Club News Sheet –
No. 165 www.pattayabridge.com
Mon 26th N-S 1st Birger/Ole 58% 2nd Mike(Can)/Bill 57%
E-W 1st Jan/Knud 62% 2nd Hans/Chuck 61%
Wed 28th N-S 1st Knud/Ursula 60% 2nd Bob P/Ken 59%
E-W 1st Britta/Gun 60% 2nd Gerald/Derek 58%
Fri 30th N-S 1st Birger/Ole 65% 2nd Tom/Tomas 58%
E-W 1st Arne/Lars 69% 2nd Peter(Lux)/Barry 53%
Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless
otherwise stated
Hand A Hand B (a) What do you open with Hand A?
(b) Suppose you open 2♣ and get a ‘waiting’ 2♦. You then
bid
♠ 102 ♠ AJ1076 3♣ and partner jumps to 4♠. What is 4♠ and what do you do?
♥ A4 ♥ J3
♦ A3 ♦ AJ94 (a) What do you open with Hand B?
♣ AKQ10975 ♣ A8 (b) Suppose you open 1♠ and get a 1NT response, what now?
Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 2♥, what do you do?
♠ 103 ♠ 6 With Hand D partner opens 2♣ (or 2♦ playing Benji) and you
♥ 9864 ♥ K652 give a waiting response. Partner then bids 3♣ (so a big ♣ hand),
♣ A95 ♣ J62
Hand E Hand F With Hand E
partner passes and
♠ KQ10765 ♠ AQ1073 With Hand F RHO opens 1♥. (a) what do you bid?
♦ J63 ♦ AQJ953 suited bid is. Then what do you bid over partner’s 2♠ (or 3♠
♣ Q ♣ K if you play Ghestem)?
Hand G Hand H With Hand G partner opens 2♥ (weak), what do you bid?
♠ QJ1063 ♠ AJ83
♥ - ♥ 4 With hand H LHO opens 1♥ and partner overcalls with a weak
♣ AK6 ♣ 862
Bidding Sequences (no opposition bidding): -
Sequence J 2♥ - 2♠ 2♥ is weak, what is 2♠? And is 2♠ forcing?
Sequence K 2♥ - 4♦ What is 4♦?
Sequence L 2♥ - 2NT What is 2NT?
Sequence M 2♥ - 4NT What is 4NT? Is it a sensible bid?
Sequence N 1♣ - 1♥ - 2NT - 3♥ 2NT is 18-19, is 3♥ forcing?
The club championships for 2005 are over now, final results: -
A total of 11 members achieved 30 or more results over 53%, so the final placing in the Gold Cup: -
1 Chuck Paparigian 1923.2
2 Dave Cutler 1895.3
3 Bob Pelletier 1870.3
4 Clive Bell 1812.4
5 Ken Judson 1798.6
6 Jan v Koss 1766.9
7 Tomas Wikman 1742.4
8 Phil Lovell 1740.3
9 Bill Noe 1718.0
10 Michael Guin 1715.3
11 Tom Grovslien 1706.4
Silver Plate (best 10). The top 3 above were not eligible for the lesser competitions. The results were:
1 Clive Bell 649.9
2 Gerard/Derek 643.0
3 Ken Judson 641.7 for other placings, refer to web page or results book.
Bronze Medal (best 5). The 3 winners of the Gold Cup and the Silver plate winner are excluded:
1 Gerard/Derek 336.2
2 Paul Kelly 334.2
3 Ken Judson 326.7 for complete details refer to web page or results book.
Editorial
Membership fees are due now. It’s 1000 bht a year or 150 bht a
month. Members are entitled to play for just 50 bht a
session on our club days of Mon, Wed and Fri. Non-members pay 100 bht a session.
The Club Library
We now have a collection of over 150 Bridge books. These are available for members to borrow free of charge. I have compiled a complete list and it’s on the web site and also in the ‘conventions’ folder that I bring to the club. Let me know if you would like to borrow a particular book. We also have numerous magazines but I have not yet compiled a list of them, there are always a few around for members to borrow.
