Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 318

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 14^th Dec 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

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Mon 8^th N-S 1^st Jean W & Hans 73% 2^nd Arnt & Terje 58%

E-W 1^st Bob S & Dave 58% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 57%

Wed 10^th N-S 1^st Bengt & Tom 66% 2^nd Guttorm & Olaf 64%

E-W 1^st Arnt & Johan 61% 2^nd Lars G & Lennart 54%

Fri 12^th N-S 1^st Janne & Lard B 61% 2^nd Lewis & Paul Q 61%

E-W 1^st Arnt & Bob P 60% 2^nd Dave & Royd 55%

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

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

♠ AK ♠ 102 With Hand B everybody is vulnerable. Partner opens 1♠ and

♥ A62 ♥ 73 RHO overcalls 2♥, what do you do?

♦ A1052 ♦ A9752

♣ 5432 ♣ AKQ5

Hand C Hand D With Hands C and D everybody is vulnerable. LHO opens 1♣

and partner overcalls 1♥ and RHO passes, up to you: -

♠ 10654 ♠ 10654

♥ Q8653 ♥ Q8653 What do you bid with Hand C?

♦ K7 ♦ A7

♣ 84 ♣ K4 What do you bid with Hand D?

Hand E Hand F With Hand E RHO opens 1♥, what do you bid?

♠ AQJ109 ♠ Q7 With Hand F partner opens 1♥ and you bid 2♣. Then …

♥ J2 ♥ AJ2 (a) partner then bids 3NT, what do you bid?

♦ AK ♦ J8 (b) partner then bids 2♠, what do you bid?

♣ AQJ10 ♣ AQJ1075

Hand G Hand H What do you open with Hand G?

♠ 82 ♠ AQ

♥ AK876542 ♥ AK876542

♦ 82 ♦ 82

♣ 6 ♣ 6 What do you open with Hand H?

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	1902.7 Hans Vikman 1846.0 Sally Watson 1844.5 Dave Cutler 1840.5 Lewis Berg 1829.9 Janne Roos 1812.1 Lars Gustafsson 1806.6 Bob Pelletier 1790.3 Ivy Schlageter 1772.5 Derek & Gerard 1727.5 Jan v Koss	683.5 Hans Vikman 663.6 Sally Watson 661.8 Dave Cutler 661.1 Jeremy Watson 653.4 Lewis Berg 651.0 Lars Gustafsson 643.6 Ivy Schlageter 642.9 Janne Roos 640.6 Derek & Gerard 639.0 Tomas Wikman	352.6 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

Christmas Day Party

see new-sheet 319

Editorial

1) We do have a club dress code, in particular vest-type T-shirts or string ones are not allowed. If somebody comes along unsuitably attired I politely ask then to wear a sleeved T-Shirt next time. That has always been no problem but the following terse conversation took place on Wednesday:

Me: Could you please wear a T-shirt with sleeves next time you come.

Visitor: If you don’t like the way I dress then I won’t come again.

Me: OK.

Ours is a civilized (most of the time) bridge club and not a gymnasium.

2) Will players please take their cups/glasses/bottles with them when they move, and in particular do no put them on the floor or the side-tables where they can be easily broken.

When to devalue for a 1NT opener Board 8 from Monday 8^th

Most balanced hands with 15 points should be opened 1NT, but there are exceptions for some hands that need to be devalued. 4333 type hands should deduct a point. Also, AK, KQ and AQ doubletons are bad holdings – points belong in long suits. The following deal from Monday demonstrates this latter point extremely well.

Dealer: ♠ 10632 Table A

South ♥ 874 West North East South(A)

E-W vul ♦ KJ84 - - - 1NT (1)

♣ AQ pass 2♣ pass 2♦

pass 3NT (2) all pass

♠ 87 N ♠ QJ954

♥ Q1093 W E ♥ KJ5 Table B

♦ 763 S ♦ Q9 West North East South(A)

♣ 10986 ♣ KJ7 pass pass pass 1♦ (1)

♠ AK pass 1♠ pass 1NT (3)

♥ A62 pass 2♦ (4) all pass

♦ A1052

♣ 5432

Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? 6 out of 8 opened the ‘obvious’ 1NT but that’s not my answer.

