Mon 6th 1st Jeremy & Sean 61% 2nd = Michael C & Alan Kleist 59%
= Derek & Gerard 59%
Wed 8th 1st Leo & Jan 61% 2nd Bob & Nick 54%
Fri 10th 1st Janne & Guttorm 58% 2nd Gus & Enzo 57%
Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.
Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♠, what do you bid?
♠ J106 ♠ QJ4
♣ Q3 ♣ AK9875
Hand C Hand D What do you open with Hand C?
♠ - ♠ K6 With Hand D LHO
opens 1♥
and partner doubles. RHO
♥
J10987653 ♥ QJ872 redoubles, what do you do?
♦ 532 ♦ 953
♣ 92 ♣ 1063
Bidding Sequence Quiz
E 1♣ pass 1♠ pass (a) Is
3♠ forcing?
1NT pass 3♠ (b) Is 3♠ forcing if you play
Acol where 1NT is 15-16?
F 1♠ pass 2♥ pass (a) 3♦ is forcing, but is it game forcing?
3♦ (b) Is 3♦ the same if you
play Acol, where 2♥ shows 8+ HCP?
G 1♥ dbl 2♣ Is
2♣ forcing?
After partnr’s double is redoubled. Board 12 from Wednesday 8th May
Dealer: ♠ A95
West ♥ AK109543 West(D) North East South(B)
N-S vul ♦ 642 pass 1♥ dbl redbl (1)
♣
- 1NT (2) dbl all
pass
♠ K6 N ♠ 108732
♠ QJ4
♥
6
♦ J87
♣ AK9875
And what happened? 1NT* went -3 for 500 to N-S.
It was the only +ve score to N-S, with every other N-S bidding to the three level
and going down.
Too weak to pre-empt Board 23 from Wednesday 8th May
Dealer: ♠ A1087643
East ♥ - West North East South(C)
Both vul ♦ AK - - pass pass (1)
♣
A1063 pass 1♠ 2♦ pass (2)
pass 3♠ dbl 4♥ (3)
♠ K9 N ♠ QJ52 db
l all pass
♠ -
♥
J10987653
♦ 532
♣ 92
(1) What did you open with this South hand C in
this week’s quiz? At least one player opened with a pre-emptive bid, but this
hand simply does not have the values (it’s only 12 for the Australian rule of
15).
(2) If you play 3♥ as a weak jump shift (0-5) here then that
would be fine.
(3) Now is the time to bid the hand!
And what happened? 4♥*= (a defensive mistake, but -1 would still
have been a near top). Other results were 4♠*-3 and 5♠*-3 (I believe that all of these are because
South showed some values in the bidding) and 1♠ passed out +1.
9 ½ tricks opposite a strong opener Board 11 from Wednesday 9th May
Dave suggested that I write this one up.
Dealer: ♠ K10 Table A
South ♥ A54 West North East South
Love all ♦ - - - - 1♠
♣
AKQJ10874 pass 2♣ 2♥ 3♦ (1)
4♥ 6♣ (2) all pass
♠ 742 N ♠ 6
♠ AQJ9853 pass 2♣ 2♥ 3♦ (1)
♥
- 4♥ 4NT (2) pass 5♥ (3)
♦ A9852 pass 7NT (4) all pass
♣ 5
Table B: (2) … It’s true that E-W have crowded the auction
but, especially at pairs, North must make a better effort. It’s not usually a
good idea to bid RKCB with a void but it costs nothing and may work here -
South has shown a strong hand and is very likely to have two aces on the
bidding and possibly also the ♦K so there is no ambiguity. But, of course, it would be unfortunate if
he had the ♦K
and there was indeed an ace missing. If you play old-fashioned Blackwood there
is no problem! Another option for North at (2) is to bid a somewhat nebulous 5♥; if partner insists on his suits then you have
great ♠’s
in context.
(3) Two keycards
and no ♦Q
(4) I
think that 7NT is a good bet here. If partner has two aces then North can count
12 top tricks and South probably has the ♠Q. If the ♦A is missing then 7NT may well still make if
West has it and East leads a ♥. 7♣
is the safer option but also fails if the missing keycard is the ♠A.
And what happened? 7NT= twice, 7♠= and 6♣+1 twice.
