Club News Sheet – No. 185    www.pattayabridge.com   20th  May 2006

 

Mon 15th   Pairs   1st    Dinie & Terry                   67%       2nd    Dave Cutler & Emil            62%

Wed 17th    Indiv   1st equal             Jan v Koss = Phil Lovell                                                 59%

Fri    19th    Indiv   1st    Ivy Schlageter                   60%       2nd    Bill Noe                              57%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           Do you open with Hand A?

 

AK107         KJ3              With Hand B partner opens 1♠,

QJ1092        J109             (a) What do you bid?

95                 A4                (b)  Suppose you choose 2 and partner bids 2, what now?  

103              Q7654         (c)  Suppose you choose 2 and partner bids 3, what now?  

 

Hand C           Hand D           It’s love all, 1st seat. What do you open with Hand C?

 

Q                  82                                              

AQJ10632   AK3             With Hand D LHO opens 1 and this is passed round to you,

7                   AQ10           what do you bid?   

8653            AQJ64

 

Hand E            Hand F            With Hand E you open 1, LHO overcalls 2 and this is passed

                                                round to you, what do you do?

A9652          AQ1062      

Q                  AQ6             (a)  What do you open with Hand F?

A1087          72                 (b)  Suppose you choose 1 and partner responds 2, what now?

A76              A82

 

Hand G           Hand H           With Hand G you open 1 and partner responds 1. RHO then comes in with 1, what do you do?

-                   A4

AJ108          A1065          With Hand H you open 1 and partner responds 1. RHO then

Q95              K642            comes in with 2, what do you do?

A109654      Q97

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz

 

J      2      2NT                       2 was multi (so usually a weak or hand). What is the 2NT overcall? Is 2NT forcing?

K     1     pass   1    1       

dbl                                   what is dbl?

L      1      pass   1    2      

2NT                                 how many points is 2NT?

M    1      pass   pass 2NT     how many points is 2NT? Is it unusual?

There is no interference in the following sequences: -

N     1 - 2 - 2 - 3            What is 3?

P      1 - 2 - 3 - 3            What is 3? Is it weakish (+-11 points) or stronger?

Q     1 - 2 - 3 - 4            What is 4? Is it weakish (+-11 points) or stronger?
It’s not unusual
                                                    Board 20 from Monday 15th

 

 What was your answer to bidding sequence M this week? There is no such thing as a pre-empt in the pass-out seat: -

 

Dealer:             QJ63                         

West                64                                               West(A)     North         East          South(D)

Both vul            J6432                                          1    (1)      pass           pass         2NT (2)

                        K8                                             pass           3NT (3)      all pass    

 

AK107              N             954                      

QJ1092          W    E          875                      

95                       S              K87                     

103                                    9752                   

                        82                                              

AK3                                          

                        AQ10                                        

                        AQJ64        

 

 

(1)   Did you open this West hand A in this week’s quiz? It’s 19 (for the rule of 20) but that solid suit, 3 tens, and the great intermediates make it well worth an opener in my opinion.

(2)   What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? Double would be a poor bid with a doubleton and 1NT is a gross underbid. But fortunately 2NT in this position shows this hand exactly – it is not unusual in this seat by a non-passed hand.

(3)   3, Stayman, would be a better bid here but N-S had not agreed that Stayman and transfers applied over 2NT.

 

And what happened? Every N-S pair reached 3NT, with results ranging from +3, +1, exact and -1(!).

 

The bottom lines: -

-     2NT in the balancing seat is not unusual by an unpassed hand.

 


7 ’s and 9 pts, so open 3 ?                              Board 24 from Monday 15th

 

 

Dealer:             AK63                                         Table A

West                94                                               West(C)     North         East          South

Both vul            K108432                                    3    (1)      pass (2)      pass         pass

                        10

                       

Q                       N             10842                   Table B

AQJ10632     W    E          -                           West(C)     North         East          South

7                         S              AQ6                     3              dbl   (2)      pass         3

8653                                  AQJ974               all pass

                        J975                                          

K875                                         

                        J95                                             

                        K2              

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you open with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? Everybody chose 3 on Monday. Now a 4 opening normally promises 8 ’s, but with these great solid ’s and two singletons (and thus a 2nd 4 card suit) I think that it is well worth a 4 opener.

