Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 361

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 11^th Oct 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 5^th 1^st Jeremy & Sally 64% 2^nd Hans V & Paul Sc 59%

Wed 7^th N-S 1^st Bob P & Nick 60% 2^nd Mike G & Royd 56%

E-W 1^st Hans V & Janne 63% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 58%

Fri 9^th 1^st Hans V & Paul Q 61% 2^nd Bengt & Alan P 58%

	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

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♦ and you bid 1♥. Partner rebids

2NT, what do you bid?

♠ AK73 ♠ AK

♥ 9862 ♥ AQ8 With Hand B you open 2NT (20-21) and partner bids 4NT,

♦ J4 ♦ AQ103 what do you bid?

♣ Q103 ♣ Q872

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 2NT (20-21), what do you bid.

♠ QJ ♠ K10863

♥ KJ9 ♥ J109872 With Hand D partner opens a gambling 3NT (long solid

♦ K972 ♦ - minor with nothing outside). RHO doubles, what do you do?

♣ AKJ3 ♣ 42

Hand E Hand F What do you open with Hand E?

♠ J54 ♠ A97

♥ - ♥ J652 With Hand F partner opens 1♥, what do you bid?

♦ AKQ10542 ♦ KQ6

♣ 1097 ♣ 853

These next two are from Paul’s column:

Hand G Hand H With Hand G LHO opens 1♠ and RHO bids 2♠. This is passed

round to partner who doubles. What do you bid?

♠ 10xxx ♠ 765

♥ KQx ♥ A With Hand H LHO opens 1♥ and this is passed to you.

♦ Qxx ♦ KQ95 (a) What do you bid?

♣ J9x ♣ KQ962 Suppose you double, partner bids 1♠ and RHO bids 2♥,

(b) what do you do now?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

J 1♠ dbl redbl pass

pass 2♦ dbl What is the second double – take out or penalties?

K 1♥ pass pass dbl

pass 1♠ 2♥ dbl What is the second double – take out or penalties?

After a 2NT rebid Board 9 from Monday 5^th

Dealer: ♠ AK73 Table A

North ♥ 9862 West North(A) East South

E-W vul ♦ J4 - pass pass 1♦

♣ Q103 pass 1♥ pass 2NT (1)

pass 3♣ (2) pass 4♥ (3)

♠ J942 N ♠ 1086 all pass

♥ KQ75 W E ♥ 1043

♦ 93 S ♦ Q865 Table B

♣ 765 ♣ K98 West North(A) East South

♠ Q5 - pass pass 1♦

♥ AJ pass 1♥ pass 2NT (1)

♦ AK1075 pass 3♣ (2) pass 3♦ (4)

♣ AJ42 pass 3NT all pass

Table A: (1) 3♣ is the alternative, but with values in both majors I slightly prefer 2NT.

(2) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? Partner may well have four ♠’s but a 3♠ bid here would imply 5 ♥’s. 3NT may miss a 4-4 ♠ fit. Even if you have not agreed to play New Minor Forcing in this situation 3♣ is clearly best unless you play PARROT.

(3) Totally absurd of course. 3♦ is fairly clear or 3NT will work.

Table B: (4) This South just bid sensibly.

And what happened? 4♥ managed to find a 4-2 fit and the worst possible game. Results were 3NT+3 three times; 3NT+2, 3NT+1 and 4♥=.

The bottom lines.

- For those who have not agreed any convention it’s best to play any bid over a strong 2NT jump rebid as game forcing. K

- There is absolutely no need to jump to 4♥ in a game forcing situation. L

- There are a few conventions you can use after the jump 2NT rebid, NMF is possible but does not adequately allow for weak responding hands. Easily the best scheme for more advanced players is the PARROT convention which is defined on the website. J

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s first problem on the play of the hand.

North South West North East South

♠ AK32 ♠ 854 - 2NT pass 4♣

♥ AQ10 ♥ 763 pass 4NT pass 6NT

♦ J4 ♦ AKQ109 all pass

♣ AQ54 ♣ K2

You are North, declarer in 6NT. East leads the ♣J, plan the play

Dave’s Column answer Board 25 from Wednesday 7^th

Dealer: ♠ AK32 Book Bidding

North ♥ AQ10 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ J4 - 2NT (1) pass 4♣ (2)

♣ AQ54 pass 4NT (3) pass 6NT

all pass

♠ QJ107 N ♠ 96

♥ K952 W E ♥ J84 (1) 20-21

♦ 863 S ♦ 752 (2) Gerber – asking for aces

♣ 83 ♣ J10976 (3) three

♠ 854

♥ 763

♦ AKQ109 East leads the ♣J, plan the play

♣ K2

You start with eleven top tricks: two ♠’s, one ♥, five ♦’s and three ♣’s. Excluding squeeze chances there are two logical lines: duck a ♠, hoping for a 3-3 break, or take two ♥ finesses.