I will be keeping a list of who has borrowed what. I have failed to do this in the past and there are a number of items missing so I have now stamped all of the books with ‘Pattaya Bridge Club’. If you have any of the following, would you please return them to me: -
The following are ‘missing’,
please return them: -
Robin Hood’s bridge memoirs David
Bird
Bridge card play made easy David
Bird
The complete book of Bols bridge tips Sally
Brock
25 steps to learning 2/1 Paul
Thurston
Getting Started Freddie
North
Competitive Bidding Brian
Senior
It’s Your Bid Tony
Sowter
World Championships DVD
If you own any bridge books
or magazines that you no longer need, we will always gladly accept donations. Thank you Carol Combes, Peter(Lux), Jo, John Gavens, Bob P, Ole Dam, Cheryl/Don and a few others (my memory is fading) who
have indeed donated books and magazines.
And now on to some bridge:
-
Raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit –
immediately - 1 Board 10 from Friday 30th
Dealer: ♠ AQJ76
Both vul ♦ J6 - - 2♥ (1) pass
♣ QJ7 pass (2) 2♠ (3) pass 3♠
4♥ (4) pass pass 4♠
♠ 103 N ♠ 94 all pass
♥ 9864 W E ♥ AKJ52
♠ K852
♥ 10
♦ K97
♣ K8432
(1) A rather off-beat 2♥, but perhaps not that bad a bid and it should have worked out well.
(2) What did you bid with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? With 4 ♥’s opposite partner’s presumed 6 card suit, 4♥ is clear. This west tried to ‘get off cheaply’.
(3) And North has a comfortable 2♠ bid; if West had bid 4♥ he would simply have had to pass.
(4) Too late now.
And what happened? 4♠ made +1 for a joint top. 4♥ went two down at other tables and would have got a good score even if it was doubled (it would not have been).
The bottom line: -
- I guess it’s been a few weeks since I said it, raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit at once.
Raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit – immediately - 2 Board 24 from Friday 30th
Dealer: ♠ AJ83 Table A
Love all ♦ K10852 - - 1♥ 1♠ (1)
♣ 862 2♥ 2♠ 3♥ (2) 3♠ (3)
pass (2) pass 4♥ 4♠ (4)
♠ 942 N ♠ - pass pass 5♥ 5♠ (5)
♥ K853 W E ♥ AQ1096 pass pass 6♥ dbl (6)
♠ KQ10765 Table B
♥ J72 West North(H) East South(E)
♦ J63 - - 1♥ 2♠ (1)
♣ Q 3♥ 4♠ (2) 5♥ (3) all pass
Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? Now 9 points qualifies for a 1♠ overcall, but look at those ‘points’ in ♥’s, ♦’s, and ♣’s – they are all probably worthless opposite a passed partner and after an opponent has opened the bidding. I’m sure that not everybody will agree with me, but I prefer the bid made at table B or even a pre-emptive 3♠.
(2) A bit feeble
(3) Don’t bid your hand twice.
(4) Don’t bid your hand three times.
(5) Don’t bid your hand four times
(6) Don’t bid your hand five times. I can’t see a single defensive trick here, can you?
Table B: (1) This (or 3♠) is clearly best
(2) What did you bid with this North hand H in this week’s quiz? 4♠ is excellent.
(3) It’s difficult for East to find the slam now.
And what happened? 6♥ made just exactly as declarer could not be bothered to go for the cold 13 tricks (I guess it doesn’t really mater when you are doubled). The good bidding at Table B was repeated at a few tables and no other E-W pair reached slam.
The bottom lines: -
- South bid his hand 4 times (I would have made just one bid) and then made a penalty double. His hand was worth (and made) zero tricks in defence!
- Obviously this South hand is a good offensive hand (played in ♠’s) but is worth zero in defence; with this sort of hand, pre-empt!
- Don’t bid your hand twice. Three times, four times, .. five(!) times is extremely …..?
