Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 334

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 5^th April 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

Mon 30^th N-S 1^st Lars B & Jean 58% 2^nd Bob P & Robbie 54%

E-W 1^st Dave H & Tony 67% 2^nd Ivy & Linda 58%

Wed 1^st 1^st Alain & Jean-Charles 65% 2^nd Hans v & Lars B 59%

Fri 3^rd 1^st Dave C & Paul Q 68% 2^nd Dave H & Jean 65%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♣, what do you bid (2NT or 3NT)?

♠ K64 ♠ 83

♥ A62 ♥ K108742 With Hand B you open 2♥. Partner raises to 4♥ and RHO bids

♦ K106 ♦ K5 4♠, what do you do?

♣ Q1074 ♣ A76

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 3♥, what do you bid?

♠ AKQ954 ♠ A32

♥ K7 ♥ 10843 With Hand D you open 1♣ and partner bids 2NT, what do

♦ A ♦ A8 you do?

♣ A952 ♣ A865

Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
Current standings 4-April-2009	631.3 Janne Roos 623.1 Paul Quodomine 621.6 Hans Vikman 612.2 Lars Broman 609.9 Bob Short 607.6 Per Andersson 606.7 Sally Watson 592.4 Jean Wissing 588.6 Derek & Gerard 586.4 Johan Bratsberg	326.0 Janne Roos 321.7 Bob Short 321.3 Hans Vikman 321.0 Per Andersson 320.9 Paul Quodomine 317.5 Sally Watson 316.1 Lars Broman 312.8 Dave Hurst 311.4 Eddie Richart 309.5 Jean Wissing

The 2NT response Board 22 from Monday 30^th

The 2NT response to 1♣/♦ is 11 +/-1 points with no 4-card major. Which West below do you think got it right?

Dealer: ♠ 87 Table A

East ♥ K5 West(A) North East South

N-S vul ♦ QJ97543 - - 1♣ pass

♣ J9 3NT (1) all pass

♠ K64 N ♠ A32 Table B

♥ A62 W E ♥ 10843 West(A) North East(D) South

♦ K106 S ♦ A8 - - 1♣ pass

♣ Q1074 ♣ A865 2NT (1) pass 3NT (2) all pass

♠ QJ1095

♥ QJ97

♦ 2

♣ K32

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? 2NT or 3NT? Twelve points and two tens make

13 points, but knock off a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape (and total lack of intermediates) and it’s only worth 12, so 2NT.

Table B: (1) This West knows all about how bad the 4333 type shape is and correctly bid 2NT.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand D in this week’s quiz? I know that aces are good cards, but with a bare 12 count I think that pass is in order.

And what happened? Three pairs overbid to 3NT and two made it. Deep finesse says it’s minus one, but I know that one declarer received the obvious ♦Q lead which declarer won in dummy with the ♦A. After a bit of messing about in the black suits declarer eventually threw North in with the ♥K in order to end-play him in ♦’s and thus make the contract.

The bottom lines: -

- You need a good 12 or better to bid 3NT over partner’s1♣/♦.

- 12 points is not enough to raise a 2NT response to 3NT.

- Deduct a point for the infamous 4333 type shape.

- Don’t get end-played if you can avoid it – it this example North (an experienced player) should have seen it coming and thrown the ♥K under the ♥A.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s first input about the play of the hand.

♠ 8 ♠ AKQ954 You are West, declarer in 7♥ on the ♦K lead.

♥ AQJ9643 ♥ K7 Plan the play.

♦ 854 ♦ A

♣ Q4 ♣ A952

Dave’s Column answer Board 8 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ 6 West North East(C) South

West ♥ 10852 3♥ pass 4NT (1) pass

Love all ♦ KQJ73 5♣ (2) pass 5♦ (3) pass

♣ 1076 5♠ (4) pass 7♥ (5) all pass

♠ 8 N ♠ AKQ954 (1) What did you bid with this East hand C in

♥ AQJ9643 W E ♥ K7 this week’s quiz? Anything but searching for

♦ 854 S ♦ A a grand slam is absolutely pathetic. 4NT

♣ Q4 ♣ A952 (RKCB) or 5NT (Josaphine grand slam try)

are the only sensible options.