(2) The ♣AQ are bad, but the ♠10 makes this just about worth a raise to game.

Table B: (1) Two players got the answer to question A right, 1♦. This hand is not worth 1NT – the AK doubleton is bad and the fact that eight(!) cards are no higher that a six makes it terrible. The redeeming features of three aces and a ten are not enough to offset the very bad features. I am fully aware that 95% of ‘experts’ may well open 1NT and then gracefully accept the -50 or -100. My abilities go beyond adding up to 15. I will open 1♦ and will end up in 1NT or 2♦ and collect +90 or +110.

(3) 12-14, which is what this hand is worth.

(4) If East’s opening promises 4+ ♦’s (as when playing a short ♣) then 2♦ is best here, playing better minor pass is best.

And what happened? 3NT (as at table A) was bid 5 times; -2 four times and -1 once. One player elected to bid only 2NT at (2) and scored well for going only one down (perhaps he knew that partner opens 1NT on poor hands like this South one? Or else he recognized that ♣AQ were poor cards). The two players who sensibly opened 1♦ played in 1NT= and 2♦+1 for the two top scores.

N-S both have balanced hands with 25 combined points, so why is 3NT going two down? Because of the terrible South hand and the poor ♣AQ doubleton in the North hand.

The bottom lines: -

- AK and AQ doubletons are poor holdings – it’s a waste of ‘7 or 6 points’; points belong in long suits. And these holdings are especially bad in NoTrumps, which is likely to be the final strain when opener is 2344 shape with just 5 cards in the majors.

- Also downgrade hands with no intermediates.

Puppet Stayman Anyone? Board 24 from Monday 8^th

Most players reached 6♠ on this deal.

Dealer: ♠ AK1082 Table A

West ♥ K6 West North East South

Love all ♦ J85 pass 2NT (1) pass 3♣ (2)

♣ AKQ pass 3♠ pass 5♠ (3)

pass pass (4) pass

♠ J64 N ♠ 9

♥ J108 W E ♥ 97542

♦ Q743 S ♦ A6 Puppet Stayman Auction

♣ J76 ♣ 108542 West North East South

♠ Q753 pass 2NT (1) pass 3♣ (2)

♥ AQ3 pass 3♠ (5) pass 6♠ (6)

♦ K1092 all pass

♣ 93

Table A: (1) This must be the best opening bid. It is well established that a 2NT opening may well contain a 5-card major.

(2) This Pair play normal Stayman over 2NT.

(3) South only knows of a 4-4 ♠ fit and so decided to bid an invitational 5♠.

(4) North has only 20 points, but with a 5-card ♠ suit I think that he should accept the slam invitation.

Puppet: (2) Puppet Stayman asks for both 4-card and 5-card majors over 2NT…

(5) … and this response guarantees a 5-card ♠ suit…

(6) … and knowing that partner has 5 ♠’s makes it easy for South to take the pressure off partner and bid the slam.

And what happened? Everybody made 12 tricks but two pairs did not bid the slam

The bottom lines: -

- Puppet Stayman is used to locate both 4-4 and 5-3 major suit fits. I don’t like it over 1NT as you need at least invitational values, but it’s great over a 2NT (or equivalent) opening.

- It’s described on the website: Conventions > Section 1 > Puppet Stayman.

The Negative Double Board 23 from Monday 8^th

I believe that East at table A got confused over the ‘automatic’ re-opening double.

