Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 316

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Mon 24^th N-S 1^st Tomas & Guttorm 61% 2^nd Kathleen & Ivy 58%

E-W 1^st Alan & Arnt 63% 2^nd Agne & Britta 54%

Wed 26^th N-S 1^st Hans & Jean W 60% 2^nd Bob P & Nick 58%

E-W 1^st Royd & Lars G 62% 2^nd Arnt & Terje 60%

Fri 28^th N-S 1^st Hans & Sally = Bengt M & Ole 57%

E-W 1^st Asmuno & Knut 66% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 62%

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A it is unfavourable vulnerability. RHO opens 1♦,

what do you do?

♠ 52 ♠ KJ5432

♥ QJ985 ♥ AQ10 With Hand B it’s love all. You open 1♠ and LHO overcalls 2♣,

♦ 105 ♦ QJ4 this is passed to you, what do you do?

♣ A954 ♣ 8

Hand C Hand D With Hand C RHO opens 1♣, what do you bid?

♠ KJ985 ♠ AQJ9 With Hand D it’s love all. Partner opens 1♦ and RHO doubles

♥ Q6 ♥ Q42 (a) What do you bid?

♦ Q10 ♦ 82 (b) Suppose you redouble and this is passed round to RHO

♣ KJ43 ♣ 10652 who bids 1♥, what do you do now?

Hand E Hand F With Hand E it’s love all. Partner opens 1♠ and RHO overcalls

2♣, what do you bid?

♠ A8 ♠ KJ10987

♥ J92 ♥ 6

♦ A72 ♦ K10752 With Hand F it’s favourable vulnerability, what do you

♣ KQ652 ♣ K open as dealer?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♦ dbl redbl pass What is the 1NT bid?

pass 1♥ 1NT

The Club Championships

Here are the latest standings in the club competitions.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1877.8 Hans Vikman 1843.9 Dave Cutler 1841.8 Sally Watson 1836.8 Lewis Berg 1825.1 Janne Roos 1809.9 Lars Gustafsson 1803.9 Bob Pelletier 1783.3 Ivy Schlageter 1727.5 Jan v Koss	672.7 Hans Vikman 663.6 Sally Watson 661.8 Dave Cutler 661.1 Jeremy Watson 653.4 Lewis Berg 651.0 Lars Gustafsson 642.9 Janne Roos 642.7 Ivy Schlageter 640.6 Derek & Gerard 639.0 Tomas Wikman	347.2 Hans Vikman 342.3 Dave Cutler 341.1 Jeremy Watson 341.1 Sally Watson 339.7 Lars Gustafsson 335.8 Lewis Berg  335.3 Ivy Schlageter 329.9 Derek & Gerard 327.4 Tomas Wikman 326.2 Bob Pelletier

A nice hand for Muiderberg Board 21 from Friday 28^th

E-W were a first time partnership, but they just had time to agree to play Multi 2♦ and that a 2♥/♠ opening showed a weak hand with 5 cards in the major and a 4-5 card minor. It came up on the first set of boards of the session!

Dealer: ♠ QJ10963 West North East South

North ♥ K9 - pass (1) 2♥ (2) pass

N-S vul ♦ 763 4♥ (3) all pass

♣ 107

(1) With great intermediates in the ♠ suit,

♠ A84 N ♠ 5 2♠ is a reasonable option despite the adverse

♥ 1073 W E ♥ QJ852 vulnerability; but an outside singleton would

♦ A10 S ♦ K95 make it a better opening.

♣ AJ653 ♣ Q984 (2) Muiderberg, weak with 5 ♥’s and a minor.

♠ K72 (3) With 3-card support and aces in all of the

♥ A64 other suits this is worth a shot at for game. 2NT

♦ QJ842 (asking for the 2^nd suit and strength) may be

♣ K2 better but the pair had not discussed this. 3♦ is

an invitational ♥ raise but this was not agreed.

And what happened? 4♥ made +1 for a good score to E-W. It’s only a combined 21 points and the game was missed at most tables.