(2)  This North hand is not really worth a bid.

Table B:     (2)  This North tried a rather light double as he was not vulnerable, and was relieved when the bidding died out at 3.

 

And what happened? 2 went two down but still scored a top as every other E-W were scoring 170 in 3+1.

 

The bottom lines: -

-         1714 shape is worth a 4 opener if the ’s are fairly solid.

-         Note the importance of intermediates making a solid trump suit. 4 is an easy make even opposite a void because of the solidity of the trump suit. Change the trump suit to something like AQ108632 and even 3 may be in jeopardy.

 

 


Slow arrival?                                                        Board 15 from Friday 19th

 

There are a couple of very instructive points on this deal, where two experienced players got way too high: -

 

Dealer:             KJ3                                           

South               J109                                           West          North(B)    East          South(F)

N-S vul            A4                                              -                 -                 -               1    (1)

                        Q7654                                       pass           2   (2)      pass         3    (3) 

pass           3    (4)      pass         4NT (5)

87                      N             954                       pass           5    (6)      pass         5NT (7)

K73                W    E          8542                     pass           6   (8)      pass         6    (9)

KJ106                 S              Q7632                  all pass

KJ109                                3                         

                        AQ1062                                    

AQ6                                          

                        72

A82             

 

(1)   What did you open with this South hand F(a) in this week’s quiz? A balanced hand with 16 points so 1NT is obviously an option. But this South (me!) did not like to open 1NT with a good 5 card major and a very weak doubleton and so opted for the 1 alternative.

(2)   What did you bid with this North hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? The hand has values for a raise to 3 but that generally promises 4 card support. The way to show a limit raise with just 3 card support is to bid a minor first with the intention of bidding 3 over a minimum response from partner.

(3)   What did you bid with this South hand F(b) in this week’s quiz? Here we see yet again the problem with not opening 1NT with a balanced 16 count – there is no good bid here. So South must ‘invent’ a forcing bid (the hand is too good for 2) and so he chose 3♥ in preference to bidding 3♦ which really would be a distortion. Note that playing 2/1 would be a lot easier here as any bid would be game forcing.

(4)   And what did you bid with this North hand B(c)? North’s intention was to bid an invitational 3 next, but partner’s game forcing 3 bid has changed that. The auction is now game forcing and so slow/fast arrival apply. With a minimum for his two level response North should jump to 4, fast arrival.

(5)   South took the 3 bid as encouraging. He could have cue bid as a prelude to Blackwood but with an unfamiliar partner chose to bid RKCB.

(6)   Two key cards.

(7)   With all the key cards present South investigates the grand with a king ask.

(8)   0 or 3 kings in their methods (the trump king does not count)

(9)   South does not know if it’s 0 or 3 and signs off. If partner indeed had the missing 3 kings he would correct to 7.

 

And what happened? West led a trump and the contract went one down.

The bottom lines: -

-         With a limit (to 3) raise of partner’s major, bid a minor and then 3 of his major,

-         But if partner jumps then jump to game (fast arrival) to show the minimum for a two level response.

-         Sometimes it is necessary to ‘invent’ a suit in order to make a forcing bid.

-     Play 2/1? Then the above sentence is rarely true and you certainly do not need to jump.
The ‘automatic’ re-opening double                     Board 12 from Friday 19th

 

E-W got way too high on this deal, what went wrong?

