Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 321

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 4^th Jan 2009

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

	to news-sheet main page
	to Pattaya Bridge home page
	to bridge book reviews	to bridge conventions	to No Trump bidding
	to bridge CD's and computer games and software

Mon 29^th N-S 1^st Jean W & Bob P 56% 2^nd Jeremy & Sally 54%

E-W 1^st Hans & Janne 60% 2^nd Oranong & Paul B 57%

Wed 31^st N-S 1^st Hans & Jean 60% 2^nd Bob S & Jeremy 50%

E-W 1^st Oranong & Paul B 59% 2^nd Torbjorn & Gunn 56%

Fri 2^nd N-S 1^st Lewis & Paul Q 59% 2^nd Janne & Jean 56%

E-W 1^st Bob P & Paul B 58% 2^nd Einar & Kjell 57%

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A West North East South(A) | West North East South(A)

♠ Qx pass 1♠ pass 1NT | pass 1♠ pass 1NT

♥ KQxx pass 2♥ pass ?(a) | 2♣ 2♥ 3♣ ?(b)

♦ QJx

♣ xxxx With Hand A you are South, what do you bid at (a) and what do you bid at (b)?

Hand B Hand C With Hand B LHO opens 1NT and RHO transfers with 2♥,

what do you do?

♠ 543 ♠ J

♥ J107643 ♥ K1073 With Hand C partner opens 1♠. (a) What do you bid?

♦ 65 ♦ J54 (b) Suppose you bid 1NT and partner bids 2♦, what now?

♣ A6 ♣ A10832

Hand D Hand E With Hand D LHO partner opens 1NT, what do you bid?

♠ AJ108763 ♠ 2 With Hand E everybody is vulnerable. You open 1♦ and

♥ QJ ♥ Q1093 LHO bids 1♠, this is passed back to you.

♦ 83 ♦ AJ863 (a) What do you do?

♣ J2 ♣ KJ5 (b) Suppose you double and this is passed to RHO who bids 2♥,

what do you do now?

Hand F Hand G With Hand F partner opens 1♠, what do you bid?

♠ K1073 ♠ K10743

♥ AQ103 ♥ A With Hand G it’s both vulnerable. Partner opens 1♦ and RHO

♦ K63 ♦ 10 overcalls 1♠, what do you do?

♣ 86 ♣ A109743

Bidding Sequence Quiz

H 1♦ 1♠ pass pass The first double is ‘automatic’, what is the 2^nd double?

dbl pass pass 2♥

dbl

The Club Championships

Here are the final standings in the 2008 club competitions. There are 5 prizes: 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd in the Gold Cup and then the Silver plate and Bronze Medal. Note that coming 2^nd or 3^rd in the Gold Cup is considered a higher achievement that winning the Silver Plate or Bronze Medal and if somebody (like Hans) wins a prize then he is not eligible for a lesser competition. Prize winners are in bold type. Well done Hans and everybody, especially the eleven players who managed to qualify for the Gold Cup.

Note that Janne temporarily had the 3^rd place in the Gold Cup, but lost 2.8 points when a scoring error on Monday 29^th was pointed out and so Dave actually came in 3^rd. Hard luck on Janne Roos, who just missed a Gold Cup place and also hard luck Lewis Berg who fell just short in all three competitions.

The top 11 places are here, full results are 2008 Championship results page on the website.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11	1905.2 Hans Vikman 1856.5 Sally Watson 1849.9 Dave Cutler 1849.1 Janne Roos 1845.6 Lewis Berg 1817.1 Lars Gustafsson 1806.6 Bob Pelletier 1790.3 Ivy Schlageter 1786.1 Derek & Gerard 1762.2 Jeremy Watson 1727.5 Jan v Koss	683.5 Hans Vikman 664.9 Sally Watson 663.8 Jeremy Watson 661.8 Dave Cutler 652.2 Lewis Berg 651.0 Lars Gustafsson 648.3 Janne Roos 646.8 Derek & Gerard 645.6 Janne Roos 643.6 Ivy Schlageter 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 333.8 Derek & Gerard 327.4 Tomas Wikman 326.2 Bob Pelletier 328.8 Bob Short

