Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 380

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My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 21^st Feb 2010

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

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Mon 15^th N-S 1^st Janne & Paul Q 58% 2^nd John B & Royd 58%

E-W 1^st Duplessy & Coutlet 66% 2^nd Bengt & Lars B 57%

Wed 17^th N-S 1^st Lars B & Tomas 70% 2^nd Paul Q & Terry Q 63%

E-W 1^st Duplessy & Coutlet 65% 2^nd Josteinn & Vaiur B 54%

Fri 19^th N-S 1^st Gun K & Jan 63% 2^nd Dave & Tomas 58%

E-W 1^st Mike G & Terry Q 60% 2^nd Janne & Lars B 58%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B What do you open with Hand A (2^nd seat)?

♠ 9875 ♠ AK32 With Hand B partner opens 1NT and you bid 2♣, Stayman.

♥ QJ6 ♥ - Partner bids 2♥, what do you bid now?

♦ A762 ♦ A82

♣ KQ ♣ Q98743

Hand C Hand D In what seats would you consider opening this Hand C?

♠ KJ43 ♠ 743

♥ K1032 ♥ AJ8 With Hand D partner opens 2♥, what do you bid?

♦ 103 ♦ A94

♣ A97 ♣ AQJ6

Bidding Sequence Quiz

E 1NT pass 2♣ pass What is 3♣ - is it to play or forcing?

2♠ pass 3♣

F 1NT pass 3♦ pass What is 3♦ - is it to play, invitational or forcing?

Passed out? Board 10 from Monday 15^th

The Pattaya bridge club’s aim is to be a friendly club above all – and not too serious; and to that end we endeavour to avoid pass-outs. On Mon/Fri the pre-dealt boards have a parameter that ensures that one hand has 12 or more points and so I am usually curious and have a look at a board that is passed out. I found this one very instructive.

Dealer: ♠ 10 Table A

East ♥ 8754 West North East South(A)

Both vul ♦ KQ54 - - pass 1♦ (1)

♣ J865 dbl 2♦ 2♠ (2) pass

pass 3♦ (3) all pass

♠ KJ43 N ♠ AQ62

♥ K1032 W E ♥ A9 Table B

♦ 103 S ♦ J98 West (C) North East South(A)

♣ A97 ♣ 10432 - - pass pass (1)

♠ 9875 pass (4) pass

♥ QJ6

♦ A762

♣ KQ

Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? Most opened the ‘obvious’ 1♦.

(2) This is a free bid and shows values.

(3) This N-S pair play a short ♣ and so North can raise to 3♦ knowing that partner has at least 4 ♦’s and that the opponents have at least 8 ♠’s.

Table B: (1) This South thought a bit more about opening with Hand A – this really is a lousy 12 points – the ♠ suit is poor and KQ doubleton is a bad holding. So he chose to pass – and I most certainly agree.

(4) Did you open with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? It’s only 11 points and so this West passed. But I would open (1♣). The hand has both majors and reasonable intermediates with two tens. A decent opener and especially so in third seat.

And what happened? 3♠-1 twice, 2♣-1, 2♠=, 2♥(N)-1 and 3♦(N)-1.

The bottom line:

- This hand belongs to E-W – Deep Finesse says that 3♠ makes and that N-S can make 2♦ at most.

- At my table (I was North at Table A) West rudely criticised my 3♦ bid. He was wrong – as he usually is in his verbose comments – as 2♠ makes easily and 3♦ is only one down.

- Hand evaluation is not just counting up points, this deal is a classic example, with a 12-pointer that is not worth an opening but an 11-pointer that is.

Finding a minor suit slam after a 1NT opening Board 31 from Monday 15^th

Just three pairs out of seven found a slam on this deal.

Dealer: ♠ AK32 Table A

South ♥ - West North(B) East South

N-S vul ♦ A82 - - - 1NT

♣ Q98743 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

pass 3NT (1) all pass

♠ J964 N ♠ 1087

♥ KJ92 W E ♥ Q10753 Table B

♦ QJ3 S ♦ 10764 West North(B) East South

♣ J6 ♣ 2 - - - 1NT

♠ Q5 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

♥ A864 pass 3♣ (1) pass 4♣

♦ K95 pass 6♣ all pass

♣ AK105

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? Obviously you bid 3♣ if your partner knows that it’s forcing. I simply bid 3NT as I ‘knew’ that my partner would consider 3♣ as weak and to play (he confirmed my suspicions later)

Table B: (1) This is the answer to question B. Most Standard American players play this as forcing – showing a 4 card major (so ♠’s here) and 5+ ♣’s and slam interest.

And what happened? 3NT+4 twice, 3NT+3 twice, 7♣*= and 6♣+1 twice.

The bottom line:

- Sequence E is generally played as forcing; however, it should really be agreed. If you play 4-way transfers then there is a case for playing it as weak and many European players play it as a shape ask – that’s what I recommend (SARS) in my NoTrump bidding book.

- In my book on NoTrump bidding I also recommend transferring to the minor (playing 4-way transfers) and then bidding the major (natural – 4 cards) with this type of North hand. It would work vey well here as South would super-accept the transfer to ♣’s and a ♣ slam would be easily reached.

- Well done Gun & Lennart Karlsson who were the only pair to reach 7♣.

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

North South West North East South

♠ 743 ♠ Q82 - - - 2♥

♥ AJ8 ♥ KQ10964 pass 2NT (1) pass 3♠

♦ A94 ♦ K6 pass 4♥ all pass

♣ AQJ6 ♣ 84 (1) Ogust

You are South, declarer in 4♥ and West leads the ♠A.You false-card with the ♠8 - by concealing the ♠2 you hope that West will read East’s card as encouraging. But E-W have their signals under control and West shifts to the ♦Q. How should South play to make 4♠?

