Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 272

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 27^th Jan 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 21^st N-S 1^st Johnny & Olaf 69% 2^nd Grolon & Paul Sav.. 62%

E-W 1^st Derek & Gerard 74% 2^nd Bjorn & Knud 59%

Wed 23^rd N-S 1^st Jean & Lars = Bob & Olaf 58%

E-W 1^st Vaiur & Josteinn 65% 2^nd Derek & Gerard 63%

Fri 25^th N-S 1^st Olefur & Stefan 62% 2^nd Ivy & Wolfgang 57%

E-W 1^st Lars & Olaf 60% 2^nd Bob & Jo 58%

Bidding Quiz Standard American is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B What do you open with Hand A?

♠ AK3 ♠ AJ With Hand B it’s favourable vulnerability (the opponents are

♥ J10732 ♥ AK vulnerable and you are not). LHO opens 1♣ and this is passed

♦ K42 ♦ AK to you, what do you do?

♣ A6 ♣ KQJ9643

Hand C Hand D What do you open with Hand C?

♠ KQ8 ♠ 542

♥ QJ63 ♥ Q6 With Hand D LHO opens 1♥ in 4^th seat. Partner doubles and

♦ QJ3 ♦ 8743 RHO bids 1♠. What do you do?

♣ A85 ♣ AK108

Hand E Hand F With Hand E you pass as dealer and it’s passed round to RHO

who opens 1♥. What do you bid?

♠ KQ86 ♠ KQ105

♥ J10953 ♥ 843

♦ QJ5 ♦ J1097 With Hand F partner opens 1♠ and RHO doubles, what do

♣ 9 ♣ A5 you bid?

Bidding Sequence quiz

G 1♥ pass 1NT 4♠ What is 4NT – Blackwood or natural?

4NT

The Triple

Congratulations to Olaf Ries, who has become just the 12th player to achieve the triple (three wins in one week) since we started playing three times a week in 2005. It’s interesting to note that he achieved this rare feat playing with three different players, none of whom were a regular partner of his. Well done.

Open 1NT with a 5-card major? Board 13 from Monday 21^st

You should all know my opinion by now, and if not there’s an article about it in the NoTrump bidding book.

Dealer: ♠ 75 Table A

North ♥ K West North East South(A)

Both vul ♦ AQ1087 - - - 1♥ (1)

♣ Q10852 3♠ 4♣ (2) all pass

♠ QJ109862 N ♠ 4 Table B

♥ Q6 W E ♥ A9854 West North East South(A)

♦ 6 S ♦ J953 - - - 1NT (1)

♣ KJ9 ♣ 743 3♠ (3) 3NT (4) all pass

♠ AK3

♥ J10732

♦ K42

♣ A6

Table A: (1) What did you open with this South hand A in this week’s quiz? With virtually all of the points outside the ♥ suit 1NT must surely be better than 1♥.

(2) And North is fixed now, he does not know that partner has 15-17 points and so he decided to simply bid a minor.

Table B: (1) This South knew what to do – with a balanced 15 count, open 1NT.

(3) Vulnerable, with a strong NoTrump on your right, this is a bit of a gamble. Some players preferred a more conservative Multi-Landy 2♦ or a natural 2♠.

(4) This North is in a much better position than at Table A. Three chose to double and scored either 200 or 500. Others chose to hope that partner had a ♠ stop and scored 600 for 3NT making

.

The bottom lines: -

- With a balanced hand within your 1NT opening range, open 1NT.

- This also applies if you have a 5-card major, especially if it is weak.

Pass LHO’s 1♣ with 25 points? Board 16 from Wednesday 23^rd

Would you ever pass an opponent’s 1-level opening bid when holding 25 points?