Our Website

I have just about completed the bridge shop and book pages on the website and now have a little more time for other topics such as conventions. Paul Q gave me a few notes on Inverted Minors and I have just put that on the website. A reader asked me about New Minor Forcing and that is also now written up. Checkback Stayman and Crowhurst will be my next projects. Paul Q has also written a few notes on TWERB (a defence to the strong club) and that’s also on the list to do. If you want something written up or have some input, then please do contact me.

When Your Hand Improves Board 26 from the Xmas teams

This is an input from Paul Q. I only have this hand from the deal, partner had a 5431 shape 12 count.

Hand A Table 1

♠ Qx Partner opened 1♠ and you bid 1NT of course (not good enough for 2♣)

♥ KQxx At the table partner made a poor pass. The sensible bid with his 5431 hand

♦ QJx is 2♥. What did you bid with this South hand A(a) in this week’s quiz?

♣ xxxx An invitational raise to 3♥ is called for (which partner would pass). There was a bit more action at the table 2.

West North East South(A)

pass 1♠ pass 1NT

2♣ 2♥ 3♣ ? (1)

(1) What did you open with this South hand A(b) in this week’s quiz? Bid 4♥ now! The opponents’ intervention has proven that partner is short in ♣’s and likely has most of his honors in the remaining suits. The opponents have competed to the 3 level in ♣’s with less than 1/2 the points in the deck, and every honor card in your hand is "working".  Even a minimum opening bid should provide a good play for game. This is an excellent example of how hand evaluation can change based on information gained during the auction.

And what happened? 1NT made exactly at table 2 and 4♥ made exactly at table 1.

The bottom lines: -

- With a 5-card suit and a lower ranking 4-card suit, open the 5-carder of course and if partner responds 1NT, then bid the 4-carder.

- This Hand B was initially only worth an invitation, but when both opponents bid ♣’s the hand improved – hand evaluation evolves during the bidding.

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 ♥J.

♠ K1073 ♠ AQJ62 Do you play the ♥A or the ♥Q from dummy? And plan

♥ AQ103 ♥ 54 the play.

♦ K63 ♦ A742

♣ 86 ♣ K7

Dave’s Column answer Board 16 from Wednesday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ K1073 West North(F) East South

South ♥ AQ103 - - - 1♠

Love all ♦ K63 pass 2NT (1) pass 3NT (2)

♣ 86 pass 4♠ all pass

♠ 84 N ♠ 95 (1) What did you bid with this North hand F

♥ J2 W E ♥ K9876 in this week’s quiz? This 2NT is the

♦ Q1085 S ♦ J9 Jacoby 2NT convention, showing an opening

♣ AJ542 ♣ Q1093 hand with 4 trumps and no shortage.

♠ AQJ62 If you don’t play Jacoby 2NT then you would

♥ 54 have to bid 2♦ as it’s too strong for 3♠ and

♦ A742 4♠ is a weak pre-emptive raise.

♣ K7 (2) Showing a better than minimum hand with no shortage.

West leads the ♥J, plan the play.

South should neither play the ♥Q nor the ♥A – he should play low from dummy! – letting the ♥J win. This is an unusual variation of avoidance technique.

If West shifts to a trump, South draws trumps, takes the ♥A and leads the ♥Q, ruffing East’s ♥K. South then leads a ♦ to dummy and throws a ♣ on the ♥10. He loses a ♥, a ♦ and a ♣.

East can’t prevail by taking his ♥K at trick one and shifting to a ♣. The defence can take two ♣’s but South later pitches two ♦’s on dummy’s high ♥’s and loses just 2 ♣’s and a ♥.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 5♠-1, 4♠= three times, 4♠-1 twice and 5♣* by West -4.

