that 3♦ is game forcing and so an invitational 2NT looks best. 2♦ is far too feeble for me and does not show any extras (see answer to sequence H below).

(c) 2NT or 3♣. The hand has improved with partner showing tolerance for ♠’s and you must surely make a (somewhat belated) try for game now.

Hand C: 2♣. It’s horrible but the only reasonable bid unless you play inverted minors. Playing inverted minors you bid 2♦ (forcing) and partner will tell you if he has a ♥ stop – what a great system!

Hand D: Pass. You have a great 6-card ♣ suit which may or may not play better than a 5-2 major suit fit, but the problem is that unless partner promises 5-5 or if you play Multi Landy, you may well end up in a 4-2 fit. Playing Multi Landy you can bid 2♦ to ensure playing in a 5-2 fit, but pass is still reasonable.

Hand E: 1♥. This hand is far too good for a weak two, especially when non-vul. It conforms with the rule of 20 and 1♥ is clear to me. If you do choose 2♥, then DO NOT bid again ‘to show a good 2♥ opener’.

Hand F: 5♥ (or 5♦). To me it seems clear to pull partner’s double. These ♦’s will mean nothing if defending and this hand may well have only one defensive trick. 5♥ looks odds-on to make.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

G 1♠ pass 3♠ 3NT 3NT is natural, to play. Usually with a ♠ stop and a long running minor.

H 1♠ pass 1NT 2♣ 2♦ shows no more than a minimum two-suited hand.

2♦ This is confirmed in Eric Crowhurst’s “Acol in competition”

on page 124: ‘If South had remained silent you would have bid 2♦ without the slightest qualm. There is therefore no reason not to make your natural rebid in this situation’ (the hand in the book was a 5-2-4-2 shape 13 count).

J 1♦ pass 1♥ pass 3NT is fast arrival and expresses a desire to play there and

1♠ pass 2♣ pass not look for a ♥ fit or a slam.

3NT

K 1NT pass 2♥ pass 4NT is quantitive, inviting 6NT or 6♠. If you want to ask for

2♠ pass 4NT aces then 4♣ is the bid (I like to play it as keycard for ♠’s)