Dealer: ♠ 109532 Table A

West ♥ 10754 West(C) North East South(B)

E-W vul ♦ 10764 1♣ (1) pass pass pass (2)

♣ -

Table B

♠ KQ8 N ♠ 764 West(C) North East South(B)

♥ QJ63 W E ♥ 9852 1NT (1) pass pass dbl (3)

♦ QJ3 S ♦ 9852 pass 2♠ pass 5♣ (4)

♣ A85 ♣ 1072 all pass

♠ AJ

♥ AK Table C

♦ AK West(C) North East South(B)

♣ KQJ9643 1NT (1) pass pass dbl (3)

pass 2♠ pass 3NT (4)

pass 4♥ (5) pass 4♠ (6)

all pass

Table A: (1) What did you open with this West hand C in this week’s quiz? Knock off a point for the totally flat 3433 shape and it’s not worth a strong 1NT opener. 1♣ is best.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand B in this week’s quiz? Obviously you would like to double for penalties – but partner will bid. You could double and then look for the best game (3NT, 5♣ or possibly 4 of a major) but at this vulnerability the best bet is to pass and hope to get 500 for five down.

Table B: (1) This West chose to ignore the flat shape and open 1NT.

(3) Again, pass may be worth considering but it’s not so certain that 1NT is going 5 down (it does on a non ♠ lead). So double is fine, and then look for the best game.

(4) But 5♣ is rarely the best game! With partner bidding ♠’s, 3NT is clear.

Table C: (1) Again a 1NT opener that I would not make.

(4) This South made a much better choice of game.

(5) With these majors and this shape, North obviously corrected.

(6) And a very sensible final contract was reached.

And what happened?

The board was played 7 times with 7 different results (N-S score in brackets):

1♣W-5 (500), 3N+3 (490), 4♠+1 (450), 5♣= (400), 6♣-1 (-50), 6NT*-1(-100).

The bottom lines:

- There are very few deals when it’s best to pass in 4^th seat with 25 points!

Dave’s Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the best play for the contract.

West East You are West, declarer in 4♠ after North has doubled your

♠ AJ98642 ♠ KQ105 1♠ opening. North leads the ♣Q, how do you play the hand?

♥ K76 ♥ 843

♦ A ♦ J1097

♣ 92 ♣ A5

Dave’s Column answer Board 4 from Wednesday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ - West North East(F) South

West ♥ AQ92 1♠ dbl 2NT (1) pass

Both vul ♦ KQ84 4♠ all pass

♣ QJ1083

♠ AJ98642 N ♠ KQ105 (1) What did you bid with this East hand F in this

♥ K76 W E ♥ 843 week’s quiz? 3♠ (or 4♠) here are weak pre-

♦ A S ♦ J1097 emptive bids and the correct bid is 2NT, the

♣ 92 ♣ A5 Jordan (aka Truscott) 2NT, showing a sound

♠ 73 raise to 3♠ or better.

♥ J105

♦ 6532

♣ K764 How do you play 4♠ when North leads the ♣Q?

You win the 1^st trick and play a trump to the ♠A. After unblocking the ♦A you return to dummy with a trump and run the ♦J, throwing your ♣ loser. North wins with the ♦Q but he cannot play on ♥’s without conceding a trick to your ♥K. He will probably exit with a 2^nd round of ♣’s, which you ruff. You cross to dummy with a 3^rd round of trumps and lead the ♦10, throwing a ♥ loser. North wins with the ♦K and still cannot safely play a ♥. Since your ♦9 is now established, the game is certain, losing just two ♦’s and a ♥.

Look back at what happened. You started the deal with three ♥ losers and one ♣ loser. By making two loser-on-loser plays, you swapped a ♣ and ♥ loser for two ♦ losers – the benefit came when you set up the extra ♦ winner in the process.

And what happened?

Results were all over the place: 5♠-1, 5♣*(S)-2, 5♣*(S)-1, 4♠+2, 4♠*=, 4♠= and 4♠-1.

The bottom lines: -

- Sometimes you can swap your losers around in order to establish a winner!
The Truscott/Jordan 2NT is described on the website (Conventions > Section 1)

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd input involving the best play for the contract.

