Our website is www.pattayabridge.com                           Club News Sheet – No. 393

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com                                 

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880                                                          23rd May 2010

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

My MSN messenger ID is tj_quested@hotmail.com

Mon 17th          1st    Paul K & Sean               64%       2nd    Dino & Paul S                        61%

Wed 19th          1st    Paul K & Sean               62%       2nd    Paul Q & Terry Q                  58%

Fri  21st            1st    Dave & Tomas               60%       2nd    Guttorm & Johan                    57%

    

       
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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

1830.9 Paul Quodomine
1825.7 Janne Roos
1793.4 Hans Vikman

649.0 Janne Roos

641.2 Hans Vikman

638.3 Paul Quodomine

626.8 Tomas Wikman

619.8 Lars Broman

615.9 Jean Wissing

615.9 Sally Watson

609.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

597.8 Bengt Malgren

586.4 Bob Short

 

330.4 Janne Roos

329.6 Tomas Wikman

327.9 Hans Vikman

324.8 Sally Watson

323.4 Paul Quodomine

322.9 Lars Broman

320.3 Jean Wissing

319.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

309.3 Jeremy Watson

308.2 Bob Short

 

     
Ron Klinger web site
     
 

A Psycic Pre-empt                                                Board 25 from Friday 14th May

 

Psychic bids are not allowed in this club, and that also applies to psychic (or extreemly light) pre-empts. In talking about this particular opening psych, Ado and Gerard informed me that this problem of psychic pre-empts had been resolved in Australia.

                 

108                     One player opened 2NT (weak with both minors) in first seat at

87                       favourable vulnerability and got a top score as a result.

8732                  This is totally unacceptable and the Australian Rule of 15 for pre-empts

K10932             is now a part of the club rules. Any infringement and the culprit will automatically be penalized.

     

The Australian Rule of 15 for pre-empts.

 

Any pre-emptive bid (opening or overcall) has to adhere to the following rule. Add up the length of the two longest suits and the high card points and if the total is 15 or more then you may pre-empt. The example hand above is only 12 and way short – if it was 6-6 in the minors with three points then that would be acceptable. The only exception to this rule that I can think of is a weak jump shift which is often played as 0-5 with perhaps just a 6-card suit and this continues to be allowed at the club and even zero points is OK.

 

Is it Ghestem?                                                      East hand 10 from Friday 21st May

 

QJ83                  One player overcalled a 1 opening with 2 holding this hand. This was

A10642              explained as both majors – fine of course. After the hand was over his 

J2                       partner West criticized the bid, saying that when playing Ghestem you need

62                      to be 5-5. I witnessed this and commented that the 2 cue-bid when playing Ghestem did not show both majors, but that 3 did. The very experienced West disagreed, saying that he had been playing Ghestem for 20+ years!

I suggested that he had in fact been playing ‘Inverted Ghestem’ which is written up on the website and I believe to be superior. He later accepted, after phoning Tom Hanlon in Ireland(!), that he was wrong and that I was of course correct.

 

And do you need to be 5-5? This is up to partner ship agreement. I play that if playing inverted Ghestem or Michaels cue bid, where the cue bid of a minor shows both majors, then I am happy for it to be 5-4 although insisting that it must be 5-5 is an equally good treatment.

Incidentally, I was informed that Tom Hanlon recommends a possible improvement to Inverted Ghestem (or Ghestem) where when over a 1 opening 2 is used instead of 3 to show both majors (Ghestem) or highest and lowest (inverted Ghestem). This ensures that partner is never forced to bid above the three level and does indeed look like an improvement to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The trouble with Roman Keycard Blackwood            Board 22 from Wednesday 5th May

 

Just last week I pointed out a “problem with bidding RKCB and ’s as trumps when you hold just one keycard. You’ve guessed it – somebody did exactly the same this week!

         

Dealer:             Q1052                                        West          North         East          South

East                  876                                             -                 -                 1           pass

E-W vul           AJ1073                                      1              pass           2           pass

                        6                                                3    (1)      pass           4NT (2)    pass

5    (3)      pass           6            all pass  

J98                     N               K                       

KQ952           W    E            AJ10                 

K42                   S                Q5                     

A4                                        QJ97532           

A7643                                       

43                                        

986                                           

K108

                       

(1)   I don’t like this as I don’t play it as forcing – presumably this pair do?

(2)   RKCB for ’s. The hand has nice ’s but 4NT RKCB is a poor bid when you have only one keycard without the trump queen as you may get an unpleasant 5 response.

(3)   And East gets exactly what he deserved (minus two) for not reading last week’s news sheet.

 

And what happened? 6-2, 4-1, 4= 3 times and 4+1.

The bottom lines:

-         Let’s just repeat, word for word, what I wrote last week: “Be wary of bidding 4NT RKCB when ’s are trumps and you have just one keycard without the trump queen. Obviously this and even more problems exist with a minor suit as trumps.”

-     Maybe somebody will actually read this and take note?

 

 

Dave’s Column           Here is Dave’s only input this week, it’s on defence of the hand.                                                                                                           

Dealer:             8643                                           Book Bidding

East                  QJ109                                        West          North         East            South

Love all            Q7                                              -                 -                1NT           pass

                        A42                                            3NT           all pass      

 

KJ10                  N                                      

A83                W    E            You are North, defending 3NT and partner leads the J.

542                     S               (a)  do you play the Q or the 7?   

Q1085                                 (b)  suppose you play the Q and it holds, which card do

you return?


Dave’s Column answer                      Board 14 from Wednesday 19th May  

     

Dealer:             8643                                           Book Bidding

East                  QJ109                                        West          North         East            South

Love all            Q7                                              -                 -                1NT           pass

                        A42                                            3NT           all pass      

 

KJ10                  N             AQ9               South leads the J. Two Questions:      

A83                W    E          K65                1)   What card should North play at trick two.

542                     S              AK3               2)   If North plays the Q and it holds the trick,        

Q1085                               J976                     what do you play at trick two?

                        752                                             

742                                            

J10986                       

K3                    

 

South leads the J and North correctly unblocks by playing the Q and East executes a hold-up play with good reason. If East wins the first trick, North will return the suit when in with the A and declarer will be unable to prevent the defense from establishing their ’s before he can develop his ’s.

After declarer’s hold-up play at trick one, what happens if North returns partner’s suit? Nothing good for the defense. South has only one entry and the defense cannot clear ’s in time before declarer gets his ’s.

A thinking North looks ahead when his Q is allowed to win. Dummy has 10 HCPs and declarer about 16. Looking at 9 in his own hand North knows that South can have only 4-5 points. If South had led from KJ10xx no defense will win, so North must hope that South has either the K or the K.

So, instead of “returning partner’s suit”, North switches to his Q at trick two. Against this defense declarer cannot establish his winners before he loses five tricks.

 

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 3NT= four times, 4NT-1.

       
       

 Ron Klinger web site