Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 339

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 10^th May 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 4^th 1^st Jeremy, Sally, Tom & Tonni (teams) 67%

Wed 6^th 1^st Tom & Tonni 66% 2^nd Jean & Sally 57%

Fri 8^th 1^st Nick T & Paul K = Janne & Sally = Dave & Robbie 60%

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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?

♠ - ♠ AQ2

♥ 105 ♥ KQJ83 What do you open with Hand B and how do you plan to continue?

♦ Q10943 ♦ A

♣ KJ9652 ♣ AK102

Bidding Sequence Quiz

C 2♣ pass 2♦ pass

2♥ pass 3♥ pass 4NT is RKCB for ♥’s, what is the 5NT response?

4NT pass 5NT

D 1♠ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ pass 3♠ Is 3♠ forcing?

E 1♠ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ pass 2♥ pass 2♥ is 4^th suit forcing and 2NT showed a ♥ stop.

2NT pass 3♠ Is 3♠ forcing?

Signalling Quiz

F. You play low to encourage and are defending a 4♥ contract. You lead the ♣A from ♣AKxx, there are three small in dummy and partner plays the ♣7 which looks discouraging and so you switch. You get in on a trump from declarer and decide to play the ♣K upon which partner plays the ♣3 and declarer plays low. Is it now correct for you to lead another ♣ assuming that partner is giving count and has just two ♣'s and wants a ruff?

G. The same situation, you lead the ♣A and partner plays the ♣4. The ♣2 and ♣3 are unknown and so you are not sure if this is a low card to encourage. But you assume that it is and partner plays the ♣2 on your ? K. Is partner signaling a doubleton and wanting a ruff?

Unfamiliar partnerships

There are simply too many silly auctions occurring because of unfamiliar partnership mis-understandings. In an attempt to minimize these I have devised the following quick check-list which can quickly be agreed by a new partnership. I will ensure that copies are available before the game for all new partnerships. Please let me know if you think I have left anything important out, but note that I don’t want too long a list.

New Partner Basic Quick Checklist

This sheet is designed for new partnerships to quickly agree their basic system and is not exhaustive. The entry on the left is generally ‘Pattaya Standard’.

Bidding

Standard American □ 2/1 □ Other__

2♣ only strong bid □ 2♣ Benjamin □

2♦ weak □ 2♦ very strong □ Multi 2♦ □ Other__

2♥/♠ weak □ Other__

5 card majors □ 4 card majors □

short ♣ □ better minor □ Other__

Jacoby transfer □

Jacoby 2NT □ Swedish style □ natural 2NT over 1♥/♠ □

Splinters □

4^th suit forcing □ 4^th suit natural □

Michaels/UNT □

RKCB 3014 □ RKCB 1430 □ Blackwood □ Other__

Lebensohl when 1NT overcalled □

T.O. dbl usually short in suit opened □ T.O. dbl to show any opening hand □

1NT overcall in 4th seat: range: __

1NT opening:

15-17 □ 12-14 □ Other__

Defence to 1NT:

Multi Landy □ Cappelletti □ natural □ Other__

Signalling

1^st discard:

Lavinthal □ Std (high encourage) □ Inverted (low encourage) □

On partner’s lead:

Low encourage □ High encourage □ Other__

When declarer or dummy leads:

Standard count □ inverted count □

Other Agreements

Nobody bids the grand Board 17 from Wednesday 6^th

7♥ is cold, three pairs reached just 6♥ and one pair bid only 4♥. I give just the one ‘expert’ auction as I don’t know the auction at various tables.

Dealer: ♠ 87543 “Expert” table

East ♥ 764 West(B) North East South

N-S vul ♦ KQ32 - - pass pass

♣ 5 2♣ (1) pass 2♦ (2) dbl

2♥ (3) pass 2♠ (4) pass

♠ AQ2 N ♠ - 3♣ (5) pass 3♥ (6) pass

♥ KQJ83 W E ♥ A1092 4♥ pass 4♠ (7) pass

♦ A S ♦ J9875 4NT (8) pass 6♥ (9) pass

♣ AK102 ♣ QJ76 7♥ all pass

♠ KJ1096

♥ 5

♦ 1064

♣ 9843

(1) What did you open with this West hand B in this week’s quiz? The hand has good shape and evaluates at 9½ playing tricks and is worth your strongest bid. So 2♣ playing Standard.

(2) Waiting, game forcing playing two hearts negative.

(3) Either ♥’s or 25+ playing the Kokish Relay.

(4) Forced.

(5) Showing a strong ♥ hand with a 2^nd ♣ suit.

(6) Confirming ♥’s and stronger than 4♥ (slow arrival).

(7) A cuebid

(8) RKCB

(9) 1 keycard and a void in a suit higher ranking than trumps (so obviously ♠’s).

And what happened? 6♥+1, 6♥= twice and 4♥+3.

The bottom lines: -

- I don’t really know why nobody bid the grand which is easy as long as you avoid giving North a ♣ ruff. I know that there was a bidding mis-understanding at at least one table.

