Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 261

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 4^th Nov 2007

It is best to use my home number to contact me unless I am at the bridge club.

My e-mail is terry@pattayabridge.com or pattayabridge@yahoo.com

My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

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Mon 29^th N-S 1^st Paul Biscoe & Harvey 57% 2^nd Jean-Charles & Terry 55%

E-W 1^st Lewis & Dave 58% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 57%

Wed 31^st N-S 1^st Richard & Robbie 54% 2^nd Jean-Charles & Michel 52%

E-W 1^st Jan & Royd 59% 2^nd Lewis & Terry 59%

Fri 2^nd N-S 1^st Paul K & Sean 57% 2^nd Per-Ake & Royd 55%

E-W 1^st Agne & Britta 57% 2^nd Jan & Lars 54%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A RHO opens 1♥, what do you bid?

♠ Q107 ♠ AK96

♥ A975 ♥ 872 With Hand B it’s love all. RHO opens 1♥, you pass, LHO

♦ J2 ♦ J83 bids 2♥ and this is passed round to you. What do you do?

♣ AK83 ♣ 1082

Hand C Hand D Do you open with Hand C in 2^nd seat?

♠ AK1085 ♠ AK75

♥ A106 ♥ AJ63 With hand D partner opens 1♦ and you bid 1♥. Partner bids 1NT

♦ 10762 ♦ Q6 (12-14 and denying 4 ♠’s), what do you bid?

♣ 5 ♣ AQ10

Bidding Sequence quiz

E 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

1NT pass 4NT (a) What is 4NT ; and (b) what would 4♣ mean?

F 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

2♣ pass 3♥ (a) Is 3♥ forcing?

(b) and if not, what do you do with a game forcing ♥ hand?

The Club Championships The current standings for the top 5 in each competition are: -

Gold Cup = Best 30 Silver plate = Best 10 Bronze medal = Best 5

1843.4 Jan v Koss 666.8 Janne Roos 350.4 Janne Roos

1823.5 Dave Cutler 655.2 Jan v Koss 343.2 Bengt Malmgren

1816.8 Janne Roos 646.0 Lars Gustaffson 340.3 Jan v Koss

1768.4 Bob Pelletier 644.2 Dave Cutler 332.9 Paul Savelkral

1725.8 Phil Lovell 644.1 Bengt Malmgren 332.0 Lewis Berg

The long pause Board 27 from Wednesday 31^st

A familiar problem. At Table B North made a totally unnecessary long pause before passing and his partner made a very dubious bid as a result.

Dealer: ♠ Q107 Table A

South ♥ A975 West North East South

Love all ♦ J2 - - - 1♦ (1)

♣ AK83 2♥ (2) 3NT (3) all pass

♠ K54 N ♠ J863 Table B

♥KJ10832 W E ♥ - West North(A) East South

♦ 4 S ♦ KQ1095 - - - pass (1)

♣ 1076 ♣ J952 2♥ (4) pass (5) pass 3♦ (6)

♠ A92 pass pass (7) pass

♥ Q64

♦ A8763

♣ Q4

Table A: (1) A borderline opening, but I think 1♦ is fine (it conforms to the rule of 20 and has 4 points in the long suit).

(2) Weak

(3) Pretty obvious.

Table B: (2) This South decided to pass and I have no problem with that.

(4) Weak

(5) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? It’s not good enough for 1NT and pass is obvious. This North eventually decided to pass after a very long pause of at least one minute.

(6) Without the long pause this would be reasonable; but after partner has made the long pause I think that South has to pass. I cannot see that a hand that was not worth an opening is now worth a three-level bid unless partner’s long pause had been taken into consideration. Anyway, South bid 3♦ and East (me) called the director (Dave). Dave said to continue and see what happens.

(7) North should obviously bid 3NT here under normal circumstances, but had he done so then he most certainly would have got an (unfavourable) adjusted score because of the long pause.

And what happened? 3♦ went two down for a fully deserved joint bottom to N-S. 2♥ by West at another table went -4 for a top to N-S. Everybody else was in 3NT either making or going one or two down.

The bottom lines: -

- If you make a long pause and then pass then you are creating difficulties.

- Do not make a very long pause on a hand that is a very clear pass to anyone but a beginner.

- With length and strength in RHO’s suit it’s usually best to pass unless you have a 1NT overcall.

- If partner does make a long pause and then pass, then you need to have a very clear bid if you choose to bid. It is not good enough to say ‘that’s what I would have bid without the pause’.

