Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 307

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 28^th Sept 2008

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 22^nd 1^st Bob S & Terry 65% 2^nd Mike & Richard M 58%

Wed 24^th 1^st Bob S & Terry 64% 2^nd Lewis & Janne 61%

Fri 26^th 1^st Hans V & Janne 64% 2^nd Jeremy & Sally 56%

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A you open 1NT and partner transfers with 2♦.

You bid 2♥ and partner bids 2NT, what do you do?

♠ KQ9 ♠ A753

♥ J9 ♥ 652 With Hand B partner opens 2♣ and you choose to relay with

♦ AQ85 ♦ KQJ75 2♦. Partner then bids 2♠, what do you bid?

♣ QJ109 ♣ J

Hand C Hand D With Hand C RHO opens 1♦, what do you bid?

♠ Q9842 ♠ AK976

♥ A53 ♥ Q With Hand D RHO opens 1♥. (a) what do you do?

♦ A ♦ AJ4 (b) Suppose you double and partner bids 1♠, what now?

♣ 8543 ♣ AQ93

Hand E Hand F With Hands E and F we have the same auction - you are West:

♠ QJ7 ♠ AKJ10 West North East South

♥ AQJ10 ♥ 1084 - pass pass 1♣

♦ A7432 ♦ A74 dbl 1♠ pass 2♣

♣ J ♣ AQJ pass 2♠ pass pass

? (what do you bid as West?)

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G pass pass 1♣ dbl

1♠ pass 2♣ pass

2♠ pass pass dbl Is this 2^nd dbl take-out or penalties?

H 2♣ pass 2♦ pass 2♣ is strong, 2♦ is a relay, is 3♥ natural or 4^th suit forcing?

2♠ pass 3♥

The Club Championships

Here are the latest standings in the club competitions. There’s a big stir in the Gold Cup, with Hans Vikman entering the lists with a leap into 2^nd position, just behind Dave.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1836.6 Dave Cutler 1830.7 Hans Vikman 1815.8 Sally Watson 1782.6 Bob Pelletier 1782.5 Ivy Schlageter 1714.7 Jan v Koss	667.7 Hans Vikman 661.8 Dave Cutler 661.1 Sally Watson 661.1 Jeremy Watson 642.7 Ivy Schlageter 642.0 Lars Gustafsson 635.3 Lewis Berg 634.3 Derek & Gerard 628.6 Bob Pelletier 623.8 Janne Roos …	347.2 Hans Vikman 342.3 Dave Cutler 341.1 Jeremy Watson 341.1 Sally Watson 336.9 Lars Gustafsson 335.3 Ivy Schlageter 328.5 Derek & Gerard 327.7 Lewis Berg  327.4 Tomas Wikman 320.7 Bob Short ...

Don’t bid your hand twice Board 8 from Monday 22nd

Dealer: ♠ AQ8432 West North East South

West ♥ - pass 2♠ dbl (1) pass (2)

Love all ♦ K1065 3♥ (3) pass 4♥ (4) dbl (5)

♣ 543 all pass

♠ 5 N ♠ J97 (1) I don’t like this with a two-suiter.

♥ J962 W E ♥ AK87 (2) Normally it’s best to raise partner, but with

♦ Q32 S ♦ AJ984 this ♥ suit you might just get lucky.

♣ K10986 ♣ 7 (3) West understandably bid his 4-card ♥ suit

♠ K106 (4) This is terrible, it’s a marginal double and

♥ Q10543 most certainly is not worth another bid.

♦ 7 (5) These guys must be beginners?

♣ AQJ2

And what happened? 4♥* went -2 and a clear top to N-S.

The bottom lines: -

- A double of a weak two should be playable in the other three suits.

- Double and raise partner’s minimal response shows a very big hand.

Basic Play Errors Board 1 from Monday 22nd

Two of the club’s very top players were paired up on this board – but they both made a basic defensive error.

