Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 322

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880              11th 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

       
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Mon 5th    N-S   1st  Bob S & Lars G       63%     2nd    Jeremy & Sally                                 59%

                E-W   1st   Hans & Janne           63%     2nd    Bob P & Olaf                                   62%

Wed 7th    N-S   1st  Torbjorn & Gunn      62%     2nd    Paul Q & Lewis                                62%

                E-W   1st   Michel & Olaf          58%     2nd    Gerard & Derek                               58%

Fri 9th       N-S   1st  Hans & Sally            63%     2nd    Lennart & Lars G = Janne & Jean     51%

                E-W   1st  Bob S & Johan         61%     2nd    Terry & Tom                                    54%

     
Ron Klinger web site
     

 

 

 

Bidding Quiz                    Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

                                             

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A partner opens 1NT, what do you bid?

 

J2                 KQ43          

AQJ10         KQ1032       With Hand B LHO opens 1 and partner overcalls 1, RHO bids

75432           -                   3 (weak), what do you bid?

K8               A1052                                 

 

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

 

QJ874          K532            With Hand D partner opens 1 and RHO overcalls 2. You

10                 3                   choose to bid 4 - presumably showing a good hand like this

J1074            KJ105          in their system. This goes round to RHO who bids 5, you pass,

952              KJ98            LHO corrects to 5 and partner doubles. (a) What do you bid?

                                                (b) What do you bid if partner made a long pause before doubling?

                       

Hand E            Hand F            What do you open with Hand E at unfavourable vulnerability?

 

KQ                   10            

AKQ109862    KJ97654    With Hand F it’s unfavourable vulnerability. LHO opens 1

532                   AK8           and RHO raises pre-emptively to 4. What do you do?

-                       K10

                       

                                                                       

                                               

 


Exclusion RKC Blackwood                                 Board 16 from Monday 5th   

 

A couple of people asked me about this deal, and how to sensibly reach 6. It’s a bit advanced, but since two did ask ...

 

Dealer:             J10982                                       Table A

West                A86                                            West          North         East          South(B)

E-W vul           K7                                             1              1              3    (1)   4   (2)

                        KJ7                                            4              4      (3)    pass         6    (4)

all pass

A65                    N               7                       

7                     W    E            J954                  ‘Expert’ Table

AQ1083             S                J96542               West          North         East          South(B)

Q984                                   63                      1              1              3    (1)   5    (2)

                        KQ43                                         pass (5)      5      (6)    pass         6    (7)

KQ1032                              

-                                                

A1052                                       

Table A:     (1)  A weak raise after the overcall – excellent bid.

(2)   What did you bid with this South hand B in this week’s quiz? I believe that this South meant it as ace asking. I would take it as either natural or agreeing ’s and showing the A. Anyway, to bid Blackwood with a void is usually a very poor bid as you have no idea if partner’s response includes the ace of the void suit or not.

(3)   North had no idea what was going on (he has my sympathy). Since they were playing 4-card majors he decided to show his 5th , fair enough.

(4)   A punt.

Table B:     (1)  This is the answer to question A – Exclusion RKC Blackwood. It agrees ’s and asks for keycards outside the suit. Obviously it would be nice if this hand had a few more points, but with excellent shape and a void in the opponent’s suit it is surely worth a try for slam.

(5)   For simplicity, we’ll suppose West passes. If he doubles then DOPI presumably applies.

(6)   One keycard outside ’s. Responses to Exclusion RKBC are the normal steps, (here playing 3014)

(7)   South knows that there is just one major suit ace missing and is in a much better position to bid 6 than at (4) above.

 

And what happened? Two bid the slam, the rest were in 4+2.

The bottom lines: -

-     Exclusion RKC Blackwood is a jump to the 5-level when a bid of 4NT would have been RKCB. It asks for keycards outside the exclusion suit (in which asker promises a void) and your normal step responses apply (but obviously a bit higher).


Never deny a 4-card major                                  Board 23 from Monday 5th   

 

Dealer:             A8                                              Table A

South               9854                                           West          North         East(A)    South

both vul            1096                                          -                 -                 -               pass

                        J753                                           1NT           pass           3NT (1)    all pass

 

KQ43                 N               J2                      Table B

7632               W    E            AQJ10              West          North         East(A)    South

AJ                       S                75432                -                 -                 -               pass

AQ6                                     K8                     1NT           pass           1   (1)    pass

                        109765                                       2    (2)      pass           4            all pass

K                                         

KQ8                                         

10942                                       

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? This 3NT bid, apparently chosen by over ½ of the club, is totally beyond my comprehension.

Table B:     (1)  This is the obvious answer to question A of course - 2 Stayman, looking for a 4-4 fit. Perhaps the 3NT bidders thought that the quality of this suit was not good enough?

