Our website is www.pattayabridge.com Club News Sheet – No. 411

Our blogsite is www.pattayabridge.wordpress.com

My mobile phone number is 083 6066880 26^th Sept 2010

My e-mail is terry@pattayabridge.com or pattayabridge@yahoo.com

Mon 20^th 1^st Alan K & Michael G 67% 2^nd Dave C & Terry Q 60%

Wed 22^nd N-S 1^st Charles & Gus 68% 2^nd Paul Q & Terry Q 55%

E-W 1^st Bengt & Guttorm 67% 2^nd Bob P & Robbie 53%

Fri 24^th 1^st Mike G & Sally 59% 2^nd Jan & Janne 59%

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Bidding Quiz Standard American bidding is assumed unless otherwise stated.

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

♠ K103 ♠ AQ5 With Hand B LHO opens 1NT and this is passed to you.

♥ 986 ♥ AKQ3 (a) What do you bid if the opponents are non-vulnerable?

♦ AK6 ♦ Q102 (b) What do you bid if the opponents are vulnerable?

♣ AJ76 ♣ K104

Hand C Hand D With Hand C partner opens 1♥ and RHO overcalls with a weak 3♣, what do you bid?

♠ Q875 ♠ K83

♥ 3 ♥ 8 With Hand D partner opens 1♣, what do you bid?

♦ A10742 ♦ 1092

♣ A103 ♣ AKQ842

Hand E Hand F With Hand E you are in first seat at unfavourable vulnerability,

what do you open?

♠ K9754 ♠ A974

♥ QJ ♥ K643 With Hand F RHO opens 1♣, what do you do?

♦ KQJ ♦ QJ75

♣ 1085 ♣ 9

Bidding Sequence Quiz

G 1♥ 3♣ dbl 3♣ is weak, what is the dbl – penalties or negative?

H 1♣ pass pass 2NT What does 2NT here in the balancing seat show?

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Worth an opening bid? Board 22 from Wednesday 22^nd Sept

Dealer: ♠ A6 West North East(E) South

East ♥ K104 - - 1♠ (1) pass

E-W vul ♦ A95 1NT (2) all pass

♣ J7432

(1) What did you open with this East hand E in

♠ 32 N ♠ K9754 this week’s quiz? Hans V commented that

♥ A98765 W E ♥ QJ Janne would certainly say something if you

♦ 8732 S ♦ KQJ opened this hand when playing with him.

♣ K ♣ 1085 And what do I think? The ♥QJ doubleton are

♠ QJ108 poor, the ♦KQJ are poor (points belong in

♥ 32 long suits), and the ♠ suit is poor. I would pass

♦ 1064 (2) West wants to play in ♥’s – but he cannot!

♣ AQ96 2♥ would show a much stronger hand and a

weak jump to 3♥ a much weaker hand. A good case for playing 2/1 with a forcing 1NT?

And what happened? 1NT had no chance and went two down for a top to N-S. Other results were 2NT(S)+1, 2♣+1, 3♣-1 three times and 2♥(W)+1.

The bottom lines:-

- If you think that this Hand E is a sound opener, then read up on hand evaluation (there is an article on the website). I personally will open many 11 or even 10 counts but would pass this 12 count.

Worth a bid? North 18 from Monday 20^th Sept

♠ 107632 You are vulnerable, opponent’s are not. LHO opens1♣ and RHO bids 1♥.

♥ 102 What do you think of a 3NT bid (presumably pre-emptive for the pointed

♦ 87543 suits) by a very experienced player? Obviously this was not worth putting

♣ K in the quiz and I won’t insult your intelligence by commenting too much about this bid, except to say that we now have a new member of the elusive 2000 club.