Dealer: ♠ J763 Table A

South ♥ AK1054 West North East(B) South

Both vul ♦ KJ3 - - - pass

♣ 4 1♠ 2♥ pass (1) pass (2)

dbl (3) pass pass (4) pass

♠ AK854 N ♠ 102

♥ Q8 W E ♥ 73 Table B

♦ Q10 S ♦ A9752 West North East(B) South

♣ J986 ♣ AKQ5 - - - pass

♠ Q9 1♠ 2♥ dbl (1) pass

♥ J962 3♣ pass 3♥ (5) pass

♦ 864 3♠ (6) pass 4♠ (7) all pass

♣ 10732

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? With 13 points this pass is terrible; 3♦ or a negative double are the sensible options.

(2) A ♥ raise looks right to me.

(3) Automatic

(4) I’m not sure if East mis-understood the re-opening double or if he actually thought that defending 2♥ doubled was the best option with this hand.

Table B: (1) This is a very reasonable answer to question B, a negative double promising values in the minors. The alternative of 3♦ takes up too much bidding space in my view.

(5) Asking for a ♥ stop.

(6) This denies a ♥ stop.

(7) East opted for the 5-2 ♠ fit in preference to 5♣.

And what happened? Despite their 25 points, the lack of a decent fit meant that 4♠ went down, as did 3NT bid at two tables. Two East’s successfully stopped in a partscore and 2♥* made exactly for the N-S top.

The bottom lines: -

- Do not (effectively) double a two-level contract with two small trumps just because you know your side has the balance of the points.

The Unassuming Cue bid Board 20 from Monday 8^th

Dealer: ♠ 83 Table A

West ♥ AJ1094 West North East South(D)

Both vul ♦ K105 1♣ (1) 1♥ pass 3♥ (2)

♣ AJ2 pass 4♥ (3) all pass

♠ KQJ9 N ♠ A72 Table B

♥ K W E ♥ 72 West North East South(D)

♦ 32 S ♦ QJ9864 1♣ 1♥ pass 3♣ (1)

♣ Q108763 ♣ 95 pass 4♥ (3) all pass

♠ 10654

♥ Q8653

♦ A7

♣ K4

Table A: (1) The ♦K singleton is a poor card, but the hand is 21 for the rule of 20 and with the rest of the points in the long suits a 1♣ opener is fine. Note also that the hand has a good rebid (1♠ over a red suit and 2♣ over 1NT).

(2) What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? I play 3♥ here as a pre-emptive raise and this hand is far too good. I wonder what this South would have bid with Hand C?

(3) But this N-S pair play the 3♥ bid as invitational and so North accepted.

Table B: (1) This pair sensibly play that any ♥ raise is pre-emptive. 2♣, an unassuming cue bid, would show a sound raise to 3♥ with three card support and this jump unassuming cue bid shows a sound raise to 3♥ with 4 (or in this case 5) card trump support.

(4) Knowing of a good hand with at least 4 trumps opposite, North has an easy accept.

And what happened? All but two N-S pairs played in 4♥ making 11 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- Opposite an overcall, it’s best to play that a cue bid of the opponent’s suit shows a good raise and any direct raise is pre-emptive.

- The Unassuming cue bid is described on the website:

Conventions > Section 1 > Unassuming Cue Bid.

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

North South You are North, declarer in 4♠ after West had opened 1♥.

♠ AQJ109 ♠ 82 East leads the ♥3, West wins with the ♥Q and cashes the ♥A

♥ J2 ♥ 964 followed by the ♥K. You ruff and East follows. Plan the play.

♦ AK ♦ Q652

♣ AQJ10 ♣ K653

Dave’s Column answer Board 24 from Wednesday 10^th

Dealer: ♠ AQJ109 West North(E) East South

West ♥ J2 1♥ dbl (1) pass 2♦ (2)

Love all ♦ AK pass 2♥ (3) pass 3♣

♣ AQJ10 pass 3♠ pass 4♠

all pass

♠ K743 N ♠ 65

♥ AKQ107 W E ♥ 853 (1) What did you bid with this North hand E in

♦ J108 S ♦ 9743 this week’s quiz? The hand is too strong for

♣ 8 ♣ 9742 a simple overcall and so double first and then

♠ 82 bid on. An alternative is to bid 2♥, a Michaels

♥ 964 Cue Bid to show ♠’s and a minor and then

♦ Q652 bid again to show a strong hand.