♠ J10732 (2) 1 keycard (playing 1430).

♥ - (3) Do you have the trump queen?

♦ 10962 (4) Yes, plus 2^nd round ♠ control.

♣ KJ83 (5) It’s easy enough for East to count 13+ tricks: 7 ♥’s, 1 ♣, 1 ♦ and 5 ♠’s assuming a ♠ needs to be ruffed to set up the suit.

This was the bidding at out table (with me as East). In Dave’s book East simply bid 5NT and West jumped to 7♥.

Anyway, North leads the ♦K against 7♥, plan the play.

The hand is trivial if ♠’s break no worse than 4-2. So now a word from Dr. Doom. “What if the ♠’s are 5-1, and the hand with the singleton ♠ is your LHO who might have 4 ♥’s meaning that you cannot ruff a ♠ safely?”

Dealer: ♠ 6 The best way to cater for this is to begin with 5

West ♥ - rounds of ♥’s leaving this position.

Love all ♦ QJ7

♣ 1076 The North hand is now immaterial*. The ♥6 is then

led and the ♣9 discarded from dummy. If South

♠ 8 N ♠ AKQ95 discards a ♠, ♠’s can be set up via a ruff. If South

♥ 64 W E ♥ - discards a ♣ declarer plays the ♠AKQ. When he

♦ 85 S ♦ - sees the 5-1 break, he cashes the ♣A, felling the

♣ Q4 ♣ A9 ♣K and setting up the ♣Q for the 13^th trick.

♠ J10732

♥ - * I (Terry) do not see that the North hand is

♦ - immaterial - it may have 5 ♠’s or it may have

♣ KJ the ♣K or it may have both.

A note about 1430

♠ AKQ954 It made no difference on the actual deal as East was going to bid the small

♥ K7 slam if partner was missing the trump queen. But imagine this hand – you

♦ 2 want to be in 6♥ if partner has one keycard and the ♥Q, else 5♥. If you play

♣ A952 0314 then partner will respond 5♦ with one keycard and you would need to commit yourself to slam if you ask for the queen with 5♠. If partner does not have it 6♥ goes down. 1430 has a small advantage when ♥’s are trumps.

Terry’s comment. This really is too much for a simple soul like me to comprehend. Surely North, who started with three ♣’s to South’s four, is fairly likely to have the ♣K?

And in fact I do not believe that declarer has a count of the hand and North could well have started with 4 ♣’s or even 5 ♣’s? Playing the ♠A at trick two and then ruffing a ♠ (with the ♥9) wins whenever the ♠’s are 3-3, 4-2 either way, when North has

5 ♠’s or when South has the ♥10. I can’t be bothered to work out the odds but this must be well above 80++%. But I’m no play expert, so let’s see what Paul Quodomine thinks of Eddie Kantar’s suggested line: -

Paul Quodomine’s Comment. A quick look at the suit split table on the pattayabridge.com website shows that when missing 6 cards in a suit they will be divided 4-2 48% of the time, 3-3 36% of the time and 5-1 15% of the time.  This means that 84% of the time (4-2 or 3-3) playing a top spade and then ruffing one will set the suit up.  Additionally if it is the South hand that has the singleton ♠ (7.5%) the hand is cold, with declarer crossing to the ♥K and ruffing another ♠ to set up the suit. Terry, you were a bit pessimistic with your estimate. That brings the percentage up to 91.5% for this line.  If declarer had any clue from the auction that South held 5 spades the correct line would be to cash the Ace of clubs (Vienna Coup) then run all the hearts removing any ambiguity about whether the squeeze had worked.  As it is presented South of course pitches the club jack on the penultimate heart which could be a valuable clue, but if that card was a small one?  Would declarer then lead to the ace of clubs dropping the king?  I think the hand is rather contrived.

