Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 295

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My home phone is 038 422924 and my mobile number is 083 6066880 6^th July 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 30^th 1^st Derek & Gerard 62% 2^nd Sally & Oli 57%

Wed 2^nd 1^st Derek & Gerard 63 % 2^nd Lewis & Terry 61%

Fri 4^th 1^st Jan & Janne 63% 2^nd Lewis & Terje 55%

Bidding Quiz Stand American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

Hand A Hand B With Hand A partner opens 1♣, what do you bid?

♠ - ♠ KJ95

♥ J1098632 ♥ 9853 With Hand B everybody is vulnerable. LHO opens 1♦ and

♦ K7642 ♦ 6 partner bids a weak 3♣. RHO jumps to 4♠, what do you do?

♣ 4 ♣ Q985

Hand C Hand D With Hand C LHO opens 1♦ and partner overcalls 1♠, what

do you bid?

♠ AQ8 ♠ AK86

♥ AK8642 ♥ A5 With Hand D you open 1♣ and partner bids 2♥ (very weak,

♦ 107 ♦ Q98 6 card suit, about 2-4 points), what do you bid?

♣ A10 ♣ AJ105

Hand E Hand F With Hand E partner opens 1♦ and RHO bids a weak 3♣,

what do you bid?

♠ AQ76432 ♠ K10542

♥ A4 ♥ 1073 With Hand F RHO opens 1♦ and you overcall 1♠. Partner

♦ A107 ♦ K96 bids 2♥ and this is passed to you, what do you do?

♣ 3 ♣ Q8

Hand G Hand H With Hand G RHO opens 1♥, what do you do and what are

your intentions?

♠ K106 ♠ K1032

♥ KQ954 ♥ J32

♦ - ♦ QJ93 With Hand H partner opens 2NT (20-21), what do you bid?

♣ AKQJ8 ♣ 84

Hand J Hand K With Hand J RHO opens 1♥ and you overcall 1♠. Partner

then bid 1NT, what do you do?

♠ QJ1094 ♠ A

♥ AJ ♥ K10874

♦ AKQ ♦ 732 With Hand K LHO opens 1♥ and partner overcalls 1♠.

♣ 962 ♣ KJ87 RHO passes, what do you do?

Bidding Sequence Quiz

L 1♥ 1NT pass 2♦ You have agreed to play systems on over partner’s 1NT overcall (and the 1♥ opening only promised 4 cards), so what is the 2♦ bid?

M 1♣ 1♠ pass 2♥ Is 2♥ forcing?

N 1♥ 1♠ pass 1NT How many points is 1NT?

Let it be Board 20 from Monday 30^th

If the opponents bid to a bad spot when it’s very likely that they have a better contract – pass!

Dealer: ♠ 8 Table A

West ♥ KQJ6 West(B) North East South(E)

Both vul ♦ KQJ9832 pass 1♦ 3♣ 4♠ (1)

♣ 6 5♣ (2) dbl (3) all pass

♠ KJ95 N ♠ 10 Table B

♥ 9853 W E ♥ 1072 West(B) North East South(E)

♦ 6 S ♦ 54 pass 1♦ 3♣ 4♠ (1)

♣ Q985 ♣ AKJ10742 pass (2) pass (4) pass

♠ AQ76432

♥ A4 Table C

♦ A107 West(B) North East South(E)

♣ 3 pass 1♦ 3♣ 3♠ (1)

4♣ (5) 4♥ 5♣ 6♦

all pass

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this South hand E in this week’s quiz? This jump to 4♠ is totally unnecessary as 3♠ is forcing.

(2) What did you bid with this West hand B in this week’s quiz? Normally you should support partner when holding 4-card trump support, but it looks like the opponents may end up in a poor 4♠ contract when there is a superior red suit contract and so this hand should pass.

(3) The level is now a bit high (due to partner’s ill-advised jump) and it looks like a mis-fit and so North took the money.

Table B: (2) This West got question B right by passing.

(4) Perhaps North should bid, but partner made an unnecessary jump and so presumably has an excellent solid ♠ suit?

Table C: (1) This South got question E right by making a simple forcing 3♠ bid.

(5) Showing support over the forcing 3♠ bid is obviously fine.

And what happened? 4♠ by South went two down for a total bottom. 5♣ doubled went for 800 but scored reasonably well as the other two tables bid the 6♦ slam.