A 3-3 split is 35.5% as shown in the suit split tables. One of two finesses will win 76% of the time. So the correct line is very clear and works quite simply here.

A third option is to duck a ♠ and if the ♠’s do not divide 3-3 then finesse the ♥Q, that line is 67.8% and so is inferior to the double ♥ finesse but unfortunately (Terry comment) the problem was set so that this inferior line also works, as does the far inferior line of first finessing the ♥Q. In fact it’s virtually impossible not to make 12 tricks..

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 6NT+1, 6NT five times and 3NT+4. Everybody made the easy 12 tricks one way or the other except two who made 13 tricks when they took the inferior line of first finessing the ♥Q and East subsequently discarded ♣’s on the run of the ♦’s. It would have been a slightly better problem if the ♥J and ♥K were interchanged, but it really is no problem at all as any line works for 12 tricks.

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

West East West North East South

♠ QJ ♠ AK - - 2NT pass

♥ KJ9 ♥ AQ8 7NT all pass

♦ K972 ♦ AQ103

♣ AKJ3 ♣ Q872

You are East, declarer in 7NT and South leads the ♠10. You win the opening lead and tricks 2-5 are four rounds of ♣’s as South discards two ♠’s and North one ♥. Tricks 6-8 are three rounds of ♥’s and South discards a ♠. Trick 9 is a second round of ♠’s with all following. Trick 10 is the ♦A and all follow. How should declarer play the ♦ suit now?

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

Dealer: ♠ 7642 Table A

East ♥ 107642 West(C) North East(B) South

Both vul ♦ 5 - - 2NT pass

♣ 1065 4NT (1) pass pass (2) pass

♠ QJ N ♠ AK Table B

♥ KJ9 W E ♥ AQ8 West(C) North East(B) South

♦ K972 S ♦ AQ103 - - 2NT pass

♣ AKJ3 ♣ Q872 4NT (1) pass 6NT (2) pass

♠ 109853 7NT all pass

♥ 53

♦ J864 South leads the ♠10, plan the play in 7NT

♣ 94

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? I know it’s a very silly question but THREE people out of seven did in fact bid 4NT. This is ridiculous for two reasons:

(a) It is not asking for aces, but is simply invitational to 6NT. 4♣, Gerber, would be asking for aces.

(b) There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to ask for aces (or kings) – you have a combined 38-39 points and you know that all aces and kings are present.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? Assuming that your 2NT opening was 20-21 then this is very close. You have no long suit and the ♠AK doubleton is a very poor holding. I agree with this pass.

Table B: (2) This East had no trust whatsoever in his partner, and so simply bid 6NT.

So, ridiculous bidding by three players. Anyway, let’s assume that the bidding was the simple obvious one from the book – 2NT p 7NT – how do you play the hand?

You win the opening lead and tricks 2-5 are 4 rounds of ♣’s as South discards two ♠’s and North one ♥. Tricks 6-8 are three rounds of ♥’s and South discards a ♠. Trick 9 is a second round of ♠’s with all following. Trick 10 is the ♦A and all follow. How should declarer play the ♦ suit now?

From the play to the first 10 tricks, North is known to have started with five ♥’s, three ♣’s, at least two ♠’s and at least one ♦. Therefore North cannot have four ♦’s but South might. Cash the ♦Q, if all follow then ♦’s are 3-2 and you are home. If North shows out – as here, then finesse against South’s original ♦Jxxx.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 7NT= twice, 4NT+3 and 7NT-1 four times.

The gambling Three NoTrumps Board 5 from Wednesday 7^th

It’s the second week in a row that a good example of this rare opening bid has come up.