The bottom lines: -

- The Jacoby 2NT convention is described on the website.

- Another possible conventional bid here is the Swiss Convention - 4♦ at (1) would show a an opening hand without two keycards and a feature (a feature being a third keycard or shortage). Not many play Swiss these days, preferring Jacoby 2NT; but I like to play Swiss when 12-15 and use Jacoby 2NT with 16+ (i.e. definite slam interest)

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd input involving a defensive problem.

♠ 4 West(D) North East South

♥ 942 - - 1NT pass

♦ J107 4♥ (1) pass 4♠ all pass

♣ AK10965

You are North. West’s 4♥ was a Texas transfer

♠ AJ108763 N and partner leads the ♣8, plan the defence.

♥ QJ W E

♦ 83 S

♣ J2

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 10 from Wednesday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ 4 West(D) North East South

East ♥ 942 - - 1NT pass

Both vul ♦ J107 4♥ (1) pass 4♠ all pass

♣ AK10965

(1) What did you bid with this West hand D in

♠ AJ108763 N ♠ KQ5 this week’s quiz? This bid from the book

♥ QJ W E ♥ K103 is a Texas transfer – showing no slam

♦ 83 S ♦ AQ54 interest and demanding that partner bids 4♠.

♣ J2 ♣ Q73 If you do not play Texas transfers then bid 4♠,

♠ 92 you do not want to bid a 2♥ transfer as that

♥ A8765 may allow the opponents in the auction.

♦ K962

♣ 84 Anyway, you are North and partner leads the ♣8.

This is a tough problem, you win with the ♣K and the only winning defence is to immediately shift to the ♦J (or another ♦). This establishes a 4^th defensive trick in ♦’s before declarer can discard a loser on the ♣Q

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♠= four times, 3♠=, and 4♠-1 twice.

Note that if you play Texas Transfers or South African Texas transfers, then a normal Jacoby transfer followed by 4-of-the major (e.g. 1NT - 2♥ - 2♠ - 4♠) is non-minimum and mildly slam invitational.

Also, if you play Texas Transfers then the sequence 1NT - 4♠ is redundant and can be put to good use as explained in the book on No Trump Bidding.

A 1NT response followed by 2NT Board 31 from Monday 29^th

Dealer: ♠ J Table A

South ♥ K1073 West North(C) East South

N-S vul ♦ J54 - - - 1♠

♣ A10832 pass 1NT (1) pass 2♦ (2)

pass 2NT (3) all pass

♠ Q85 N ♠ A92

♥ J6542 W E ♥ AQ9 Table B

♦ 82 S ♦ 10763 West North(C) East South

♣ KJ5 ♣ Q96 - - - 1♠

♠ K107643 pass 1NT (1) pass 2♠ (2)

♥ 8 all pass

♦ AKQ9

♣ 74

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand C(a) in this week’s quiz? It’s not strong enough for 2♣ and 1NT is correct.

(2) South has a choice here – rebid the motley 6-card major or bid the good 4-card ♦ suit. I think it’s close and would not argue with either.

(3) But I would argue with this. What did you bid with this North hand C(b) in this week’s quiz? Partner’s 2♦ bid has shown a dislike for NoTrumps and bidding 2NT is very poor. Pass is my choice.

Table B: (2) Most South’s rebid 2♠ and that solved any problems.

And what happened? The results were all over the place; Deep Finesse says that 2♠ makes +1, 2♦ goes -1 and 2NT goes -2.

The bottom lines: -

- If partner does not like 1NT then he won’t like 2NT.

- The sequence 1x – 1NT – 2y – 2NT (y lower ranking than x) does not exist in Standard American. Playing 2/1 (I.e. a forcing 1NT) the sequence shows a balanced 11-12 over a major suit opening.

