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 11^th Jan 2009

It is best to use my home number to contact me unless I am at the bridge club.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 5^th

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 5^th ♠, 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 5^th

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 7^th

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

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 7^th

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 9^th. 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 9^th

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.