Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 308

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Mon 29^th 1^st Janne & Hans V 65% 2^nd Tom & Alan 64%

Wed 1^st 1^st Janne & Per-Ake 61% 2^nd Sigurd & Jan 58%

Fri 3^rd 1^st Bob P & Robbie 68% 2^nd Guttorm & Tomas 60%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

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

♠ A74 ♠ 1062

♥ J74 ♥ KQ3 What do you open with Hand B?

♦ 1092 ♦ AQ87

♣ KJ98 ♣ A63

The Club Championships

Here are the latest standings in the club competitions. Hans V has now moved into 1^st place in the Gold Cup. Janne Roos needs just one more scoring result to be up there near the top in the gold Cup race.

	Gold Cup = Best 30	Silver Plate = Best 10	Bronze Medal = Best 5
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10	1840.8 Hans Vikman 1836.6 Dave Cutler 1819.9 Sally Watson 1795.9 Bob Pelletier 1782.5 Ivy Schlageter 1718.5 Jan v Koss	670.0 Hans Vikman 661.8 Dave Cutler 661.1 Sally Watson 661.1 Jeremy Watson 642.7 Ivy Schlageter 642.0 Lars Gustafsson 636.1 Bob Pelletier 635.3 Lewis Berg 634.3 Derek & Gerard 631.2 Janne Roos …	347.2 Hans Vikman 342.3 Dave Cutler 341.1 Jeremy Watson 341.1 Sally Watson 336.9 Lars Gustafsson 335.3 Ivy Schlageter 328.5 Derek & Gerard 327.7 Lewis Berg  327.4 Tomas Wikman 326.2 Bob Pelletier ...

That 4333 shape again Board 11 from Friday 22nd

Dealer: ♠ K8 Table A

South ♥ 109652 West(A) North East(B) South

Love all ♦ K65 - - - pass

♣ 742 pass pass 1NT (1) pass

3NT (2) all pass

♠ A74 N ♠ 1062

♥ J74 W E ♥ KQ3 Table B

♦ 1092 S ♦ AQ87 West North East(B) South

♣ KJ98 ♣ A63 - - - pass

♠ QJ953 pass pass 1♦ (1) pass

♥ A8 1NT all pass

♦ J43

♣ Q105

Table A: (1) What did you open with this East hand B in this week’s quiz? It’s not good enough for a strong 1NT.

(2) What did you open with this West hand A in this week’s quiz? It is 9 points with a 109, but knock off a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape and it’s only worth a 2NT invite.

Table B: (1) This East got question B right by opening 1♦ (and intending to rebid 1NT, 12-14, over a 1♥/♠ response).

And what happened? 3NT was bid twice and went two down on both occasions. Others in 1NT or 2NT got plus scores.

The bottom lines: -

- Deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape, this applies equally to opener and responder.

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

North South You are South, declarer in 3NT.

♠ AQ95 ♠ KJ West leads the ♦3 and East plays the ♦4, what is your plan?

♥ J8 ♥ A542

♦ J865 ♦ AK92

♣ 973 ♣ AQ8

Dave’s Column answer Board 11 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ AQ95 West North East South

South ♥ J8 - - - 2NT

Love all ♦ J865 pass 3♣ pass 3♥

♣ 973 pass 3NT all pass

♠ 743 N ♠ 10862

♥ 973 W E ♥ KQ106

♦ Q1073 S ♦ 4

♣ KJ10 ♣ 6542

♠ KJ

♥ A542

♦ AK92

♣ AQ8

Count your tricks. You have three sure ♠ tricks, four if either the ♠10 drops or if you can get to dummy after unblocking the ♠KJ; one ♦; three ♦’s and one ♣: a total of eight.

If you could somehow take 4 ♠ tricks you would have no trouble at all.

Consider the ♦ position. West has apparently led from Q10xx and you thus have three sure tricks in the suit. The point is that you have three tricks even if you win the first trick with the ♦A or ♦K.

By doing just that you will have created a later entry with the ♦J. After you win the first ♦ high, cash the ♠KJ, the 2^nd high ♦ and lead a low ♦ towards the ♦J. West wins the ♦Q but you have the later ♦ entry and thus 9 tricks regardless of the location of the ♣K.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? Everybody played in 3NT from South and just one went down. I don’t know how many South’s won the ♦ lead high. At our table declarer won cheaply and unblocked the ♠’s. It’s hopeless of course but West kindly led another ♦ for him when he got in.

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

West East You are West, declarer in 3NT.

♠ AQ10 ♠ K8 North leads the ♠2, plan the play.

♥ J105 ♥ AKQ9

♦ 1093 ♦ J876

♣ AQ62 ♣ 1054

Dave’s 2^nd Column answer Board 12 from Wednesday 1^st

Dealer: ♠ J732 West North East South

West ♥832 1♣ pass 1♥ pass

N-S vul ♦ AK2 1NT pass 3NT all pass

♣ K87

You start off with 8 sure tricks and there are two

♠ AQ10 N ♠ K8 possibilities for a 9^th trick:

♥ J105 W E ♥ AKQ9 (a) the ♣ finesse and/or the ♣J dropping in two

♦ 1093 S ♦ J876 rounds.

♣ AQ62 ♣ 1054 (b) a long ♦.

♠ 9654 The opening lead tells you that the ♠’s are 4-4.

♥ 764 This means that you can let the opponents have the lead three

♦ Q54 times (in ♦’s) and lose no more than one ♠ trick.

♣ J93 Obviously it’s safer to work with ♦’s than ♣’s. If you finesse the ♣ and it loses you will need the ♣J dropping doubleton. It’s far better to play safe in ♦’s.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 3NT+1, 3NT= twice and 1NT +2.

Raise partner? Board 13 from Friday 3^rd

Dealer: ♠ Q10953 West North East South

North ♥ AQ652 - pass (1) pass pass

Both vul ♦ Q2 1♣ (2) 2♣ (3) 3♣ pass (4)

♣ 5 3NT (5) all pass

♠ A6 N ♠ K874 (1) It depends on your style, but this hand

♥ 98 W E ♥1043 conforms with the rule of 20 and with two

♦ AK107 S ♦ 54 5-card majors and an easy rebid I would

♣ QJ1084 ♣ AK93 open 1♠.

♠ J2 (2) Playing a weak NT. This hand is too

♥ KJ7 strong for 1NT (12-14). If playing a

♦ J9863 strong NT I would open 1NT.

♣ 762 (3) Michaels, promising both majors.

(4) South does not know that partner is so strong and he may well only have 4 ♥’s, so he cannot sensibly support with 3♥.

(5) A bit of a gamble, but partner has about 11 points somewhere.

And what happened? North led a ♠ and 3NT made for a joint top. Every other E-W pair played in some number of ♣’s. The bottom lines: -

- Obey the rule of 20. I agree that the ♦Q is not worth two points, but two 5-card majors and that ♠109 in a 5-card suit are more than enough compensation.

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 2NT. It’s not good enough for 3NT because of the totally flat shape.

Hand B: 1♦. It’s not good enough for 1NT because of the totally flat shape.