Dealer: ♠ J54 Table A

North ♥ - West North(E) East South

N-S vul ♦ AKQ10542 - 1♦ (1) dbl pass

♣ 1097 1♥ 2♦ 2♥ (2) all pass

♠ Q2 N ♠ A97 Table B

♥ Q543 W E ♥ A106 West North(E) East South(D)

♦ J87 S ♦ 963 - 3NT (1) dbl pass (3)

♣ 8653 ♣ AKQJ 4♥ (4) pass pass dbl

♠ K10863 all pass

♥ J109872

♦ -

♣ 42

Table A: (1) What did you open with this North hand E in this week’s quiz? This is a classic 3NT opener.

(2) With only three ♥’s and a poor ♦ holding, East sensibly stayed low.

Table B: (1) This North knows a 3NT opener when he sees one.

(3) What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? This pass worked out well but it is very dangerous – partner is favorite to have ♦’s and so will never get to his hand if 3NT doubled gets passed out. 4♣ (pass or correct) is the best bid.

(4) Luckily for South, West clearly has to bid 4♥.

And what happened? Results were all over the place, as you might expect with a distributional deal like this and with the Gambling 3NT not being agreed by all partnerships. We had 4♥* by West and 6♥* by South and just about everything in between.

The bottom lines.

- remember the gambling three no trumps, it is an excellent descriptive bid that tells partner exactly what you have J

That terrible 4333 shape again Board 8 from Friday 9^th

Dealer: ♠ Q10864 Table A

West ♥ 103 West(F) North East South

Love all ♦ A85 pass pass 1♥ pass

♣ 1072 3♥ (1) pass 4♥ (2) all pass

♠ A97 N ♠ KJ Table B

♥ J652 W E ♥ AQ874 West(F) North East South

♦ KQ6 S ♦ J109 pass pass 1♥ pass

♣ 853 ♣ K96 2♥ (1) pass pass (3) pass

♠ 532

♥ K9

♦ 7432

♣ AQJ4

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand F in this week’s quiz? Ten points is borderline between 2♥ and 3♥ (or 2♣/2♦ if you play some form of Drury to show a sound raise to 3♥ by a passed hand), but with four trumps it’s usually best to upgrade and make a try. But see what I bid at table B.

(2) With a good 14 East obviously accepts.

Table B: (1) This is my answer to question F – knock off a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape and the hand is only worth a simple raise.

(3) East’s hand is nowhere near good enough to make a try.

And what happened? 2♥=, 2♥+1 twice, 4♥-1 twice and 4♥*-1. Deep Finesse says that 2♥ is the limit of the hand. So half of the field overbid on this deal, presumably because I have not mentioned the terrible 4333 type shape for a while?

The bottom lines.

- remember the dreaded 4333 type shape and deduct a point. J

Paul’s Column Board 13 from Friday 9^th

Terry has not shown any particular enthusiasm for the Swedish system of responding to 1NT openings. It is in jest, but Friday’s session provided an opportunity for the Swedes to laugh right back.

I was playing with Hans Vikman, and had (I think) mastered the Swedish responses and follow up bids when the following hand (board 13) arose. It provides an excellent example of the inadequacies of standard bidding over 1NT, an endorsement of the Swedish and Terry’s systems, and perhaps the strongest endorsement of the system I provided Terry and play with him, which I was told was “Walsh system of responding to 1NT ”. All these are available on his website under section 2 of “Conventions”. The hand in question:

Dealer: ♠ AK7 Swedish style bidding

North ♥ A84 West North East South

Both vul ♦ J97 - 1NT (1) pass 2♣ (2)

♣ KJ96 pass 2♦ (3) pass 2NT (4)

pass 3♣ (5) pass 4NT (6)

♠ 9843 N ♠ 106 pass 5♣ (7) pass 6♣ (8)

♥ Q102 W E ♥ KJ9653 all pass

♦ K8652 S ♦ 4

♣ 10 ♣ 8752

♠ QJ52

♥ 7

♦ AQ103

♣ AQ43

In "standard" methods after North opens 1NT South has an easy 2♣ (Stayman) inquiry. But when North rebids 2♦? 3 of a minor here usually shows a game force with 5+ in the minor and an unspecified 4 card major. South doesn't have that and must guess. Alternatively South may just punt with 3NT.

At our table, playing the Swedish system (the opponents passing):

(1) 1NT (15-17)

(2) 2♣ (Stayman, with other possible implications)

(3) 2♦ (no 4 or 5 card major). Janne will SCREAM at this, but Hans agrees, 1NT with a weak 5 card major is acceptable.

