Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 368

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 29^th Nov 2009

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

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My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

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Mon 23^rd N-S 1^st Alan K & Jan 62% 2^nd Janne & Paul Q 61%

E-W 1^st Gerry C & Ian W 58% 2^nd Alan P & Terry Q 53%

Wed 25^th N-S 1^st Frode & Robbie 60% 2^nd Jean-Charles & Georges 52%

E-W 1^st Hans v & Royd 68% 2^nd Gutorm & Ivy 60%

Fri 27^th N-S 1^st Eddie & Olaf 60% 2^nd Janne & Lars B 58%

E-W 1^st Dave C & Tomas 66% 2^nd Terje Loee & Jan 58%

Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A it’s favourable vulnerability. Partner opens 1♣ and RHO overcalls 1♥, what do you do?

♠ KJ5 ♠ AQJ83

♥ KJ1052 ♥ 85 With Hand B it’s unfavourable vulnerability, partner opens 1♠.

♦ 654 ♦ Q75 (a) what do you bid? (b) suppose you choose 3♠ and LHO bids

♣ A3 ♣ 532 4♥ which is passed to you, what do you do now?

Current club championship standings

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1949.2 Janne Roos 1931.1 Hans Vikman 1896.1 Paul Quodomine 1804.7 Sally Watson 1752.5 Lars Broman 1741.6 Ivy Schlageter 1725.8 Bob Short 1725.1 Paul Scully 1721.4 Bob Pelletier	690.6 Janne Roos 686.1 Hans Vikman 659.8 Paul Quodomine 636.6 Sally Watson 631.2 Per-Ake Roskvist 625.4 Jeremy Watson 625.0 Per Andersson 623.3 Lars Broman 622.6 Guttorm Lonborg 621.2 Ivy Schlageter	355.2 Janne Roos 351.7 Hans Vikman 337.1 Paul Quodomine 332.6 Per-Ake Roskvist 329.8 Per Andersson 326.0 Sally Watson 325.4 Jeremy Watson 325.3 Ivy Schlageter 321.7 Bob Short 321.5 Lars Broman

Swiss teams of 4 – Sun 13^th Dec 6p.m.

Alan Purdy is organizing a Swiss teams event on Sun 13^th, this event is not associated with the Pattaya bridge club and all are welcome. Details are:

Location: The Bowling Green, Soy X-Zyte

Entry fee only 600bht per team

Please inform Alan if you wish to enter a team. If you are a pair and need team-mates, or if you are an individual, please contact Alan Purdy:

Tel 0800491427  e-mail alan@gomy.co.uk

Obey the Law? Board 22 from Wednesday 18^th

… it’s usually best to obey The Law, but there are exceptions:

Dealer: ♠ 7 Table A

North ♥ J632 West(B) North East South

Both vul ♦ KJ96 - pass 1♠ dbl (1)

♣ Q1096 4♠ (2) all pass

♠ AQJ83 N ♠ K109652 Table B

♥ 85 W E ♥ Q74 West(B) North East South

♦ Q75 S ♦ A108 - pass 1♠ dbl (1)

♣ 532 ♣ K 3♠ (2) 4♥ pass pass

♠ 4 pass (3)

♥ AK109

♦ 432

♣ AJ874

Table A: (1) This dbl looks right to me, the ♦ suit could be better but I think that dbl is better than a 2♣ overcall when the ♥’s may get lost.

(2) What did you bid with this West hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? This direct 4♠ is not ‘wrong’ and obeys The LAW ot Total tricks but, especially at this vulnerability, I would prefer to have a singleton/void...

Table B: (2) … so 3♠ is my answer to question B(a).

(3) What did you bid with this West hand B(b) in this week’s quiz? 4♠ here would definitely be wrong (if you want to bid 4♠ then you should have done it last go). No, just pass and hope that your 3♠ bid pushed them into an unmakeable contract.

And what happened? 5♠-2, 4♠*-1, 4♠-1 three times, 4♥-1, 3♠= and 5♥*-3.

The bottom line:

- Decide how high you want to pre-empt - 3♠ or 4♠ at (1) here – and do not bid again.