♣ K653 (2) 2♦ is better than 2♣ here, the reason being

that if partner bids again you can then bid ♣’s.

(3) This cue bid, having doubled, shows a very strong hand.

East leads the ♥3, West winning with the ♥Q and cashing the ♥A followed by the ♥K. You ruff and East follows. Plan the play.

West is marked with the ♠K for his opening bid, so there is a temptation to cross to the ♣K and take the trump finesse. However, that line fails here because when West wins the 3^rd round of trumps with his ♠K, he forces you again with another ♥, establishing his long suit while he has the outstanding trump as an entry.

Instead, you must utilize the power of dummy’s ♠8. At trick four, lead the ♠Q from hand.

If West takes the trick and tries another ♥, you can ruff it in dummy, cross to hand with a ♦, draw trumps and claim. If West ducks the ♠Q, cross to dummy with a ♣, finesse the ♠Q, cash the ♠A and keep leading winners until West ruffs with his remaining ♠K, you still have a low ♠ to get back in with.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♠=, 4♠*-1, 4♠-2, 6♠-3 and lots of other spurious results.

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

West East West North East South

♠ 1075 ♠ AJ964 - - 1♠ 2♥

♥ Q1063 ♥ 8 2♠ pass 3♣ pass

♦ Q1075 ♦ KJ9 4♠ dbl all pass

♣ KQ ♣ A1074

You are East, declarer in 4♠. South leads the ♥A and switches to the ♦6. North wins the ♦A and returns his ♥ which you ruff. You lead a ♣ to dummy and then the ♠5 from dummy. North plays low, what should you do?

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 6 from Wednesday 10^th

Dealer: ♠ KQ832 West North East South

East ♥ 74 - - 1♠ 2♥

E-W vul ♦ A842 2♠ pass 3♣ pass

♣ 65 4♠ dbl all pass

♠ 1075 N ♠ AJ964 This is the bidding from Dave’s book, and also

♥ Q1063 W E ♥ 8 the bidding at my table

♦ Q1075 S ♦ KJ9

♣ KQ ♣ A1074 South leads the ♥A and switches to the ♦6. North

♠ - wins the ♦A and returns his ♥ which East ruffs.

♥ AKJ952 declarer leads a ♣ to dummy and leads the ♠5.

♦ 63 North plays low, what should East do?

♣ J9432

North’s double was dangerous as it gave declarer a lot of information. When this was played by an expert he became alert when North doubled. Having crossed to dummy and led the ♠5 North played low and declarer finessed the ♠6! Had North split his honours it would not have changed the outcome. Declarer then cashed 3 ♦’s and dummy’s ♣K, reducing North to just his 4 trumps.

♠ KQ83 Completing the trump coup, declarer led

♥ - a ♥ from dummy and over-ruffed north’s

♦ - ♠Q with the ♠A. Finally East led the ♣A

♣ - and ruffed it in dummy with the ♠10.

North could over-ruff or not, but it did

♠ 107 N ♠ AJ9 not matter. North’s imposing trump stack

♥ Q10 W E ♥ - took only one trick, and the double gave

♦ - S ♦ - this expert the information needed to make

♣ - ♣ A the game.

♠ -

♥ KJ

♦ -

♣ J9

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? All of the declarers were not this level! 4♠*-1 twice and 3♠=. At the other tables N-S generally played in ♥’s going down doubled.

