Club News Sheet – No. 225    www.pattayabridge.com        25th Feb 2007

 

       
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Mon 19th    1st N-S     Ivy & Terry                        63%         2nd    Frere & Jean-Charles       62%

                  1st E-W    Agot & Asbjorn                 62%         2nd    Dave & Jo                        57%

Wed 21st    1st N-S     Ivy & Wolfgang                  67%         2nd    Hugh & Sally                    54%

                  1st E-W    Jan & Royd                        65%         2nd    John & Kenneth               58%  

Fri 23rd       1st N-S     Paul Sav.. & Ursula            63%         2nd    Gastone & Terry              57%

                  1st E-W    Asbjorn & Wolfgang          61%         2nd    Gerry & Tony                   54%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A LHO opens 1♦ and partner overcalls 1♠. RHO

passes, what do you bid?

♠ 2                   ♠ A73                     

♥ K10872        ♥ A3                With Hand B RHO opens 1♠, what do you bid?

♦ 843               ♦ AKQ764

♣ A752            ♣ Q4

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C you open 1♥ and LHO doubles. Partner redoubles

and RHO passes. What do you do?

♠ J                   ♠ KJ964

♥ AJ953          ♥ 65                 With Hand D LHO opens 1♦, partner overcalls 1♠ and RHO

♦ Q62              ♦ 9                   bids 2♦. What do you bid?

♣ KJ108          ♣ 97432

 

Hand E            Hand F            With Hand E RHO opens 1♦, what do you bid?

 

♠ A7532          ♠ A842           

♥ KQJ4           ♥ 53                 With Hand F partner opens 1NT and RHO overcalls 2♥, what

♦ 53                 ♦ J863              do you bid?

♣ A5                ♣ AJ5

 

Hand G           Hand H           With Hand G partner opens 1♦, what do you bid -1♠ or 2♣?

 

♠ QJ96            ♠ 8

♥ K103            ♥ 98753           With Hand H partner opens 1♦ and RHO overcalls 1♠. What

♦ K                  ♦ KQJ7            do you do?

♣ AK1094       ♣ Q86            

 

Hand J            Hand K           What do you open with Hand J?

 

♠ J                   ♠ AQ986

♥ AK876543   ♥ Q10953        A very tricky one here. With Hand K partner opens

♦ Q52              ♦ K6                1NT and RHO overcalls 2NT (weak with the minors). What

♣ Q                 ♣ 2                                                do you bid?

 

Hand L            Hand M          With Hand L partner opens 1NT and RHO overcalls 2♠, what do you do?

♠ 9                   ♠ AK87                  

♥ J8653           ♥ K872            With Hand M it’s love all. Partner opens 1♥ and RHO doubles.

♦ J965              ♦ K107            (a)  What do you do?

♣ 965              ♣ Q5               (b)  Suppose you redouble and partner bids 2♣, what now?

Bidding Sequences Quiz        All of these sequences occurred this week

 

N     1♥      pass   pass   dbl     How strong is the double in the balancing seat?

P      1NT   pass   pass   dbl     (a)  How strong is the double in the balancing seat?

                                                (b)  Does it make any difference if the 1NT opening was weak?

Q     1♠      pass   3♠      pass   4NT is RKCB, how many keycards is 5♣?

4NT   dbl     5♣

R     1♥      pass   2♣     pass   You are playing 2/1 and so the 2♣ bid is game forcing. What 

3♥                                    does the 3♥ bid show?

S      1♥      pass   2♣     pass   You are playing 2/1 and so the 2♣ bid is game forcing. What 

4♥                                    does the 4♥ bid show?

T      1♠      3NT                       What is this 3NT bid?

U     1♥      dbl     redbl  pass   What is the 2♣ bid?

2♣

V     1NT   2♠      3♦                Is 3♦ natural and weak, natural and forcing, or a transfer to ♥’s?

W    1NT   2♥      2♠                Is 2♠ weak or forcing? How many ♠’s?

X     1NT   2♥      3♥                What is the 3♥ cuebid?