- If partner opens and RHO doubles, then any raise by you is pre-emptive. If you have a sound raise to 3 or more of partner’s suit, then bid the Jordan 2NT.

An ‘automatic’ re-opening double? Board 21 from Monday 23^rd

When playing negative doubles, remember the ‘automatic’ re-opening double in case partner has a penalty hand. But there are exceptions when you should not re-open with a double:

Dealer: ♠ 982 West(A) North East South

North ♥ 76 - pass 1♣ 1♥

N-S vul ♦ K9832 pass (1) pass 2♥ (2) pass

♣ J86 3NT pass 6♣ (3) all pass

♠ KJ5 N ♠ AQ63 (1) What did you bid with this West hand A in this

♥ KJ1052 W E ♥ - week’s quiz? 3NT is possible but at this

♦ 654 S ♦ A7 vulnerability it’s surely best to pass and then

♣ A3 ♣ KQ107542 pass partner’s ‘automatic’ re-opening double.

♠ 1074 (2) But this East hand is totally unsuitable for a

♥ AQ9843 re-opening double, and this 2♥ cue bid is fine.

♦ QJ10 (3) Partner has shown about opening values with

♣ 9 good ♥’s and this bid is also fine.

And what happened? 6♣= three times, 5♣=, 3NT+3 twice, 4♠+2 and 2♥*-2.

The bottom line:

- There are exceptions when you should not re-open with a double, see the negative doubles page in the conventions section of the website.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s first input on the play of the hand.

North South West North East South

♠ A8 ♠ Q95 - - - 1♣

♥ KQJ8 ♥ A1096 pass 1♥ pass 3♥

♦ Q762 ♦ A pass 3♠ (1) pass 4NT (2)

♣ J85 ♣ AK742 pass 5♠ (3) pass 6♥

all pass

(1) Cue bid, interested in slam.

(2) RKCB for ♥’s.

(3) Two keycards and the ♥Q.

You are North, declarer in 6♥. East leads the ♦J, plan the play assuming normal breaks

Dave’s Column answer Board 19 from Wednesday 25^th

Dealer: ♠ A8 Book bidding

South ♥ KQJ8 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ Q762 - - - 1♣

♣ J85 pass 1♥ pass 3♥

pass 3♠ (1) pass 4NT (2)

pass 5♠ (3) pass 6♥

♠ K1063 N ♠ J742 all pass

♥ 75 W E ♥ 432

♦ K8543 S ♦ J109 (1) Cue bid – interested in slam

♣ 63 ♣ Q109 (2) RKCB for ♥’s

♠ Q95 (3) 2 keycards + ♥Q

♥ A1096 .

♦ A East leads the ♦J, do you see a way to make the

♣ AK742 contract with normal breaks?

In his classic gem “Why You Lose at Bridge”, S.J. Simon introduced the theory of ‘half a loaf’. His Philosophy suggested bidding to the maximum opposite a competent partner, but settling for half a loaf opposite a less competent one.

An average declarer takes dummy’s ♦A and counts possible winners. He recognizes that he lacks the entries to score enough ♦ ruffs in dummy, so he tries to bring in dummy’s ♣ suit.

He cashes two trumps and dummy’s top ♣’s, hoping to drop the ♣Q. When it doesn’t fall, North’s chances approach zero. He concedes a ♣ to East’s ♣Q and East leads a third trump; North is limited to eleven tricks.

A more competent North counts on 4 ♣ winners. The ♠A and ♦A, four trump winners and two ♦ ruffs in dummy.

At trick two he leads a low ♣ from dummy. East’s ♣Q wins but East has no effective response. If East returns a ♣ (nothing else is better) then dummy wins and two ♦’s are ruffed high, using the trump suit for communication. Then he leads a ♠ to his ♠A to draw the last trump and uses his last ♣ to reach dummy’s good ♣’s.

The winning line depends upon finding a 3-2 ♣ break (68%), while dropping a doubleton ♣Q is only 27%. Opposite a declarer who can recognize the difference, bid the slam. Opposite one that cannot, settle for game – half the loaf.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 7NT-2, 6♥-2, 4♥+2 twice, 4♥+1 three times.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s second problem on the play of the hand.

