Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                           Club News Sheet – No. 403

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880                                                          1st Aug 2010

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Bidding Quiz                    Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A you open 1NT. Partner transfers with 2 and

RHO doubles. You bid 2 and LHO bids 3. This is passed.

AQ76           AQ10962     to you, what do you do?

KQ4             K54             

J9                  J                   With Hand B it’s favourable vulnerability and there are two

K1084         J32               passes to you. What do you open?             

                                               

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C you are in 2nd seat at love all. What do you open?

 

J1098764     K                               

KQ32           95                 With Hand D it’s favourable vulnerability. You open 1 and

KJ                 AJ976543     LHO overcalls 1. This is passed to you, what do you do?  

-                   A4                                       

  

     
Ron Klinger web site
     
 

                     

                                               

Bidding Sequence Quiz

 

E      1      pass   3                    3 is invitational, but how many ’s does it show?  

F      1      pass   2     pass       How many ’s does the 2 bid promise…

2      pass   3                    … and how many ’s does this 3 bid show?

G     1     pass   1NT   pass       What is the dbl…

pass   dbl                                 … is it a ‘trap pass’ penalty double or take-out?

                                                       

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

1877.1 Janne Roos

1852.8 Paul Quodomine
1846.2 Hans Vikman
1702.4 Johan Bratsberg

669.2 Janne Roos

654.6 Hans Vikman

640.1 Paul Quodomine

626.8 Tomas Wikman

622.1 Sally Watson

619.8 Lars Broman

615.9 Jean Wissing

610.0 Derek & Gerard

609.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

603.3 Johan Bratsburg

344.6 Janne Roos

337.6 Hans Vikman

329.6 Tomas Wikman

325.4 Sally Watson

323.4 Paul Quodomine

322.9 Lars Broman

322.7 Derek & Gerard

320.3 Jean Wissing

319.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

316.0 Sigurd Zahl

 

 


Worth a 1 Opening? – part 1                             Board 8 from Wednesday 21st July

 

One of the club’s presumed better pairs came a cropper at table B. What do you think?

 

Dealer:             J1098764                                   Table A

West                KQ32                                         West          North(C)    East            South

Love all            KJ                                              pass           1    (1)      pass (2)      3    (3)

                        -                                                 pass           4    (4)      all pass

 

-                         N             K52                      Table B

10765             W    E          AJ98                    West          North(C)    East            South

A10943              S              75                         pass           pass (1)      1NT           pass

10862                                AK94                   pass           2    (5)      pass           pass (6)

                        AQ3                                          pass

4                                                 

Q862                                   

QJ753                                       

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you open with this North hand C in this week’s quiz? It’s 21 for the rule of 20 with great intermediates and clearly well worth a 1 opener in my opinion.

(2)   A 1NT overcall is possible, but with a very weak holding pass is perhaps more prudent.

(3)   I prefer to bid 2 (or a forcing 1NT if playing 2/1) followed by 3 to show an invitational hand with three ’s.

(4)   Not only do I consider this hand a very sound opener, but I also think that this 5-loser hand is worth a game acceptance when partner has invited with 3.

Table B:     (1)  So what did you open with this North hand C in this week’s quiz? This North considered the hand not good enough for 1 and too good for 2 and so passed.

(5)   Multi Landy - showing a single-suited major.

(6)   South now went into a deep huddle. He reasoned that partner had ’s and probably only five (he had not opened with a weak two). So not wanting to play in a 5-1 fit he decided to pass, hoping that partner had ’s.

 

And what happened? Obviously South should not have been so devious, but should simply have bid 2 (pass or correct) at (6). The pass is certainly ridiculous as North cannot have ’s –would have bid 2 with 5 ’s and ’s, clearly South was not thinking clearly. But the good 4 contract will never be reached if North does not open. Other more sensible results were 4**=, 4=, 3=, 4-1 and 4*-1.

The bottom lines:

-         As an aside, I personally do not like having a ‘gap’ between a 1 and 2 opening. With a six card major, if a hand is too good for a weak two bid then I always open at the one level.