                  (2)  This is correct, always respond to Stayman up the line – regardless of suit quality.

 

And what happened? Results were all over the place, with only two pairs out of seven reaching the totally obvious 4. Deep Finesse says that 5 makes 11 tricks whereas 3NT makes only 10, of course in practice both should make one less when declarer takes a losing finesse.

The bottom lines: -

-         The 4-4 major suit fit usually makes one more trick than NoTrumps, and this is no exception,

even with the K offside and the trumps 4-1.

 

 

 

 

 

Dave’s Column                                   Here is Dave’s first input, a bidding problem.

 

10                                      

KJ97654      With Hand F it’s unfavourable vulnerability. LHO opens 1

AK8             and RHO raises pre-emptively to 4. What do you do?

K10            

                                                                 


Dave’s Column answer                      Board 25 from Wednesday 7th

     

Dealer:             AK9653                                     West(F)     North         East            South(C)

North               A                                                -                 1              pass           4    (1)

E-W vul           Q9                                              5    (2)      dbl             all pass

                        Q874                                        

(1)  What did you bid with this South hand C

2                         N             10                         in this week’s quiz? With 5 card support and

KJ97654        W    E          Q832                    a singleton this is a classic case of obeying

AK8                   S              6532                    the Law – bid 4.

K10                                   AJ63              (2)  What did you bid with this West hand F     

                        QJ874                                        in this week’s quiz? It’s unfavourable

10                                              vulnerability but nether the less 5 is surely

J1074                                         the best bet. It may go for 1100 -1700,

952                                            but it may push them up one or it may even make!

 

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Only two West’s bid 5 and both were doubled and played there. One took the correct guess in ’s (finesse through the opener) and made for the top. The other decided to play A,K off the top and went one down for a bottom. The rest of the field were left to play peacefully in 4, with all going one down except one who went two down.

The bottom lines: -

-         When an opponent has pre-empted (South here) then a 7 card major is usually worth bidding, even if it has to be at the 5 level at adverse vulnerability.

-         A finesse is 50%. A finesse against an opener opposite a pre-emptive raise is about 80%. Taking no finesse at all with 7 out is about 10%.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

West                East                      You are East, declarer in 5 doubled after the bidding:

765               9                        

J863             AK1094                              West            North           East            South

10764           J9532                                   -                   -                  1              dbl

K6               A8                                        3  (weak)   4                5              dbl        

                                                             

South leads the 3 which North wins with the A. North cashes the A and then switches to a which you ruff. You play the A and all follow low. You are playing in a duplicate pairs competition, how do you continue and why?       

                                                                       

                                                                       

                                                                         


Dave’s 2nd Column answer              Board 26 from Wednesday 7th

     

Dealer:             AQ1042                                     West          North         East            South

East                  Q52                                            -                 -                 1              dbl

Both vul            A                                               3    (1)      4              5              dbl

                        10932                                        all pass

                                                                         

765                   N               9                     (1)  Pre-emptive

J863             W    E            AK1094             

10764               S                J9532             South leads the 3 which North wins with the A.  

K6                                     A8                  North cashes the A and then a which you ruff.         

                        KJ83                                    You play the A and all follow low.     

7                                          How do you continue and what is your rationale?         

KQ8                                    

QJ754

 

What assumptions should you make about the hand and the trump suit? Even if you misguess the ’s, the contract will fail by three and -500 will still be a good sacrifice against the vulnerable game. However, if 4 is going down, this sacrifice will be too expensive whatever. Therefore assume that your decision to bid to the 5-level was sound and play for the ’s to be 3-1. If ’s are 2-2 then 4 has 4 losers (two ’s and two ’s).

First play a to start developing the suit while you retain trump control. After ruffing the continuation play another clearing the suit. You can then take a ruff in dummy if necessary while there are still two trumps there. Finesse the and -300 will be a great result.               

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Just one pair played in 5 and managed

-100 which was an even greater result! All the other N-S’s were left to play in various levels of ’s. The most common result (5 times) was 4= scoring 620.

 

     


A director call                                                       Board 15 from Wednesday 7th   

 

The usual problem. It’s a fact that the director is called more due to hesitation than for any other reason.

 

Dealer:             AQ1094                                     West          North         East          South(D)

South               A94                                            -                 -                 -               pass

N-S vul            A7                                              pass           1              2            4    (1)

                        642                                            pass           pass           5            pass

5              dbl     (2)    pass         5    (3)

J87                     N               6                        all pass

J8                   W    E            KQ107652       

642                     S                Q983           (1)  This would not be my choice of bid. Either

A10753                                Q                       3 or 4 are far better.

                        K532                                    (2)  After a very long pause

3                                           (3)  What did you bid with this South hand D(b) in

KJ105                                        this week’s quiz? After partner’s long pause

KJ98                                          you need to have a very clear bid in order to

pull the double. Do you think that 5 is clear?