West East West North East South

♠ AJ9542 ♠ 3 1♠ pass 3♥ (1) pass

♥ Q7 ♥ AKJ10985 4♥ (2) pass 4NT pass

♦ J63 ♦ AK4 5♦ pass 6♥ pass

♣ KJ ♣ A10 pass dbl (3) all pass

(1) strong (2) promising a ♥ honour (3) A Lightner double – presumably a ♠ void.

You are East, South leads the ♠K, plan the play.

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 20 from Wednesday 25^th

Dealer: ♠ - Book Bidding

West ♥ 6322 West North East South

both vul ♦ Q1098 1♠ pass 3♥ (1) pass

♣ Q98642 4♥ (2) pass 4NT pass

♠ AJ9542 N ♠ 3 pass dbl (3) all pass

♥ Q7 W E ♥ AKJ10985

♦ J63 S ♦ AK4 (1) Playing strong jump shifts

♣ KJ ♣ A10 (2) Apparently promising an honour

♠ KQ10876 (3) A Lightner Double – asking for a ♠ lead.

♥ 4

♦ 752 South leads the ♠K, plan the play

♣ 753

This North, an enterprising player, doubled East’s slam in spite of the power auction. His Double was a Lightner Double, directing the opening lead. A Lightner double forbids the lead of a trump or a suit bid by the defenders. Basically, the double asks for an unusual lead. It is often the first suit bid by dummy.

Although well-intentioned, North’s double has backfired. Instead of guiding South’s lead, it alerted East to the winning line of play.

When South led his ♠K, an unsuspecting East would have played the ♠A, North would have ruffed, and the slam would have gone one down. East would have had no place to park his losing ♦.

However, North’s Lightner double should tell East that dummy’s ♠A will be ruffed. Therefore, instead of covering the ♠K, he allows South to hold the trick. After that, the defence can do nothing. East can over-ruff a ♠ continuation and after having drawn trumps he can discard his losing ♦ on the preserved ♠A.

Dave Comment: 6NT is on ice.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 7NT-1, 7♥*-2, 6NT=, 6♥=twice, 6♥-1 and 4♥+2.

Play Problem Here is a fairly easy play problem that three people got wrong.

West East You are West, declarer in 6NT with no opposition bidding.

♠ KQ9 ♠ A764 North leads the ♥3. It’s pairs so an over-trick is important if

♥ KQJ8 ♥ A64 there is one. So plan the play for the best chance of an

♦ Q96 ♦ AJ over-trick without jeopardizing the contract.

♣ A84 ♣ KQ53

.

Play Problem answer Board 24 from Monday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ J82 Bidding

West ♥ 10753 West North East South

Love all ♦ K1054 1NT pass 6NT (1) all pass

♣ J6

♠ KQ9 N ♠ A764

♥ KQJ8 W E ♥ A64 (1) This is better than 2♣, looking for a ♠ fit, as

♦ Q96 S ♦ AJ there are almost certainly 12 tricks in 6♠ or 6NT

♣ A84 ♣ KQ53

♠ 1053

♥ 92 North leads the ♥3. It’s pairs so an over-trick is important if there

♦ 8732 is one. So plan the play for the best chance of an over-trick

♣ 10972 without jeopardizing the contract.

You have eleven top ticks and extra chances in ♦’s and either black suit splitting 3-3, so what should you try first?

Your first priority is to secure your contract and so you should win in hand with the ♥K and play a ♦ to the ♦J. If this loses, you claim the remainder. If the finesse wins, you look for an overtrick by testing both black suits and if either splits 3-3 you have 13 tricks.

And what happened? 6NT+1 five times and 6NT= three times. So it looks like three out of eight did not find the best play.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: Pass, and pass partner’s expected re-opening double and collect a juicy vulnerable penalty.

Hand B: (a) 3♠. According to the LAW it’s 4♠, but I would prefer to have a singleton or void, especially at this vulnerability. However, with all of the points in ♠’s I would not argue with 4♠.

(b) pass. Do not bid again having pre-empted (your raise was a pre-empt after the double). Hopefully your 3♠ bid has pushed them too high and you will set them. If you think that 4♠ is right, then you should have bid it last go.

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