(4) 2NT (forcing to game, tell me more! This is the key bid here.)

(5) 3♣ (I have 4 or 5 ♣’s)

(6) 4NT (RKCB for ♣’s) WOW! That takes balls/cojones/huevos/macho!

(7) 5♣ (0 or 3 keycards)

(8) 6♣ ........ a good guess! And perhaps forced after 3NT was gone at matchpoints and you know that 5♣ will score badly with many of the field is in 3NT. Still a very good 4-4 minor suit slam was reached, something even the top experts often find problematic after a 1NT opening.

Should responder charge beyond 3NT into what may be an inferior club contract? Of course Hans did, and got somewhat lucky.

Terry Note. Paul had a sequence here using the SARS convention from the No Trump bidding book, where he demonstrated that it did not work well on this deal. That is totally correct and SARS should not be used and so I have replaced his sample auction with one using the correct convention:

Using ambiguous splinters over partner's 1NT, as described in the NoTrump bidding book on page 213, the bidding would be:

1NT (15-17)

3♠ three suited with ♥ shortage

4♣ ♣’s are trumps, slam interest.

4♦ RKCB (Kickback for ♣’s)

4♥ three keycards

6♣

With the Swedish system the issue of how much heart strength is in the opener's hand is unresolved and leaves responder in sole control of the auction with inadequate information.

Using "Walsh responses to 1NT" ... all right, I was TOLD it is that but have never seen it attributed to Rhoda Walsh, one of the finest women players who ever lived. I had the pleasure of playing against her in a Regional Tournament matchpoint event in Virginia when I had about 20 masterpoints! The only table covered with a white tablecloth and a distinguished lady in a wheelchair sitting permanent North.

When my partner later asked "Do you know who that was?" I think my response was something very erudite like "Who 'dat??" But I digress. The auction using "Walsh":

1NT (15-17)

2NT (transfer to 3♣ showing a desire to play 3♣ OR a 3 suited game force)

3♣ (forced response)

3♥ (3 suited game force with a singleton or occasionally void in ♥’s)

4♣ (I don't have hearts well covered for NT opposite shortness)

4♦ (cuebid, slam interest)

4♥ (cuebid)

5♣ (no further control)

6♣ (I have 4 good trumps, the AKx of spades opposite partner's length, the Axx of H opposite shortness, and fillers in ♦’s ... in short a "pure" hand. Could partner want more?) This 6♣ is bid with confidence.

The advantage of the Walsh (and Terry's ambiguous splinters) system is that the NT opener can evaluate his/her holding quickly opposite known shortness and opt for 3NT or a minor, or even a 4-3 major fit eliminating some guesswork by responder. There is a continuing dialogue with both participating based on accurate knowledge of the holdings.

The advantage of the Swedish system is that the situations arise more often on lesser hands, and Terry’s ambiguous splinters require a lot of memorization. Still, if you read about Walsh you will find virtually every type of responder's hand can be accurately described putting opener in the auction as a participant.

Imagine how poor 6♣ would look if opener/responder had:

♠ AKx ♠ QJxx

♥ AKJ ♥ x

♦ xxx ♦ AQ10x

♣ Jxxx ♣ AQxx and how good 3NT would be!

Terry Comment about the previous deal with a singleton opposite a No Trump opening. I believe that it was meant to be a mild knocking of both the Swedish system and mine for having no mechanism for showing a three suited hand. Paul originally gave a SARS sequence, but ‘my’ system does actually have a scheme specifically for three-suited hands. I believe that ‘My’ system caters for just about everything but I do agree that it is a bit taxing on the memory. My (Terry) opinion of the Swedish system remains unaltered and this deal certainly does nothing to change it. Now more from Paul:

Also from Friday, the East hand H from board 7:

♠ 765

♥ A

♦ KQ95

♣ KQ962

After 1♥, P, P, it is your call. What did you bid with this hand H(a) in this week’s quiz? The best bid in my opinion is a take out double. LHO passes, partner bids 1♠, and RHO bids 2♥.

What do you bid - question H(b) in the quiz? I think that a second double here shows exactly what you have, moderate spade support and very good holdings in the minors. This player passed. Double is STILL take out though convertible by partner. The bottom line was that 2♥ made, and E/W were on for 4♦ with their 4-4 fit. The second double of the same suit by a player who has initially made a take out double is STILL take out unless the opponents have jacked up the auction to the stratosphere. And as no less a player than the legendary Edgar Kaplan said "Take out doubles are meant to be taken out." Unless the partner holds extraordinary defense in the opponents suit it usually pays to bid something, even a 3 card holding. The opponents frequently go a level higher where you can defend and they WON'T get the distribution right!