-         Now you may think that one alternative with the North hand is to pass and then come in later. I don’t like this as partner will never take you for such a strong hand, but also there may possibly be no ‘later’ – give South Axxx Jxx Axx xxx and the deal may well get passed out (especially because you have the suit) with other N-S making 12 tricks in ’s, how embarrassing!

 

 

 


Worth a 1 Opening? – part 2                             Board 3 from Wednesday 21st July

 

One of the club’s better pairs got a poor score as N-S at table B. What do you think?

 

Dealer:             AQ10962                                   Table A

South               K54                                            West          North(B)    East            South

E-W vul           J                                                 -                 -                 -                 pass

                        J32                                             pass           1    (1)      pass           1NT

pass           2              pass           pass

43                       N             K85                      dbl   (2)      pass           3              3    (3)

A83                W    E          97                         all pass

K653                  S              AQ872                

K986                                 Q104                   Table B

                        J7                                              West          North(B)    East            South

QJ1062                                      -                -                 -                 pass

1094                                          pass           2    (1)      pass           pass

A75                                            dbl   (4)      pass           3              3    (5)

all pass

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you open with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? The hand is 20 for the rule of 20 with an excellent suit and 1 seems clear to me in any seat, but especially in 3rd seat 1 is clear and may well be a lot weaker than this.

(2)   A balancing double, it would be nice to have four ’s but a double is a good bid anyway.

(3)   South knows that partner has a decent hand with presumably six spades and so can raise.

Table B:     (1)  This North chose to open 2 With Hand B. I don’t like this at all – especially at this vulnerability and in third seat I would play a weak two as much weaker than this. 1 seems clear to me.

(4)   As at (2) above West has a balancing double but is even more sure that partner has values as RHO is a passed hand and LHO pre-empted.

(5)   But unlike at (3) above, South does not know that North has a good hand and so cannot raise to 3 with just Jx.

 

And what happened? 3= was a top for E-W. Other results were 4(E)*-2, 2=, 2+1, 3+1.

 

The bottom lines:

-         In my opinion 11 points with a good suit is much too strong for a weak two which I play as 6-9, maybe 10 if vulnerable. Note that a six-card suit with 11 points is always 20 or more for the rule of 20 which applies to 1st and 2nd seat 1-level openers (3rd seat may be weaker).

 

Dave’s Column                         Here is Dave’s 1st problem, on the play of the hand.

 

North               South                                       Bidding

Q5                AJ9                                       West              North           East            South

AKQJ1093  82                                         pass               1                pass           2

K852            764                                      pass               3                pass           4

-                   KQJ63                                 all pass

 

You are North, declarer in 4. East leads a low , plan the play.


Dave’s Column Answer                   Board 20 from Wednesday 28th July

 

     

Dealer:             Q5                                              Book Bidding

West                AKQJ1093                                West          North         East            South

both vul            K852                                         pass           1              pass           2

                        -                                                 pass           3              pass           4

all pass

K743                  N             10862                  

754                 W    E          6                    

QJ9                    S              A103             

942                                    A10875                East leads a low , plan the play

                        AJ9                                           

82                              

764                                            

KQJ63                                      

 

Only a bona fide finessaholic goes down on this one. He plays low from dummy at trick one, loses to the K, and then sees the Q rammed through his K. With the A with East, this could mean losing three trick for down one. A cooler cat (you) wins the A and leads the K from dummy, intending to make a loser-on-loser play. If the K is covered by West, ruff high, play the A and then a to that wonderful 8 in dummy to pitch two losers on ’s.

If the K is not covered, discard the Q. Assuming the K loses to East’s A East has to be careful lest you make an overtrick. If he leads the A then your K is trick eleven. If he leads leads a , play the 9 from dummy. If that drives out the K you will ruff high and the J is trick eleven. To save an overtrick when holding the A, East must exit with a or a . But you still make the contract and your loser-on-loser play in ’s has paid big dividends.

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

 N                AQ96                                   West        North       East        South

W    E             9753                                     -               pass         1         pass

 S                 9                                           1            pass         2          pass

AJ63                                    4            all pass

J7                                                               

J42                     You are South, defending 4. North leads the Q and you win with

A7643                the A with West playing the 2. What would you do now?