West North East South

Dealer: ♠ AK6 pass 1NT (1) pass pass

North ♥ Q2 pass (2)

Love all ♦ KJ1094

♣ 964 (1) 12-14

(2) It would be nice to be able to compete with

♠ Q95 N ♠ 1073 2♥ here, but systematically that would show

♥ K9743 W E ♥ AJ106 ♥’s and a minor suit.

♦ 52 S ♦ Q3

♣ AQ8 ♣ K752 Anyway, East led the ♥J and

♠ J842 (a) West played an encouraging ♥3!

♥ 85 Clearly West must play the ♥K.

♦ A876 North won and led the ♦J and

♣ J103 (b) East covered!

This cannot be right. If partner has the ♦K

it gains nothing and if declarer has the ♦K

with a 4 card suit then he is going win the

♦A and finesse West for the ♦Q.

And what happened? 1NT made +1 for the only +ve score in the N-S column

The bottom lines: -

- Third hand plays high. West not playing the ♥K is a no win play.

- Only cover an honour with an honour if you are likely to promote a card in your hand or partner’s, or if dummy has a 5-6 card suit with no outside entry (see below).

Cover the Jack when holding Qx?

It depends upon the situation, imagine you are South and that West is the dummy and that declarer is a competent player who leads the J:

A9xx In this situation you should not cover, declarer is often trying

Qx to flush out the queen when he is holding KJ10x and has a two-way finesse.

A109xx(x) Here there is no other entry to dummy. You should play the

Qx Q, the reason being that partner may well have Kxx and has to

hold up to prevent declarer getting 4(5) tricks in the suit. If you play low partner should still duck but declarer gets two tricks instead of just one. Of course if you duck and partner plays his king then declarer makes the rest of the suit

A silly penalty double Board 4 from Wednesday 22nd

Dealer: ♠ 10653 Table A

West ♥ A10865 West North East South

Love all ♦ 1062 1♣ (1) pass 1♥ pass

♣ 4 1NT (2) pass 2♥ (3) pass

3NT pass pass dbl (4)

♠ KQ9 N ♠ A4 redbl (5) all pass

♥ J9 W E ♥ KQ732

♦ AQ85 S ♦ 943 Standard American Table

♣ QJ109 ♣ 865 West(A) North East South

♠ J872 1NT pass 2♦ pass

♥ 4 2♥ pass 2NT pass

♦ KJ7 3NT (6) all pass

♣ AK732

Table A: (1) Playing a weak NT.

(2) 15-16

(3) I play this as a weak bid, and would bid 2♦ (NMF – New Minor Forcing) or 2♣ (CBS – Checkback Stayman) with this hand. However, I assume that this well established pair have the agreement that it’s strong?

(4) What do you think of this double? This hand has two tricks and the opponents have feely bid to game. I can see no reason whatsoever to double, especially as this asks partner to lead a ♥ (dummy’s first bid suit).

(5) Showing suitable contempt for South’s double.

‘Standard (2) Everybody else opened a strong 1NT

Table’: (6) What did you bid with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? 15 points is not usually enough to accept, but the J9 in partner’s suit and the other intermediates including the great ♣QJ109 make it worth a try in my opinion.

And what happened? 3NT* lost the obvious 3 tricks and made +1 for a gifted top. Actually, it would have been a top anyway as nobody else bid the 3NT game; two passed 2NT at (6) and the other pair bid 4♥ which went two down

The bottom lines: -

- A double of a freely bid 3NT asks partner to lead dummy’s 1^st bid suit and means that you have a surprise for declarer (generally a nice suit siting over dummy). Do not double just because you have two, maybe 3 tricks.

- When evaluating a hand, ♣QJ109 is more than 4 points. In fact on this deal it made as many tricks as South’s ♣AKxxx (i.e.two).

- A long suit (South’s AKxxx) only scores extra tricks if you have an entry!

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s second input involving the play of the hand.

West East You are East, declarer in 3NT.