 

Dealer:             K4                                              Table A

West                AK9862                                     West(E)     North         East          South

N-S vul            Q53                                            1              2              pass (1)    pass

                        J8                                               3    (2)      pass           4NT (3)    pass

5   (4)      pass           6            all pass

A9652               N             QJ3                     

Q                    W    E          J10754                 Expert Table

A1087                S              KJ62                     West(E)     North         East          South

A76                                    10                        1              2              pass (1)    pass

                        1087                                           dbl   (2)      pass           pass (3)    3   (4)

3                                                 pass (5)      pass           3    (6)    pass

                        94                                               4    (7)      all pass

KQ95432   

 

Table A:     (1)  East wants to collect a vulnerable penalty, so playing negative doubles he passes and awaits partner’s ‘automatic’ re-opening double.

(2)   Unfortunately West forgot that he should double here.

(3)   East took West’s 3 bid as showing a huge unbalanced hand, so with a double fit he went off slamming.

(4)   0 or 3 key cards (for ’s).

‘Expert’      (2)  ‘automatic’.

Table        (3)  thank you partner.

(4)  But luckily for N-S they have somewhere to run.

(5)   These ’s are not good enough to double (penalties).

(6)   East’s hand is probably not quite good enough for 4.

(7)   But with 3 aces, good shape, known probable shortage opposite, and a 14 count West’s shot at game is very reasonable.

 

      And what happened? 6 went down. One N-S pair managed to land in 4 doubled going for 1100. The other E-W pair stopped in 3 making +1.

 

The bottom lines: -

-         If you play negative doubles, don’t forget about the ‘automatic’ re-opening double.


A negative double by opener?                             Board 13 from Friday 19th

 

N-S missed a comfortable 4 on this deal, what went wrong?

 

Dealer:             -

North               AJ108                                        West          North(G)    East          South

Both vul            Q95                                            -                 1             pass         1    (1)

                        A109654                                    1              2   (2)      pass         3NT (3) 

all pass

AQJ103             N             98752                  

543                 W    E          Q9                       

K103                  S              764                      

K8                                     J32                      

                        K64                                           

K762                                         

                        AJ82

Q7              

 

(1)  Most players will bid ‘up the line’ here and bid 1 in preference to 1.

(2)  What did you bid with this North hand G in this week’s quiz? That depends upon your answer to bidding sequence K in this week’s quiz. Double here is penalties (showing ’s) as ‘standard’ but to play it a similar to a negative double (thus showing 4 ’s) is obviously a very sensible treatment, but it would have to be agreed. With no such agreement North was a bit stuck and chose to rebid his suit.

(3)  Clearly the value bid, and if NT is correct then South probably wants to be declarer. A forcing 2 would be an alternative but perhaps South thought that North had denied a 4 card suit?

 

And what happened? 3NT went one down, 4 is cold.

 

The bottom lines: -

-     You have to agree on sequence K. I think it’s probably best to play it as similar to a negative double, showing 4 ’s.

 


2NT rebid opposite a 1 level response shows a big hand            Board 7 from Friday 19th

 

South                     West          North         East            South(H)

A4                      -                 -                 -                 1

A1065                pass           1              2             2NT   (1)     

K642                  pass           3NT           all pass

Q97                  

 

(1)  What did you bid with this South hand H in this week’s quiz? Now you could play double here as similar to the previous deal, so sort of negative showing 4 ’s, but there is little point as partner has presumably denied ’s. So standard is that double is penalties. But what is 2NT here (sequence L)? Partner has only promised 6+ points and so 2NT must be a big hand, it most definitely is not 12-14. See table B for the correct bid.

 

      And what happened? Partner happened to have 13 points and so 3NT was comfortable.

 

The bottom lines: -

-         If you open, partner responds at the one level and RHO overcalls at the two level (so sequence L in this week’s sequence quiz); then 2NT by you shows a big hand. In principle it is 18-19 but you could shade this slightly with a very good holding in RHO’s suit. It most definitely is not 12-14.

-         There are lots of green pass cards in the bidding boxes – that’s because pass is often the best bid.