A splinter agreeing a minor Board 23 from Monday 26th
I have written a fair bit about splinters (there are a couple of articles in the conventions section on the web) and I have said that it is usually agreeing a major suit. However, it most certainly also applies over minors, especially when slam is in the air: -
Dealer: ♠ 6
Both vul ♦ KJ1064 - - - 2♦ (1)
♣ J62 pass 2♥ (2) pass 3♣ (3)
pass 4♠ (4) pass 5♣ (5)
♠ QJ9843 N ♠ AK75 all pass
♥ QJ103 W E ♥ 987
♠ 102
♥ A4
♦ A3
♣ AKQ10975
(1) What did you open with this South hand A(a) in this week’s quiz? It is only 9 playing tricks and theoretically not worth 2♣ (or 2♦ playing Benji). But with superb shape and 9 pretty much cast iron tricks I think that your strongest bid is OK. It’s far too good for a gambling 3NT, if playing Benji then 2♣ is also reasonable. This South was playing Benji and chose the game forcing 2♦ opening, with which I do not disagree.
(2) Automatic relay playing Benji.
(3) Natural and game forcing.
(4) A splinter – what a great bid! Did you find this excellent bid with this North hand D in this week’s quiz? A natural 3♦ or 3♥ are reasonable alternatives but I prefer to agree ♣’s as it’s uunlikely that there is a red suit fit and you can riff a ♠ in the short ♣ hand.
(5) Did you recognise partners 4♠ as a splinter in question A(b) of this weeks quiz and investigate slam? Unfortunately South was not quite sure what 4♠ was and so bid 5♣.
And what happened? 5♣+1 was the most popular spot. Nobody bid the excellent 6♣, 6NT was bid once and deservedly went down even though a ♠ was not led.
The bottom lines: -
- An unnecessary jump is a splinter agreeing partner’s last bid suit. In this particular deal 3♠ at (4) would be natural and forcing so 4♠ is a splinter.
A big UNT/Michaels hand Board 16 from Monday 26th
I have written a fair bit about the UNT/Michaels conventions, and I have said that they should be weak or very strong. A rare example of the very strong type came up on Monday: -
Dealer: ♠ K842
E-W vul ♦ 1086 pass pass 1♥ 3♣ (1)
♣ J42 pass 3♠ pass 4NT (2)
pass pass (3) pass
♠ J65 N ♠ 9
♥ J32 W E ♥ AQ9854
♠ AQ1073
♥ 7
♦ AQJ953
♣ K
(1) What did you bid with this South hand F(a) in this week’s quiz? Playing Michaels cue bids this hand just about qualifies for the strong type, so playing Michaels it’s 2♥, showing ♠’s and a minor. This particular N-S pair play Ghestem, whereby 3♣ is a two-suited overcall (usually weak but could be very strong as UNT/Michaels) specifically showing ♠’s and ♦’s. Playing Questem it would be the same as Michaels, so 2♥ as showing the two highest (♠’s and ♦’s)
(2) But the wheels came off here. What did you bid with this South hand F(b) in this weeks quiz? Partner has shown absolutely nothing and a simple 4♠ bid here shows the big hand type. If partner actually has the two key cards needed for slam he will bid on over the strong 4♠ bid.
(3) Fearing that they may get too high, North passed as he has a ♥ stop.
And what happened? 4NT made but scored about average with a number of pairs playing in 4♠+1.
The bottom lines: -
- Playing UNT/Michaels (or whatever) then if you make the two-suited overcall and then bid again that shows a very big hand.
- ‘Inexperienced players tend to overbid good hands and underbid poor ones’. I can’t recall who actually said this, but it is very true.
Play in the 6-3 major suit fit! Board 2 from Monday 26th
Dealer: ♠ Q10952 Table A
N-S vul ♦ 954 - - 1♣ pass
♣ 98 1♥ pass 2NT (1) pass
3NT (2) all
pass
♠ J8 N ♠ K4
♥ KQJ953 W E ♥ A62 ‘Expert Table’
♠ A763 1♥ pass 2NT (1) pass
♥ 4 3♥ (2) pass 4♥ all pass
♦ A106
♣ QJ643
Table A: (1) 18-19
(2) Not a good decision.
