Club News Sheet – No. 228    www.pattayabridge.com        18th March 2007

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Mon 12th    1st N-S     Per-Ake & Paul N             57%         2nd    Hugh & Sally                    55%

                  1st E-W    Dennis & Phyllis                 65%         2nd    Gerry & Gastone              57%

Wed 14th    1st N-S     Bob & Mike                       59%         2nd    Phil & Tomas                   53%

                  1st E-W    Jan & Kjarthn                     65%         2nd    Dave & Malcome             59%

Fri  16th      1st N-S     Gastone & Vivian               56%         2nd    Claudia & Tony                55%

                  1st E-W    Per-Ake & Paul N             64%         2nd    Flurio & Pezzini                60%

 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A it is love all and you are in first seat. What do

you open?

♠ AQJ10876    ♠ AKJ875                                    

♥ J2                 ♥ -                   With Hand B partner opens 2♣ (or 2♦ playing Benjamin) and

♦ 8                   ♦ 974               you respond with either 2♠ or a waiting bid, as is your style.

♣ J85               ♣ 9865            Partner then bids 3♣ (game forcing), what do you bid?

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C you open 1♥ and partner responds 1NT, what do you bid?

♠ AQ2             ♠ K3

♥ AQ10854     ♥ 3                   With Hand D LHO opens (a) 3♠, or (b) 4♠ and this is passed

♦ A92              ♦ AKQJ105     round to you. What do you bid in either scenario?

♣ 8                  ♣ K932

                       

Hand E            Hand F            What do you open with Hand E?

                       

♠ AK8753       ♠ QJ854          (a)  What do you open with Hand F?         

♥ AQ92           ♥ AQ               (b)  Suppose you choose 1♠ and partner responds 1NT, what do

♦ AK3             ♦ KJ2                     you do now?

♣ -                   ♣ K53

 

Hand G           Hand H           What do open with Hand G, in 1st seat, love all?

                                                                       

♠ KJ                ♠ 93              

♥ 3                   ♥ J54               With Hand H LHO opens 1♦ and RHO bids 1♥, what do  

♦ KJ1098763   ♦ KQJ874        you do?          

♣ 96                ♣ AQ

 

Hand J            Hand K           With Hand J partner opens 1♠, what do you bid?

 

♠ 1052             ♠ A763                   

♥ K108            ♥ K                  With Hand K partner opens 1♥ and you bid 1♠. Partner then

♦ A8                ♦ Q105            bids 2♦, what do you bid?

♣ K8653         ♣ 97653

 

The Bidding Sequence quiz is on the next page.                  
Bidding Sequences Quiz        All of these sequences occurred this week

 

L      1♦      pass   2♦      pass   What is the 3♦ bid – constructive or pre-emptive?

3♦

M    1♦      pass   1♥      2♦      What is the 2♦ bid?

N     1♦      pass   2♦      pass   What is the double – penalty or take-out?

3♦      dbl

P      1♠      pass   2♣     pass   How many points for 3♠, and how many ♠’s?

2♦      pass   3♠

Q     1♠      pass   3♠                How many points for 3♠, and how many ♠’s?

R     4♠      pass   pass   4NT   What is 4NT – natural or ace ask?

S      1♥      pass   1NT   pass   Is 3♥ invitational or forcing?

3♥     

T      1♥      pass   1NT   pass   Is 3♣ invitational or forcing?

3♣    

U     1♠      pass   1NT   pass   How strong is the raise to 2NT?

2NT  

 

 

Editorial

People have reacted favorably to the move downstairs. It’s downstairs, washrooms are near, the room has windows and it is generally a nicer room. So I propose to keep the club at the Tropicana for now unless I get a great deal of requests to move.
It’s take-out                                                         Board 8 from Monday 12th

When the opponents bid and support a suit at a low level, then double is take-out.

 

Dealer:             ♠ KQ54                                        

West                ♥ A93                                            West          North         East          South

Love all            ♦ 93                                               1♦    (1)      pass (2)      2♦    (3)    pass (4) 

                        ♣ Q1094                                       3♦    (5)      dbl   (6)      pass         pass (7)

pass

♠ A86                   N             ♠ 73                        

♥ Q84                W    E          ♥ J6                  

♦ KQ875               S              ♦ AJ1062               

♣ K5                                     ♣ 7632                   

                        ♠ J1092                                  

♥ K10732                                     

♦ 4                                          

♣ AJ8                                           

 

(1)  Promising 4+ ♦’s in their system (they play a short ♣)

(2)  Double is a reasonable option (it’s playable in the other 3 suits). Presumably this North considered it not quite good enough. I would double but not argue with this pass chosen.

(3)  If you play inverted minors then 3♦ is the bid. Unfortunately this pair do not play them.

(4)  It’s in the sandwich seat and double is dangerous, 1♥ is reasonable but I prefer to pass for now – you have a partner and the bidding will not stop at 2♦.

(5)  This is a good bid – it is best played as pre-emptive as here.

(6)  Now both opponents are limited and so North can make a take-out double. It’s reasonable, but I prefer to pass if your partner understands balancing (if he doubles then you have a 4-4 ♠ fit). The problem with North doubling is that you may end up in a 4-3 or 5-3 ♥ fit when you have a 4-4 ♠ fit.

