Club News Sheet – No. 235    www.pattayabridge.com        6th May 2007

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Mon 30th    1st Bengt & Janne                    73%           2nd    Albert & Dennis                       65%

Wed 2nd     1st  Sonja & Roar                     60%           2nd    Dave & Jan                              56%

Fri  4th        1st Bengt & Janne                    61%           2nd    Bob & Ivy                                60%  

                                                                 

Bidding Quiz                           Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

 

Hand A           Hand B           With Hand A partner opens 1♣, what do you bid?

 

♠ A104            ♠ A9876          With Hand B LHO opens 1♦ and RHO bids 2♦,

♥ K54              ♥ K43              (a)  What do you do?     

♦ Q43              ♦ A82              (b)  Suppose you pass, LHO passes and partner doubles, what

♣ QJ53            ♣ 1064                  do you bid now?

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C partner opens 1♠, what do you respond?

 

♠ 92                 ♠ 5432             With Hand D RHO opens 1♦. (a) What do you do?   

♥ AK6             ♥ Q92              (b)  Suppose you pass, LHO bids 2♦ and this is passed

♦ AJ104           ♦ A5                      round to you, what do you do now?

♣ 10852          ♣ A965

 

Hand E            Hand F            With Hand E partner opens 1♠, what do you respond?

 

♠ 2                   ♠ AK63                                  

♥ A1053          ♥ 43                 With Hand F partner opens 1♥, (a) what do you bid? 

♦ K543            ♦ Q73              (b) Suppose you bid 1♠ and partner bids 1NT, what now? 

♣ QJ43            ♣ J975

 

Hand G           Hand H           With Hand G partner opens 1♣ and you bid 1♠. Partner raises

to 2♠, what do you bid?

♠ Q432            ♠ AJ74

♥ 93                 ♥ AK2             With Hand H RHO opens 1♣, (a) What do you bid.

♦ AQ9             ♦ KQ109.        (b) Suppose you double and partner bids 2♥, what do you

♣ Q763           ♣ A8                      bid now?         

 

Hand J            Hand K           With Hand J you open 1♣, LHO overcalls a weak 2♠ and partner

                                                doubles (negative). What do you bid.

♠ 4                   ♠ AJ94

♥ Q975            ♥ J982             With Hand K partner opens 3♣ and RHO doubles, what

♦ K                  ♦ A972            do you do?

♣ AQJ8652     ♣ 10

                       

                                                     

   


Bidding Sequences Quiz            All of these sequences occurred this week

 

L      2♥      pass   4♥      dbl         What is dbl – take-out or penalty?

M    2♠      pass   4♠      dbl         What is dbl – take-out or penalty?

N     1♥      pass   2NT   pass       How many points is 2NT?

P      1♠      pass   2NT   pass       2NT is the same point range as above, but what shape? Specifically, how many ♠’s and how many ♥’s?

Q     1♥      pass   1♠      pass       How many points is 2NT?

1NT   pass   2NT

R     1♣     dbl     pass   1♥          (a) How many points is 2NT?

pass   2NT                           (b) Could the doubler/2NT bidder have 4 ♠’s?

S      1♦      pass   2♦      2♠          What is double – take-out or penalty?

dbl

T      2NT   pass   4♣     pass       4♣ is Gerber and 4♠ is two aces, what is 4NT?

4♠      pass   4NT

 

An extra chance                                                   Board 16 from Friday 4th

 

North missed the chance of an extra overtrick on this deal: -

   

Dealer:             ♠ A104                                          West          North         East          South

West                ♥ AJ105                                        pass           1NT           pass         2♣

E-W vul           ♦ A10                                            pass           2♥              pass         4♥

                        ♣ K972                                         all pass

 

♠ KQ65                N             ♠ J92                 There’s nothing to the bidding, with everyone in 4♥.

♥ 632                 W    E          ♥ Q8                  But how do you play the hand on a ♣ lead?

♦ Q742                  S              ♦ KJ9863           Declarer played the ♣10 from dummy and won

♣ J5                                       ♣ 84                  the ♣J with the ♣K. Being scared of a ♣ singleton

                        ♠ 873                                       with East it is certainly best to play a ♥ to the ♥K

♥ K974                                    and then finesse West for the ♥Q. So North led the

♦ 5                                           ♥5 to the ♥K and took the finesse that lost.