The bottom lines: -

- If the opponents are in a poor contract and they probably have a better spot, then pass!

Editorial

1) Can people who decide to eat during the session please be more careful about keeping greasy/dirty hands away from the cards. Ask for tissues if a knife and fork are inappropriate.

2) As some of you may know, there is a guestmap for comments on the website. Anybody can post a comment and somebody posted a derogatory comment about Dave and the club, they also said that it was from Hans Bijvoet. But the e-mail address was wrong and they could not even spell Hans’ name correctly. Hans confirmed that he has never made a post so somebody is just trying to stir up trouble. Pathetic eh? The comment is now deleted.

3) One occasional guest arrived just on time on Wednesday and was partnered with a player of average ability. They scored poorly, he was unhappy, and said he won’t turn up again. My advice is that if you want to get a good partner then turn up early, the good players tend to pair off and if you make a habit of arriving latish you will miss the good players.

1NT opposite partner’s overcall Board 17 from Friday 4^th

Dealer: ♠ K765 Table A

North ♥ Q6532 West(K) North East(J) South

Love all ♦ 4 - 1♥ 1♠ pass

♣ AQ5 1NT (1) pass 2NT (2) pass (2)

pass (3) all pass

♠ A N ♠ QJ1094

♥ K10874 W E ♥ AJ Table B

♦ 732 S ♦ AKQ West(K) North East(J) South

♣ KJ87 ♣ 962 - 1♥ 1♠ pass

♠ 832 2NT (1) pass 3NT all pass

♥ 9

♦ J109865

♣ 1043

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand K in this week’s quiz? This 1NT bid is correct over partner’s 1-level overcall and promises 10-12 points.

(2) What did you bid with this East hand J in this week’s quiz? This East, despite me writing it up a few times in the news-sheets recently, incorrectly assumed that 1NT was 6-9 and so just invited.

(3) With nothing more than already shown, West passes.

Table B: (1) This West got it wrong but lucked out when partner had a good hand. He would not have been so lucky had it been opener with the 17 points.

And what happened? Just this one pair missed the 3NT game and everybody made between 9-11 tricks

The bottom lines: -

- A 1NT response to partner’s 1-level overcall IS NOT 6-9; it is 10-12. This is because partner may have as few as 7 points for his overcall.

- A 2NT response to partner’s 1-level overcall IS NOT 10-12; it is 13-14. This is because partner may have as few as 7 points for his overcall.

- This is all explained on the website:

General Bridge Topics > Responding with No Trumps to partner’s overcall

Too strong for a low-level pre-empt Board 8 from Monday 30^th

Dealer: ♠ Q10943 Table A

West ♥ Q7 West(D) North East(A) South

Love all ♦ J5 1♣ (1) pass (2) 2♥ (3) pass

♣ K972 pass (4) 2♠ 3♦ (5) 3♠

dbl (6) pass pass (7) all pass

♠ AK86 N ♠ -

♥ A5 W E ♥ J1098632 Table B

♦ Q98 S ♦ K7642 West(D) North East(A) South

♣ AJ105 ♣ 4 1♣ (1) pass (2) 1♥ (3) pass

♠ J752 2NT (8) pass 4♥ all pass

♥ K4

♦ A103

♣ Q863

Table A: (1) This is correct, the hand is too strong for 1NT.

(2) A 1♠ overcall is reasonable.

(3) What did you bid with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? The 2♥ was a weak jump shift, showing 6 ♥’s and a hand too weak to respond 1♥. In my opinion this is NOT a weak hand. It is a 6-loser hand or a 7½ playing trick hand, depending upon your evaluation methods – I would be thinking of slam rather than pre-empting partner! A simple 1♥ is the best bid for now; with 4♥ a reasonable alternative.

(4) To me this is obvious – it’s a mis-fit with about 2-4 points and a ♥ suit opposite. I like to play 2NT as Ogust here but whatever 2NT means in your system it is an overbid with this hand.

(5) A 2^nd suit.

(6) West has no way of knowing that partner has a 7½ playing trick hand and so very reasonably doubled.

(7) With zero or one tricks in defence and 7-8 in offence, East should pull the double.

Table B: (3) This East got it right with a simple 1♥ bid. A very reasonable alternative (if you want to pre-empt) is 4♥. This would probably stop the opponents finding a ♠ fit if it’s their hand but will also stop you finding slam if it’s your hand.

