Club News Sheet – No. 168 www.pattayabridge.com 21^st Jan 2006

Winner Runner-up

Mon 16^th N-S 1^st Bob P/Joe 65% 2^nd Bill/Mike(Can) 55%

E-W 1^st Dave/Ruth 65% 2^nd Albert/Esko 61%

Wed 18^th N-S 1^st Margit/Ursula 60% 2^nd Bill/Mike(Can) 54%

E-W 1^st Gerard/Derek 66% 2^nd Jim(Can)/Phil 57%

Fri 20^th N-S 1^st Anne/Eileen 58% 2^nd Margit/Ursula 57%

E-W 1^st Dave/Ruth 72% 2^nd Derek/Gerard 55%

A very short news-sheet this week I’m afraid, obviously I have been very busy organising the move. The club now plays at the Mercure hotel, Soi 15. We have to pay the hotel and so the playing fee has had to be increased to 100 bht a session (150 bht for non-members).

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♦ and RHO overcalls a weak 2♥.

What do you do?

♠ 6 ♠ AKJ3

♥ KQ6 ♥ Q2 With Hand b RHO opens 1♣ and this is passed round to partner

♦ KQ84 ♦ 8743 who doubles, what do you bid?

♣ K10954 ♣ J54

With a stop in the opponent’s suit, bid NT! Board 10 from Monday 16^th

Dealer: ♠ 6

East ♥ KQ6 West North(A) East South

Both vul ♦ KQ84 - - pass 1♦ (1)

♣ K10954 2♥ (2) 3♦ (3) 3♥ 4♦

all pass

♠ 873 N ♠ AJ542

♥ AJ9874 W E ♥ 1053

♦ J S ♦ 95

♣ QJ2 ♣ A73

♠ KQ109

♥ 2

♦ A107632

♣ 86

(1) It’s a bit light on points, but the excellent intermediates in the two suits make this worth an opener if that’s your style.

(2) Weak.

(3) What did you bid with this North hand A in this week’s quiz? You have values for game and so 3♦ is obviously incorrect. With this double ♥ stop and excellent fit for partner’s suit I would bid 3NT. Don’t worry about the ♠’s, partner simply must have something there.

And what happened? Just two pairs out of nine reached the top spot of 3NT + 1.

The bottom lines: -

- If you have stops in the opponent’s suit, then bid NT.

A balancing double Board 17 from Wednesday 18^th

3NT by E-W was hopeless, can you spot where the auction went wrong?

Dealer: ♠ 92

North ♥ AK105 West North East(B) South

Love all ♦ K5 - 1♣ pass pass

♣ KQ832 dbl (1) pass 1♠ (2) pass

1NT (3) pass 3NT (4) all pass

♠ Q64 N ♠ AKJ3

♥ J964 W E ♥ Q2

♦ AQ10 S ♦ 8743

♣ 1076 ♣ J54

♠ 10875

♥ 873

♦ J962

♣ A9

(1) West is in the balancing seat and decided to make a noise, 1NT is an alternative - it shows around 10-13 points in the balancing seat.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? 1♠ is correct. Partner has made a balancing double and may have as few as 7 points.

(3) But this is where it went wrong. When you double and then bid NT that shows a big hand. In the direct seat it’s 19+, in this balancing seat it shows around 15.

(4) And so East understandably went to game.

And what happened? Minus 3 was not a good score for E-W

The bottom lines: -

- If you double and then bid NT that shows a strong hand.

- Do not leap about when partner makes a balancing double.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 3NT. You have the ♥’s stopped and partner clearly has nothing in ♥’s so you must bid NT. Don’t worry about the ♠’s – partner surely has them.

Hand B: 1♠. This is not good enough to jump opposite a balancing double.