1095

 


Dave’s 2nd Column Answer             Board 21 from Wednesday 28th July

     

Dealer:             3                                                 Book Bidding

North               AQ10                                         West          North         East            South

N-S vul            QJ85                                          -                 pass           1             pass

                        Q8742                                       1              pass           2              pass

4              all pass

K108542            N             AQ96                  

K86                W    E          9753                    

K102                  S              9                    You are South. Partner leads the Q and you         

K                                       AJ63              win with the A, declarer dropping the 2. 

                        J7                                        What do you do now?       

J42                                             

A7643                                       

1095                                         

 

How will you get four tricks? The black suits do not look promising. It’s true that partner mat have the KQ, but that is unlikely. And if you are getting no black suit tricks then you need three in ’s. In this position you should shift to the J. Here that defeats the contract.

 

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

 

The Bottom Lines:

-     From Jxx or Qxx, if you need two tricks, lead low; but if you need three tricks, lead high.

 

 

Janne’s Column

 

-                             Here is the 2nd hand from Wednesday last week. RHO opens 3, and

Kxxxx                     you pass. LHO passes and partner bids 3NT. Opener now bids 4,

J9xx                       what do you bid? When you have decided, have a look at the last page

AQxx                     and what 60 “experts” bid.   

 

<end of Janne’s Column>


Unauthorized Information                                   

 

You are not allowed to pass information to partner by unauthorised means, and if such unauthorised information is passed to you, you have to ignore it. Two recent examples:

 

Hesitation                                                             Board 3 from Monday 26th July

 

Dealer:             K832                                          West(A)     North         East            South

West                AJ                                              1NT           pass           2              dbl   (1)

N-S vul            KQ85                                        2      (2)    3             pass (3)      pass

                        J72                                             3      (4)    all pass

AQ76                 N             94                  

KQ4               W    E          109873           (1)  Showing ’s and lead directional.   

J9                       S              7                    (2)  Best played as showing 3-4 ’s.    

K1084                               Q9653           (3)  After a ‘long’ pause.

                        J105                                    (4)  What did you bid with this West hand A in 

652                                            this week’s quiz? With just 3 ’s and minimal

A106532                                   values this bid is dubious (partner has shown

A                                                no more than zero points and both opponents

have shown values).

 

So what happened? I was called over, N-S said that they wanted to reserve their rights as there was a long pause. West protested that it was not long – only about 6 seconds. My decision? It does not matter if it was 6 seconds or 10, East paused and West made a very dubious bid, possibly knowing that East was thinking about bidding and therefore had values. 3 was -1 for a good score to E-W and so I reset the result to 3+2 by N-S.

 

Asking about the auction                                     Board 6 from Friday 23rd July

 

Dealer:             KQJ9                                         West          North         East            South

East                  6                                                -                 -                 pass (1)      pass

E-W vul           Q10                                           pass           1             2             2

                        KJ9862                                      pass           3             pass           3NT

all pass

753                     N             1062                    

AQJ75           W    E          K9                 

94                       S              A86532          (1)  This pair do not play a weak 2.

A43                                    105               

                        A84                                     

108432                       Before leading West asked for a recap of the bidding.

KJ7                            On hearing the 2 bid he asked what the 2 bid was!

Q7                             Obvioulsy North simply said that it was natural.

 

In my opinion West’s asking for a recap of the bidding was unnecessary, and his question “what was the 2 bid” totally uncalled for – it is ‘obviously’ passing unauthorized information that he himself has good ’s. West’s lead was a to East’s A and what really surprised me is that that East then played the K! Now East is a really excellent player and, with a singleton on table, he probably did work out that partner had good ’s – but I would never lead a under these circumstances. But I would give partner a good ticking off after the hand, explaining that his ridiculous question inhibited him from leading a .


A Difference of Opinion

 

K                  With Hand D it’s favourable vulnerability; this is hand D from last week’s  

95                 news-sheet. You open 1 and LHO overcalls 1. This is passed to you, what

AJ976543    do you do? I said “This is a classic example of when to re-open with a double”.