Y      1NT   2NT   3♣               2NT is the UNT, weak with both minors. What is 3♣?

Z      1NT   2NT   dbl               2NT is the UNT, weak with both minors. What is dbl?

 

I’ve run out of letters.

 

Editorial

If you know of any more letters, my mobile number is 086 6089887

A few members (such as Sally, Hugh, Ursula, John B and a few others) have complimented me and Dave recently on how the club is run. A few others have simply complained and moaned about the ‘exorbitant’ amount of money that we make by charging 150 bht a head for members. I would just politely like to point out that we have to pay 120 bht a head to the hotel – so we are not actually raking it in – OK? I do not feel that I have to justify anything to the moaners, but it takes an awful lot of time to run the club/website/news-sheets etc. and the equipment (especially the cards, which wear out very quickly) are not cheap. If you think that you can do a better job at running a club, then please try – other(s) have had considerable financial help yet still fell at the first hurdle. It takes dedication and a lot of hard work.

I am, by the way, actively seeking a new venue. Whether we will continue at the Tropicana or move is uncertain at the moment but I have taken people’s opinions into account.

 

 

 

Be wary when the opponents play negative doubles            Board 12 from Friday 16th 

We start with a couple of hands from Friday 16th – I was too busy that weekend to include them in last week’s news sheet. N-S at Table A (so two weeks ago) ran into problem on this deal – who would you blame?

 

Dealer:             ♠ 2                                                

West                ♥ K10872                                      West          North(A)    East          South

N-S vul            ♦ 843                                             pass           pass           1♦            1♠

                        ♣ A752                                          pass (1)      2♥    (2)      pass         2♠    (3)

dbl   (4)      all pass

♠ KJ974               N             ♠ 5                          

♥ J43                 W    E          ♥ A965                   

♦ J109                    S              ♦ KQ765               

♣ 103                                    ♣ KQJ                    

                        ♠ AQ10863                                          

♥ Q                                               

♦ A2                                            

♣ 9864

 

(1)   With nice ♠’s sitting over the overcaller, West decided to go for the penalty by passing and later planning to pass partner’s automatic re-opening double.

(2)   What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? This bid got N-S into trouble. A change of suit over partner’s overcall is generally played as constructive but non-forcing. I would not call this hand constructive. Since E-W play negative doubles you know that you will get another bid, so pass.

(3)   With partner freely bidding and a reasonable 6 card suit, South has no reason to suspect problems.

(4)   Happy to be doubling one level higher – it’s surprising how often this happens when you play negative doubles.

 

And what happened? 2♠ doubled went two down for 500 and a good score to E-W. I note that three other South’s reached 2♠ but were not doubled! Perhaps some considered KJ974 not good enough for a penalty? I was West and it was good enough for me even at the one level.

The bottom lines:

-         When you overcall and LHO passes, be wary if the opponents play negative doubles. LHO may well have a stack of your suit and be waiting to penalise you when opener re-opens with a double.

-         If LHO opens, partner overcalls and RHO passes, then suspect problems if you are short in partner’s suit and the opponents play negative doubles. Do not ‘rescue’ him now, but pass. When the re-opening double comes and this is passed round to you then that is the time to bid  - and partner knows that you have a weak mis-fitting hand and will not bid again.  

-         Play negative doubles. You do not miss penalties and it’s surprising how often you get then one level higher.

-         A change of suit over partner’s overcall is generally played as constructive but non-forcing.

 

                                                     


Defending against a 1NT opening – part 1                 Board 13 from Friday 16th 

Don’t bid your hand twice - here N-S got into an expensive contract.

 

Dealer:             ♠ 62                              

North               ♥ J4                                               West          North         East          South

both vul            ♦ 107654                                       -                 pass           1NT (1)    2♠    (2)

                        ♣ J974                                           4♥    (3)      pass (4)      pass         4♠    (5)

dbl   (6)      pass (7)      pass         all pass

♠ J54                    N             ♠ Q87                     

♥ Q98632          W    E          ♥ AK5                    

♦ AJ                       S              ♦ K832                  

♣ 52                                      ♣ K84                    

                        ♠ AK1093                                            

♥ 107                                            

♦ Q9                                            

♣ AQ103

 

(1)   With this totally flat hand a downgrade to a 1♦ opener is to be preferred.