And what happened? Two tables ended up in 3NT and shared the bottom as there are only 9 tricks on a ♠ lead. 4♥ made either exactly or +1 at most tables.
The bottom line: -
- It’s simplest (and I think best) to play any bid after a 18-19 2NT rebid as game forcing. You can bid naturally or else play CBS or NMF.
Bid what you can make? Board 1 from Friday 23rd
♦ 6 1♥ and got a 2♦ response from partner. I said that the hand was not worth a
♣ A32 reverse and that 2NT(12-14) is best as partner’s ♦ response has devalued the hand. One member asked me ‘why not bid 3NT?’ – you expect to make that opposite a two level response.
Now I have actually been over this before. There are a couple of very interesting articles in news-sheet 93 about the similar sequence 1♠ - 2♦ - 3NT. The Devil’s Advocate (by Chuck) and His Master’s Voice (by me). In basic Standard American a NT rebid at the lowest level is 12-14 and a jump rebid in NT is 18-19. So a 3NT bid here shows 18-19 and if you bid it partner may go charging off into slam. As Chuck correctly pointed out in his article, some experts do indeed play it differently – but that would have to be agreed and I see nothing wrong with the standard approach.
With 5-4, don’t play in 1NT Board 22 from Wednesday 28th
Dealer: ♠ 85 Table A
E-W vul ♦ KQ1083 - - pass 1♠ (1)
♣ 2 pass 1NT pass pass (2)
pass
♠ K9432 N ♠ Q
♥ AK W E ♥ 10986 Table B
♠ AJ1076 pass 1NT 2♣ 2♦ (2)
♥ J3 3♣ 3♦ (3) all pass
♦ AJ94
♣ A8
Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? Now I personally don’t mind opening 1NT with a 5 card major. And I don’t mind opening 1NT with two doubletons (provided that they are both Qx or better). But I will not open 1NT with a 5 card major and two doubletons. So for me it’s a 1♠ opener. Now I don’t know the bidding at other tables but I note that one South was playing in ♥’s (and went down) so it was presumably an off-beat 1NT opener and a transfer.
And what happened? The 5-4 ♦ fit played extremely well and scored a joint top. Other scores were all over the place.
The bottom line: -
- Generally speaking, with a 5 card major and a 4 card minor, open 1 of the major and then bid 2 of the minor if partner responds 1NT.
Too Strong for 2NT Board 15 from Friday 30th
Dealer: ♠ J1094 Table A
N-S vul ♦ 97632 - - - 2NT (1)
♣ 5 pass pass (2) pass
♠ K8 N ♠ Q65 Table B
♥ J84 W E ♥ KQ7653 West North East South(J)
♠ A732 pass 3♠ (4) pass 4♠ (4)
♥ A all pass
♦ AKQJ104
♣ K10
Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand J in this week’s quiz? 21 points with a
stopper in every suit – so 2NT? I hope not!! Before I go any
Hand Z Hand J further, consider these two hands J & Z. They are both 21
‘points’ so open either with 2NT??
♠ A732 ♠ A732 I hope that readers who are familiar with my preachings will
♥ AQJ ♥ A realise that these two hands are not the same. Hand J is much
♦ AK104 ♦ AKQJ104 better that hand Z. If you care to check with my writings you
♣ K10 ♣ K10 will see that Hand J is 9½ playing tricks and well worth your strongest bid. Hand Z is simply a classic 2NT opener.
(2) With just one point North must clearly pass. Anything else is a total gamble.
Table B: (1) This East opened his strongest bid, so 2♣ unless you play Benji.
(2) 2♥ negative is the best scheme if you have only one strong bid.
(3) Natural and game forcing,
(4) Natural
And what happened? 4♠ was the top spot; just one pair bid it. Others were all over the place
The bottom lines: -
- If you think that 21 points is 21 points and that hands J and Z are both worth the same opening bid, then have a word with me and I’ll put you straight. I have written a few pages on playing tricks and it’s on the web.