North South You are South, declarer in 6♥. How do you play when West

♠ KJ7 ♠ A64 leads the ♦K?

♥ A54 ♥ KQJ1073

♦ AJ94 ♦ 10

♣ K82 ♣ A74

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 3 from Wednesday 23^rd

Dealer: ♠ KJ7 Table A

South ♥ A54 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ AJ94 - - - 1♥

♣ K82 pass 2♦ (1) pass 3♥ (2)

pass 4NT (3) pass 5♣ (4)

♠ 985 N ♠ Q1032 pass 7NT (5) all pass

♥ 6 W E ♥ 982

♦ KQ862 S ♦ 753 Table B

♣ J963 ♣ Q105 West North East South

♠ A64 - - - 1♥

♥ KQJ1073 pass 3NT (1) pass 4NT (6)

♦ 10 pass 5♥ pass 6♥

♣ A74 all pass

Table A: (1) I prefer the bid chosen at table B (they were playing the same treatment for the 3NT response).

(2) Playing Acol; the 2♦ bid promised only 8+ points and this jump to 3♥ is not forcing playing Acol and is fine by me. It would be a bit light playing Standard American.

(3) RKCB

(4) 0 or 3 keycards.

(5) This is a gross overbid. If North really wants to look for the grand, he should bid 5♦ (asking for the ♥Q) and would receive a 5NT response (showing the ♥Q but denying a king). With a king missing he should simply bid 6♥.

Table B: (1) This pair also play that the direct jump to 3NT over partner’s 1♥/♠ opening promises a balanced 13-15 points and exactly 3 ♥’s. Knock off a point for the 3343 shape and the bid is spot-on.

(6) RKCB with ♥’s agreed. This was nice bidding to the best spot by Lars/Jean.

And now onto the play. This is what Dave’s book says:

Sometimes you have no loser in a suit but, by conceding a trick there, you can establish an extra winner; it’s the type of play that’s often missed. West leads the ♦K against 6♥, how will you play?

If you count losers in the South hand you will see that you have one loser in ♣’s and one possible loser in ♠’s. How can you reduce the loser count to just one? Finessing the ♠J is one possibility. Half of the time (or more if it’s a hand that Dave has put in) the finesse will lose and you will have lost a cold slam!

How can you make certain of 12 tricks? You win the ♦K lead with the ♦A, draw trumps, and lead the ♦J, throwing one of your potential losers from hand. West wins the trick with the ♦Q but dummy’s ♦9 is established. You will therefore be able to discard your 2^nd loser. In effect you swapped your two black suit losers for one ♦ loser.

Terry’s comment. Obviously very sound, but it’s by no means certain that West should lead the ♦K. In fact all of the other three suits seem fairly attractive as a lead. If North had asked about keycards and South shown the ♥Q, I would lead a trump. And with South showing 3 keycards he is favourite to hold the ♦A and the ♦K lead will cost when dummy has ♦Jxxx and declarer ♦Ax(x). On a non-♦ lead declarer should finesse the ♠’s and go one down.

And what happened?

7NT went two down for the clear bottom. 6♥ was bid 4 times, making twice and going down twice. 4♥+1 and 3NT+4 were the other results

The bottom lines: -

- You need around 35+ combined points for a No Trump grand slam, 30 (even with a solid 6 card suit) is optimistic in the extreme.

- It looks like sometimes you can generate a loser that is not there in order to play a loser on loser and generate two winners! Got that?

This week’s silly double Board 28 from Friday 25^th

East ended up playing in a silly 4-1 fit, who would you blame?

