Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 394

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880 30^th May 2010

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

My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

Mon 24^th 1^st Paul Q & Janne 64% 2^nd Hans & Sean 56%

Wed 26^th 1^st Hans V & Janne 63% 2^nd PaulQ & Terry Q 62%

Fri 28^th 1^st Bob & Werner 63% 2^nd Guttorm & Johan 62%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B Hand A was a question posted on our blog site. RHO opens 1♣, what do you bid?

♠ Jxxxx ♠ 1063

♥ KQx ♥ 1073 With Hand B RHO opens 1♦ at love all. (a) What do you bid?

♦ AJ ♦ AKQ (b) Suppose you pass, LHO bids 1♥, RHO bids 1♠, LHO bids 2♠

♣ AQx ♣ A987 and this is passed round to you, what do you do?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

C 1♦ pass 1♠ pass Assuming that you play 2♣ as forcing (NMF or similar)

1NT pass 3♣ then what is 3♣ and is it forcing?

Current club championship standings

Gold Cup = Best 30

Silver Plate = Best 10

Bronze Medal = Best 5

1840.5 Paul Quodomine

1836.3 Janne Roos

1802.6 Hans Vikman

649.7 ~~Janne Roos~~

641.4 ~~Hans Vikman~~

639.9 ~~Paul Quodomine~~

626.8 Tomas Wikman

619.8 Lars Broman

615.9 Jean Wissing

615.9 Sally Watson

609.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

597.8 Bengt Malgren

591.0 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

309.3 Jeremy Watson

308.2 Bob Short

Paul’s Column

The bridge adage that “The five level belongs to the opponents.” is a time-tested one that in at least 80% of the cases applies. To bid on at the five level you must either be convinced the opponents will MAKE their contract, and the penalty to your side will not exceed the value of their game, or that you are only one trick short of slam.

Some examples from Friday May 21, ALL perpetrated by my partner and myself, serve as examples.

Number One, board Six

♠A106

♥J7

♦AK753

♣1084

♠J95432 ♠Q7

♥9854 ♥KQ

♦J ♦Q104

♣Q6 ♣AKJ972

♠K8

♥A10632

♦9862

♣53

East / West were playing Acol and East opened one club. West made a very dubious one spade response and North came in with 2 diamonds. To enter a live auction like this one North should have some decent values. East bid 3NT showing, systemically, 17-18 hcp balanced and certainly a diamond stopper. South passed and West pulled to 4 spades, passed around to South who now “saved” in 5 diamonds, hammered by East, when 4 spades would have failed by 2 tricks on normal play. A very poor result.

♠K7 Number Two, board 17

♥10763

♦106

♣KJ952

♠AJ862 ♠Q1093

♥VOID ♥J2

♦A76432 ♦KJ8

♣84 ♣Q1076

♠J

♥AKQ9864

♦Q9

♣A3

After two passes South opened 1 heart and West bid 2 hearts Michaels (Spades and a minor). North raised to 3 hearts, normally enough, and East “walked the dog” bidding only 3 spades convinced the opponents would bid 4 hearts and with his excellent spade fit AND support for either minor West held he might buy the contract in 4 spades. South did indeed bid 4 hearts, pass, pass, and now East bid 4 spades as planned. South, a notorious over-bidder, went on to 5 hearts with his 5 loser hand … destined to failure of course … but West was there with 5 spades which was doubled and another poor result.

Number Three, board 18

“Note that this is the very next board against the same exuberant opponent sitting South, again with a 5 loser hand.”

