Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 391

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880 9^th May 2010

My e-mail is terry@pattayabridge.com or pattayabridge@yahoo.com

My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

Mon 3^rd 1^st Bengt & Terry Q 59% 2^nd Hans V & Janne 59%

Wed 5^th N-S 1^st Dave C & Mike G 60% 2^nd Paul K & Sean 55%

E-W 1^st Alan K & Paul Q 61% 2^nd Bengt & Guttorm 57%

Fri 7^th 1^st Dave C & Tomas 60% 2^nd Mike G & Johan 57%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hands A & B it’s favourable vulnerability and there are two passes to you in 3^rd seat:

♠ KQJ10973 ♠ KQ97543

♥ A32 ♥ Q32 What do you open with Hand A?

♦ Q3 ♦ 43

♣ 5 ♣ 5 What do you open with Hand B?

Hand C Hand D With Hand C it is favourable vulnerability. You pass as

dealer and partner opens 3♠, passed to you. What do you do?

♠ 86 ♠ AJ4

♥ K5 ♥ AJ543

♦ AK106 ♦ A85 With Hand D partner opens 1♥, what do you bid?

♣ J9763 ♣ A10

Bidding Sequence Quiz

E 1♥ pass 2♣ pass How many ♣’s does 2♣ promise?

F 1♠ pass 2♣ pass How many ♣’s does 2♣ promise?

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	1826.1 Paul Quodomine 1823.5 Janne Roos 1785.9 Hans Vikman	649.0 Janne Roos 641.2 Hans Vikman 638.3 Paul Quodomine 626.8 Tomas Wikman 619.8 Lars Broman 615.9 Jean Wissing 609.5 Duplessy & Coutlet 597.8 Bengt Malgren 586.4 Bob Short 585.1 Johan Bratsburg	330.4 Janne Roos 329.6 Tomas Wikman 327.9 Hans Vikman 324.8 Sally Watson 323.4 Paul Quodomine 322.9 Lars Broman 320.3 Jean Wissing 319.5 Duplessy & Coutlet 308.2 Bob Short 305.7 Bengt Malmgren

The power of a fit Board 6 from Monday 3^rd May

If a 4-4 fit is ‘golden’ then a 5-5 major suit fit is... well, you certainly don’t want to play in NoTrumps: -

Dealer: ♠ 953 Table A

East ♥ 6 West(D) North East South

E-W vul ♦ QJ10 - - 1♥ pass

♣ QJ6543 2♣ (1) pass 2NT pass

6NT (2) all pass

♠ AJ4 N ♠ K107

♥ AJ543 W E ♥ KQ1072 A Possible Auction

♦ A85 S ♦ K2 West(D) North East South

♣ A10 ♣ K82 - - 1♥ pass

♠ Q862 2NT (1) pass 3NT (3) pass

♥ 98 4NT (4) pass 5♦ (5) pass

♦ 97643 5NT (6) pass 7♥ (7) all pass

♣ 97

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand D in this week’s quiz? This misleading bid is totally beyond my comprehension. Anyway, it was game forcing in their system and apparently promised no more than two ♣’s which I think is ridiculous, I would assume 4+ ♣’s as explained in sequence E.

(2) And this second bid is also totally beyond the comprehension of a simple soul like me – surely 5-5 major suit fits are heaven sent and meant to be played in? Partner MUST have at most a doubleton in one suit and unless it is unluckily in ♣’s then it seems to me that you will get an extra trick with a ruff. This is taking ‘Matchpoint bidding’ to an unsound extreme.

Possible: (1) This is the obvious bid and the answer to question D in this week’s quiz, assuming that you play the Jacoby 2NT convention. This is clearly far better than a fatuous 2♣ bid as it shows support and asks partner to describe his hand pretty accurately.

(3) Promising a bit more than minimum with no shortage or other 5-card suit.

(4) RKCB. Knowing that partner has a relatively balanced hand with about 14 points (no 1NT opening so presumably not 15+) then 6♥ is probably a better alternative.

(5) 1 or 4 keycards playing 3014 responses.

(6) Kings?

(7) It’s up to your partnership what responses you play, but partner is looking for a grand and has all of the aces. Since you have all of the kings in addition to the trump queen this seems reasonable to me.

And what happened? 6NT=, 6NT-1, 6♥+1, 6♥= and 5♥+2

The bottom lines:

- I simply cannot understand why two West’s decided to play in 6NT when there is a known 5-5 ♥ fit. These 6NT bids are a silly ‘pairs’ bid which actually is not sound – the hand will make one more trick in ♥’s and so if declarer guesses the ♠’s right then he makes either 6NT or 7♥; guess wrong then 6NT goes down but 6♥ makes.

