Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 484
Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com
My mobile phone number is 083 6066880 26th Feb 2012
My e-mail is terry@pattayabridge.com or pattayabridge@yahoo.com
My Windows Live Messenger is tj_quested@hotmail.com
Mon 20th N-S 1st Jeremy & Sean 65% 2nd = Tomas & Bengt 57%
2nd = Alan K & Per-Ake 57%
E-W 1st Dave C & Ursula 55% 2nd Leif & Hans V 52%
Wed 22nd N-S 1st Michael C & Alan K 55% 2nd Dino & Donal 52%
E-W 1st Leif & Hans V 69% 2nd Holger & Bengt 62%
Fri 24th N-S 1st Michael C & Alan K 57% 2nd Tomas & Phil 55%
E-W 1st Vaiur & Valur B 59% 2nd Donal & Richard M 56%
Bidding Quiz Standard American (short ♣) bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.
Hand A With Hand A you open 2NT and partner transfers with 3♦, (a)What do you bid?
♠ A9 (b) Suppose you bid 3♥ and partner bids 4♥, what now?
♥ AQ832
♦ K76
♣ AK7
When a Super-Accept is essential Board 11 from Friday 17th Feb
With a combined 25 points, 4♥ is the obvious contract on this hand, yet the majority over-bid and went down!
Dealer: ♠ J4 Table A
South ♥ KJ965 West North East South(A)
Love all ♦ 43 - - - 2NT
♣ 8532 pass 3♦ pass 3♥ (1)
pass 4♥ pass 4NT (2)
♠ Q10732 N ♠ K865 pass 5♦ pass pass (3)
♥ 7 W E ♥ 104 pass
♦ J9852 S ♦ AQ10
♣ 106 ♣ QJ94 Table B
♠ A9 West North East South(A)
♥ AQ832 - - - 2NT
♦ K76 pass 3♦ pass 4♥ (1)
♣ AK7 pass pass (4) pass
Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand A(a) in this week’s quiz? With great trump support, a simple accept of the transfer is not good enough.
(2) What did you bid with this South hand A(b) in this week’s quiz? You have a great hand and partner has bid the ♥ game. But RKCB is unwise here – PARTNER is the captain, only he knows the combined strength. It’s true that he does not know about your great ♥ support, but that’s your fault – not his.
(3) And I don’t like this – if you believe that your side has enough strength for a slam and try RKCB, then you should bid the slam if there is just one keycard missing. (here of course there is not enough combined strength to bid RKCB).
Table B: (1) This is the correct answer to question A, tell partner NOW that you have great ♥ support.
(4) North has no slam ambitions of course.
The bottom lines:
And what happened? 6♥*-1, 5♥-1 three times, 4♥= three times.
Paul’s Column
First a word about how the “Paul’s Column” began. Terry and I used to exchange many emails about bidding, declarer play, and defensive problems we had experienced at the table at the Pattaya Bridge Club as well as others we had encountered in the past.
I was surprised and flattered when one of those emails found itself in a News Sheet as “Paul’s Column”. When a few weeks later another did I asked Terry if he would like me to write them as such when I felt I had enough material of interest and he thought that a good idea. There haven’t been any for a long time due to my many absences from the club for medical reasons. The News Sheets have dwindled from 8-12 pages in the past to only 2-4 of late due to Terry’s also being ill of late. I’ll try to find and write more about interesting hands from the PBC and when there isn’t enough material we’ll reprint some of the better ones from the past. Many of the current members never have even seen a Paul’s Column unless they followed them on the website.
This column will be a little different than any before; I will show how the thought processes of very good players can lead to hilarious results, and YES I am the “very good player” who is the culprit. I will present my hand, the auction, what I was thinking at each stage, and how you sometimes have to just laugh out loud when you’ve “screwed the pooch” as we like to say in the U.S. (Old joke, ask privately!)
First hand: I was playing with a partner for the first time who is young and very pleasant though a bit inexperienced, and he opened 1NT (15-17). I held ♠KQ105, ♥A, ♦Q652, ♣A863. A very nice hand opposite 1NT and slam certainly might be on if we find the right fit and controls. 2♣ Stayman was easy and with the opponents always passing, he responded 2♥. Now life became a little difficult for me. If I simply bid 3NT and he had 4S as well he would certainly convert to that game, and any investigation would have to begin at the 5 level since RKCB forces to that. 3 of a minor is forcing to game here and if he actually held 4♠’s he would surely bid 3♠. There was a lot still to go so which minor? 3♦ of course! If he really DID have 4♠’s I then could make a cue bid of 4♣, and EUREKA he did bid 3♠!! Terry offered this in last week’s bidding quiz as a cue bid for spades but I mildly disagree. It could also be for hearts, further bidding would clarify. But it was undeniably a cue-bid. My stomach turned over when 4♣ became the final contract!!! Well, it made, and +130 on our A863 opposite 752 at least beat a couple of spade slams going down. Partner’s hand was ♠AJ94 ♥KQ32 ♦AJ ♣752. The fault was entirely mine for bidding with a level of sophistication my young friend was not yet ready for. J
Second hand: From a mere snowball an avalanche can form. I was playing with a regular at this club and we very quickly agreed to basic Pattaya Standard. Partner opened 1♦. I held ♠Q62, ♥K74, ♦1092, ♣AK84. I bid 2NT, 11-12 hcp, balanced, no 4 card major.
