Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 363

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My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 25^th Oct 2009

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

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Mon 19^th N-S 1^st Kevin & Noreen 60% 2^nd Frode & Johan 58%

E-W 1^st Hans V & Alan P 61% 2^nd Paul Q & Janne 60%

Wed 21^st N-S 1^st Gerry & Per-Ake 60% 2^nd Paul Q & Terry Q 53%

E-W 1^st Hans V & Janne 57% 2^nd Dave & Jan 63%

Fri 23^rd 1^st Kevin & Noreen 60% 2^nd Paul Q & Hans V 59%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A it’s unfavourable vulnerability. RHO opens 1♥,

what do you do?

♠ Q10972 ♠ AJ843

♥ KJ8 ♥ 3 With Hand B LHO opens 1♦, partner doubles, and RHO

♦ 9 ♦ 965 bids 1♥, what do you bid?

♣ K764 ♣ K875

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 1♦ (4+) and RHO bids a weak 3♣.

What do you do?

♠ J8742 ♠ Q7

♥ K753 ♥ AK7 With Hand D it’s favourable vulnerability and partner opens 3♠.

♦ AK43 ♦ AJ6 (a) What do you bid (at this vulnerability it may be very weak)?

♣ - ♣ AK1065 (b) Suppose you choose RKCB and partner shows one keycard,

What do you bid, 5♠, 6♠ or 6NT?

Hand E Hand F With Hand E it’s love all, RHO opens 1♦, what do you bid?

♠ K652 ♠ Q109

♥ A975 ♥ AQJ1096 With Hand F LHO opens 1♦ and partner bids a weak 3♣. RHO

♦ 5 ♦ J8 bids 4♣, what do you do?

♣ QJ74 ♣ 106

I understand that you can take liberties when non-vul against vul, but in my opinion the two overcalls below are way over the top, and not the sort of bid you should make at a friendly club when one or both of your opponents are very inexperienced: -

Bidding with a three count – part 1? Board 9 from Monday 19^th

Dealer: ♠ K982 West North East South

North ♥ 87 - pass 1NT 2♠ (1)

E-W vul ♦ 86 3NT (2) all pass

♣ J9753

(1) This is ridiculous of course

♠ A N ♠ Q73 (2) West was a beginner and was apparently put

♥ J105 W E ♥ AK964 off looking for slam because of South’s bid.

♦ AKJ942 S ♦ Q3

♣ A4 ♣ KQ10

♠ J10653

♥ Q32

♦ 107

♣ 862

And what happened? 3NT+4 did not score well.

Bidding with a three count – part 2? Board 21 from Monday 19^th

Dealer: ♠ AQ52 West North East South

North ♥ 83 - 1♠ (1) pass 1NT (2)

N-S vul ♦ KQ104 pass pass 2♦ (3) pass

♣ AJ9 pass pass (4)

♠ KJ10 N ♠ 863 (1) This is the correct opening playing Acol

♥ A765 W E ♥ K42 (2) Again, this is correct as partner may well

♦ AJ5 S ♦ 9762 have only four ♠’s playing Acol.

♣ 864 ♣ 1032 (3) There is a lot to be said about balancing in the pass-out seat, but with a totally flat 3343 with

♠ 974 just three points outside the ‘long’ suit this is

♥ QJ109 totally ridiculous in my opinion even at this

♦ 83 vulnerability.

♣ KQ75 (4) Double would teach East something.

And what happened? East went only two down in his ludicrous contract; Deep Finesse says it should have gone four down which would doubtless have happened (doubled) if North/South were experienced players.

The bottom lines.

- Pattaya bridge club is a friendly club. It is perhaps acceptable to make these stupid bids against your peers, but in my opinion it is not acceptable if one of your opponents is inexperienced. More experienced players should bid sensibly against lesser opponents J

A good slam? Board 3 from Friday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ Q7 Table A

South ♥ AK7 West North(D) East South

E-W vul ♦ AJ6 - - - 3♠

♣ AK1065 pass 4♠ (1) all pass

♠ J6 N ♠ A8 Table B

♥ 9532 W E ♥ Q1064 West North East South

♦ K832 S ♦ 9754 - - - 3♠

♣ Q97 ♣ J42 pass 4NT (1) pass 5♦ (2)

♠ K1095432 pass 6♠ (3) pass

♥ J8

♦ Q10

♣ 83

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? I think it’s worth looking for slam – you never know, partner may even have the ♠AK!

Table B: (1) This North chose RKCB, which I agree with.

(2) 1 keycard playing 3014.

(3) What did you bid with this North hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? You know there are four trumps including a keycard missing. At this vulnerability partner’s opening may be pretty weak so is slam a good bet?

One player bid 5♠, two bid the 6♠ slam and I agree because:

(a) It may be the ♠K missing and if it’s onside you may even make 13 tricks.

