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              14th 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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recommended bridge books reviewed to bridge book reviews to bridge conventions to No Trump bidding
   
   
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Mon 8th        N-S     1st  Jean W & Hans              73%       2nd    Arnt & Terje                    58%

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

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

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

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

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

 

     
Ron Klinger web site
     

 

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 1and 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 8th  

 

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 8th 

 

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 8th 

 

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 8th 

 

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 4making 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 10th  

     

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 3rd 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 2nd Column   Here is Dave’s 2nd 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 2nd Column answer              Board 6 from Wednesday 10th

     

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 12th

     

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 10th 

 

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 12th 

 

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 (4th 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 4th suit.

-         Remember 4th suit forcing. It can be used in various scenarios and one important one is to ask for a stop in the 4th 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, 4th 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.

 

       

 Ron Klinger web site