(8) 18-19 points and balanced.

And what happened? 3♠* went just one down for 100 but 4♥ making scored 420. One North found the good sacrifice of 4♠ over E-W’s 4♥ contract and only went for 300. The other contract was a somewhat bizarre 2NT by West (I don’t see how East can pass this with 12 red cards!). The bottom lines: -

- Understand Hand Evaluation. Four points concentrated in 12 red cards is NOT 4 points! The hand is worth a GREAT DEAL more.

- Note that this East hand will make 5♥ opposite as little as ♠xxxx ♥Ax ♦Axx ♣ Axxx and will make 4♥ opposite most moderate openers.

Not for take-out Board 3 from Monday 30^th

When there’s only one suit left, a double is usually penalties.

Dealer: ♠ K1053 West North East South

South ♥ A43 - - - pass

E-W vul ♦ A10 pass 1♣ dbl (1) 1♦ (2)

♣ J963 1NT (3) pass 2♥ (4) dbl (5)

pass pass (6) pass

♠ 87 N ♠ A9

♥ J109 W E ♥ KQ8765

♦ 7432 S ♦ Q5

♣ AK85 ♣ Q43

♠ QJ642

♥ 2

♦ KJ986

♣ 107

(1) This is a silly double – what’s wrong with the obvious 1♥?

(2) This is equally silly, if you don’t bid 1♠ now partner will never place you with 5 ♠’s. Diamonds may be a girls best friend, but they are not the best suit at bridge.

(3) This is fine, better than 1♥ or pass in my opinion.

(4) This is an overbid of course, showing a hand too strong to simply overcall 1♥, so about 17+.

(5) And this is total nonsense. Meant as take-out; but take out to what? There is only one suit left! A 2♠ bid is obvious now having failed to bid ♠’s last go.

(6) Perhaps North should have added up the points: he has 12, West has shown 6-9 and East has shown 17+ and partner has bid twice. Somebody (more likely more that one) has overbid there hand and North decided to trust partner. I doubt he will next time.

And what happened? 2♥* made +1 for 870 and a total top to E-W. 4♠’s makes for 420 to N-S. There were various spurious results.

The bottom lines: -

- Bid a 5-card major in preference to a 5-card minor.

- Do not make a silly double if it’s possible that partner may think it’s for penalties.

- With a 6-card suit and 13 points, overcall rather than double.

- Double followed by a new suit shows around 17+ points.

Change of suit over partner’s overcall Board 11 from Monday 30^th

Most people play that a simple change of suit opposite an overcall by partner is non-forcing; with a good hand, cue bid the opener’s suit.

Dealer: ♠ 3 Table A

South ♥ Q5 West(F) North East(C) South

Love all ♦ 5432 - - - 1♦

♣ J76542 1♠ pass 2♥ (1) pass

pass (2) pass

♠ K10542 N ♠ AQ8

♥ 1073 W E ♥ AK8642 Table B

♦ K96 S ♦ 107 West North East(C) South

♣ Q8 ♣ A10 - - - 1♦

♠ J976 1♠ pass 2♦ (1) pass

♥ J9 2♠ (3) pass 4♠ (4) all pass

♦ AQJ8

♣ K93

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand C in this week’s quiz? The problem with this bid is that it is not forcing! (unless you specifically agree to the contrary). The simple solution is to just bid 4♠, but that is best played as a pre-emptive bid.

(2) What did you bid with this West hand F in this week’s quiz? With a minimal overcall West sensibly passed.

Table B: (1) This is the best bid for East hand C, an Unassuming Cue Bid which generally shows a sound raise to three or more of partner’s suit.

(3) Showing a minimum overcall.

(4) West could introduce his ♥ suit now (3♥ would be forcing) but as the 5-3 ♠ fit is already located the simple 4♠ seems best.

And what happened? 2♥ made +4 for a total bottom as everybody else was in game, either +1, +2 or just making,

The bottom lines: -

- A change of suit over an overcall is not forcing.

- Any raise of partner’s overcall is weak.

- With a good hand opposite an overcall, start off with a cue bid of opener’s suit.

Standard French? Board 9 from Monday 30^th

I am not familiar with French methods, but Jean Charles goes along with Sally and plays that a 1♦ response to a 1♣ opening denies a 4-card major. It does not in Standard American.