The bottom lines: -

- If you play the Multi 2♦, then Muiderberg is probably the best choice for the 2♥/♠ openings. But you have to be cautious – because the major is only 5-cards you are quite likely to get doubled for penalties. If vulnerable it’s best to be 5-5, I would not open this East hand if vulnerable against decent opposition.

- Muiderberg is described on the website:

Conventions > Section 1 > Muiderberg.

Double 3NT for a lead? Board 6 from Monday 24^th

Dealer: ♠ A973 Table A

East ♥ K73 West(A) North East South

E-W vul ♦ 76 - - pass 1♦

♣ KQ76 1♥ (1) dbl (2) pass 2♦

pass 3NT all pass

♠ 52 N ♠ QJ1086

♥ QJ985 W E ♥ A10 Table B

♦ 105 S ♦ 9832 West(A) North East South

♣ A954 ♣ 102 - - pass 1♦

♠ K4      pass (1) 1♠ (2) pass 1NT

♥ 642 pass 2NT pass 3NT

♦ AKQJ4 pass pass dbl (3) all pass

♣ J83

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? In my opinion this is fine for a 1-level overcall even at this vulnerability, it has reasonable shape, good intermediates in the 5-card suit, with all of the points in the long suits. A decent 7-8 points is good enough for a 1-level overcall.

(2) Negative, showing 4 ♠’s.

Table B: (1) This West decided not to overcall, no problem - it’s a matter of style.

(3) Now this is the interesting bid. N-S have bid 3NT in an uncontested auction with presumably no extra values, and East has a good ♠ suit sitting over dummy. Double here demands that partner leads dummy’s first bid suit.

And what happened? East was a bit unlucky here. The natural ♥ lead should set the contract by one trick. But with a ♠ lead declarer has two stops and so time to set up the ♣’s and the doubled contract at Table B made for 550 and a top.

The bottom lines: -

- If the opponents freely bid to 3NT in an uncontested auction, then a double by the opponent not on lead asks that partner leads dummy’s first bid suit.

- A decent 7-8 points is good enough for an overcall in some people’s (and my) style.

- Had West overcalled 1♥ at Table B then East, holding ♥A10, would be quite happy with the expected ♥ lead.

- Incidentally, declarer at Table B was later proud of the fact that he ducked the ♠ trick one, in fact this was an error as ♥’s is the danger suit and a ♥ switch would have set the contract by two tricks!

Penalties Galore! Board 12 from Monday 24^th

Dealer: ♠ KJ985 Table A

West ♥ Q6 West North East South

N-S vul ♦ Q10 2♣ (1) pass 2♠ pass

♣ KJ43 2NT pass 3♦ pass

4♦ (2) pass 4NT (3) pass

♠ 2 N ♠ A10643 5♣ (4) pass 6♦ all pass

♥ AJ4 W E ♥ K2

♦ A843 S ♦ KJ765 Table B

♣ A10865 ♣ 9 West North(C) East South

♠ Q7 1♣ dbl (5) 1♦ (6) 1♥ (7)

♥ 1098753 3♦ (8) 3♠ (9) dbl 4♥ (10)

♦ 92 dbl all pass

♣ Q72

Table D Table C

West North(C) East South West North(C) East South

1♣ 1♠ (5) 2♦ 2♠ (12) 1♣ 1♠ (5) 2♦ pass

3♦ 3♠ (13) dbl all pass 3♦ 3♠ (11) dbl all pass

Table A: We start off with what should be the top score – it’s a Precision Club auction to the excellent 6♦ slam.

(1) 11-15 and 5+ ♣’s playing Precision.

(2) A nice bid; resisting the temptation to bid 3NT and inviting a ♦ slam.

(3) RKCB

(4) 3 (or 0) keycards.

Table B: (5) What did you bid with this North hand C in this week’s quiz? I understand that this North doubled ‘to show an opening hand’. This losing philosophy went out of fashion 50 years ago and most North’s found the obvious 1♠ overcall.