(b) There may be an unavoidable ♠ loser but the odds are that there will be no more than one ♠ loser - assuming partner has the worst possible holding of Kxxxxxx then it’s 53%, with Axxxxxx it’s 65% and if partner has ♠KJxxxxx then it’s 90%.

(c) So are there any other losers? Probably not because partner has only 6 cards outside ♠’s and you cover 5 of these losers and the other should go away on a long ♣ provided no opponent has 5 ♣’s and that partner is not 7213 or a similar pattern that has a ♣ loser.

(d) And all of this is pessimistic; partner may well have a useful card apart from the ♠ keycard (she did not, but the ♠’s behaved for just one loser).

And what happened? Only two pairs bid the ♠ slam: 6♠= twice, 5♠+1, 4♠+2 and 4♠+1 and 6NT-5. The ♦ finesse was unnecessary as the ♣’s set up easily enough with just one ruff.

The bottom lines: -

- This is a good advert for playing RKCB rather than ordinary Blackwood, the knowledge that partner has a keycard is enough to bid the slam, but if you only know that an ace is missing then it’s pot luck if partner has the ♠K. J

- When partner pre-empts and you have a good hand like this North, do NOT bid No-trumps, you may well find that partner has no entry (as here). L

Bidding too high Board 13 from Friday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ A65 Table A

North ♥ 42 West(F) North East South(C)

Both vul ♦ Q10752 - 1♦ 3♣ (1) 4♣ (2)

♣ AK3 4♥ (3) pass (4) 5♣ pass

pass dbl all pass

♠ Q109 N ♠ K3

♥ AQJ1096 W E ♥ 8 Table B

♦ J8 S ♦ 96 West North East South

♣ 106 ♣ QJ987542 - 1♦ 4♣ (1) dbl

♠ J8742 pass pass (5) pass

♥ K753

♦ AK43

♣ -

Table A: (1) With eight ♣’s East had a long think and eventually decided on 3♣.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand C in this week’s quiz? The pair play that 1♦ is 4+ and this presumably agreed ♦’s and showed a ♣ control? Whatever it meant, I would not bid it. A negative double looks right to me (and as it happens leaves room for the only makeable game – 3NT). 4♣ is too high and goes past 3NT.

(3) What did you bid with this West hand F in this week’s quiz? Partner has shown a weak hand with 7+ ♣’s, North has opened and South has shown some sort of strong hand. Bidding this 6-card suit here is suicidal – it simply converted a top into a bottom.

(4) North was somewhat relieved that West had let him off the hook as he did not relish the idea of having to bid 4NT.

Table B: (1) This East chose to overcall 4♣.

(5) With three top tricks and nothing to speak of in the majors, North passed.

And what happened? 5♣*-3, 4♥*-3, 4♣*-2 4♦=, 4♦-1 and 4♠-1.

The bottom lines: -

- Don’t bid a new suit at the four level with a mediocre hand when partner has pre-empted and both opponents have shown values K

- In this particular deal East’s pre-empt at Table A had worked well J as it prompted South to mis-judge and bid too high. West’s bid simply undid all of the good work of his partner’s pre-empt L

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

North South West North East South

♠ 95 ♠ AQ7 pass pass pass 1♥

♥ KJ986 ♥ AQ1074 dbl 4♥ all pass

♦ KJ65 ♦ 84

♣ Q8 ♣ K105

West leads the ♥5. South drew two rounds of trumps and led a low ♣ to dummy’s ♣Q which held. He continued with a ♣ to his ♣10 and West’s ♣J. West leads the ♦2, should South play the ♦J or ♦K?

Dave’s Column answer Board 4 from Wednesday 21^st

Dealer: ♠ 95 Book Bidding

West ♥ KJ986 West North East South

both vul ♦ KJ65 pass (1) pass pass 1♥

♣ Q8 dbl 4♥ all pass

♠ KJ63 N ♠ 10842 (1) At one table West opened 1♣, and I would

♥ 5 W E ♥ 32 would not argue with opening the hand. It

♦ Q1072 S ♦ A93 is only 19 for the rule of 20 but 4441 type

♣ AJ63 ♣ 9742 is so much better than 4432 type.

♠ AQ7

♥ AQ1074 West leads the ♥5. South drew two rounds of trumps

♦ 84 and led a low ♣ to dummy’s ♣Q which held. He

♣ K105 continued with a ♣ to his ♣10 and West’s ♣J.

West leads the ♦2, should South play the ♦J or ♦K?

Should South play dummy’s ♦J or ♦K? At the table when the hand was originally played, South went up with dummy’s ♦K and a ♠ return ensured declarer’s defeat. There was no way to avoid a ♠ finesse – one down.

What evidence did South overlook to make the winning play in ♦’s? Instead of wondering about West’s possible scheming in ♦’s, South should have concerned himself with the location of the ♠K. If East has the ♠K then either play in ♦’s will land the game. If West has the ♠K, South must get the ♦’s right.