Doing a Chuck Board 3 from Monday 12^th April

Looks like we have another contender for the ‘doing a Chuck’ crown:

Dealer: ♠ KQJ10973 Table A

South ♥ A32 West North(A) East South(C)

E-W vul ♦ Q3 - - - pass

♣ 5 pass 3♠ (1) pass pass (2)

all pass

♠ A54 N ♠ 2

♥ QJ86 W E ♥ 10974 Table B

♦ J982 S ♦ 754 West North(A) East South

♣ 104 ♣ AKQ82 - - - pass

♠ 86 pass 1♠ (1) pass 2♦ (3)

♥ K5 pass 3♠ (4) pass 4♠

♦ AK106 all pass

♣ J9763

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? This, especially at this vulnerability, is much too strong in my opinion.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand C in this week’s quiz? This looks totally obvious to me and the hand is nowhere near worth a raise to 4♠.

Table B: (1) This is the obvious bid and the answer to question A in this week’s quiz.

(3) Apparently preferring to bid the suit with the AK rather the jack high suit.

(4) And not only is the North hand worth an opening bid, it has improved with partner’s 2♦ response and is worth a jump to 3♠ or maybe even simply 4♠.

And what happened? At Table A, when dummy was placed on the table, North immediately ‘did a Chuck’ – laying into South for not raising to 4♠!! EVERYBODY else was in game of course, typically with sensible bidding as at table B. Results were 4♠+2, 4♠+1 four times, 3♠+2 and 3NT-1.

The bottom line:

- Hand A is FAR too good for a pre-empt at favourable vulnerability, especially in 3^rd seat.

When you do something stupid, do not then ‘do a Chuck’, instead apologise to partner for your poor decision.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s first input, a defensive problem.

N ♠ Q74 West North East South

W E ♥ QJ6 - - 1NT pass

S ♦ KQ108 2♣ pass 2♦ pass

♣ AQ9 3♥ pass 4♥ all pass

♠ 9632

♥ 72 You are South, defending 4♥. Partner leads a ♣ and dummy plays

♦ A76 low. You win with the ♣K, what card (exact please) do you return?

♣ K876

Dave’s Column answer Board 14 from Wednesday 5^th May

Dealer: ♠ AJ Book Bidding

East ♥ K9 West North East South

Love all ♦ 95432 - - 1NT pass

♣ 10532 2♣ (1) pass 2♦ pass

3♥ (2) pass 4♥ all pass

♠ K1085 N ♠ Q74

♥ A109853 W E ♥ QJ6 (1) Looking for a 4-4 ♠ fit rather than insisting

♦ J S ♦ KQ108 on ♥’s.

♣ J4 ♣ AQ9 (2) Forcing and natural. If you play Smolen (3♠)

♠ 9632 or Quest transfers (3♦) then opener gets to

♥ 72 be declarer.

♦ A76

♣ K876

Anyway, with this bidding declarer is West and you are South. Partner leads the ♣2 and dummy plays low. You win with ♣K, what do you lead at trick two?

The first time the board was played South won the ♣K and could see that the defense needed a trick in each suit. He might have cashed his ♦A next, but instead he led the ♠2. North took the ♠A and returned … the ♠J. West won, cashed the ♥A, took the ♣AQ to discard his ♦J and led another trump to make his contract.

South’s error was that when he led the ♠2 (a low card) that signified that he wanted a ♠ return. Since South did not want a ♠ back he should have led the ♠9 and then North would doubtless have returned a ♦ to defeat the contract.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♥= four times, 4♥-1 twice and 6♥-2. The 6♥ was a bidding understanding. At another table I was West and with an unfamiliar/inexperienced partner I took no chances and simply bid 4♥ at (2).

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s second problem, again on defense.

Dealer: ♠ 643

South ♥ 852 West North East South

N-S vul ♦ 72 - - - 2NT

♣ A10987 pass 3NT all pass

♠ QJ1098 N

♥ J94 W E You are West, defending 3NT. You lead the ♠Q, partner

♦ 865 S wins with the ♠K and returns the ♠2. Declarer wins with

♣ Q3 the ♠A and leads a low ♣, what do you do?