(6) East has the values for a redouble, but with weak ♥’s he chose to bid 1♦. This bid at the one-level after a double is forcing.

(7) With 6 ♥’s I guess a free bid is OK here.

(8) Showing a good hand with ♦ support.

(9) This is simply ludicrous – it shows a great hand with great ♠’s.

(10) South decided to correct to his 6-carder, but they are going for a number whatever because of North’s silly double and crazy 3♠ bid.

Table C: (5) Finally somebody gets the answer to question C right…

(11) … but then goes completely wrong by rebidding a ropey 5-card suit, vulnerable, at the three level!

Table D: (5) Again somebody gets the answer to question C right…

(12) … but is unfortunately partnered by somebody who thinks that Qx is support.

(13) … and I see no reason for North to bid further. Obey THE LAW – I cannot see a 6^th ♠ in the North hand.

And what happened? Four out of nine N-S’s gave away penalties of 1100+, so N-S at Table A got just an average for their great bidding.

The bottom lines: -

- There’s lots of things to say about N-S bidding at tables B®D: Look at the vulnerability, don’t double with a 5-card major, don’t bid your hand twice, obey the Law etc. etc…

No Penalties Galore! Board 17 from Monday 24^th

This time every East offered a generous penalty to N-S, but nobody accepted it!

Dealer: ♠ KJ5432 Table A

North ♥ AQ10 West North East South(E)

Love all ♦ QJ4 - 1♠ 2♣ dbl (1)

♣ 8 pass 2♠ pass 4♠

all pass

♠ 97 N ♠ Q106

♥ 76543 W E ♥ K8 Table B

♦ 10963 S ♦ K85 West North(B) East South(E)

♣ 104 ♣ AJ973 - 1♠ 2♣ pass (1)

♠ A8 pass 2♠ (2) pass 3NT

♥ J92 all pass

♦ A72

♣ KQ652

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? Double was a popular choice, but it is totally wrong if you play Negative Double (as a number of the doublers say they do).

Table B: (1) This is the correct answer to question E when playing Negative Doubles. You should pass and then pass partner’s ‘automatic’ re-opening double.

(2) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? There are a few experts around who advocate re-bidding a 6-card major, but the majority (and I) say that they are wrong. To me, double is automatic here as partner probably has a penalty hand. If vulnerable against not then 2♠ may be acceptable.

And what happened? NOBODY managed to get the 500 (a top) on offer for 2♣*-3. Everybody played in 3NT or 4♠ scoring anything between 420 and 460.

The bottom lines: -

- If you play negative doubles then remember the ‘penalty’ pass and ‘automatic’ re-opening double.

- There are a few (very few) situations when you should not make the re-opening double (this North hand is not one of them). The are described on the website:

Conventions > Section 1 > Negative Doubles

Does a 3♠ opening promise 7 ♠’s? Board 18 from Wednesday 24^th

Last week we had a Dave article in which he quoted a hand where it was acceptable to open just 2♠ when holding a 7-card suit (poor suit, poor shape and vulnerable). This week we have an example of the complete opposite (good suit, good shape, favourable vulnerability).

Dealer: ♠ AQ32 Table A

East ♥ J105 West North East(F) South

N-S ♦ J - - 1♠ (1) dbl

♣ A9843 2♠ 3♣ (2) 3♠ (3) pass (4)

pass dbl all pass

♠ 654 N ♠ KJ10987

♥ AQ743 W E ♥ 6 Table B

♦ 43 S ♦ K10752 West North East(F) South

♣ J105 ♣ K - - 3♠ (1) dbl

♠ - pass 3NT all pass

♥ K982

♦ AQ986

♣ Q762

Table A: (1) What did you open with this East hand F in this week’s quiz? It has two great suits and is 21 (but the ♣K is miserable) for the rule of 20 and so 1♠ is quite acceptable. 2♠ is an alternative but it’s too strong for my style at this vulnerability.

(2) 3NT is an alternative.

(3) This is now a competitive auction and the simple version of The LAW applies, so with an extra trump East correctly competes to the nine-trick level.