- It was not relevant in this case, but 2♥ negative is the best scheme if you only have 2♣ as your strong bid.
A word about 2♥ negative
I was asked about this. If you play Benjamin twos then do not play 2♥ as a negative over a 2♣ opening. Playing Benjamin twos it is best for responder to always simply relay with the cheapest bid over a 2♣/♦ opening, so 2♦ over a 2♣ opening and 2♥ over a 2♦ opening.
2♥ negative only applies if 2♣ is your only
strong bid.
Cue bid or Blackwood? Board 1 from Friday 30th
Dealer: ♠ 93 Table A
Love all ♦ K43 - 1♣ 1♠ (1) 2♥
♣ AQ65 3♦ 3♥ (2) 4♦ 4NT (3)
pass 5♦ pass 5♥ (4)
♠ Q62 N ♠ KJ1054 all pass
♥ Q W E ♥ 3
♠ A87 - 1♣ 1♠ (1) 2♥
♥ AJ108754 3♦ 3♥ (2) 4♦ 4♠ (3)
♦ - pass 4NT(5) pass 5NT (6)
♣ J83 pass 6♥ (7) all pass
Table A: (1) A bit light for an overcall, but with a 2nd suit and good intermediates I think it’s just about reasonable.
(2) West has pushed the level up but North really has to show is ♥ support although he has just a minimal opener.
(3) Not a good bid. It is rarely sensible to bid Blackwood with a void as if it becomes apparent that there is just one ace missing then is it a useful one or the one in your void suit?
(4) Having used Blackwood and found that there is just one ace missing one should bid slam. One should only use Blackwood if you are prepared to go to a small slam missing just one ace.
‘Expert’ (3) Our experts do not bid Blackwood with a void. South has options here;
Table 5♦ would be Exclusion Blackwood but with the ♣’s wide open I think it’s best to cue bid the ♠A.
(5) And North also has options. South is looking for slam and North should co-operate. A 5♣ cue bid is a good bid, but so is RKCB provided that you have an understanding about showing voids. Anyway, this North chose RKCB, normally one should not use Blackwood with a weak doubleton but it’s OK if partner has cue bid the suit.
(6) Two key cards and a useful void.
(7) There are no top losers, but with a minimal hand and a ‘useless’ ♦K North settles for the small slam.
And what happened? Every N-S made 12 tricks (presumably on the ♦A lead) but only one pair bid 6♥. Two E-W’s sacrificed in 5♦ down 4 but 800 away was costly. Deep Finesse says that 6♥ by South makes on any lead, I know I would struggle on a passive lead.
The bottom lines: -
-
It is mis-using Blackwood to make the ask and then back off if there is just one ace missing.
-
Do not use Blackwood with a wide open suit unless you know that partner
has a control in it.
-
There are a few schemes to show a (useful) void in response to Blackwood,
I give what is generally considered to be the best on the next page.
Roman
Keycard Blackwood Void Responses
The responses with a void are somewhat more complicated than normal as they need to be at a higher level. We use the same sort of philosophy as normal in that the responser shows two possible numbers of key cards. Unfortunately, because of the lack of space, the numbers differ by only two (instead of three). So asker is expected to be able to distinguish between 0 or 2 and between 1 or 3 key cards. This is normally possible after considering the previous bidding.
The responses (with a void) to 4NT are as follows: -
5NT = 0 or 2 key cards + a useful void.
A new suit over partner’s pre-empt is forcing Board 4 from Friday 30th
Dealer: ♠ 854 Table A
Both vul ♦ 103 2♥ pass 4♦ (1) pass
♣ J842 pass (2) pass pass
♠ 972 N ♠ QJ1063 Table B
♥ AQ9742 W E ♥ - 2♥ pass 2♠ (1) pass
♠ AK
♥ K108
♦ J8765
♣ Q103
Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand G in this week’s quiz? There are a few sensible options, and a few non-sensible ones. I would bid as Table B, but let’s have a look at the options. First of all, what is 4♦ here? As 3♦ (or 2♠) is natural and forcing I would play it as a splinter. One player bid 4NT – again, I can’t see the point, especially with a void. 2NT (Ogust, or asking partner for a feature, whatever you play) is a possibility but again I can’t see the point. 3NT is reasonable I suppose but 2♠ is clearly the best bid.