Defence Quiz

N ♠ K6542 West North East South

W E ♥ - - 2♥ (1) 2♠ 4♥

S ♦ K7643 4♠ 6♥ all pass

♣ A42

♠ 7 (1) Strong

♥ 1093

♦ QJ9 You are East, on lead defending against 6♥. You decide

♣ KQJ985 to lead the ♣A and partner plays the ♣3. What do you

lead next? The contract depends upon it. Answer next page.

Signalling in Defence Board 21 from Friday 12^th

Dealer: ♠ AQ West North(H) East South

North ♥ AK876542 - 2♥ (1) 2♠ 4♥

N-S vul ♦ 82 4♠ 6♥ (2) all pass

♣ 6

(1) What did you open with this North hand H in

♠ J10983 N ♠ K6542 this week’s quiz? This pair play strong twos

♥ QJ W E ♥ - and North decided to open 2♥. Even if

♦ A105 S ♦ K7643 playing strong twos (or Benjamin) I would

♣ 1073 ♣ A42 open 4♣, Namyats, showing a good 4♥

♠ 7 opener. This makes it difficult for the

♥ 1093 opponents to find their ♠ fit.

♦ QJ9 (2) A bit silly missing two aces.

♣ KQJ985

Anyway, North is declarer in a somewhat optimistic 6♥ and you are East. You lead the ♣A and partner plays the ♣3. What does the ♣3 mean and what do you do?

First of all, what does partner’s low ♣ mean? It does not really matter if you play attitude, inverted attitude (my preference) or count on partner’s lead. Everything changes when dummy comes down and it is clear that dummy will win the next trick(s) in that suit. Since attitude (or count) signals are now probably useless, most people play suit preference in this situation.

So in this case the ♣3 is suit-preference, asking for a ♦ (the lowest ranking suit).

And what happened? At the table where 6♥ was bid, East woodenly ignored partner’s signal and switched the ♠ suit which they had both bid; so 6♥ making, thank you very much;

And what happened elsewhere? 6♥ obviously scored a top, other final contracts were a mixed bag of 4♠-1, 5♥= and 5♠-2 and a few more spurious results.

The bottom lines: -

- When defending a suit contract and partner leads an Ace, if dummy can win the next trick in that suit, then play suit preference.

- With a good hand with a long major (like this North hand) I do not like to open 2♣/2♦/strong two or whatever. Without a great abundance of points it’s too easy for the opponents to come on with their major. That’s why I like Namyats and this North hand is ideal for a Namyats 4♣ (good 4♥) opening. A Namyats 4♣/♦ opening should be about 8½ playing tricks.

- Namyats is explained on the website: Conventions > Section 1 > Namyats

Obey the LAW Board 2 from Monday 10^th

Dealer: ♠ 3 Table A

East ♥ Q53 West North East South

N-S vul ♦ AKJ65 - - 1♠ pass (1)

♣ K972 1NT dbl (2) 4♠ (3) pass (4)

pass pass

♠ Q10 N ♠ AKJ9876

♥ 109742 W E ♥ AKJ Table B

♦ 9 S ♦ 2 West North East South

♣ QJ853 ♣ 104 - - 1♠ pass (1)

♠ 542 1NT 2♦ (2) 3♠ (5) 5♦ (6)

♥ 86 all pass

♦ Q108743

♣ A6

Table A: (1) At this vulnerability a weak jump overcall of 3♦ is far too risky.

(2) This hand has values for a double, but with just ♥Qxx and a very good ♦ suit I prefer the bid made at Table B.

(3) This looks right to me, this a great 7-card ♠ suit is NOT just 8 points.

(4) South does not know of the great ♦ fit and cannot possibly venture 5♦ in this sequence.

Table B: (2) This North chose to bid his ♦ suit – I agree.

(5) This is feeble and I would bid 4♠.

(6) This South knows about The LAW, and with at least 11 ♦’s between the hands he makes it difficult for the opponents to bid their game.

And what happened? Two pairs bid 5♦-1 and got a near top. Five E-W’s were allowed to play in 4♠ all making or with overtricks.