Table B: (1) This was my bid at the table in answer to question F. This ♠ suit is very robust and with a ♥ singleton I prefer 3♠ to 2♠ or 1♠ - make it difficult for the opponent’s to find a ♥ fit which they probably have (but not in this case!). A 3♠ opening does not always guarantee exactly 7 trumps, it may be a good 6 or a poor 8.

And what happened? At table B East led a ♠ and North won with the ♠Q. He played the ♣A dropping the singleton ♣K and ran the ♦J. Things were looking good for North; East has shown up with three kings (♠K, ♣K and presumably the ♦K) and so probably does not have an entry. West won the third round of ♣’s and led a ♠. North had no reason to believe that there was anything devious afoot and so rose with the ♠A and thus went down when West turned up with an unexpected 3^rd ♠ after winning a ♥. Unlucky! At IMPs North can afford to duck the 2^nd round of ♠’s but at pairs it is surely correct to assume that East has 7 ♠’s and go for the overtrick. If ♠’s were indeed 7-2 as indicated by the bidding then North would have lost just the ♣J and the ♥A,Q and makes 10 tricks comfortably with tricks to spare.

At most other tables East opened 1♠ or 2♠ and played in 3♠ or 4♠, usually doubled, and all going down.

The bottom lines: -

- A 3-level pre-empt is usually 7 cards, but not always.

- Upgrade a hand for good intermediates (in long suits) and for good shape.

Redouble is out for blood Board 24 from Wednesday 24^th

When partner opens and RHO doubles, then redouble generally shows no fit for partner and is usually looking for a penalty. West at Table B on this deal got it wrong on two counts.

Dealer: ♠ K104 Table A

West ♥ 863 West North East South

Love all ♦ 1063 pass pass 1♦ pass (1)

♣ QJ87 1♠ pass 2♠ dbl (2)

3♠ (3) all pass

♠ AQJ9 N ♠ 8632

♥ Q42 W E ♥ AK7 Table B

♦ 82 S ♦ KQ754 West(D) North East South

♣ 10652 ♣ 9 pass pass 1♦ dbl (1)

♠ 75 redbl (4) pass pass 1♥

♥ J1095 1NT (5) all pass

♦ AJ9

♣ AK43

Table A: (1) This is South’s best bid, with a doubleton ♠ and a flattish hand pass is clear.

(2) Now double is very reasonable – it shows the rounded suits.

(3) This is reasonable, with 7 of the 9 points in the suit.

Table B: (1) This is not my style and pass is very clear to me. However, this South is a fully paid-up member of the ‘double to show an opening hand’ brigade and it just happened to work with this West.

(4) What did you bid with this West hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? Redouble here usually implies a mis-fit with 9+ points and a desire to penalize the opponents. With nearly all of the points in the ♠ suit I think that 1♠ is clear. Do you really want to double ♥’s or ♣’s for penalties?

(5) What did you bid with this West hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? This bid just shows the futility of the previous bid. ♥Qxx is a miserable ‘stop’ and the ♠ suit is lost forever. I would never be in this spot (I would have bid 1♠ last go) but having redoubled then a 1NT bid is now total nonsense – the bid ‘does not exist’. You either have to accept that you got it wrong last go and bid 1♠, or else go through with the original concept and make a (forcing) pass.

And what happened? 1NT by West went -1 for the only + score in the N-S column (so a total, total bottom to E-W). Virtually everybody else played in a ♠ contract by E-W scoring anything from 470 or 420 to 110. The bottom lines: -

- A redouble shows the balance of power and is generally looking for a penalty.

- Sequence G. i.e. 1♦ dbl redbl pass pass 1♥ 1NT simply has no sensible meaning.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s input involving the bidding.

North South You are South, you open 2♣ and end up as declarer

♠ 103 ♠ AKQJ96 in 6♠. Are you happy with this contract or would you

♥ J876 ♥ K2 rather be in something else (if so, what)?