(7)  Unfortunately South mis-understood the double and thought it was for penalties.

 

And what happened? 3♦ doubled made exactly for a rare top to this E-W. 3♠ is the best spot for N-S; nobody found this but one pair did bid and make 4♠.

The bottom lines:

-         When the opponents bid and agree a suit, then double is normally take-out.

 

Don’t get mad at the opponents for your own cock-ups              Board 9 from Monday 12th

If you make the wrong bid (accidentally pulling out the wrong card) then you are allowed to change it. But if you make the wrong bid (not a mechanical error) then you cannot change the bid.

Dealer:             ♠ Q1043                                        Table A

North               ♥ Q10952                                      West          North         East          South

E-W vul           ♦ 1063                                           -                 pass           2♦    (1)    pass

                        ♣ 7                                                3♥    (2)      pass           4♣           pass (6)

4♠              pass           4NT (3)    pass

♠ AKJ875             N             ♠ -                           6NT (4)      pass           7NT (5)    pass (6)

♥ -                     W    E          ♥ 643                       all pass

♦ 974                     S              ♦ AKQ                  

♣ 9865                                  ♣ AKQJ1032          ‘Expert’ Table   

                        ♠ 962                                             West(B)     North         East          South

♥ AKJ87                                       -                 pass           2♦    (1)    pass

♦ J852                                           2♥    (2)      pass           3♣           pass

♣ 4                                                4♥    (7)      pass           4♠    (8)    pass

5♥    (9)      pass           7♣           al pass

 

Table A:     (1)  This pair play Benjamin twos, so 2♦ is game forcing.

(2)   Having made this silly bid West tried to retract it, North said that he could not. I was East at the table and agree with North. 2♥ is automatic in their version of Benjamin twos and it is difficult to believe that West pulled out the wrong card, we don’t usually have 5 bidding cards stuck together.

(3)   In this sequence this must be normal Blackwood.

(4)   West was annoyed at North who would not let him take his silly bid back, so he decided to make the most silly bid possible again.

(5)   Since West, for some strange reason, did not give his number of aces, East assumed that he must have a very good hand with two aces.

(6)   South was on lead, but did not double as E-W have a good save in 8♣ which only goes one down? Perhaps he felt sorry for East having to put up with this West for a partner?

‘Expert’      (1)  Our experts play Benjamin twos…

 Table         (2)  … with an automatic 2♥ relay response.

(7)   What did you bid with this West hand B in this week’s quiz? 4♥, a splinter agreeing ♣’s and showing ♥ shortage is easily the best shot.

(8)   A cue bid (1st round control).

(9)   A cue cid of a splinter suit shows a void.

(10)   That’s all East needs to know for the grand, the ♠AK are superfluous cards.

 

And what happened? 7NT was not quite a bottom as another pair were in 6NT doubled (guess they should have run to 7♣?). Four pairs out of nine reached the good 6♣ contract, all making +1. Nobody bid 7♣. The bottom lines: -

-         If you play Benjamin twos then I prefer to always relay with 2♥ over 2♦.

-         If you make a bad bid, you cannot retract it.

-         You may only retract a bid if it is a ‘mechanical error’, i.e. not the bid intended.

-         If you bid 6NT over partner’s ace ask, then you will find yourself without partners.

-         With 4 card support for partner, splinter with shortage.

-         A cue bid of a splinter shows a void.

Pre-empt to the limit – part 1                              Board 30 from Monday 12th

High level pre-empts make life difficult for the opponents: -

Dealer:             ♠ K3                                              Table A

East                  ♥ 3                                                 West          North(D)    East(A)    South

Love all            ♦ AKQJ105                                   -                 -                 3♠    (1)    pass

                        ♣ K932                                         pass           3NT (2)      all pass

 

♠ 954                    N             ♠ AQJ10876            Table B

♥ KQ10864       W    E          ♥ J2                         West          North(D)    East(A)    South

♦ 6432                   S              ♦ 8                          -                 -                 4♠    (1)    pass

♣ -                                         ♣ J85                       pass           5♦    (3)      all pass

                        ♠ 2                                          

♥ A975                                         

♦ 97                                        

♣ AQ10764                                  

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you open with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? Of course 3♠ is perfectly sound, but see my choice at Table B.

(2)   What did you bid with this North hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? With a ♠ stopper and a long running suit I much prefer taking a shot at 3NT to any other bid. 4NT, ace asking, is a more optimistic alternative.

 Table B:    (1)  This ♠ suit is really solid and I think it’s worth a non-vulnerable 4♠, so that’s what I bid

(3)  And now North’s bid is not so easy. What did you bid with this North hand D(b) in the quiz? I guess it depends upon whether you consider 4NT (sequence R) to be natural or an ace ask. I would play 4NT as natural and bid that, hoping that partner has a ♥ stop and that West does not get in to lead a ♠ through. But at the four/five level it’s a bit of a lottery (that’s why I opened 4♠) and you cannot really fault North’s decision to bid 5♦ although 4NT may be better even if partner assumes it is Blackwood – what can go wrong?

 

And what happened? 3NT at Table A made with three overtricks. 5♦ at Table B went one down when a ♣ was led. One North reached 6NT for a top and there were the usual spurious results. In fact the board was played 9 times and 5♣+1 was the only result that appeared twice.