Dealer: ♠ AQ76 Table A

North ♥ AQ West North East South

E-W vul ♦ 65 pass 1♣ pass 1♦

♣ 107642 pass 1NT (1) pass 3NT

all pass

♠ J53 N ♠ 98

♥ KJ854 W E ♥ 10962 Table B

♦ Q93 S ♦ J842 West North East South

♣ K8 ♣ QJ3 pass 1♣ pass 1♦

♠ K1042 pass 1♠ (1) pass 4♠

♥ 73 all pass

♦ AK107

♣ A96 (1) In Standard American one should bid 1♠ here.

And what happened? 4♠ should make +1; 3NT got a bad score for just making.

The bottom lines: - If you partner Sally or Jean-Charles, then agree on this sequence.

Walsh Board 11 from Wednesday 2^nd

Now Lewis is back I play with him on Wednesdays, and we play a system called Walsh in which the 1NT bid in the sequence 1♣ - 1♦ - 1NT may well conceal one or two 4-card majors.

Dealer: ♠ K108 West North East South

South ♥ K74 - - - pass

Love all ♦ QJ62 1♣ pass 1♦ pass

♣ J42 1NT (1) all pass

♠ Q432 N ♠ J95 (1) This was alerted with the explanation that

♥ A63 W E ♥ Q95 West may or may not have a 4-card major.

♦ K4 S ♦ A985

♣ KQ65 ♣ 873 And what happened?

♠ A76 Virtually everybody was playing in 1NT but

♥ J1082 at this table West scored +2 for a joint top

♦ 1073 when the opponents played on ♠’s. Walsh

♣ A109 really is a good system.

The bottom lines:

- If you play the Sally/Jean Charles system then a 1♦ response to 1♣ needs alerting as “denies a 4-card major”.

- Playing Walsh the 1♦ response does not necessarily deny a 4-card major and so does not need to be alerted; however, the 1NT bid in the sequence 1♣ - 1♦ - 1NT needs to be alerted as “could contain a 4-card major”.

- If you play either of these schemes and fail to alert then you may well get an adjusted score if the opponents feel that they were injured.

An Awkward Bid Board 7 from Wednesday 2^nd

Dealer: ♠ QJ3 Table A

North ♥ 87 West(G) North East South

Both vul ♦ QJ742 - - - 1♥

♣ 1097 2♣ (1) pass pass pass (2)

♠ K106 N ♠ 8752 Table B

♥ KQ954 W E ♥ J West(G) North East South

♦ - S ♦ K108653 - - - 1♥

♣ AKQJ8 ♣ 63 1NT (1) pass 2♦ (3) pass

♠ A94 2♥ (3) pass 3♦ (4) pass

♥ A10632 3NT (5) all pass

♦ A9

♣ 542

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this West hand G in this week’s quiz? This hand really is far too strong for a mere 2♣ overcall.

(2) Presumably this N-S pair do not play negative doubles?

Table B: (1) This was my bid to answer question G. However, upon reflection, I think that double followed by a NoTrump bid over partner’s ♦ or ♠ response is better.

(3) We play systems on over a 1NT overcall and so I alerted Lewis’s bid as a transfer to ♥’s! I’m not sure if Lewis was amused or not. Obviously since LHO had opened (a possibly 4-card) 1♥ he would not want to transfer and so 2♦ must be natural to play?

(4) Pretty obviously a ♦ hand, but systematically it is a 2^nd suit and game forcing and that’s what I told the opponents when they asked!

(5) Obviously I did not want partner playing in my void suit; who knows – he may have expected a ♦ or two for my 1NT overcall?

And what happened? A ♥ was led, won by South and a ♥ returned. I won with the ♥9, cashed the ♣’s and ♥KQ and threw South in with the last ♥ so that I was assured the 9^th trick with one of my kings when South has both aces. One other pair bid and made 3NT and other results were pretty random, with both sides playing in ♦’s and going down.

The bottom lines: -

- A 1NT overcall promises 15-17 (or 15-18) points and guarantees a stop in the suit bid. Unlike a 1NT opening, the shape need not be balanced and a singleton (or void?) is allowed.

- Do not make a simple overcall with a good 18 points; it’s also too good for 1NT – double is best.