♦ AJ8 ♦ 3

♣ Q1085 ♣ AKJ9

Dave’s Column answer Board 19 from Wednesday 26^th

Dealer: ♠ 103 West North East South

South ♥ J876 - - - 2♣ (1)

E-W vul ♦ AJ8 pass 2♦ (2) dbl 2♠ (3)

♣ Q1085 pass 2NT pass 3♠ (4)

pass 4♦ (5) pass 4NT

♠ 742 N ♠ 85 pass 5♦ pass 6♠

♥ AQ3 W E ♥ 10954 all pass

♦ 974 S ♦ KQ10652

♣ 7432 ♣ 6 (1) Strong, artificial, forcing

♠ AKQJ96 (2) waiting

♥ K2 (3) game forcing

♦ 3 (4) spot the alternative bid!

♣ AKJ9 (5) cue bid

The best contract is not 6♠, it is 6♣ by South. N-S have eight ♠’s and eight ♣’s but because the ♣’s are more evenly divided there is usually and extra trick playing in that suit.

On this hand the extra trick comes from ruffing a ♦ in the South hand, followed by drawing trumps and running the ♠’s.

Getting to 6♣ on this deal is difficult, but not impossible. If South bids 3♣ at (3) instead of 3♠, North will raise and off you go. Note that if North does not like ♣’s then South can always revert to ♠’s.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? All but two played in 4♠, with one pair in 5♠. All made 11 tricks but the top score was for the pair who bid 3NT making +2. Nobody mentioned the ♣’s.

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♥ after North had opened 1NT.

♠ A654 ♠ K72 South leads a ♦, plan the play.

♥ J932 ♥ KQ10654

♦ A ♦ 93

♣ KJ43 ♣ 105

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 21 from Wednesday 26^th

Dealer: ♠ J93 West North East South

North ♥ A8 - 1NT 2♥ (1) pass

N-S vul ♦ KJ864 4♥ all pass

♣ AQ8

(1) playing natural methods

♠ A654 N ♠ K72

♥ J932 W E ♥ KQ10654

♦ A S ♦ 93

♣ KJ43 ♣ 105

♠ Q108

♥ 7

♦ Q10752 South leads a ♦, plan the play.

♣ 9762

Declarer won the ♦A and played a trump. North won and played a ♠. Declarer won and pulled the last trump. Declarer then led the ♣10 to North’s ♣Q. North subsequently won the next ♣ and cashed a ♠ for one down. What did declarer do wrong?

The answer is that declarer must start with ♣’s at trick two, leading low from dummy. He then has time to set up a ♣ for a ♠ discard before the defenders can win a ♠ trick.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♥=, 4♥-1 three times, 2♥+2 twice, 3♥= and 3♦ by North =.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♥. I guess this is fairly close vulnerable (pass being the alternative), but the suit is decent and I see no reason not to bid it.

Hand B: Double, ‘automatic’.

Hand C: 1♠, totally obvious I know, but one player did give 1700 away when he doubled and subsequently bid 3♠.

Hand D: (a) 1♠, you could redouble as you have 9+ points and shortage in partner’s suit, but the problem is that you can only really penalize one suit. Of course redouble will work out well if the opponents bid spades (you double) but the odds are that they will bid ♥’s…

(b) … and here we see the problem with the previous redouble. Do you really want to double 1♥ for penalties? Do you want to pass and have partner maybe double 1♥ for penalties? I guess that the sensible bid is to accept that you made a hash of it last go and bid 1♠? 1NT is terrible – you may (did!) miss a 4-4 ♠ fit.

Hand E: pass, and pass partner’s re-opening double.

Hand F: 1♠ or 3♠. This hand, with a great ♠ suit and a 2^nd suit, really is too strong for 2♠ at this vulnerability (2♠ could be a lot, lot weaker). Since the ♠’s are so robust I prefer 3♠. I prefer this to 1♠ as it’s a distributional hand and the opponent’s may have ♥’s.

Bidding Sequence Answers

G 1♦ dbl redbl pass This 1NT bid has no sensible meaning and is inconsistent

pass 1♥ 1NT with the previous double which is generally looking for penalties.