Double a transfer for a lead? Board 6 from Monday 29^th

Dealer: ♠ 543 West North(B) East South

East ♥ J107643 - - 1NT pass

E-W vul ♦ 65 2♥ dbl (1) 2♠ (2) pass

♣ A6 3NT all pass

♠ Q10976 N ♠ AK (1) What did you bid with this North Hand B in

♥ 92 W E ♥ KQ5 this week’s quiz? A double of a transfer

♦ AJ108 S ♦ KQ943 shows a good holding in the suit, but it also

♣ J8 ♣ K97 asks for that suit to be led. I cannot see that

♠ J82 North really wants a ♥ led and he should pass.

♥ A8 (2) East should pass (showing just 2 ♠’s) but I

♦ 72 believe that he did not notice the double card.

♣ Q105432

And what happened? The resultant ♥A lead and continuation was good for East and when the ♠’s split 3-3 he has a joint top, making 12 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- Do not double Stayman or a transfer bid unless you want that suit led.

Doubling Mode Board 7 from Wednesday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ AJ986 West(E) North East(G) South

South ♥ KJ - - - pass

both vul ♦ KQ95 1♦ 1♠ pass (1) pass

♣ 86 dbl (2) pass pass 2♥

pass (3) pass 3♣ all pass

♠ 2 N ♠ K10743

♥ Q1093 W E ♥ A (1) What did you bid with this East hand G in this

♦ AJ863 S ♦ 10 this week’s quiz? This East decided to go for

♣ KJ5 ♣ A109743 the vulnerable penalty by passing – very

♠ Q5 reasonable with a mis-fit and is what I did.

♥ 876542 (2) What did you bid with this West Hand E(a) in

♦ 742 this week’s quiz? Double is ‘automatic’.

♣ Q2 (3) What did you bid with this West Hand E(b) in this week’s quiz? Partner has shown a decent hand prepared to defend just 1♠ doubled – you must double for penalties here.

And what happened? 3♣ made +2 for a poor score. 2♥* goes about two down for a virtual top to E-W.

The bottom lines: -

- It is well known that after the sequence 1y dbl redbl then all doubles by the opening side are for penalties.

- The same is true after an automatic re-opening double is passed for penalties. Sequence H.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: (a) 3♥, invitational.

(b) 4♥, with both opponents bidding ♣’s that marks partner with shortage, and with no wasted honours in the suit the hand is worth a shot at game.

Hand B: Pass. Double (showing ♥’s) will probably not work out well as you probably do not want a ♥ led.

Hand C: (a) 1NT. The hand is not strong enough for 2♣,

(b) pass. Partner has shown a two-suiter and a dislike of NoTrumps, so give preference by pass. Do not bid 2NT – your side does not have the values.

Hand D: 4♠. You want to go straight to game with this weak hand so as not to allow the opponents into the auction. A 2♥ transfer allows the opponents bidding space. If you play Texas transfers then bid 4♥ and if you play South African Texas transfers then bid 4♦. These latter two conventions demand that partner bid 4♠.

Hand E: (a) double, automatic when playing negative doubles.

(b) double - penalties. Partner has a mis-fit with you and wanted to defend 1♠ doubled, so 2♥* should be glorious.

Hand F: 2♦. You cannot bid 3♠ as the hand is too strong and 4♠ is a weak pre-emptive bid. You cannot bid 2♥ as that guarantees 5 ♥’s although it is possible with this actual hand as you can always convert ♥ bids from partner to ♠’s. Best is to temporize with 2♦ and then raise to 4♠ - a delayed game raise – over partner’s minimal rebid. If you play Jacoby 2NT or Swiss then these conventions are the alternatives.

Hand G: Pass. It’s a mis-fit with no guarantee of game, so go for the vulnerable penalty. Partner will usually automatically re-open with a double of course which you will pass.

Bidding Sequence Answers

H 1♦ 1♠ pass pass The second double is absolutely penalties. Partner has shown

dbl pass pass 2♥ a good hand with a misfit for you and a desire to defend at

dbl the one-level, he will probably be delighted to defend at the two level; and if not he can always pull it as he knows that you have just 4 ♥’s.