Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                             Club News Sheet – No. 290

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My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880                   1st June 2008

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Bidding Quiz                   

 

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

 

♠ K105            ♠ Q96              (a)  What do you open with Hand B?                   

♥ 65                 ♥ A75              (b)  Suppose you pass, partner opens 1♣ and you choose to bid 1♦.

♦ AKQ96       ♦ QJ96                   Partner then bids 1♠, what do you bid?

♣ K92             ♣ K72

 

Hand C           Hand D           With Hand C Partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 1NT,

what do you do?

♠ 874               ♠ AQ93                                        

♥ KQJ1032     ♥ A874                                   

♦ 87                ♦ J10                With hand D you open 1♣ and LHO overcalls 1NT. Partner    

♣ 108              ♣ QJ6              bids 2♥, what do you do?        

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz

 

E      1♣     1NT   2♥                    What is 2♥, weak, invitational or forcing?

 

 

Famous quotes

 

Lady Astor once remarked to Winston Churchill at a dinner party,
 "Winston, if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee!"
Winston replied, "Madam, if I were your husband, I would drink it!"

 


A Poor Moysian Fit                                             Board 23 from Wednesday 28th   

 

Moysian (4-3) fits can play well, usually when the hand with 3 trumps can get a ruff. It’s rarely a good idea to go for the Moysian fit without shape:

 

Dealer:             ♠ A754                                          Table A

South               ♥ K6                                              West          North         East            South(B)

both vul            ♦ A108                                          -                 -                 -                 pass (1)

♣ Q653                                         pass           1♣             pass           1♦    (2)

pass           1♠              pass           2♠    (3)

♠ K1083               N             ♠ J2                         all pass

♥ J109842         W    E          ♥ Q3                       

♦ 42                      S             ♦ K753                   Table B

♣ 9                                        ♣ AJ1084                West          North         East            South(B)

                        ♠ Q96                                           -                 -                 -                 pass (1)

♥ A75                                           pass           1♣             pass           1♦    (2)

♦ QJ96                                           pass           1♠              pass           2NT (3)

♣ K72                                           pass           pass (4)      pass

 

Table A:     (1)  What did you bid with this South hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? This totally flat 3343 hand is not worth an opener (knock off a point). It is not by coincidence that the hand does not conform to the rule of 20.

(2)   2NT (11-12 points and no 4-card major) is a sensible alternative and is what I would bid, especially as 1♦ is not forcing by a passed hand.

(3)   What did you bid with this South hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? 2NT is very obvious now, this hand is totally unsuitable for playing in a Moysian fit.

Table B      (3)  This South bid the obvious 2NT.

(4)   This North hand is not good enough to go to 3NT

 

 

And what happened? 2♠ went -2 for a total bottom. 2NT went -1 as did 3NT at another table.

The bottom lines: -

-         With NoTrump shape – bid NoTrumps!

-         With just 3 trumps, only support partner’s 4-card suit if you have shape (ruffing potential).

 

Understanding the Law                                        Board 7 from Wednesday 28th  

 

West went wrong here because he did not completely understand the Law. The Law of Total Tricks does not say that you should bid to the 4-level just because you have 10 trumps – you should do so only if you have sufficient points (and expect to make) or if there is a competitive auction and it appears, or you suspect, that the opponents may also have a 10 card fit.

 

Dealer:             ♠ K105                                          West(D)     North(A)    East(C)      South

South               ♥ 65                                               -                 -                 -                 pass

both vul            ♦ AKQ96                                      1♣             1NT (1)      2♥    (2)      pass

♣ K92                                           4♥    (3)      all pass

 

♠ AQ93                N             ♠ 874                      

♥ A874              W    E          ♥ KQJ1032            

♦ J10                      S              ♦ 87                        

♣ QJ6                                    ♣ 108                     

                        ♠ J62                                           

♥ 9                                               

♦ 5432                                          

♣ A7643                                       

 

(1)   What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? It’s a good 15 points and with a ♣ stop I agree with this 1NT overcall.

(2)   What did you bid with this East hand C in this week’s quiz? 2♥ here is fine; after a 1NT overcall it is a weak bid and not forcing.

(3)   What did you bid with this West hand D in this week’s quiz? This is NOT a situation to apply the Law of Total Trumps. Partner has shown a weak hand with 5-6 ♥’s and you have 9-10 ♥’s between you, but this hand also has ♠’s and it’s unlikely that the opponents can make anything (with North already saying his hand and South passing). Pass is the bid, there is no need to bid 3-4 ♥’s which will probably go down. Partner’s pre-emptive bid means that North cannot now sensibly bid his ♦’s.

 

And what happened? 4♥ was bid twice and went -1 and -2. Two E-W’s stopped sensibly in 2♥ and made = and +1.

The bottom lines: -

-         2♥ in Sequence E is weak.

-         The Law of Total Trumps only applies if the opponents also have a fit.

-         To avoid confusion, The Law of Total Trumps is a simplified version of the Law of Total Tricks.