- I have written up the recommended (by Eddie Kantar) void responses to Roman keycard Blackwood in the news sheets a number of times and they have been on the website for a few years. They are from Eddie Kantar’s conventions book and also in his book on RKCB.

- Basically, 5NT shows 2 keycards and a useful void and a 6-level bid shows 1/3 keycards and a useful void. With 1/ 3 you bid 6 of the void suit if it is lower ranking than trumps and bid 6 of the trump suit if the void suit is higher ranking. Some people play it the other way round but there is no obvious advantage and I see no reason to disagree with Eddie Kantar who is acknowledged as the world’s expert on Roman Keycard Blackwood. I strongly suspect that Eddie’s reasoning behind his chosen method is that 1 keycard is the most likely response (that’s why 1430 was invented) and the void response for 1 keycard is more explicit than that for 2 keycards. Works for me.

Incorrectly blaming partner Board 4 from Wednesday 6^th

E-W got unnecessarily high here, and deservedly got doubled; who would you blame?

Dealer: ♠ 107432 West North East(A) South

West ♥ 942 1♠ pass 2♣ (1) 2♥

E-W vul ♦ J82 2♠ pass 3♣ (2) pass

♣ A3 3NT (3) pass 4♣ (4) dbl

all pass

♠ AKJ865 N ♠ -

♥ K76 W E ♥ 105

♦ K65 S ♦ Q10943

♣ 7 ♣ KJ9652

♠ Q9

♥AQJ83

♦ A7

♣ Q1084

(1) What did you bid with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? This 2♣ bid, with just 6 points and a mis-fit for partner is preposterous of course. It is 4-5 points shy of the required good 10-11 for a two level response. 1NT or pass are the sensible options.

(2) East overbids again, presumably there are no green cards in his bidding box? Partner has shown a 6-card ♠ suit and pass is clear if you had got yourself into this ridiculous situation in the first place. Stay low on mis-fits!

(3) With a presumed 25 or more points between the hands West reasonably tried 3NT as she had already shown 6 ♠’s.

(4) I can count only 6 ♣’s here, hardly a suit worth bidding three times? In fact I would not have bid the suit at all!

And what happened? 4♣* went three down for -800 and an obvious bottom on a partscore deal. Other results were 3♠*(W)-1, 4♦(E)= and 3♥(s)-3.

The bottom lines: -

- A new suit response at the two-level is a good 10-11 points or more.

- Apparently East tried to blame West for not letting him play in 3♣; when it is you yourself who has made two appalling bids it is bad manners to try to blame partner who has bid perfectly. Note that 8 tricks were made in ♠’s at another table.

To answer the question (who is to blame), it is clearly East.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s 1^st input concerning the play of the hand.

North South You are South declarer in 7♠. West leads a trump and the

♠ 10 ♠ AKQJ975 trumps split 3-2, plan the play

♥ A9642 ♥ K3

♦ QJ109 ♦ A32

♣ AQ10 ♣ 2

Dave’s Column answer Board 25 from Wednesday 6^th

Dealer: ♠ 10 Book Auction

North ♥ A9642 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ QJ109 - 1♥ pass 2♠ (1)

♣ AQ10 pass 3♦ pass 3♠

pass 3NT pass 4NT (2)

♠ 832 N ♠ 64 pass 5♥ pass 5NT (3)

♥ QJ105 W E ♥ 87 pass 6♠ (4) pass 7♠ (5)

♦ 87 S ♦ K654 all pass

♣ K843 ♣ J9765

♠ AKQJ975 (1) strong

♥ K3 (2) presumably Blackwood, although if you read

♦ A32 Easley Blackwood’s book ‘Blackwood on

♣ 2 slams’ he says that this is quantitative.

(3) Specific king ask

(4) No kings

(5) To quote the article, pass is prudent.

So, the book has made a shambolic auction to 7♠. A trump is lead, and they break 3-2, plan the play.

You should give yourself two chances. Draw trumps, discarding a ♣ and a ♦ from table and then play the ♥K, ♥A and ruff a ♥. If ♥’s are not 3-3 cross to the ♣A and take the ♦ finesse.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 7NT=, 6NT+1 twice and 4♠+3.

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

West East You are West, declarer in 6♠. North leads the ♦2, plan the play.

♠ AKQJ1065 ♠ 9432

♥ AJ103 ♥ Q95

♦ - ♦ A3

♣ J8 ♣ KQ54

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 26 from Wednesday 6^th

Dealer: ♠ 87 Book Bidding

East ♥ K8765 West North East South

Both vul ♦ K1052 - - 1♣ (1) 4♦

♣ A6 6♠ all pass

♠ AKQJ1065 N ♠ 9432 (1) I would not dream of opening this hand

♥ AJ103 W E ♥ Q95 in first or second seat.