Support for partner 1m opening Board 24 from Wednesday 22^nd Sept

When partner opens 1♣/♦ and you have a strong hand with support with no other 4-card suit then it’s difficult in traditional methods:

Dealer: ♠ Q105 Table A

West ♥ A972 West North East(F) South(D)

Love all ♦ AK3 pass 1♣ pass (1) 3♣ (2)

♣ 1073 pass pass (3) pass

♠ J62 N ♠ A974 Table B

♥ QJ105 W E ♥ K643 West North East(F) South(D)

♦ 864 S ♦ QJ75 pass 1♣ pass 2♣ (2)

♣ J65 ♣ 9 pass 2NT (4) pass 3NT (5)

♠ K83 all pass

♥ 8

♦ 1092

♣ AKQ842

Table A: (1) What did you bid with this East hand F in this week’s quiz? With this perfect shape, I would follows Paul Quodomine’s advice from articles in news-sheets 362 and 407, and I would double.

(2) What did you bid with this South hand D in this week’s quiz? Unless you have

some sort of agreement this situation poses a problem – both 2♣ and 3♣ are non-forcing and 3NT is simply gambling, it may go down or there may be slam. The general ‘solution’ is to bid the other minor, so 1♦ here, and see what partner’s rebid is; but that is very unsatisfactory.

(3) With a flat minimum, North passes the invitational 3♣ of course.

Table B: (2) This N-S pair play inverted minors and this is the only sensible way to bid hands like this. 2♣ here shows good ♣ support and denies a 4-card major. It is forcing to 2NT or 3 of the minor.

(4) This, in this pair’s style, shows 12-14 with stoppers in both majors.

(5) South’s bid is obvious now.

And what happened? 3NT+3, 3NT+2, 3NT+1, 3NT=twice, 2♣+4 and 3♣+1.

The bottom lines:-

- Inverted Minors is a great convention for the more experienced partnerships, it is written up on the website.

Bid That Slam! Board 11 from Wednesday 22^nd Sept

Only two out of seven bid a slam on this board, and nobody bid the reasonable grand.

Dealer: ♠ 3 Table A

South ♥ A96 West North East South

Love all ♦ KQJ8 - - - 1♠

♣ AK843 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

pass 3NT (1) all pass

♠ J1096 N ♠ KQ4

♥ J43 W E ♥ 105 Possible Auction

♦ 643 S ♦ 9752 West North East South

♣ 1097 ♣ Q652 - - - 1♠

♠ A8752 pass 2♣ pass 2♥

♥ KQ872 pass 3♦ (1) pass 3♥

♦ A10 pass 4NT (2) pass 5♣ (3)

♣ J pass 5♦ (4) pass 5NT (5)

pass 7♥ (6) all pass

Table A: (1) Looking at a possible mis-fit, this North simply bid 3NT

Possible: (1) This North realized that there may be a good ♥ fit, and so simply made a forcing bid.

(2) RKCB for ♥’s

(3) 0 or 3

(4) Trump queen ask

(5) I have the trump queen, but no outside king.

(6) North can count 12 tricks; one ♠, hopefully four ♥’s, four ♦’s, two ♣’s and one ♠ ruff (two on a non trump lead). There may be a trump loser but there are surely 13 tricks if partner has five ♥’s.

And what happened? 6NT+1, 6♥+1, 3NT+ three times, 4♥+3 and 4NT+2.

The bottom lines:-

- Be sure that you know how to ask for the trump queen when playing Roman Keycard Blackwood.

Dave’s Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd problem, on defence.

West East Bidding

♠ Q832 ♠ A109764 West North East South

♥ 843 ♥ AQ5 - - - pass

♦ J86 ♦ Q pass 2♥ 2♠ pass

♣ AK2 ♣ Q83 3♠ pass 4♠ all pass

You are East, declarer in 4♠. South leads the ♥J and you win with the ♥Q. You play the ♠A and North discards, asking for a ♦. Plan the play.

Dave’s Column Answer Board 19 from Wednesday 22^nd September

Dealer: ♠ - Book Bidding

South ♥ K109762 West North East South

E-W vul ♦ K1097 - - - pass

♣ 964 pass 2♥ 2♠ pass

3♠ pass 4♠ all pass

♠ Q83 N ♠ A109764

♥ 843 W E ♥ AQ5

♦ J86 S ♦ Q

♣ AK2 ♣ Q83

♠ KJ5 You win the ♥J lead and play the ♠A only to see

♥ J North discard, asking for a ♦. Plan the play.