With the opponents passing throughout partner now bid 3♣, at least 9 cards in the minors and perhaps more. The snowball had started to roll. That meant we certainly had a weakness in a major for 3NT and with such great club support I raised to 4♣, though 3♥ showing a good stopper might have been better. Partner now produced a 4♥ cue-bid for clubs and, with nothing to cue-bid in spades, I bid 5♣. The avalanche was now thundering down the slope. I now had a very clear picture of partner’s hand, at least 11 cards in the minors with really solid diamonds and likely QJxxx in ♣’s. Partner’s next bid was 5NT! WOW! The Grand Slam Force (bid 7 with 2 of the top 3 honors, 6 with only 1) and my 7♣ card was on the table in a flash.
The opponents then asked for explanations of all the calls and, with partner’s face showing pure agony, we began. After we had gotten to 3♣ he asked me in a strangled voice to please continue. I absolutely knew that an avalanche had just occurred but continued. I was 100% certain partner held ♠ void, ♥Ax, ♦AKQxxx,♣QJxxx! At least that was what it seemed like. Partner’s hand actually was ♠A3, ♥AJ63, ♦AJ875, ♣Q10. Knowing what was about to come I excused myself from the table, already chuckling, and asked him to please not go down more than 6. He only went down 4 and by that time we were all laughing. Partner’s 3♣ was CHECKBACK STAYMAN!
To my credit I drew no inferences from the obvious discomfort on his face as we passed 3NT, and later looked like he was having an appendectomy without anaesthesia. That was why first bidding boxes were introduced (inflection or tone could not affect partner) and why bidding screens are used in top-flight competition (now you couldn’t even see partner).
Dave’s Column
North South West North East South
♠ 72 ♠ 654 - - - 1♦
♥ KQJ42 ♥ 1093 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♥
♦ J1087 ♦ AKQ9 pass 4♥ all pass
♣ KQ ♣ A32
You are North, declarer in 4♥ on the ♠3 lead. You ruff the third round of ♠’s and start
drawing trumps. East follows to the first round but discards a ♣ on the second round as West again withholds the ♥A. If you play another ♥ West will win and play a fourth ♠. Whether you ruff or discard you will lose four tricks.
But there still is a chance to make this contract – can you find it?
Dave’s Column Answer Board 23 from Wednesday 22nd Feb.
Dealer: ♠ 72 Bidding
South ♥ KQJ42 West North East South
Both vul ♦ J1087 - - - 1♦
♣ KQ 1♠ 2♥ 2♠ 3♥
pass 4♥ all pass
♠ AQJ10 N ♠ K983
♥ A876 W E ♥ 5
♦ 632 S ♦ 54
♣ J10 ♣ 987654
♠ 654
♥ 1093
♦ AKQ9
♣ A32
The opening lead of the ♠3 gives you some hope that East holds four ♠’s for his raise that known to be very weak. Then West, with 4-4 in the majors, may have the minor suit distribution that will allow you to get home. He must have precisely three ♦’s and two ♣’s.
You cash the ♣KQ and play three rounds of ♦’s ending in dummy. When you play the ♣A West has no recourse. If he ruffs low, you over-ruff; if he discards or ruffs high with the ♥A you pitch your last ♦. Either way you lose only the ♥A and you make the contract.
Dave’s 2nd Column
Dealer: ♠ QJ Bidding
North ♥ QJ97 West North East South
Love all ♦ A82 - 1♣ 1♠ 2♥
♣ A1097 pass 4♥ all pass
N ♠ AK10762
W E ♥ K3
S ♦ K95
♣ K3
You are East, defending 4♥. Partner leads the ♠9 which looks like a doubleton. Can you find four tricks?
.
Dave’s 2nd Column Answer Board 24 from Wednesday 22nd Feb
Dealer: ♠ QJ Bidding
North ♥ QJ97 West North East South
Love all ♦ A82 - 1♣ 1♠ 2♥
♣ A1097 pass 4♥ all pass
♠ 93 N ♠ AK10762
♥ 8 W E ♥ K3
♦ QJ1043 S ♦ K95
♣ 86542 ♣ K3
♠ 854
♥ A106542
♦ J6
♣ QJ
Your ♥K will not take a trick but the ♣K will, so that is three defensive tricks and so you need a little something from partner. Here, the only sensible card that will help the cause is the ♦Q. So cash the 2nd ♠ and shift to a ♦; the suit needs to be attacked before South can set up ♣’s for a ♦ discard.
Bidding Quiz Answers
Hand A: (a) 4♥, a super accept. You want to play in 4♥ opposite virtually any hand
containing five ♥’s.