♠ 103 ♠ K5 South leads the ♠7 which North wins and returns

♥ Q109 ♥ AK2 the ♠4 which you win perforce. Plan the play.

♦ AJ1097 ♦ Q543

♣ Q43 ♣ AK62

Dave’s Column answer Board 26 from Wednesday 17^th

Dealer: ♠ A96 West North East South

East ♥ J876 - - 1♣ (1) pass

Both vul ♦ K82 1♦ pass 2NT pass

♣ 1075 3NT

♠ 103 N ♠ K5 (1) This is the bidding from the book and also

♥ Q109 W E ♥ AK2 at our table. So note that Eddie Kantar

♦ AJ1097 S ♦ Q543 also opens 1♣ when 4-4 in the minors.

♣ Q43 ♣ AK62

♠ QJ8742

♥ 543 Plan the play after you win the 2^nd round of ♠’s.

♦ 6

♣ J98

You have 8 top tricks, 1 ♠, 3 ♥’s, 1♦ and 3 ♣’s and need just one more trick to secure the contract.

That extra trick can either come from the ♦ finesse or a possible 3-3 ♣ division. If you could try only one you would try the ♦ finesse because that’s a 50-50 proposition (and will also yield 5 ticks if it works) whereas the 3-3 ♣ division is only 36%. But when you can try both…

Play off 3 rounds of ♣’s and see if they break 3-3. If they do you have 9 tricks and should not risk the ♦ finesse. Only if ♣’s do not divide evenly should you try the ♥ finesse,

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 4 pairs were in 3NT; two passed the test and two failed. At a 5^th table West was declarer in 3NT and made +2 but this score was adjusted downwards when they subsequently mis-boarded the board so that the last pair did not play the correct cards.

Terry’s Comment: Looks like I have to re-phrase my comment last week about ♦AJ1097 being worth 7 points. As Bob Short pointed out, it was only 4 on this deal. Of course this was because of the lack of a 2^nd ♠ stop. Had there been a 2^nd ♠ stop, or a ♠ not led (as when played by West at the one table), then the ♦ suit would have netted 4 tricks (5 if the ♦K was onside).

The bottom line: -

- Don’t take a finesse if you don’t need to; combine your options.

- Don’t turn an outright top into 40% by subsequently placing the North cards in the East slot and vice-versa.

- The guilty parties will get penalised for a mis-board if it means that the following pair(s) do not get to play the correct board.

- AJ1097 is usually worth far more than 5 points.

What’s the 2^nd double? Board 13 from Friday 26^th

Dealer: ♠ AK10954 West(E) North East South

North ♥ 97 - pass pass 1♣

Both vul ♦ K96 dbl 1♠ pass 2♣

♣ 62 pass (1) 2♠ pass pass

dbl (2) pass 3♥ all pass

♠ QJ7 N ♠ 83

♥ AQJ10 W E ♥ 6532 (1) West does not double again here, he has

♦ A7432 S ♦ QJ5 no extras and North may have 11 or so points.

♣ J ♣ 10975 Partner has heard the first double and will

doubtless bid if North passes if he has a

♠ 62 suitable red suit holding.

♥ K84 (2) What did you bid with this West hand E in

♦ 1083 this week’s quiz? Now it’s different,

♣ AKQ84 North has shown a weak hand and partner has no further chance to bid, a balancing double – for the red suits, is very reasonable.

So what happened? – I lied!

This is not the deal at all, only the East hand is the correct one. The full correct deal is below:

Dealer: ♠ Q97542 West(F) North East(me) South

North ♥ 97 - pass pass 1♣

Both vul ♦ 9632 dbl 1♠ pass 2♣

♣ 6 pass (1) 2♠ pass pass

dbl (2) pass 3♥ dbl

♠ AKJ10 N ♠ 83 all pass

♥ 1084 W E ♥ 6532

♦ A74 S ♦ QJ5 The auction is exactly the same (except for the

♣ AQJ ♣ 10975 final double) but what is West’s double at (2)?