♠A85

♥953

♦862

♣AQJ9

♠Q32 ♠K109764

♥AK842 ♥10

♦97 ♦43

♣1042 ♣K853

♠J

♥QJ76

♦AKQJ105

♣76

I have been accused of only reporting my partnership’s GOOD results so I will note here that I was East and committed a DOUBLE “faux pas”. I opened with 2 spades, certainly acceptable (W vs R) and South doubled. West raised mildly to 3 spades passed by North and East and South bid 4 diamonds. North chose to believe him and naturally bid 5 diamonds … and I, moron that I was at that moment, ALSO chose to believe him and bid 5 spades violating both the principles of “You do NOT preempt and bid again.” and also “The 5 level belongs to the opponents.” 5 diamonds would have gone down quickly on the natural ♥A ♥K and a ruff! Eventually followed by a club winner as well! 5 spades doubled was awful!!

On another note, Terry and I have a disagreement about this one, a defensive problem.

♠A82

♥Q94

♦AK65

♣K82

♠KJ4 ♠10976

♥J632 ♥A10875

♦Q932 ♦J

♣73 ♣A106

♠Q93

♥K

♦10874

♣QJ954

North opened 1 NT (15-17) and East ventured a very dubious 2♥ (natural) overcall. Even with the favorable colors, N/S red, E/W white, you couldn’t pay me enough to bid this on a moth-eaten 5 card suit. South now bid an enterprising 3NT! West, apparently believing both his partner and South, “saved” in 4♥. Whacked of course. South led the ♣Q and got an encouraging card from North. Upon winning the ♣A East led the ♦J, apparently worried about a possible spade ruff should that suit lie unfavorably. North won his ♦K and returned the ♥4. East naturally enough ducked and South’s ♥K won. South then led a club to North’s K and North made the only return to give East a problem … the ♥9! North had already worked out the heart position since South would NEVER bid 3NT with a void! Now place yourself in the East seat seeing 16 hcp between you and West, and having heard South bid a confident 3NT.

Terry Comment. I don’t remember the hand, who was N,S E or W, and don’t know what point Paul is trying to make or what the disagreement was. But if I was East I would play a low ♥ - restricted choice. If there is no inference from the bidding then this is not an even bet (8 ever 9 never) but restricted choice. The mathematical odds are 2-1 that North has the ♥Q when South played the ♥K on the first round. The only questions are whether you think that South would bid 3NT with a singleton ♥K and whether North would lead a ♥ away from ♥Q9.

No Psyches please Board 30 from Friday 30^th May

♠ J107 Continueing the topic ‘you couldn’t pay me enough to bid this on a

♥ 84 moth-eaten suit’ one player actually opened this hand with 3♣ in first seat

♦ 85 at love all. Not only is this ridiculous, but is illegal in this club! In does not

♣ KJ9532 conform with the ‘Australian Rule of 15 for pre-empts’. I would have

given him an adjusted score but he deservedly got -1100 on the board when his partner thought that he had his bid and bid 3NT (doubled minus 5) so I did not need to adjust anything.

Balance with a 4-card suit? Board 24 from Monday 24^th May

A player in the balancing seat is obliged to bid his partner’s hand – here is an extreme example:

Dealer: ♠ A742 Table A

West ♥ AK2 West North East(B) South

Love all ♦ J1096 pass 1♦ pass (1) 1♥

♣ 52 pass (2) 1♠ pass 2♠

pass pass pass (3)

♠ J9 N ♠ 1063

♥ Q4 W E ♥ 1073

♦ 532 S ♦ AKQ Table B

♣ QJ10643 ♣ A987 West North East(B) South

pass 1♦ pass (1) 1♥

♠ KQ85 pass (2) 1♠ pass 2♠

♥ J9865 pass pass 3♣ (3) 3♠

♦ 874 all pass

♣ K

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? The hand is not strong enough for 1NT and double is ridiculous with this flat hand with just 3 cards in both majors. That just leaves pass.

(2) 2♣ is a bid dangerous between two bidding opponents and this hand is not strong enough nor good enough for a weak jump to 3♣.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? I guess that this pass is reasonable but I don’t want to sell out to 2♠.

Table B: (1) This is my answer to question B(b). The opponents have bid three suits and it’s very likely that partner has ♣’s.