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 14 from Wednesday 5^th May

Dealer: ♠ 643 Book Bidding

South ♥ 852 West North East South

N-S vul ♦ 72 - - - 2NT

♣ A10987 pass 3NT all pass

♠ QJ1098 N ♠ K2

♥ J94 W E ♥ Q1076

♦ 865 S ♦ QJ109

♣ Q3 ♣ J62

♠ A75

♥ AK3 You are West and lead the ♠Q. Partner overtakes with the

♦ AK43 ♠K and returns the ♠2 which declarer wins with the ♠A.

♣ K54 How are you going to stop declarer from taking nine tricks when he leads a low ♣ from hand?

Your partner did well twice. First, he unblocked the ♠’s and second he resisted the temptation to shift to the ♦Q. Now you must not let him down. If declarer leads a low ♣ from his hand at trick three you must fly in with your ♣Q. If you play low declarer will play low from dummy, establishing four tricks in the suit while keeping you off lead. But if you play the ♣Q he cannot afford to duck or win. If he ducks you run the ♠’s. If he wins in dummy he can even finesse partner’s ♣J on the way back but that only gives him eight tricks.

Watch out for second hand high when dummy has a suit like this and no side entry.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT+1 twice, 3NT= twice, 2♠(W)-3, 2NT-1 and 1♦(S)-1.

What to lead? Board 6 from Friday 7^th April

I was asked about this deal from Friday.

♠ 8652 West North East South

♥ J95 - - 1♥ pass

♦ 107532 2♦ pass 2♥ pass

♣ 7 3♠ (1) pass 4♥ pass

(1) splinter 4NT pass 6♥ pass

pass ?? (4) all pass

You are South, on lead against (a) 6♥ and (b) 6♥ doubled

(a) If partner passes at (4), what do you lead?

(b) If partner doubles at (4), what does the double mean and what do you lead?

A Lightner Double? Board 6 from Friday 7^th April

Dealer: ♠ A1097 West North East South

East ♥ 76 - - 1♥ pass

E-W vul ♦ A97 2♦ pass 2♥ pass

♣ QJ97 3♠ (1) pass 4♥ (2) pass

4NT pass 6♥ (3) pass

♠ Q N ♠ KJ43 pass dbl (4) all pass

♥ Q43 W E ♥ AK1082

♦ KQJ86 S ♦ -

♣ AK103 ♣ 9852 (1) A splinter showing ♠ shortage and three

♠ 8652 card ♥ support in this sequence.

♥ J95 (2) ♠ shortage does not look good to East.

♦ 107532

♣ 7

(3) The bidding has been OK up to now, but I don’t like this 6♥ bid at all. Presumably the pair have not agrees Eddie Kantar’s void RKCB responses (5NT would show 2 keycards and a useful void). But even if this was agreed I would not bid it and would simply show the two keycards – a void in partner’s first bid suit is unlikely to be useful, you know that the opponents hold the ♠A - partner’s splinter would not be with a singleton ♠A. And there may well be a ♣ loser as partner’s shape is probably 1354 or 1363.

(4) A double here is usually played as a Lightner double – asking for an unusual lead – generally dummy’s first bid suit, with you often wanting a ruff. Of course you can double with two aces if you think that the contract is going down whatever the lead is.

So what is the answer to the lead problems?

(a) Partner hopefully has an ace and it may be the ♣A or the ♥A, so lead the singleton ♣.

(b) You should assume that this is a Lightner double, and since you have 5 ♦’s it is extremely likely that partner wants a ♦ ruff, so lead the ♦2 (suit preference, asking partner to cash his ♣A if he has it and continue with a ♣ to give you a ruff).

And what happened? 6♥*-2, 6♥*-1, 4♥-1, and 6♥*= twice. 6♥ made twice when North attempted to cash his ♦A thus setting up three good ♦’s in dummy.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♠, this hand is FAR too good for a pre-emptive 3♠, especially in this seat and at this vulnerability.

Hand B: 3♠, this is pretty much what a 3♠ bid should look like in this situation.

Hand C: Pass. Obviously this hand is nowhere near good enough to raise to 4♠ when partner likely has a hand like Hand B.

Hand D: 2NT – Jacoby, agreeing ♥’s and asking partner to describe his hand. I cannot think of a way to bid this hand sensibly without using Jacoby – you need to find out how strong and/or shapely partner is and Jacoby 2NT is ideal for this.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answer

E 1♥ pass 2♣ pass Four. He presumably does not have 4 ♠’s (and if he has then

he has 4+ or 5 ♣’s), so even 3334 gives him 4 ♣’s.

F 1♠ pass 2♣ pass Three. Partner could have a good hand with 3433 shape.