(2)   Multi Landy, showing 5 ♠’s and a minor suit. This is on the upper limit for the bid and double is an alternative.

(3)   3♥ is forcing, but with 6 ♥’s West simply bid game, quite reasonable.

(4)   Without the 4♥ bid North would have asked for the minor with 2NT. Pass is clear now.

(5)   With a super maximum for his initial bid, South decided to bid again. A super mistake…

(6)   … especially with me as the next player. I know exactly what to do when by partner opens 1NT and RHO bids his hand a 2nd time (at the 4-level! and vulnerable!).

(7)   Obviously North was not expecting South to bid again, but he should try his best now and bid 4NT to play in partner’s minor. The 4-4 or 5-4 minor suit fit should play better than the 5-2 ♠ fit even though it is one level higher. But South’s 2nd bid makes it a poor score whatever.

 

And what happened? 4♠ doubled went two down for 500 and a near top to E-W. 4♥ would have gone down on the ♠6 lead. 3NT by East makes but that’s difficult to find with a 6-3 ♥ fit, especially with interference.

The bottom lines:

-         Don’t bid your hand twice. This is especially true when the opponents have opened with 1NT as you are very likely to get doubled for penalties.

-         If partner bids 2♥/♠ Cappelletti (or Multi Landy) and you have two cards in his major and 5-4 in the minors, then ask for his minor – especially if his ♥/♠ bid is doubled.

-         There are ½ a dozen or so green pass cards in the bidding boxes – that’s because pass is very often the best bid.

 

Defending against a 1NT opening – part 2                 Board 10 from Friday 23rd

Don’t bid your hand twice – this time South at Table B bid twice and went for 1100. The amazing thing is that this South is the same player as South from the previous page, I guess he is sadistic and enjoys getting beaten up?

 

Dealer:             ♠ 9763                                           Table A

East                  ♥ 106                                             West(F)     North         East          South

both vul            ♦ Q10972                                      -                 -                 1NT (1)    2♥    (2)

                        ♣ 42                                              2♠    (3)      pass           3♠    (4)    pass

4♠              all pass

♠ A842                 N             ♠ K105                   

♥ 53                   W    E          ♥ KQJ9                   Table B

♦ J863                    S              ♦ A54                     West(F)     North         East          South

♣ AJ5                                    ♣ Q83                     -                 -                 1NT (1)    1♥    (2)

                        ♠ QJ                                              1♠    (3)      pass           2♠    (4)    3♣   (5)

♥ A8742                                        dbl             3♥              dbl           all pass

♦ K                                              

♣ K10976

 

Table A:     (1)  It’s totally flat (so knock off a point) but the good intermediates and honour sequence make this a reasonable 1NT opener.

(2)   Multi Landy, showing 5 ♥’s and a 4 or 5 card minor suit.

(3)   What did you bid with this West hand F in this week’s quiz? 2♠ here shows a weak hand with 5 or more ♠’s and is just competitive. With game forcing values and a four card major, a cue bid of the opponent’s suit (so 3♥ here) is game forcing Stayman.

(4)   I would pass (partner’s 2♠ bid should be simply competitive)

Table B:     (2)  An insufficient bid. Presumably he meant 2♥, Multi Landy?

(3)  West let it ride, in the assumption that 1♠ now only promised 4 ♠’s?

(4)  It’s muddy waters now and East decided to bid.

(5)  E-W have probably missed their easy 3NT game and may end up in a hopeless 4♠, but South decided to bid again and give them an outright top whatever.

 

And what happened? 3♥ doubled went four down and 1100 away.

The bottom lines:

-         Don’t bid your hand twice. This is especially true when the opponents have opened with 1NT as you are very likely to get doubled for penalties.

-  &nbs