♦ - S ♦ A3

♣ J8 ♣ KQ54 North leads the ♦2, plan the play

♠ -

♥ 4

♦ QJ98764

♣ 109732

It is an error to take the ♦A at trick one as West has no good discard yet. If declarer relies on the ♥ finesse that will fail and the ♣A means one down.

By leaving the ♦A in dummy, declarer has a chance to produce a “Morton’s Fork”. Play the ♦3 and ruff in hand. Then draw trumps keeping the lead in hand.

You have to hope that the ♣A is with North and so the next move is to lead the ♣8 (NOT the ♣J as at least one player did). If North ducks then dummy’s honour wins and you discard the ♣ loser from hand on the ♦A and try the ♥ finesse for a possible overtrick.

If North takes the ♣A and plays a ♦, you discard a ♥ on the ♦A, cross to the carefully preserved ♣J, return to dummy with the ♠9 and discard the other two ♥ losers on the ♣K,Q.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 6♠=, 6♠-1, 5♠= and 4♠+2.

Current Championship standings

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1812.8 Janne Roos 1788.5 Hans Vikman	643.2 Janne Roos 639.3 Hans Vikman 631.1 Sally Watson 625.5 Paul Quodomine 615.1 Lars Broman 611.1 Bob Short 609.2 Jean Wissing 607.6 Per Andersson 603.2 Jeremy Watson 596.2 Ivy Schlageter	331.8 Janne Roos 329.0 Hans Vikman 324.5 Sally Watson 321.7 Bob Short 321.3 Jeremy Watson 321.0 Per Andersson 320.9 Paul Quodomine 318.2 Ivy Schlageter 316.1 Lars Broman 315.7 Jean Wissing

.

Passing partner’s forcing bid Board 1 fom Friday 8^th

It’s up to you if you play 4^th suit forcing as a 1 round force or game forcing (the latter is much easier as you do not have to remember which sequences are game forcing and which are not). Whichever way you play it, the sequence below (sequence E) is absolutely game forcing.

Dealer: ♠ AQ842

North ♥ Q3 West North East South

Love all ♦ KJ94 - 1♠ pass 2♣ (1)

♣ 75 pass 2♦ pass 2♥ (2)

pass 2NT (3) pass 3♠ (4)

♠ 53 N ♠ 96 pass pass (5) pass

♥ A10986 W E ♥ J742

♦ Q83 S ♦ A1052

♣ 862 ♣ 1094

♠ KJ107

♥ K5

♦ 76

♣ AKQJ3

(1) This was an unfamiliar partnership and Jacoby 2NT had not been agreed.

(2) 4^th suit forcing.

(3) Showing a ♥ stop, I will not argue with this bid holding Qx.

(4) Showing ♠ raise and 100% forcing having invoked 4^th suit forcing. South bid this with the intention of setting ♠’s as trumps in a forcing sequence so that he could then bid RKCB in search of a possible slam.

(5) North did not see it that way and passed partner’s forcing bid.

And what happened? 3♠ made +2. Other results were 6♠-1, 5♠+1 and 5♠=

The bottom lines: -

- It’s up to you if you play 4^th suit forcing as a one round force or a game force.

- Playing it as a game force is much simpler and what I recommend, but either way this sequence E is game forcing as with an invitational hand South would bid 3♠ at (2), i.e. sequence D.

- Using 4^th suit forcing and then bidding either your own suit or partner’s suit at the three level is a standard way of setting up a game force when a direct 3-level bid would be just invitational.

- These sorts of problem can often be avoided by playing 2/1, where in this case a simple 2♠ at (2) would be a game force; but most 2/1 players play Jacoby 2NT of course.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1NT or pass. The hand is nowhere near worth a 2♣ response as chosen at one table. The hand has the values for 1NT but pass may work out best (if the opponents come in with ♥’s you may be able to double to show both minors).

Hand B: 2♣, to be followed by 2♥ and maybe later a ♣ bid. The hand is 9½ playing tricks and well worth your strongest bid.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

C 2♣ pass 2♦ pass

2♥ pass 3♥ pass You have to agree this, I play 5NT as 2 keycards and

4NT pass 5NT an unspecified void, as recommended by Eddie Kantar.

D 1♠ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ pass 3♠ 3♠ is (highly) invitational...

E 1♠ pass 2♣ pass

2♦ pass 2♥ pass

2NT pass 3♠ … so 3♠ here is absolutely forcing.

Signalling Quiz Answer

F. No, no, NO. Partner is NOT signaling count. His first card was discouraging and his second low card peter simply confirms this, partner does not have a doubleton nor the ♣Q but has one more irrelevant ♣. This is the second time recently that I have encountered a player who confuses attitude and count. I wrote an article on this in news-sheet 336.

G. No. Partner has something like ♣J42 and the ♣4 was the highest card that he could afford to discourage: a 4 is not necessarily an encouraging card. With ♣4,2 doubleton partner would play the ♣2 first to show encouragement.

It really is simple, if you play low to encourage and have a doubleton and want a ruff, you play low-high. OK? If you still don't understand then I suggest that you play the normal HELD – high to encourage