Dave’s Column answer Board 11 from Wednesday 17^th

Dealer: ♠ 743

South ♥ AJ8 West North(D) East South

Love all ♦ A94 - - - 2♥ (1)

♣ AQJ6 pass 2NT (2) pass 3♠ (3)

pass 4♥ all pass

♠ AKJ N ♠ 10965

♥ 532 W E ♥ 7 (1) This South decided to open a top-of-the-range

♦ QJ105 S ♦ 8732 weak 2♥. 1♥ is a reasonable alternative.

♣ 732 ♣ K1095 (2) What did you bid with this North hand D in

♠ Q82 this week’s quiz? You want to be in game

♥ KQ10964 only if partner is maximum and Ogust

♦ K6 is the answer.

♣ 84 (3) Good hand and good suit.

West leads the ♠A. You false-card with the ♠8 - by concealing the ♠2 you hope that West will read East’s card as encouraging. But E-W have their signals under control and West shifts to the ♦Q. How should declarer play to make 4♠?

South won the ♦ shift with the ♦K, drew trumps and took the ♣ finesse. East won and returned a ♠ and down went the contract.

South played well enough in ♠’s but his ♣ finesse was likely to fail as West was marked with the ♥AK and ♦QJ and so it’s more likely that East has the ♣K.

On the ♦Q, declarer should play low from both hands. He wins the next ♦, takes the ♥K and ♥A and discards a ♣ on the ♦A. He then leads a ♣ for a ruffing finesse, intending to discard a ♠ if East plays low. When East covers, South ruffs, returns to dummy with a trump and discards a ♠ on the ♣J to ensure the contract.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♥= three times, 4♥-1 five times. At my table I was south and went down when West originally led the ♦Q instead of the ♠A and I had no reason not to try the ♣ finesse. At at least one other table the contract was made when West lead out the ♠AK.

The bottom lines:-

- The Ogust convention is popular in Europe but not so in America (where many play 2NT as asking for a feature). I have no idea how North should bid if not playing Ogust, I guess that South has to open 1♥.

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

West East

♠ AQ104 ♠ KJ3 You are West and end up in 4♠ after a rather contorted

♥ Q72 ♥ AK43 uninterrupted auction.

♦ AKQ76 ♦ 432 North leads the ♣K and continues ♣’s, plan the play.

♣ 8 ♣ 543

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 12 from Wednesday 17^th

Dealer: ♠ 9875 Book Bidding

West ♥ 9 West North East South

N-S vul ♦ J1085 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

♣ KQ109 1♠ pass 2♠ pass

3♥ pass 4♥ pass

♠ AQ104 N ♠ KJ3 4♠ all pass

♥ Q72 W E ♥ AK43

♦ AKQ76 S ♦ 432 Not the best of contracts. The 4-3 ♥ fit would

♣ 8 ♣ 543 normally be better than ♠’s as you ruff ♣’s in

♠ 62 the short trump hand. 5♦ is cold, but you end

♥ J10865 up in 4♠, so try to make it.

♦ 9

♣ AJ762

North leads the ♣K and South encourages. North continues with the ♣9, plan the play for West in 4♠.

When playing in a 4-3 trump fit, most of the time the critical issue is to keep control of the trump suit. Unless you are intending to cross-ruff and score your trumps separately, it is dangerous to shorten the hand with the greater trump length because trumps will divide 3-3 only about 1/3 of the time. It is always a good idea to consider alternative lines of play that cater for the more common trump division of 4-2 without jeopardizing the contract.

On this deal, you can afford to lose three tricks, so to avoid being forced with the West hand, discard the ♦6 and ♦7 on the second and third round of ♣’s. If the defense continue with a fourth round of ♣’s, you can ruff high in dummy. You will have four high ♠’s remaining to draw trumps.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? Not surprisingly, nobody ended up in ♠’s. 4♥-3, 4♥-2 twice, 3NT-1 three times, 3♦+2 and 3NT=.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Pass. This is a very poor 12 count – the ♣KQ doubleton is a poor holding and the ♠ suit is not anything to be proud of.

Hand B: 3♣, provided that you are sure that partner will not pass it. In SAYC the bid shows a 4-card major, 5+ ♣’s and slam interest.

Hand C: Any seat. It’s very clear in 3^rd seat and easily conforms to Pearson’s rule of 15 for 4^th seat. In first or second seat I would not argue with pass but with both majors and two tens I personally would open 1♣.

Hand D: 2NT – the Ogust convention. You only want to be in game if partner is maximum and the way to find that out is to use the Ogust convention. Note that a 3♥ bid is not invitational but is merely raising the pre-empt and that any other bid is game forcing..

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

E 1NT pass 2♣ pass Standard American players generally play 3♣ as forcing -

2♠ pass 3♣ showing a 4-card major and 5+ ♣’s. But it’s best to agree it as some play it as weak and others as a shape ask

F 1NT pass 3♦ pass This is again up to partnership agreement but most Standard American players play it as invitational (to 3NT) showing about 7 points and a 6-card ♦ suit. Opener is expected to pass or bid 3NT.

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		630.9 Hans Vikman 622.4 Janne Roos 614.1 Paul Quodomine 595.5 Lars Broman	321.7 Hans Vikman 320.9 Janne Roos 319.6 Sally Watson 319.5 Paul Quodomine 319.5 Duplessy & Coutlet 312.9 Lars Broman 311.2 Tomas Wikman 300.4 Jean Wissing 298.6 Holger Renken 296.0 Gun Karlsson