 

A 2NT overcall over a weak two is 15-18           Board 4 from Monday 15th

 

Dealer:             Q6                                             

West                QJ5                                            West          North         East          South

Both vul            AKJ9                                          2    (1)      2NT (2)      pass         3NT (3)

                        KJ104                                        all pass

 

K873                 N             9542                    

A109432        W    E          K                         

4                         S              Q7632                 

Q7                                     A65                     

                        AJ10                                          

876                                            

                        1085

9832           

 

(1)  This West decided that with his decent suit he would ignore the usual advice about pre-empting with an outside 4 card major and effectively opened 2 (they were playing the multi).

(2)  2NT here is the same as a 1NT overcall over a 1-level opening, i.e. 15-18.

(3)  South (incorrectly) thought that North’s 2NT was forcing.

 

And what happened? 3NT went two down but scored an average.

 

The bottom lines: -

-         2NT over a two level weak bid (or a multi 2) is 15-18.


Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     1. The 10’s and excellent intermediates and two major suits make this well worth an opener.

Hand B:      (a)  2. You have the values for 3 but it’s best to have 4 trumps for the direct 3 bid. So bid 2and then 3 next go.

(b)   3. Showing a raise to 3 (+- 11 points) with 3 card support.

(c)    4. Things are different after partner’s game forcing 3 bid. You have shown 11 points with the two level response and in a game forcing auction you should jump to game to show a minimum (fast arrival). 3 would show a stronger hand looking for slam.

Hand C:     4. The solid trumps and 2nd 4 card suit (so great shape) make this worth 4.

Hand D:     2NT. This is not the UNT in the pass-out seat, but shows a 2NT opener.

Hand E:      Dbl. ‘Automatic’ when playing negative doubles – and with a singleton you can be pretty sure that partner is lurking with a stack.

Hand F:      (a)  1 or 1NT. It depends upon your style. I don’t like to open 1NT with a good 5 card major and a weak doubleton but you may have a rebid problem if you open 1.

(b)   And here we are – no rebid! This is the problem with not opening 1NT with a balanced hand with 15-17 points. I actually held this hand and opened 1 and had this dilemma. Obviously you have to find a forcing bid and so 2, 2, 2, 2NT and 3 are out. 3NT is possible but I play that as 18-19. This is one of those situations where you have to ‘invent’ a suit. 3 is possible but I don’t like it with a weak doubleton (and who knows, somebody may accuse me of psyching?) and so I chose 3, I think that this is best. It’s usually not a good idea to ‘lie’ in a major but if partner does have 4 ’s and raised to 4 then I would have passed – a 4-3 Moysian fit should play well with the short trump hand being able to ruff a .

Hand G:     Dbl – provided that you have agreed that this is similar to a negative double and shows 4 ’s. This is not standard but seems very sensible to me.

Hand H:     Pass. This shows a minimal (12-14) opener. You cannot bid 2NT as that would show a much bigger hand (partner has only promised 6 points).

 

Bidding Sequences Quiz Answers

 

J      2      2NT                       2 was multi (so usually a weak or hand). What is the 2NT overcall? Is 2NT forcing? Ans: 15-18. Not forcing..

K     1     pass 1      1       

dbl                                   what is dbl? Ans: I think it’s best to play this as showing 4 ’s.

L      1      pass 1      2      

2NT                                 how many points is 2NT? Ans: 18-19. (could be a shade less).

M    1      pass   pass 2NT     how many points is 2NT? Ans: 20-22, it’s not unusual in the pass-out seat by an unpassed hand.

There is no interference in the following sequences: -

M  1 - 2 - 2 - 3              What is 3? Ans: invitational, +- 11 points with 3 ’s.

N   1 - 2 - 3 - 3              What is 3? Ans: Strong with 3 ’s, slow arrival.

P    1 - 2 - 3 - 4              What is 4? Ans: +- 11 points with 3 ’s, fast arrival.