♠ 6 What did you bid with the West hand F? This

♥ AKQJ West (Bob Short) thinks that it is clearly for

♦ K108 penalties. I would simply pass as I believe double ♣ K8432 here (sequence G) is take-out.

Now obviously you can’t have it both ways. Bob S was very critical of me (East), saying that the double was clearly for penalties as he had passed at (1). I (and Hans V and Janne Roos) all disagreed and go along with a hand type E as at the top of the page. A double under the bidder is rarely for penalties and this is no exception. It is clearly a take-out double for the red suits. Now we all know that Bob S can be a little abrasive and hard on his partners at times, but I cope with it easily – I simply write it up in the news sheet (the same treatment Hans B and Chuck got). Of course if Bob S still disagrees with me (and Hans V and Janne on this occasion) then he can always write a contribution which I will publish in the next news-sheet.

And what happened? 3♥* went -2 for a joint top to N-S

The bottom lines: -

- Everybody is perfectly free to argue with me. If they are correct I will acknowledge it, if I believe that they are wrong then expect it to be written up in the news-sheets with names.

- Sensible inputs to the news-sheets from most people will be accepted/included.

An Overbid? Board 19 from Friday 26^th

Bob Short and I also disagree on this one:

Dealer: ♠ Q54 Table A

South ♥ 1083 West(D) North East(me) South

E-W vul ♦ 7632 - - - 1♥

♣ 862 dbl (1) pass 1♠ pass

4♠ (2) all pass

♠ AK976 N ♠ 10832

♥ Q W E ♥ 9762 ‘Expert Table’

♦ AJ4 S ♦ K10 West(D) North East South

♣ AQ93 ♣ K104 - - - 1♥

♠ J dbl (1) pass 1♠ pass

♥ AKJ54 3♠ (2) pass 4♠ all pass

♦ Q985

♣ J75

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand D(a) in this week’s quiz? Dbl here is fine, the hand is too strong for a simple 1♠ overcall.

(2) What did you bid with this West hand D(b) in this week’s quiz? In my opinion this is an overbid if you are playing with a reasonably sensible partner. 4♠ here says that you can make game opposite no more that four trumps and a couple of points – the West hand is not good enough, especially with a probably wasted ♥Q.

‘Expert (2) Our Experts trust their partner of course. 2♠ here would show a good hand –

Table’ inviting partner to bid game with 7-9. 3♠ shows a very good hand – inviting partner to bid game with 4-6+. 4♠ shows a huge hand which says that game is probably making if partner has as little as 0-3. I think that 3♠ is clear opposite a partner who understands this (I do) and 4♠ is a gross overbid.

And what happened? Everybody bid 4♠ and made +1.

The bottom lines: -

- Bridge is a partnership game. As it happens East had a very useful 6 points (so will obviously bid game over 3♠) and the ♣’s behaved and so it did not matter if West (Bob S) overbid or not.

- Bob continued to insist that his 4♠ bid is correct, claiming that the contract will make opposite virtually any hand with 4 ♠’s. I disagree. And note that there is no guarantee that partner has 4 ♠’s; he could easily be 3433 and bust, in which case 4♠ goes about three down.

Double or overcall? Board 20 from Friday 26^th

Dealer: ♠ 653 Table A

West ♥ 104 West(C) North East South

both vul ♦ 1052 pass pass pass 1♦

♣ QJ1076 dbl (1) pass 1♥ 1NT

pass pass 2♥ all pass

♠ Q9842 N ♠ AJ7

♥ A53 W E ♥ 9876 Table B

♦ A S ♦ 8743 West(C) North East South

♣ 8543 ♣ A9 pass pas pass 1♦

♠ K10 1♠ (1) pass 2♠ (2) pass (3)

♥ KQJ2 pass 3♦ (4) all pass

♦ KQJ96

♣ K2

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? I hate this dbl.

Table B: (1) Every other West made the totally obvious 1♠ overcall.