 

 

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

 

North               South                     You are South, declarer in 4♠. West leads the ♣K which

♠ A2                ♠ QJ10987            East overtakes and leads the ♦2, an apparent singleton.

♥ J87               ♥ AK                     Can you see any way out of this? Plan the play.

♦ KQ1076       ♦ AJ3                                      

♣ 653              ♣ 107             


Dave’s Column answer                      Board 3 from Wednesday 28th    

     

Dealer:             ♠ A2                                              West          North         East            South

North               ♥ J87                                                               -                 -                 1♠

Love all            ♦ KQ1076                                     pass           2♦              pass           3♠

                        ♣ 653                                            pass           4♠              all pass

                                                                             

♠ 65                       N             ♠ K43               

♥ 954                 W    E          ♥ Q10653          West leads the ♣K which East overtakes and

♦ 9854                   S              ♦ 2                     leads the ♦2, an apparent singleton. Can you

♣ KQJ8                                 ♣ A942              see any way out of this? Plan the play.

                        ♠ QJ10987                       

♥ AK                                      

♦ AJ3                                            

♣ 107                                     

 

East probably has the ♠K and is planning to return a ♣ upon getting in with the ♠K to secure a ♦ ruff.

As you can see, if you play ♠A and another ♠, East will do exactly that and the defence will enjoy four tricks – the ♠K, a ♦ ruff and two ♣’s. What can you do?

What you must do is stop East putting West in with a ♣. How? Play the ♥AK and enter dummy with the ♠A and play the ♥J. If East has the ♥Q he will certainly play it, upon which you deposit your losing ♣. Now East has no way to get to the West hand and you make your contract.

 

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♠ was bid and made three times (I assume tha East did not overtake and switch to his singleton ♦). At the other table North bid 3NT and made +3 when the opponents did not find a ♣ lead/switch.

 

 

 

Dave’s 2nd Column   Here is Dave’s 2nd input involving the best play for the contract.

 

West                East                  You are West, declarer in 4♠. North leads a ♥ and South

♠ AJ1098         ♠ KQ5             cashes the ♥AKQ with North discarding two ♦’s.

♥ 765               ♥ J32               South then shifts to a ♦ which you win in dummy.

♦ AJ                 ♦ KQ               You now play 4 rounds of ♠’s, South following to all four 

♣ K43             ♣ A10982        and North discarding three ♦’s. How do you continue?             


Dave’s 2nd Column answer              Board 16 from Wednesday 21st

     

Dealer:             ♠ 7                                                 West          North         East            South

West                ♥ 4                                                 1♠              pass           2♣             2♥

E-W vul           ♦ 9765432                                     2♠              pass           4♠              all pass

                        ♣ Q765                                        

South wins the first three ♥ tricks, with North

♠ AJ1098               N             ♠ KQ5               discarding two ♦’s. South shifts to a ♦ which

♥ 765                 W    E          ♥ J32                 you win in dummy. You now play 4 rounds of 

♦ AJ                       S              ♦ KQ                 ♠’s, South following to all four with North        

♣ K43                                   ♣ A10982          discarding three more ♦’s.

                        ♠ 6432                                    

♥ AKQ1098   

♦ 108                                      

♣ J

                       

                        ♠ -                                           How do you continue from here? 

                        ♥ -                                                

                        ♦ 9                                           South is known to have 6 ♥’s, 4 ♠’s and at least

                        ♣ Q765                                   one ♦. In order to know how to tackle the ♣’s

you must find out whether or not South has

♠ 8                         N             ♠ -                     another ♦.

♥ -                     W    E          ♥ -                     Play another ♦. If South follows he can have at

♦ A                        S              ♦ K                    most one ♣. If that ♣ is an honour you are home.         

♣ K43                                   ♣ A1098            Lead the ♣K and then finesse the ♣10.

                        ♠ -                                           If South shows out on the 2nd round of ♦’s it

♥ 1098                                     means that he started with two ♣’s and your

♦ 10                                         only chance then is that they are ♣QJ doubleton.

♣ J                  

 

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge Club? 4♠*-1, 4♠-1, 4♠= and 4♠+1.

 

Bidding Quiz Answers

 

Hand A:     1NT. It’s a good 15 points with a ♣ stop.

Hand B:    (a)  Pass. It does not conform to the rule of 20. Another way of looking at it is to knock off a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

(b)  2NT, obviously. You probably should have bid 2NT instead of 1♦ but now you have to bid it. The 2♠ bid found by one player is ludicrous with this flat hand.

Hand C:    2♥. This is a weak non-forcing bid. I prefer this to pass (and lead a ♥ against 1NT) because you have no possible entry outside ♥’s.

Hand D:    Pass. Partner’s 2♥ bid is weak and there is no need to bid unless pushed.

       

 

Bidding Sequence Quiz

 

E      1♣     1NT   2♥            2♥ is weak. The only strong bid over the 1NT overcall is double (penalties).