- I guess you have to agree what a transfer into an opponent’s suit means?

Dave’s Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the play of the hand.

West East You are East, declarer in 4♠, South leads the ♣Q, plan the play.

♠ K1032 ♠ AJ54

♥ J32 ♥ Q76

♦ QJ93 ♦ AK82

♣ 84 ♣ AK

Dave’s Column answer Board 10 from Wednesday 25^th

Dealer: ♠ 76 Table A

East ♥ A109 West(H) North East South

Both vul ♦ 764 - - 2NT pass

♣ 97652 3NT (1) all pass

♠ K1032 ♠ AJ54 Table B

♥ J32 ♥ Q76 West(H) North East South

♦ QJ93 ♦ AK82 - - 2NT pass

♣ 84 ♣ AK 3♣ (1) pass 3♠ pass

♠ Q98 4♠ all pass

♥ K854

♦ 105 (1) What did you bid with this West hand H in this

♣ QJ103 week’s quiz? No less than 4 West’s have apparently

not yet mastered Stayman.

Anyway, Eddie Kantar assumes that anybody reading his book knows about Stayman and will automatically be in the best contract of 4♠.

South leads the ♣Q against 4♠, plan the play.

You should notice: (1) there are four losers – 3 ♥’s and a ♠: (2) Both you and partner have exactly the same distribution: (3) ♥’s is a suit you would prefer the opponents to lead to you,

Hands that have ‘mirrored’ distributions lend themselves to throw-ins and end-plays, this is no exception.

The idea is to force a ♥ lead. You have no minor suit losers but you do have a possible trump loser. Why not use the trump suit as your throw-in suit?

Play the ♠A,K, if the ♠Q drops fine, you can no longer lose the contract. Simply draw the last trump, take your minor suit winners and lead a ♥ yourself. At worst you lose 3 ♥ tricks.

Assume that the ♠Q does not fall, then cash the 2^nd round of ♣’s and run the ♦’s. If somebody ruffs it will be with the ♠Q and he will either have to lead a ♥, eliminating one of your ♥ losers, or lead a ♣ and give you a ruff and discard.

If nobody ruffs a ♦ then lead a ♠, whoever wins the ♠Q will be in the same dilemma.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Two pairs were in the best contract of 4♠ and both made. Unfortunately they did not share the top but scored an average when two of the pairs in the inferior 3NT scored an overtrick.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is this week’s Dave input involving the play of the hand.

North South You are North, declarer in (a) 7♦ or (b) 7NT. West had doubled

♠ K76 ♠ AQ32 a 2♣ Stayman bid during the auction and East leads a small ♣.

♥ KQ75 ♥ A3 Plan the play.

♦ QJ32 ♦ AK64

♣ A3 ♣ K54

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 10 from Wednesday 25^th

Dealer: ♠ K76 Pattaya bridge club bidding

North ♥ KQ75 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ QJ32 - 1NT pass 2♣

♣ A3 dbl 2♥ pass 4NT (1)

pass 5♠ pass 5NT

♠ J9 ♠ 10854 pas 6♠ pass 7NT

♥ 10864 ♥ J92 all pass

♦ 5 ♦ 10987

♣ QJ10987 ♣ 62 (1) Apparently asking for aces in their system.

♠ AQ32

♥ A3 In Eddie Kantar’s book the contract was 7♦ and you

♦ AK64 got a ♣ lead. The answer was to play ♦A,Q and

♣ K54 discover the 4-1 break. You then play for the 13^th

trick by ruffing a ♥ with no risk of being over-ruffed. The point was to keep a big and small trump in each hand so you can cope with a 4-1 ♦ split either way.

But the Pattaya bridge club members are real men (and women) and don’t play in ♦’s when they can score more in NoTrumps. Three pairs were in 7NT, how to you play that on a ♣ lead?

♠ - At out table the declarer cashed the top two ♣’s

♥ KQ75 and three rounds of ♠’s. Three rounds of ♦’s

♦ 2 followed and this was the 5-card ending.

♣ - The ♦A was led from dummy and West was squeezed. He had to discard a ♥ as otherwise

♠ - ♠ 10 dummy’s ♣5 was good and declarer then

♥ 10864 ♥ J92 had four ♥ tricks.

♦ - ♦ 10 Well played Derek, this hand decided who

♣ Q ♣ - came first and who came second on the day.