Dave’s Column
Dealer: ♠ J962 Bidding
North ♥ AQ7 West North East South
E-W vul ♦ 62 - 1♣ pass 1♠
♣
KQJ5 dbl 2♠ 3♦ 4♠
all pass
♠ 5 N
Dave’s Column
Answer Board 9 from
Wednesday 9th
Dealer: ♠ J962 Bidding
North ♥ AQ7 West North East South
E-W vul ♦ 62 - 1♣ pass 1♠
♣
KQJ5 dbl 2♠ 3♦ 4♠
all pass
♠ 5 N ♠ 84
♠ AKQ1073
♥
843
♦ 5
♣ 743
When the hand was first played, West led the ♦A and East followed with the ♦8. That was plenty high enough for West, who
continued with the ♦K.
South ruffed, drew trumps and led a ♣ towards dummy. Eventually he threw a ♥ on a high ♣ and lost just three tricks.
The rank of East’s ♦ at the first trick was deceptive. What
mattered was that East had played his lowest ♦ and West could tell (he could see all of the
lower spots).
At trick two West should shift to the ♥J.
And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♠=, 3♠+1 twice, 2♠+2, 5♦*-1.
Dave’s 2nd
Column
West East West North East South
♠ K84 ♠ J952 - - - 3♣
You are West, declarer in 5♦. North leads the ♣10, plan the play.
Dave’s
2nd Column Answer Board
19 from Wednesday 9th
Dealer: ♠ AQ3 Bidding
North ♥ 9543 West North East South
E-W vul ♦ 52 - - - 3♣
♣
10987 3♦ 5♣ 5♦ all pass
♠ K84 N ♠ J952
♠ 1076
♥
J86 The opponents are clearly
taking advantage of the
♦ 6 vulnerability, but
you have landed on your feet.
♣ KQJ654 Plan the play in 5♦ on the ♣10 lead.
The contract is actually 100%. Win the ♣A, draw trumps, ruff dummy’s remaining ♣, stripping that suit, and cash three rounds of
♥’s ending in dummy.
With the hand stripped there are several ways
to avoid the loss of three ♠’s no matter how the ♠’s are divided. One way is to lead a low ♠ from dummy. If South plays low, play the ♠8. Even if this loses to the ♠10 North is end-played. If south plays the ♠10 when a ♠ is led from dummy, cover with the ♠K. When this loses to the ♠A you still have the ♠J and ♠9 and so lose only one more ♠ to the ♠Q.
There are other variations but what you should
not do is lead low to the ♠K. North may have the ♠A and South the ♠Q10. In the actual hand North would win with the ♠A and put you on a guess with the ♠3 return.
And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club?
3NT +1, 5♦ =
four times.
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 |
1785.1 Janne Roos |
639.8 Per Andersson |
332.2 Per Andersson |
Bidding Quiz Answers
Hand A: 2♠. A 2♠ raise is 6-9 and 3♠ is 11-12. With 10 points you have to choose
and this hand with just three trumps and no top honour, is not worth a raise to
3♠ (presumably via a 2♦ bid).
Hand B: Redouble, generally showing about 10+ points and a mis-fit for partner.
2♣ is the alternative but it’s not forcing.
Hand C: Pass. This is not good enough for any sort of opening bid. The
Australian Rule of 14/15 applies at our club and this is only 12. You cannot
open with these extremely weak hands, but you are allowed to try to cause chaos
later if you have already passed once.
Hand D: Pass. Leave it up to partner – hopefully he has a suit. Do not bid
1NT, RHO’s double has promised that they have the majority of the points and
you will get doubled.
Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers
E 1♣ pass 1♠ pass (a) 3♠ is invitational with six ♠’s.
1NT pass 3♠ (b) It’s the same with Acol (just three less
points). One experienced player claimed it was forcing playing Acol, here’s
what Eric Crowhurst says (page 112) “a jump to 3♠ is generally
regarded as non-forcing”. Michelle Brunner is more precise (page 56): “a jump
rebid is purely invitational – with a 6-card suit”.
F 1♠ pass 2♥ pass (a) 3♦ is called a High Reverse, it is game forcing in SA.
3♦ (b) Crowhurst says that a High Reverse is forcing
and guarantees another bid by opener. He gives a number of examples (pages
147-148), all of which end in game. Michelle Brunner is again more precise
(page 68): “Reverses after a two-level response are FORCING TO GAME”. (her
capital letters).
G 1♥ dbl 2♣ 2♣ is not forcing after a double. With a good hand either redouble or else
bid 2NT (Jordan) with ♥ support.
References
Bridge with Brunner – Acol bidding for Improvers. Michelle Brunner
Precision Bidding in ACOL Eric
Crowhurst
Both books, and other Acol books, are reviewed on page 14 of the books
section of the website.