The bottom lines: -

- Obey the LAW. With 11 trumps you can usually compete to the 5-level.

Wrong Sided Board 31 from Friday 12^th

Dealer: ♠ 105 Table A

South ♥ 9865 West North East(Fa) South

N-S vul ♦ A965 - - - pass

♣ 642 1♥ pass 2♣ pass

3NT (1) pass 4♥ (2) pass

♠ KJ94 N ♠ Q7

♥ KQ1043 W E ♥ AJ2 Table B

♦ K3 S ♦ J8 West North East(Fb) South

♣ K8 ♣ AQJ1075 - - - pass

♠ A8632 1♥ pass 2♣ pass

♥ 7 2♠ (1) pass 3NT (3) all pass

♦ Q10742

♣ 93

Table A: (1) I guess that this is ok if partner’s 2♣ bid denies a 4-card ♠ suit, but I would bid as table B.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand F(a) in this week’s quiz? There’s a known 5-3 ♥ fit but partner’s 3NT bid expresses a desire to play in NoTrumps and he almost certainly has the ♣K. Even with two doubletons, I would disregard the 5-3 ♥ fit and pass.

Table B: (1) This West chose to bid his ♠ suit – I agree, whether or not it shows reversing values in your system.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand F(a) in this week’s quiz? This 3NT bid, with nothing in ♦’s, is terrible. I would bid 4♥ as partner has 9+ cards in the majors and may well not have the ♣K. 3♦ (4^th suit forcing) is the alternative if you want to possibly play in 3NT.

And what happened? At Table B East got exactly what he deserved – a ♦ lead and he guessed wrong, so down two for a joint bottom. 3NT by West would probably make 12 tricks on the ‘obvious’ ♦ lead. Most played in 4♥ making +1 or +2 and there was also 6♥= and 7♥-1.

The bottom lines: -

- Don’t bid 3NT with just Jx in the 4^th suit.

- Remember 4^th suit forcing. It can be used in various scenarios and one important one is to ask for a stop in the 4^th suit (and thus get the contract played from the right side).

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♦. AK doubleton is bad in a No-trump orientated hand and the hand has no intermediates. I am fully aware that most ‘experts’ will automatically open 1NT because they can add up to 15. Some players with more appreciation of hand evaluation will realize that this is not worth a 1NT opener.

Hand B: dbl, negative and showing values and minors. 3♦ is an alternative which I don’t really like. Pass, with the intention of defending 2♥ doubled is a bid that I certainly do not like.

Hand C: 3♥, this is a weak pre-emptive bid. 4♥ is probably too much vulnerable.

Hand D: 3♣, or perhaps just 2♣ depending upon your partnership USB understandings. This is an Unassuming Cue Bid and shows a sound raise to 3♥ or better.

Hand E: dbl or 2♥. The hand is far too strong for a simple 1♠ overcall. If you play Michaels as weak or very strong then I like this option to bring ♣’s into the picture.

Hand F: (a) pass. Partner has expressed a desire to play in 3NT and probably has the ♣K and this ♣ suit will be huge playing in NoTrumps. Obviously 4♥ is a very sound alternative.

(b) 4♥. This time it’s different as partner may well not have the ♣K. 4♥ seems the most sensible bid but if you want to try for 3NT then bid 3♦, 4^th suit forcing. 3NT (as chosen by one player) is terrible.

Hand G: 4♥, pre-emptive with an 8-card suit

Hand H: 4♣, Namyats. 4♥ was a popular choice with this hand (and is indeed what I would open if I did not play Namyats). But the problem with opening 4♥ is that partner does not know if you have this hand or Hand G and this will make it difficult for him if he has values and a possible slam or if he is thinking of a sacrifice. The other alternatives are to open 1♥ or a strong two or maybe 2♣, but I don’t like any of these options – it makes it too easy for the opponents to come in with their ♠’s.