Jan has been overtaken!

It is no secret that Jan is (was) the slowest player in the club, often holding up others for a complete board on virtually every round. But now he does not have a rival – he has been easily overtaken! - by Per-Ake. Per’s one minute pause (the previous deal, Hand A) on what I consider to be a trivial bid is just an example. All of last week we had 6 tables and played a 6 table Mitchell every day; on Wednesday Per-Ake and Kenneth met Jan and Royd and they just managed to complete three boards when everybody else had completed all five! I have had plenty of comments from other members about Jan and Per’s slow play. In future they will be PENALISED if they are ridiculously slow. If I was director on Wednesday they would both not have been allowed to play the TWO boards at the end and would have got an adjusted score of 40% each. That is what will happen if a similar situation arises in the future, even if it is a Wednesday. I do not see why I have to hang around for 20 minutes waiting for the tortoises. This is the last warning these very slow players will get, in future they will simply get an adjusted (unfavorable) score.

I note that Per-Ake had no time to play board 20 on Friday (they completed 4 board when everybody else had completed five). He gets an average this time – next time he will be penalized. The bottom line:-

- Repeated ridiculously slow play will no longer be tolerated. It annoys everybody, not just me.

Be wary of the 4333 type shape Board 1 from Wednesday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ AK96 Table A

North ♥ 872 West North East South

Love all ♦ J83 - pass pass pass

♣ 1082 1♥ pass 2♥ (1) pass

all pass

♠ QJ2 N ♠ 10874

♥ AQJ96 W E ♥ 1054 Table B

♦ 1096 S ♦ K5 West North(B) East South

♣ K3 ♣ AJ54 - pass pass pass

♠ 53 1♥ pass 2♥ (1) pass

♥ K3 pass 2♠ (2) dbl (3) all pass

♦ AQ742

♣ Q976

Table A: (1) This is better than bidding 1♠ - it’s best to support directly with a weak hand.

Table B: (2) What did you bid with this North hand B in this week’s quiz? There is a case for competing at the two level when the opponents have found a fit but it’s very dangerous with a 4333 shape hand against experienced players who may well double you.

(3) East is an experienced player; with weak ♥’s, 4 ♠’s and honours in the minors, their 2♠ contract is probably not making (and 3♥ is one above The Law of total tricks and is probably also going down).

And what happened? 2♠ doubled went three down. E-W bid to 3♥ at two tables and both went one down (as THE LAW indicates). Other E-W’s were in 2♥ or 1NT. The bottom lines: -

- Obey the Law of Total tricks.

- Be wary of competing with 4333 type shape hands.

Don’t ask questions at the four level Board 17 from Monday 29^th

When the opponents are up at the four level, DO NOT ask what their bids mean unless it is going to affect your bidding. Wait ‘till the end of the auction and then ask. The main problem is that the opponents may well not know what the 4-level bids are and if you ask then you may well be helping them. For example, one may be playing normal Blackwood and the other RKCB. If you ask and this helps them then you will get absolutely no sympathy from me.

Dealer: ♠ J104 West(D) North East South

North ♥ 82 - pass 1♦ pass

Love all ♦ 98753 1♥ pass 1NT pass

♣ 864 4NT (1) pass 5♦ (2) pass

5NT pass pass (3) pass

♠ AK75 N ♠ Q63

♥ AJ63 W E ♥ 97 (1) What did you bid with this West hand D in

♦ Q6 S ♦ AKJ104 this week’s quiz? It’s a mis-fit and I think

♣ AQ10 ♣ K92 that 6NT is too much. I agree with this 4NT

♠ 982 bid that is quantitive.

♥ KQ1054 (2) Obviously East thought 4NT was Blackwood

♦ 2 (3) At some stage during this bidding N-S asked

♣ J753 West what 4NT meant and he said ‘quantitive’

Whether this affected East’s decision here I don’t know

I was called over after the auction had ended. I simply told N-S that they should not have been asking pointless questions during the auction and had East decided to bid 6NT at (3) that would have been totally acceptable in my view.

And what happened? Everybody else bid 6NT and everybody made 13 tricks.

The bottom lines: -

- Do not ask questions during the auction unless the answer may affect your bid.

- If you do so and this helps the opposition (unauthorized information) then in my opinion they can take advantage of it as you should not have asked.

- 4NT over partner’s 1NT rebid is quantitive (sequence E).

Dave’s Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the best play for the contract.

North South You are North and open 1♠. East overcalls 2♥ and you end up

♠ AQJ752 ♠ K102 in 6♠. How do you play on the ♥Q lead?