And what happened? 2♠ made +1. Two pairs were pushed to 3♠ and one guessed the ♥’s wrong and went one down. At the fourth table E-W saved in 4♣ going just two down undoubled.

The bottom lines:

- Understand balancing.

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

North South Book Bidding

♠ K86 ♠ A92 West North East South

♥ KQ975 ♥ AJ1086 - - - 1♥

♦ 97 ♦ A5 pass 3♥ pass 4♥

♣ Q64 ♣ A107 all pass

You are South, declarer in 4♥. West leads a ♠, how do you eventually play the ♣ suit?

Dave’s Column answer Board 23 from Wednesday 26^th May

Dealer: ♠ K86 Book Bidding

South ♥ KQ975 West North East South

Both vul ♦ 97 - - - 1♥

♣ Q64 pass 3♥ pass 4♥

all pass

♠ QJ103 N ♠ 754

♥ 3 W E ♥ 42

♦ K10842 S ♦ QJ63 The secret here is to play the ♣’s for no

♣ J83 ♣ K952 more than one loser. Can you do it no

♠ A92 matter how the ♣’s are distributed?

♥ AJ1086

♦ A5

♣ A107

A more accurate statement would be: the trick here is not to play ♣’s at all unless the opponents force the issue.

Win the ♠ lead and draw trumps. Play two more rounds of ♠’s . Whoever wins the third round (West here) has to lead a ♦. Take the ♦A and return the suit. It doesn’t matter who wins the 2^nd ♦ trick, he will be forced to play a ♣ or give a ruff and discard. If he plays a ♣ play 2^nd hand low from hand or dummy and you are assured of two ♣ tricks (because you have the ♣10).

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♥= twice, 4♥-1 and 6♥-3.

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

West East Book Bidding

♠ 852 ♠ AK7 West North East South

♥ K10 ♥ J82 2NT pass 3NT all pass

♦ AKQJ ♦ 873

♣ AK53 ♣ 7642

You are West, declarer in 3NT and North leads the ♣Q. On this hand you would have expected a ♥ lead since the defenders have eight of those. A ♥ lead would have given you nine tricks.

But the lead was a ♣. South follows with the ♣8, where is a ninth trick coming from now assuming that North has led from ♣QJ109?

Is there a sure play for nine tricks?

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 24 from Wednesday 26^th May

Dealer: ♠ J104 Book Bidding

West ♥ AQ4 West North East South

Love all ♦ 1054 2NT pass 3NT all pass

♣ QJ109

♠ 852 N ♠ AK7 North leads the ♣Q, plan the play.

♥ K10 W E ♥ J82

♦ AKQJ S ♦ 873

♣ AK53 ♣ 7642

♠ Q963

♥ 97653

♦ 962

♣ 8

Is there a sure play for nine tricks?

There is. All West has to do is find the right play at trick two after winning the first tick. Do you see it?

Lead a ♥. The ♥K or the ♥10 will both work. The idea is that you will set up a ♥ winner and also have an entry to dummy to enjoy it. You lose just two ♣’s and two ♥’s.

Trap: A big trap (which declarer fell for against me and my partner) is for declarer to go to dummy with a ♠ in order to lead a ♥. If North has, for instance, the ♥A and ♥Q, he will win and may return a ♠. That would remove your last entry to dummy before you have a ♥ winner.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT= twice, 3NT= twice.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1NT. This is far better than 1♠ (with this poor ♠ suit) or double (which will almost certainly lead to the wrong contract. To double and then correct an expected red suit contract to ♠’s shows a much better hand and better ♠ suit. With these excellent ♣ stops, 1NT is very clear.

Hand B: 3♣. You do not want to sell out to 2♠, and if they have a fit then so do you. Since they have bid three suits a double is pretty pointless and so I bid 3♣.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answer

C 1♦ pass 1♠ pass Assuming that you play 2♣ as forcing (NMF or similar)

1NT pass 3♣ then 3♣ here is weakish, to play, usually 6 ♣’s with 4 ♠’s.