(2) This obvious raise now puts the pressure on South.

(3) It’s not easy for South now. Two passed and the third bid 2♥.

(4) And it’s equally difficult for North over South’s pass. One bid 3♣ and the other bid 3♦.

And what happened? 2♥ by East went -1 for the E-W bottom 3♥ and 3♣ by N-S both went -3 for the E-W top. 3♦ by south went just -1 for a decent score.

The bottom lines: -

- If you have a five card major, then bid it rather than a fatuous double.

A mis-bid Board 16 from Friday 26^th

Dealer: ♠ KQJ42

West ♥ Q9 West North East South(B)

E-W vul ♦ A8 pass 2♣ pass 2♦ (1)

♣ AKQ4 pass 2♠ pass 3♥ (2)

pass 3NT pass 4NT (3)

♠ 1086 N ♠ 9 pass 5♥ (4) pass 5♠ (5)

♥ A10 W E ♥ KJ8743 pass 5NT (6) pass 6NT

♦ 10943 S ♦ 62 all pass

♣ 9752 ♣ 10863

♠ A753

♥ 652

♦ KQJ75

♣ J

(1) A positive 3♦ response is an option.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand B in this week’s quiz? Having failed to give a positive response you must show something now. A 4♣ splinter seems clear, or else an encouraging 3♠. However, South bid 3♥ erroneously thinking that it was 4^th suit forcing (it is not, it’s natural as both 2♣ and 2♦ were artificial bids).

(3) Apparently Blackwood. I would never bid Blackwood with a weak suit in which partner has shown no values. But the bidding is already a total mess with South not having shown his ♠ support and having bid a non-existent suit.

(4) Apparently two aces.

(5) After a long think.

(6) Why on earth North, with a total minimum for his bidding, should decide to over-rule the Blackwood bidder is a mystery. Was he influenced by South’s pause?

And what happened? East did not lead a ♥ because South had bid them. 6NT made +1 and the director was called: -

My decision, (in consultation with another qualified director): East was fooled by South’s mis-bid but should probably have found the ♥ lead anyway, hoping that partner has something in ♥’s is surely the only way to beat the contract. South’s 3♥ was not 4^th suit forcing, but he thought it was. So this is a mis-bid and there is no penalty, you only get penalized for a mis-bid if you repeatedly make the same ‘error’. I note that one other player also thought that 3♥ was 4^th suit forcing, so apparently it’s an easy enough error to make. However, the rest of the bidding was also very suspect and I decided to average the board in a vain attempt to keep everybody happy (South agreed with this decision).

The bottom lines: -

- If you have a support for partner – then support.

- Do not bid Blackwood with a weak suit in which partner has shown no values.

- 4^th suit forcing only applies after three natural bids.

- There is no penalty for (accidentally) making the wrong bid. There may well be a penalty if you make the correct bid but partner gives an incorrect explanation if asked.

- There is absolutely no need to get upset/angry about innocent mistakes like this – simply call the director and he will sort it out.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3NT. It’s close, but J9 in partner’s suit is good, and just look at those other intermediates.

Hand B: 4♣. A splinter agreeing ♠’s and showing ♣ shortage. 3♠ (forcing and encouraging) is the alternative if you don’t play splinters.

Hand C: 1♠. With a 5 card major, bid it rather than double.

Hand D: (a) dbl. It’s too good for a simple 1♠ overcall.

(b) 3♠, showing a very good hand and inviting partner to bid game with around 4+ points. 4♠ is the bid you make if you have zero trust in partner.

Hand E: dbl, take-out for the red suits.

Hand F: pass. You cannot double as that would be take-out.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

G pass pass 1♣ dbl

1♠ pass 2♣ pass In my opinion the 2^nd double is take-out for the red suits.

2♠ pass pass dbl

H 2♣ pass 2♦ pass 3♥ is natural. It’s not 4^th suit forcing as both 2♣ and 2♦

2♠ pass 3♥ are artificial.