♥ 7 ♥ AK4

♦ A872 ♦ K964

♣ Q5 ♣ K72

Dave’s Column answer Board 29 from Wednesday 31^st

Dealer: ♠ AQJ752 This week’s column is about leading through

North ♥ 7 a defender’s ace. In this example, if the defender

Both vul ♦ A872 rises with the ace, he gives you an extra trick;

♣ Q5 if he does not, you will discard your remaining card in the suit.

♠ 963 N ♠ 8

♥ 952 W E ♥ QJ10863 East has overcalled in ♥’s and leads the ♥Q

♦ J105 S ♦ Q2 against your 6♠ contract. You win with the ace.

♣ 984 ♣ AJ63 How do you continue?

♠ K102 You should draw trumps in three rounds and

♥ AK4 lead a small ♣ through East, in the hope that he

♦ K964 has the ♣A. If he rises with the ♣A, you will have two

♣ K72 discards for the losing ♦’s - one on the ♥K and one

on the third round of ♣’s.

If, instead, East plays low then dummy’s ♣K will win the trick and the ♣Q can be thrown on the 2^nd ♥ winner. With no losers in the ♣ suit there is now just one ♦ loser as the ♦’s break 3-2.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? Just one pair reached 6♠ and they went one down. 4♠ was the most popular contract with everybody except one mis-playing the ♣’s to make just11 tricks. The bottom lines: -

- If you suspect that a player has a particular ace, the lead through it.

Open with three quick tricks? Board 7 from Wednesday 31^st

Three pairs missed the easy slam on this board.

Dealer: ♠ J62 Table A

South ♥ K98 West(C) North East South

Both vul ♦ K9843 - - - pass

♣ Q8 pass (1) pass 1♥ pass

1♠ pass 3♣ pass

♠ AK1085 N ♠ Q74 4♥ all pass

♥ A106 W E ♥ QJ753

♦ 10762 S ♦ A Table B

♣ 5 ♣ AKJ10 West(C) North East South

♠ 93 - - - pass

♥ 42 1♠ (1) pass 2♥ pass

♦ QJ5 3♥ pass 4NT pass

♣ 976432 5♥ pass 6♥ all pass

Table A: (1) Did you open with this hand C in this week’s quiz? It’s just 19 for the rule of 20…

Table B: (1) … but look at those three quick tricks, the great ♠ suit, the singleton and those three tens. This hand is easily worth a 1♠ opening.

And what happened? Three pairs bid slam (either 6♠ or 6♥) and the other three stopped in 4/5♠. Everybody made 12 tricks. The bottom lines: -

- AK,A is usually worth an opener, especially if the AK is in a 5 card suit.

Understanding Low to encourage

At least one of the club’s top players does not understand playing inverted attitude signals (low to encourage). Suppose you are defending against 4♠ and partner leads the ♥A. You hold ♥J104 and obviously do not want partner to continue, which card do you play?

You have to play ♥10 to discourage; this may just be costly but that’s the downside of playing inverted attitude. If you play the ♥4 then partner will take that as encouraging and will continue. Note that if you held ♥104 then you should play the ♥4 to encourage – if you play inverted attitude then you have to play low from a doubleton if you want a ruff.

Do not confuse inverted attitude with giving count. Lewis and myself play inverted attitude and so low from a doubleton when partner leads against a suit contract; but we play normal count, so high-low to show an even number when the opponents lead a suit.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Pass. It’s not good enough for 1NT and there is no other remotely sensible bid.

Hand B: Pass, especially if you are playing against good opponents. If partner has 4 ♠’s then a 2♠ bid may work out well, but there is no guarantee that partner has 4 ♠’s and if you come in with a 2♠ bid with this totally flat hand you may well get doubled and go for a number (the player who bid 2♠ did – 500).

Hand C: 1♠. It’s only 19 for the rule of 20 but it has three tens, a great ♠ suit and a singleton.

Hand D: 4NT. It’s a mis-fit and in my opinion not worth 6NT unless partner is maximum. So bid 4NT, inviting partner to bid 6NT if max.

Bidding Sequence Answers

E 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

1NT pass 4NT (a) 4NT is quantitive and (b) 4♣ is Gerber.

F 1♦ pass 1♥ pass

2♣ pass 3♥ (a) 3♥ is invitational.

(b) If you want to effectively bid 3♥ as forcing, then bid 2♠ (4^th suit) followed by 3♥.