                        ♣ AQ1063                               Could declarer have done better (not double dummy)?

Answer next page.

 

An extra chance - answer                             

 

North should not lead the ♥5 at trick two but the ♥J, you can afford it and you never know- East may cover. East said that she would indeed have covered the ♥J if it had been led. If the ♥J is not covered then declarer should carry on with his original plan of going up with the ♥A and finessing West for the ♥Q – that is unless he noted a marked pause/uneasiness when East played low to the ♥J!

 

A negative double promises the unbid major     Board 28 from Friday 4th

 

Everybody missed slam on this deal, which would have made +1 had the ♣K been onside.

     

Dealer:             ♠ 4                                                 West          North(J)     East          South

West                ♥ Q975                                          pass           1♣             2♠    (1)    dbl   (2)

N-S vul            ♦ K                                                pass   (3)    3♣   (4)      pass         3♥    (5)

                        ♣ AQJ8652                                   pass           4♥    (6)      pass         pass (7)

pass

♠ J102                  N             ♠ KQ9875         .

♥ J4                   W    E          ♥ 103                      

♦ J109632              S              ♦ Q75               

♣ 72                                      ♣ K3                

                        ♠ A63                                     

♥ AK862                                

♦ A84                                     

♣ 109

 

(1)  A weak jump overcall, fine opposite a passed partner.

(2)  A negative double. I would bid a forcing 3♥, but this pair play negative free bids and so in their system 3♥ would not be forcing.

(3)  I would raise to 3♠, but then I always raise partner’s pre-empt with 3 card support.

(4)  What did you bid with this North hand J in this week’s quiz? Actually, I think it’s quite close, but not with 3♣ as an option! I would bid either 3♥ or 4♥. Partner has promised 4 ♥’s and at least values to compete to the three level. This 3♣ bid denies 4 ♥’s.

(5)  Showing 5 ♥’s and forcing in their system (playing negative free bids).

(6)  Feeble.

(7)  Obviously South cannot press on as North has shown 3 ♥’s at most (could be 2 ♥’s).

 

And what happened? 4♥ made +2 and nobody bid slam. The bottom lines: -

-         When partner negative doubles then he is showing 4 cards in the unbid major.

-         Do not deny a 4-4 major suit fit even if you have a minor as good as AQJxxxx.

-         I am not that familiar with negative free bids. I do not like them and do not play them myself.

-         This deal, actually, is a perfect example of how they can go wrong. If I was West I would have bid 3♠ at (3) and 4♥ from North at (4) would probably have ended the auction. But if not playing negative free bids then South would bid a forcing 3♥ at (2) - promising game values and 5 ♥’s - and slam should easily be reached whether West interferes or not.

-     That’s one disadvantage of negative free bids – if you get interference it’s difficult as you have not shown your suit or strength (in fact the double is pretty nebulous).

-     In fact, if playing negative free bids, the sequence 1♣ 2♠ dbl  does not actually guarantee 4 ♥’s; that’s just another reason why I don’t play negative free bids.

 

The double fit                                                           Board 23 from Monday 30th

 

A double fit means tricks galore and you can bid way above the level of the “Law” when you have a double fit. On this deal N-S can make 10 tricks in ♠’s or 11 tricks in ♦’s and E-W can make 11 tricks in ♥’s or 12 tricks in ♣’s – but most E-W’s let N-S play comfortably in 4♠.

   

Dealer:             ♠ KQ107                                       Table A

South               ♥ K                                                West          North         East          South

Both vul            ♦ KQ97                                         -                 -                 -               pass (1)

                        ♣ Q832                                         2♥    (2)      dbl             4♥    (3)    4♠

pass (4)      pass           pass (5)

♠ 52                      N             ♠ 4                          

♥ A1076532      W    E          ♥ QJ94                    Table B

♦ 3                         S              ♦ A5                       West          North         East          South(B)

♣ J64                                     ♣ AK10975             -                 -                 -               2♠    (1)