(2) This West had no idea what 4♦ was (he knew from his hand that it was not a splinter) and so decided to pass. He has my sympathy.
Table B: (1) Clearly the best bid. Natural and forcing.
(4) 3♦, agreeing ♠’s and showing a ♦ feature is a good bid if partner will understand it. For an unfamiliar partnership then 3♠ is obviously correct.
And what happened? 4♠ was the top spot; just two pairs bid it.
The bottom lines: -
- A new suit over partner’s pre-empt is forcing.
- Thus a jump in a new suit below game is a splinter!
- RONF, Raise Only
Non-Forcing, is standard over two level pre-empts.
Bidding Quiz Answers
Hand A: (a) It’s theoretically a trick short but I would not argue with a 2♣ (or 2♦ playing Benjamin twos) opener. Playing Benjamin then 2♣ followed by 3♣ is a sound alternative.
(b) It’s a splinter agreeing ♣’s (a non-jump 3♠ bid would be natural and forcing so this is a splinter). You should investigate slam or simply bid 6♣. There is no point in bidding Blackwood and I would bid 5♦, a cue bid and hope to hear a 5♠ cue bid from partner (showing a void). If partner has no ♠ void then settle for 6♣.
Hand B: (a) 1♠. It’s (semi) balanced but I don’t like 1NT with a 5 card major and two doubletons (one of which is weak).
(b) 2♦. It’s best to remove 1NT when you have this type of distribution.
Hand C: 4♥. Raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit at once. Partner has shown 6 ♥’s and so The Law says to bid 4♥ now.
Hand D: 4♠. A splinter (showing a singleton or void) and agreeing ♣’s. A natural 3♦ or 3♥ are reasonable alternatives.
Hand E: 2♠ or 3♠, weak. This hand is a 5-pointer (only the ♠ points are worth anything now), so a pre-emptive 2♠ bid (I would most certainly not argue with 3♠) is better than 1♠.
Hand F: (a) 2♥ playing Michaels (or Questem), 3♣ if you play Ghestem. The two-suited overcalls are usually weak but can be very strong. This hand is just about good enough for the strong type. A simple double is an alternative.
(b) 3♦ or 3♠ if you play Michaels (or Questem) or 4♦ or 4♠ is you play Ghestem. Assuming Michaels/Questem then your initial 2♥ is presumed weak. If partner simply replies in your major then any bid by you is now strong and so 3♦/♠ is quite sufficient and forcing.
Hand G: 2♠, natural and forcing. 2NT (Ogust or asking partner to show a feature) is a poor 2nd choice. 3NT is just about (possibly) reasonable as is 4♥ but the 2♠ bid really does stand out a mile. Any other bid (4NT, 4♦) is silly.
Hand H: 4♠. The Law. Raise partner’s pre-empt to the limit immediately.
Bidding Sequences (no opposition bidding): -
Sequence J 2♥ - 2♠ 2♠ is natural and forcing.
Sequence K 2♥ - 4♦ 4♦ is a splinter agreeing ♥’s and looking for slam. If you do not play splinters then the bid is probably meaningless as 3♦ is strong and forcing.
Sequence L 2♥ - 2NT 2NT asks partner for a feature or is Ogust.
Sequence M 2♥ - 4NT 4NT is Blackwood and is unlikely to be a good bid as you could make another forcing bid (say 2NT) first.
Sequence N 1♣ - 1♥ - 2NT - 3♥ This one is up to partnership understanding. Some play that it is weak, but I prefer to play any bid over the strong 2NT (18-19) jump as forcing. It really does make life easy.