Terry’s 2^nd comment. Thanks for the input Paul, so OK I’ll work out the real % for ‘our line’. As you stated above it is up to 91.5%. But there are also the 7.5% of cases where South has 5 ♠’s; if North does not have the ♥10 our line wins and this is about 3% and brings the total to 94.5%. I cannot see that the book line is more than this as the book line fails when either player has 5 ♠’s and his partner has the king of clubs (slightly over 7.5%, say 8%). There are also the two 1% cases of a 6-0 ♠ split to consider. The book line fails when the 6 ♠’s and the ♣K are in the different hand, a bit more than 1%. So the book line is only about 91.0%. As to Paul’s comment ‘rather contrived’ – I agree, the contract is 98% if North did not have an obvious ♦ lead which prematurely knocked out an entry to dummy.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Nobody made 13 tricks (surprise, surprise) and the joint top went to the two pairs of chicklets who stopped in a miserable 4♥+2. One chicken somehow went down in a feeble 6♥ and the only two real pairs who bid the odds-on 7♥ went down when they very correctly played the 94.5% line for the ♠’s to be 4-2 or 3-3 (together with the other odds given in the above comments). The bottom lines: -

- This deal is very unfortunate and I will keep my (Terry) further comments to the bare minimum, but nether the less noting that the hand was not random but prepared. The two pairs who bid to the excellent grand slam and played perfectly with the odds were rewarded with a joint bottom; the two pairs who pathetically stopped in 4♥ without even sniffing at any kind of slam were rewarded with a joint top. What are your thoughts on this deal?

- Don’t believe everything you reads in books, even if by Eddie Kantar.

- Terminology: a chicklet is a chicken chicken, or chicken².

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

North South

♠ QJ97 ♠ AK You are South, declarer in 6NT on a ♣ lead. You win in

♥ KQ7 ♥ A1042 hand and lead to the ♥Q with East showing out.

♦ J8 ♦ K752 Plan the play.

♣ AK62 ♣ QJ5

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 7 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ QJ97 West North East South

South ♥ KQ7 - - - 1NT

both vul ♦ J8 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

♣ AK62 pass 4NT (1) pass 6NT

all pass

♠ 1082 N ♠ 6543

♥ J98653 W E ♥ - (1) Quantitive (4♣ would ask for aces).

♦ AQ S ♦ 109643

♣ 43 ♣ 10987

♠ AK

♥ A1042

♦ K752 West leads the ♣4, plan the play.

♣ QJ5

You have 11 top tricks and the possibility of leading up to declarer’s ♦K. If East has the ♦A you are home. But can you do anything if West has the ♦A?

Yes, you should run your winners to see what happens. Win the opening lead in hand with the ♣Q, cash the ♥K (this reveals the ♥ position) and unblock the two top ♠’s. Follow this with the ♣J and a ♣ to dummy.

Now cash black suit winners, coming down to ♥A10 and ♦K7 in hand. On the 4^th ♠ West is down to ♥J9 and ♦AQ and is stuck. If he throws the ♦Q you throw him in with the now bare ♦A and he is end-played. If he throws a ♥ then your ♥’s are good and he just gets the ♦A at the end.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Four pairs bid a small slam and all went down. The players in 4NT and 5NT scored a joint top for making 11 tricks. So nobody saw the end-play.

Incidentally, in my opinion, this hand is a lot easier than the previous one (if you believe the book line) and our better players would doubtless have found the winning line had they been declarer. It really is a bit obvious if you count the ♥’s and look at West’s discard on trick 10 (either a ♥ which sets up your ♥ suit or the ♦Q which very likely bares the ♦A). Even I (East) knew exactly what was going on when I saw partner’s ♦Q discard.

A play problem Here is a real example from a shuffled board.

West East You are East, declarer in 3NT. South leads the ♠6 and

♠ 1053 ♠ K4 North wins with the ♠A and returns the ♠J which you

♥ AQJ6 ♥ 1072 win with the ♠K. It looks like the ♠’s are 5-3 so take a

♦ K3 ♦ AQ97 losing finesse and you are down. So which finesse

♣ J642 ♣ AK105 (♥ or ♣) should you take?

Combining Your Chances Board 18 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ AJ7 West North East South

East ♥ K943 - - 1NT pass

N-S vul ♦ J108 2♣ pass 2♦ pass

♣ 873 3NT all pass

♠ 1053 N ♠ K4

♥ AQJ6 W E ♥ 1072

♦ K3 S ♦ AQ97

♣ J642 ♣ AK105

♠ Q9862

♥ 85

♦ 6542

♣ Q9

South leads the ♠6, North wins the ♠A and returns the ♠J which you win per force. Plan the play.