♠ 2 But we’ll be back.

♥ A3

♦ A

♣ 5

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 7NT= twice, 7NT-1 once, 6NT+1, 6NT=, and 4♥+2.

Play Problem Here’s another play problem that was randomly dealt.

West East You are East, declarer in 6♥ against very sensible opponents,

♠ Q9 ♠ AK10 how do you play the ♥ suit?

♥ KJ7 ♥ A10942

♦ AJ62 ♦ KQ9

♣ J1082 ♣ K7

Play problem answer Board 10 from Monday 10th

Dealer: ♠ J432 West North East South

North ♥ Q86 - pass 1♥ pass

E-W vul ♦ 85 2♣ pass 2NT pass

♣ Q953 4♣ (1) pass 4♠ pass

6♥ all pass

♠ Q9 ♠ AK10

♥ KJ7 ♥ A10942 (1) asking for aces.

♦ AJ62 ♦ KQ9

♣ J1082 ♣ K7 One pair had this auction to the rather optimistic

♠ 8765 6♥ slam. The question is, how do you play the ♥ suit?

♥ 53

♦ 10743 At the table declarer led the ♥J and when it was not covered

♣ A64 he went up with the ♥A and thus went one down.

Was this the correct play of the ♥ suit? I did not think so and so I asked an experienced player on Wednesday (I could not check it out with the program on the website as my internet was down), he did exactly the same. It is often a good idea to lead the jack from table in situations like this in case an inexperienced North covers with the queen. But in a reasonable standard game nobody would cover as declarer is known to have 5+ ♥’s and if he did not have the ♥10 he would finesse the Jack.

So it looks like an evens bet then?

No!. The point is that if the ♥’s are 3-2 then it is simply a gamble, but if they are split Qxxx opposite x then you can only pick up the suit if North has the Qxxx. So the correct play is to play the ♥K and then run the ♥J.

For those disbelievers who do not believe me, check it out on the web-site’s suit play program. The program does indeed play the king and then run the jack.

I have just written a new page on the web with Suit Split Tables and a 4-1 split is 28%, and it’s 11.3% (you get that number from the suit split calculator) that North has Qxxx – so well worth playing for.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♥, this hand has huge playing potential (7+ tricks). A weak 2♥, which partner will almost certainly pass, is out of the question. If you want to pre-empt, then 4♥ is a very reasonable bid.

Hand B: Pass. RHO has jumped to 4♠ when 3♠ would have been forcing. This should show a very good ♠ suit (which he does not have according to your holding). So pass and let him play there. If you support partner’s ♣’s you will either get doubled and go down or else the opposition will find their best spot in a red suit.

Hand C: 2♦, an Unassuming Cue Bid to show a sound raise to 3♠ or a better hand.

Hand D: Pass, the hand is nowhere good enough for 2NT.

Hand E: 3♠. This is forcing and quite sufficient. A jump to 4♠ is totally unnecessary and would show a much better ♠ suit with little liking of ♦’s.

Hand F: Pass. Partner’s change of suit over your overcall is not forcing and you are minimum.

Hand G: Double, with the intention of bidding NoTrumps over partner’s ♦ or ♠ response. This shows a hand too good for a 1NT overcall. Don’t worry about the ♦ shortage – the opponents have bid ♥’s. I actually bid 1NT at the table, which is reasonable but not as good as the action above.

Hand H: 3♣, Stayman. Look for the 4-4 ♠ fit. I think that 3NT, with the small doubleton ♣, is a horrendous bid – but it was chosen by 4 out of six players on Wednesday! The hand actually comes from an Eddie Kantar book and he assumes that readers understand Stayman and when to use it.

Hand J: 3NT, partner is 10-12.

Hand K: 1NT, this promises 10-12 points and a ♥ stop.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answers

L 1♥ 1NT pass 2♦ This is up to partnership understanding. In the real world it may well be sensible to use it as a transfer to expose a psyche by opener. In our club, where psyches are not allowed, the best use of the bid is probably to show a weak hand that wants to play in ♦’s.

M 1♣ 1♠ pass 2♥ A new suit opposite an overcall is generally played as non-forcing

N 1♥ 1♠ pass 1NT 1NT over partner’s 1-level overcall is 10-12 points; remember, partner may have only 7-8 points for his overcall.