A perfect example occurred Wednesday when the auction went 1♠, P, 2♠, P, P, and partner doubled. I held ♠10xxx ♥KQx ♦Qxx ♣J9x What did you bid with Hand G in this week’s quiz? I bid 3♣ ... this is a scrambling auction and you go slowly. 3♣ was passed out and went only one down non-vulnerable for a top. Partner had AQxxx in ♣’s and only Jxx in ♥’s for those of you who opted for 3♥! His hand: ♠x ♥Jxx ♦K10xx ♣AQxxx was fine for his double. 2♠ by the opponents was making. When you are scrambling, bid as cheaply as possible until doubled and don’t assume that a protective take-out double of ♠’s in the pass-out seat guarantees 4 ♥’s.

Board 16 from Friday was an example of lunacy:

After P, P, P, this player opened 1♣ holding ♠KJ ♥Jx ♦AKxx ♣AQ10xx. LHO bid 2♠ which was raised to 3♠ by RHO. What did this player do opposite a partner who had shown precisely nothing? He bid 4♣ and got what he deserved, a bottom. Venturing to the 4 level on a broken 5 card suit with no support indicated was ridiculous. He even had the good fortune to find partner with Kxxx of clubs and still went down! 3♠ would have been one down. But some folks just feel they HAVE to bid even when their hand has been devalued by the auction.

< End of Paul’s Column>

Thanks for the column Paul, I’m sure everybody appreciates your effort and enjoys something a bit different rather than me saying the same thing week after week.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3♣. Even if you have not agreed to play NMF this is the best bid. 3♠ would imply

5 ♥’s and 3NT may miss a 4-4 ♠ fit. For more advanced players who play PARROT in this situation then 3♦ is the bid to ask about partner’s majors as 3♣ is generally used to sign off at the three level (like the Wolff sign off) when playing PARROT.

Hand B: Pass. This is close, your 2NT bid is 20-21 so you are max, but you have no 5-card suit and the doubleton ♠AK are poor cards, so pass is my opinion.

Hand C: 7NT. There are at most 2 points missing. If you really want to ask for aces (or kings) then use 4♣ (and then 5♣), Gerber. 4NT (as chosen by three! players) is totally wrong as it is invitational and passable.

Hand D: 4♣, pass or correct. Partner probably has ♦’s and if you pass 3NT doubled and that gets passed out then partner will never get to his hand and you will go six or seven down.

Hand E: 3NT. This is a classic Gambling 3NT opener (although some purists would like the jack if only a 7 card suit).

Hand F: 2♥. Deduct a point for the poor 3433 shape and it’s only worth a single raise, even with four trumps.

And from Paul’s column we have:

Hand G: I bid 3♣ ... this is a scrambling auction and you should go slowly. Partner had AQxxx in ♣’s and Jxx in ♥’s for those of you who chose to bid 3♥.

Hand H: (a) dbl, a take-out double is the best bid in my opinion.

(b) dbl, this is still take-out but with the emphasis on the minors.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

J 1♠ dbl redbl pass Penalties. All doubles by responder or opener after a redouble

pass 2♦ dbl are for blood.

K 1♥ pass pass dbl The 2^nd double is still for take-out, showing both minors

pass 1♠ 2♥ dbl and probably exactly three ♠’s.

Current club championship standings

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1913.6 Hans Vikman 1905.4 Janne Roos 1867.7 Paul Quodomine 1802.9 Sally Watson 1728.7 Ivy Schlageter 1725.8 Bob Short 1709.7 Paul Scully	680.4 Hans Vikman 674.5 Janne Roos 655.2 Paul Quodomine 636.6 Sally Watson 625.4 Jeremy Watson 619.7 Ivy Schlageter 618.9 Bob Short 615.1 Lars Broman 611.9 Bob Pelletier 611.2 Gerard/Derek	351.7 Hans Vikman 350.6 Janne Roos 336.7 Paul Quodomine 326.0 Sally Watson 325.4 Jeremy Watson 325.3 Ivy Schlageter 321.7 Bob Short 321.0 Per Andersson 316.9 Terje Lie 316.1 Lars Broman