Either the ♥ finesse or the ♣ finesse will bring home the contract, so which should you try?

The answer is neither! You should combine your chances and leave a finesse as a last resort. It’s a long shot, but if you try the ♣AK first (with the intention of taking the ♥ finesse if the ♣Q does not drop) then you will get four ♣ tricks if the ♣Q drops, and then when you try the ♦’s and the ♦J10 come down in three rounds then there is no need to take either of the (losing) finesses. I know that this looks like a typical Dave board (that’s what I thought when I played it) but it was actually dealt at the table. So these text-book problems do sometimes occur in actual play.

And what happened? All six East’s were in 3NT: +2, +1, =, and -1 three times.

The bottom lines: -

- Combine your chances and take a finesse as a last resort.

A play problem answer: Neither!

When the pre-empt has done its job Board 26 from Friday 3^rd

Here two E-W pairs had their opponents on the hook, but both let them off.

Dealer: ♠ AJ10963 Table A

East ♥ 6 West North East(B) South

both vul ♦ 87 - - 2♥ pass

♣ K1082 4♥ (1) 4♠ (2) 5♥ (3) dbl

all pass

♠ Q7 N ♠ 83

♥ AQ W E ♥ K108742 Table B

♦ AQ9632 S ♦ K5 West North East(B) South

♣ Q54 ♣ A76 - - 2♥ pass

♠ K42 4♥ (1) 4♠ (2) pass (3) pass

♥ J953 5♦ (4) pass 5♥ dbl

♦ J104 all pass

♣ J93

Table A: (1) This is to make, West has a decent hand and it’s likely that 4♥ will make. However, this bid could be anything from a very weak pre-emptive raise to a huge hand not quite worth a slam try. Basically, West is the captain. An Ogust 2NT is an alternative.

(2) The bidding has made life difficult for North and the stretch to 4♠ is reasonable.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? This 5♥ is an atrocious bid, East’s excuse was that “his hand had improved”. He did not elaborate, but what he really meant is that he had decided to open 2♥ with a maximum and so now felt he was entitled to bid again when partner supported. This is simply bunkum and partner is the only one who can take a decision here. The only possibly reasonable option (other than the obvious pass) is double – showing a top of the range pre-empt with defensive values.

Table B: (3) This East made the obvious pass.

(4) But this time it’s West who converts the good score into a bottom. With just two ♥’s and great defensive values West has only two sensible options: pass or double. This West said that he bid because he thought 5♥ would make. Opposite a pre-empt I cannot see this is very likely and if 5♥ does indeed make then 4♠* will surely go for a number.

And what happened? Three pairs overbid to 5♥, all were doubled and they went -2 or -3. Other contracts were 4♥= and 3♥= and 3♥+1. 4♠ should go one down; it is a good save against the making 4♥ and even better if the opponents are foolish enough to bid to 5♥.

The bottom lines: -

- When your pre-empt (and raise of the pre-empt) have made an opponent stretch, don’t bid again and let him off the hook.

- The 5♥ bid by East at table A was particularly bad – partner is the captain and he gave partner no opportunity to double if that is what West had in mind.

- Do not bid again having opened with a pre-empt. You have said your hand and partner is captain.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 2NT. It’s just 12 points; add on a point for the two tens but deduct a point for the 3334 shape and you are back where you started – 12 points so just 2NT.

Hand B: Pass. To bid 5♥ is a really appalling bid – partner is the captain and is the only one who knows what is going on. Being top of the range is no reason to bid to 5♥ when partner has raised to 4♥. The only other possibly reasonable bid is double – to show a maximum pre-empt with defensive values.

Hand C: 4NT (RKCB) or 5NT (Josaphine). Obviously you want to be in 7♥ if partner has the ♥A and the ♥Q and these are two methods to find out. If partner is missing one of these cards then you want to be in 6♥. My thoughts on the 4♥ bid made by two players are unprintable. Cluck, cluck.

Hand D: Pass. Although aces are good cards, this hand is minimum and should pass.