 

And what happened? The director was summoned and when dummy appeared he said to play the hand out and if E-W were injured then there may be an adjusted score.

5 made exactly for an above average score to N-S. 5 doubled was the contract at two tables, it went -4 for a bottom and -3 for a top.

So what should be done, my opinions are: -

-         South did not have a clear 5 bid and the contract should be returned to 5 doubled, with the most advantageous reasonable outcome for E-W being awarded.

-         North, South and East are all decent players. Given that East is above average I believe that he could have gone just three down for 500 away and a joint top (5* went -3 at another table).      

 

I asked around on Friday 9th. Paul Biscoe, Paul Quodomine, Janne Roos, Hans Vikman, Lewis Berg and myself were all of the opinion that South should pass and that he is definitely obliged to pass after the long pause.

The only dissenter was Jean; she was of the opinion that North’s double showed a few defensive tricks and left it up to partner. I totally disagree; assuming that N-S know what they are doing and that South has shown a good hand, then double is expressing a desire to defend and not to press on whereas a (forcing) pass would ask partner to double or bid on.

As neither side were having a good session and no championship points were affected by the result, I did not adjust the score, especially as nobody was bothered.

The Bottom Lines: -

-     If partner makes a long pause and then makes a penalty double, that passes unauthorized information that the double was dubious. Partner should only pull the double if that action is very clear (i.e. about 70% of your peers would bid). Since 6 out of 7 of the club’s better players think that South should pass, then the decision to pull the double was by no means clear!

-     North, is defence of his partner’s bid, said that 5 would go 4 down. Quite possibly, but at one table it went just 3 down and that would have been the adjustment had I decided to do anything.


Play Namyats!                                                      Board 16 from Friday 9th   

 

Dealer:             J943                                           Table A

West                4                                                 West          North         East(E)     South

E-W vul           KJ104                                        pass           pass           4    (1)    pass

                        765                                            pass           4              5    (2)    dbl

all pass

108762               N               KQ                   

-                     W    E            AKQ109862      ‘Expert’ Table

Q76                    S                532                     West          North         East(E)     South

AJ1094                                -                         pass           pass           4   (1)    pass

                        5                                                 4    (3)      4              pass (4)    pass

J753                                           dbl             all pass

A98                                          

KQ832                                                       

Table A:     (1)  What did you open with this East hand E in this week’s quiz? It’s unfavourable vulnerability but even so I think that this hand is too good for a 4 pre-empt. A 1 bid is possible but will allow the opponents to find a fit and possible non-vul sacrifice too easily. The same applies if you play strong twos or Benjamin twos. A strong 2 is not my style with just 16 HCP’s. In my opinion there is only one remotely sensible bid – that chosen by our ‘experts’.

(2)  Now this East knows perfectly well not to bid again having pre-empted, but he explained that his hand was too strong for a pre-empt. I agree.

‘Expert’      (1)  This is the only sensible opening bid with Hand E – a Namyats 4 bid

 Table:              showing a good long suit with around 8½-9 playing tricks. This hand is pretty much classic for the bid and I simply cannot see that there is any other remotely sensible opening.

(3)   West simply bids 4 of course.

(4)   And here we see the beauty of Namyats. East has shown his hand and unlike at (2) above there is absolutely no temptation to bid again.

 

And what happened? Just one North played in 4 doubled and went for 500 and a bottom. At every other table the contract was some number of ’s, either 4 or 5, all going down. 5* went for 1100 once and 500 the other time.

The bottom lines: -

-     Play Namyats! Now not everybody shares my enthusiasm about Namyats. Two players I have discussed it with are Brian Senior and Paul Quodomine, who both don’t like it. I would be interested to know what they would open with this Hand E.

 

 


Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:    2, Stayman – look for a 4-4 fit. Now this is so totally obvious that you may wonder why it is in the quiz? Because no less than 5 out of 7 players elected to ignore the 4-4 fit and played in an inferior NoTrump contract. Absolutely amazing!

Hand B:    5. This is Exclusion RKC Blackwood, agreeing ’s and asking for keycards outside the suit. If you think that looking for slam is too optimistic then you can bid 4 to show a sound raise to 4 or better. 4 (if you play it as asking for aces) and 4NT (RKCB) are terrible bids when holding a void.

Hand C:    4, obey the Law, especially with a singleton.

Hand D:    (a)  Pass. I can see no reason to pull the double if the 4 bid showed your hand in the system you are playing.

(b)  Pass. I do not believe that 70% of players would pull the double.

Hand E:    4, Namyats. If you do not play Namyats then there is no sensible opening bid! It’s far too good for 4 and any other opening lets the opposition in too cheaply.

Hand F:     5. Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead.

 

 

       

 Ron Klinger web site