A4                However, a few of our top players apparently disagree.

 

This is a huge and very important difference of opinion. My feeling is that partner is very likely to have a penalty hand and this hand, with top cards, a singleton, two ’s, the A when partner is likely to lead a , and vulnerable opponents vs non-vul, is very suitable for defense. And in the event that partner does not have the penalty hand and pulls the double you can then always bid ’s. If you do not double with this hand then partnership trust diminishes, perhaps to the level that you should not play negative doubles as partner will not be happy to pass with a penalty hand if you do not re-open with a double with most hands? Presumably if you hold a penalty hand you have to bid some number of NoTrumps if partner will not usually re-open with a double? As it happens I am in the middle of reading a book on Bols Bridge Tips and Bep Vriend says “… after a double from partner, which in these times of negative doubles will almost always happen…”

Incidentally, a good simple test of whether to re-open with a double when it is likely that partner has a penalty hand is “would you pass a double from partner if playing penalty doubles”? With this hand the answer is clearly “yes”. Another criteria is that you have to be able to cope if partner pulls your double, and here that is no problem as you simply bid ’s. I know that Dave, Jeremy and Eddie agree with this philosophy (which I believe is main-stream, as hinted by Bep Vriend) of the ‘almost always’ re-opening double when playing negative doubles. But Paul Quodomine, Janne and I believe Hans disagree, I’ll let Paul have the last word:

“I am strongly in favor of negative doubles in overcall situations, and while I understand where Terry is coming from here I have played for many (30+) years using certain standards for re-opening doubles.  I know for a certainty they are mainstream in the U.S., and my Swedish friends/partners assure me they are also mainstream there and elsewhere.  Terry is correct in that this is a huge difference of opinion and as such I would like to state my views at length in a separate column next week.  I intend to include the rationale for given actions, and how they work well for partnerships accommodated to them.  Incidentally on the hand Terry cites one "expert" decided NOT to open 1diamond in first seat ... a decision I consider poor and he now agrees with me.”

 

Terry Question: What did the “expert’ open with this hand? It is 22 for the rule of 20, and while I understand that the singleton K needs downgrading, a 1 is totally obvious in my opinion. The hand, especially with two aces, is far too good for a pre-emptive opening; and as with hand C this week partner will never believe that you are this strong if you do not open.

 

 

 

So, quite a few interesting and controversial hands and topics this week – see next week for the next exciting installment and Paul’s promised contribution! Sensible inputs for the news-sheet will be accepted from anybody, so please contribute and give your opinions to keep the news sheet entertaining.

 


Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:    Pass. You have said your hand and completing the transfer after the double promises three (or 4) ’s. Partner is the captain. With only three ’s there is no reason whatsoever (especially with a minimum hand and a partner who has not promised any points) to bid 3.

Hand B:    1. This hand is 20 for the rule of 20 with a robust suit and so a sound opener in any seat, especially in third seat where an opening may be minimal. Some may disagree with this, but I believe it is certainly far too good for a 2 opener in this seat at this vulnerability which I play as a lot weaker.

Hand C:    1. This hand is 21 for the rule of 20 and with a very robust suit it is clearly a very sound 1 opener.

Hand D:    This is hand D from last week’s news-sheet. I said last week:- “double. This is a classic example of when to re-open with a double. It is very likely that partner has a penalty hand and, especially at this vulnerability, you should co-operate. If partner does not have a penalty hand he will bid and you can then bid ’s, so nothing is lost.” One of our top players disagrees, more next week.

 

Janne’s     dbl    37%              4NT  30%              5 13%

Column:    pass   8%               5NT   3%               5   2%    

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answer

 

E      1      pass   3                    The direct 3 here should promise four ’s    

F      1      pass   2                   This may possibly be just a three card suit…

2      pass   3                    … and this follow up 3 bid shows three ’s.

G     1     pass   1NT   pass       This double is a take-out of ’s. It’s in the balancing seat

pass   dbl                                 and shows a typical take-out shape but without the values

for an initial double.

 

 
       

 Ron Klinger web site