Dealer: ♠ J1093

West ♥ K West(E) North East(D) South

N-S vul ♦ 1092 pass pass pass 1♥

♣ QJ642 dbl (1) 1♠ (2) 2♣ (3) pass

pass pass

♠ KQ86 N ♠ 542

♥ J10953 W E ♥ Q6

♦ QJ5 S ♦ 8743

♣ 9 ♣ AK108

♠ A7

♥ A8742

♦ AK6

♣ 753

(1) What did you bid with this West hand E in this week’s quiz? A double of 1♥ should indeed show 4 ♠’s (or at least be playable in ♠’s) but this take-out double, with 3-1 in two unbid suits is totally ridiculous. A take-out double should be short in the suit opener, 5 cards is not shortage!!!

(2) This is reasonable, although it may be best to pass and see if E-W get in a mess.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand D in this week’s quiz? Apparently after the end of the game East came under criticism from everybody at the table! They said that West’s double showed four ♠’s and was fine. Total twaddle! I totally agree with East’s 2♣ bid, partner has shown a hand playable in all suits except ♥’s and North’s 1♠ bid implies that E-W have a good minor suit fit. Actually, there is a better bid than 2♣, and that is double, provided that partner takes it as showing the two other suits. This was a 1^st time partnership and I think that 2♣ was fine. Also, many experts play that double of the 1♠ bid in this scenario shows ♠’s – to expose a psyche; but psyches are not allowed at our club of course.

And what happened? 2♣ went minus three for a near bottom.

The bottom lines: -

- A take out double should be short in the suit bid and playable in the other three suits (unless very strong). Obviously a passed hand cannot be very strong and so it must be short in the suit opened.

- Unless my mathematical skills have dramatically degraded over the years, J109xx is not shortage.

To answer the question at the top of the page, West is 100% to blame.

Bridge Cryptogram Each letter denotes a specific letter in the alphabet.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

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23

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25

26

__			__		__		__		__		-	__			__		__			__		__		__		__		__			__				__		__	__		__		__	__
7			2		7		22		26			17			9		2			5		17		9		8		13			26				16		25	17		9		13	5
__	__				__		__		__		__		__				__		__			__		__		__				__			__		__		__
8	26				16		25		17		15		2				20		19			2		25		26				16			9		20		2
__		__		__		__		__		__				__		__		__			__		__		__		__		__			__		__		__			__		__			__	__	__
17		23		26		19		26		5				7		19		5			23		13		7		21		7			8		13		26			20		19			2	25	26

__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	,		__	__	__	__
17	2	25	26	15	2	25	15	26	26	16	9	20	2	16			18	20	10	26
__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	__	.
1	7	15	5	16	20	16	19	17	2	16	25	17	15	2	7	14	26

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1NT. There’s no problem with opening 1NT with a 5-card major – especially when the major suit is weak and you have cover in all of the other suits.

Hand B: Pass! If you double, partner will bid. You can probably make 3NT or 5♣ but that’s 400+, if you make 5♣ in defence then that’s 11 tricks and you will net 500. At any other vulnerability you would double of course and look for the best game.

Hand C: 1♣. Knock off a point for the 4333 type shape and it’s not worth 1NT.

Hand D: 2♣. Partner has promised short ♥’s and a hand playable in the other 3 suits. Your best suit is ♣’s and with 9 points it would be silly not to bid them. The only other sensible alternative is double but many would take that as showing ♠’s.

Hand E: Pass, obviously. Anybody who thinks that you should double “to show 4 ♠’s” needs to have a few words with me or else read up on take-out doubles.

Hand F: 2NT. Without the double you would have bid an invitational 3♠, but after a double 3♠ would show a weak hand with 4 ♠’s. Redouble is possible – to show 9+ points, but that is best played as generally denying a fit and looking for a penalty. 2NT here is not natural (redouble!) and so it is used to show a sound raise to 3 (or 4) of partner’s major suit opening. The Jordan (aka Truscott) 2NT.

Bidding Sequence Answers

G 1♥ pass 1NT 4♠ 4NT here is to play. Opener cannot possibly be looking for slam

4NT or he would have opened 2♣.