Given West’s bidding and the play this far, South knows that West began with the ♣AJ and the assumed ♦A and a singleton ♥, wouldn’t he have opened the bidding?

Analysis complete, South should insert the ♦J.

Terry comment: If West opens, as he did at at least one table, then declarer should presumably play the ♦K and go down against best defense?

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4♥*=, 4♥= five times, 4♥-1 and 3♥+1.

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

North South West North East South

♠ KQJ76 ♠ A43 - - 1♣ 1♥

♥ K2 ♥ AJ8754 pass 1♠ pass 2♠

♦ K743 ♦ 65 pass 4♠ all pass

♣ 85 ♣ J10

East cashes two top ♣’s and then shifts to a trump, how should North continue?

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 6 from Wednesday 7^th

Dealer: ♠ KQJ76 Book bidding

East ♥ K2 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ K743 - - 1♣ 1♥

♣ 85 pass 1♠ (1) pass 2♠ (2)

pass 4♠ (3) all pass

♠ 1095 N ♠ 82

♥ Q106 W E ♥ 93 (1) Constructive but non-forcing, at least that’s

♦ Q108 S ♦ AJ92 the way the majority play it.

♣ 9632 ♣ AKQ74 (2) Pass is the alternative (not 2♥).

♠ A43 (3) Knowing that South could have passed,

♥ AJ8754 North correctly assumed that South has a

♦ 65 decent hand in support of ♠’s.

♣ J10

East cashes two top ♣’s and then shifts to a trump, how should North continue?

The original declarer drew trumps, cashed the ♥K and played a ♥ to dummy’s ♥J. But West won with the ♥Q and exited with a ♣ - down four.

If trumps are 3-2 there is no need for heroics. You should win the trump switch in hand and cash another trump from hand. When they do split 3-2 you cash the ♥K, play a ♥ to the ♥A and ruff a ♥ high in hand. You then play a ♠ to dummy’s ♠A to collect ten major suit tricks.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Nobody bid the ♠ game. Results were:

4♥-2, 4♥-1, 3♥ +1, 3♥=, 2♥+2, 1♠+3 and 1♠+1.

Qui Culpa? Board 9 from Friday 23^rd

E-W let N-S play in 2♦ when they can make 8 or 9 tricks in ♠’s, who was to blame?

Dealer: ♠ A53 West(A) North East South

North ♥ 42 - pass pass 1♥

E-W vul ♦ Q1063 pass (1) 1NT pass 2♦

♣ QJ95 pass (2) pass pass (3)

♠ Q10972 N ♠ J864 (1) What did you bid with this West hand A in

♥ KJ8 W E ♥ A96 this week’s quiz? Even at this vulnerability

♦ 9 S ♦ 874 I see no reason not to make the obvious

♣ K764 ♣ A82 1♠ overcall.

♠ K (2) Double now would show the black suits,

♥ Q10753 but I much prefer to have shown the five

♦ AKJ52 card ♠ suit last go.

♣ 103 (3) I guess East could balance, but this flat hand

has defence and no offence and pass looks

fine. I put the blame squarely on West’s

shoulders.

And what happened? 3♠=twice, 2♠+1, 4♦-1, and 2♦+1 twice.

The Bottom Lines:

- With a 5-card major, overcall. You only need around 8 points and a reasonable suit to overcall at the one level.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♠. Even though you are vulnerable this hand is worth a 1-level overcall. The ♠ suit has good intermediates and the ♥ holding looks nice sitting over the opener.

Hand B: 4♠. I fully realize that many will consider the choice to be between 1♠, 2♠ or possibly 3♠. But although 4♠ may appear to be a slightly aggressive bid, the hand seems too good for anything less.

Hand C: dbl, negative and usually showing both majors. Even if you are playing a 4-card major system I would still double as it is descriptive and partner may have 5 ♦’s and a 4 card major.

Hand D: (a) 4NT, RKCB. Partner needs very little for slam.

(b) 6♠, this is odds-on even if partner has as little as ♠Kxxxxxx. Do NOT bid 6NT as partner may not have an entry.

Hand E: dbl. It’s only a 10-count but has perfect shape.

Hand F: pass, obviously. Both LHO and RHO have shown values and partner is weak.

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	1923.4 Hans Vikman 1912.1 Janne Roos 1875.7 Paul Quodomine 1804.7 Sally Watson 1732.1 Ivy Schlageter 1725.8 Bob Short 1709.7 Paul Scully 1708.2 Bob Pelletie	682.1 Hans Vikman 676.6 Janne Roos 655.3 Paul Quodomine 636.6 Sally Watson 625.4 Jeremy Watson 619.7 Ivy Schlageter 618.9 Bob Short 615.1 Lars Broman 614.1 Per-Ake Roskvist 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

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