♦ A5432

♣ J1075

You know what is going to happen if you play a 2^nd ♠. South will win, put North in with a ♦, ruff the ♥ return, get out with a ♣, and you are stuck with another ♥ to lose.

What you have to do is cash three rounds of ♣’s before exiting with a ♠. South will win his ♠K and lead a low ♦ to North’s ♦K. After South ruffs the ♥ return he cannot now exit safely in ♣’s (ruff-sluff) and if the ♦ honours are divided he cannot exit with a ♦ without setting up your ♦ suit.

The bottom line:

- When it is inevitable that one of your winners is going to get ruffed, try stripping the hand before the ruff. Then the player getting the ruff may be endplayed after ruffing.

And what happened at the Pattaya bridge club? 4♠+1, 4♠= three times, 5♦*-2, 3♠+2 and 4♠-1.

Dave’s 2^nd Column Here is Dave’s 2^nd problem on declarer play.

North               South Bidding

♠ AQ5 ♠ J62 West North East South

♥ AKQ3 ♥ J54 - - 1♣ pass

♦ Q102 ♦ 53 pass dbl pass 1♥

♣ K104 ♣ Q9832 pass 2NT pass 3NT

all pass

You are North, declarer in 3NT. East leads the ♦A and West encourages. East continues with the ♦K and then the ♦6 to your ♦Q. You try the ♣K and it goes ♣6, ♣2, ♣5. You continue with the ♣10 and East plays the ♣7. How do you play from here?

Dave’s 2^nd Column Answer Board 18 from Wednesday 22^nd Sept

Dealer: ♠ AQ5 Book Bidding

East ♥ AKQ3 West North East(A) South

N-S vul ♦ Q102 - - 1♣ (1) pass

♣ K104 pass dbl (2) pass 1♥ (3)

pass 2NT (4) pass 3NT (5)

♠ 9874 N ♠ K103 all pass

♥ 1072 W E ♥ 986

♦ J9874 S ♦ AK6 Table A

♣ 5 ♣ AJ76 West North(B) East(A) South

♠ J62 - - 1NT (1) pass

♥ J54 pass dbl (6) pass 2♣

♦ 53 pass pass (7) pass

♣ Q9832

Book: (1) What did you open with this East hand A in this week’s quiz? Deduct a point for the flat 4333 type shape and it’s not worth a strong 1NT.

(2) Playing that a balancing 2NT is 18-19, North starts with a double.

(3) South has a problem, with no 4-card suit other than opener’s. The hand is too weak to pass for penalties and also too weak for a 1NT response, and so he chose 1♥ as the lesser of evils.

(4) North has enough strength to jump to 3♥, but the hand pattern suggests NoTrumps and it seemed wise to protect the ♣K from the opening lead. So he chose 2NT, showing 20-21.

(5) South raised to game with optimism rather than cards.

Table A: (1) This East opened 1NT, as most who do not realize how bad 4333 is will do.

(6) What did you bid with this North hand B(a) in this week’s quiz? You can be fairly sure that 1NT will go down, probably by two tricks, but you also know that partner has insufficient points to stand the double and will pull it. So the deciding factor is the vulnerability; as the opponents are non-vul you will probably only get 100 by passing 1NT – so double and hope that partner will score say 110 when he pulls the double.

(7) Clearly North should continue with his plan by passing and going for the partscore.

Anyway, onto the play after the ‘book’ bidding sequence to the ‘optimistic’ 3NT.

East led the ♦A and West encouraged. You drop the ♦10 and East continues with the ♦K and then the ♦6 to your ♦Q. You try the ♣K and it goes ♣6, ♣2, ♣5. You continue with the ♣10 and East plays the ♣7. How do you play from here?

So what do you play from dummy on your ♣10 lead? As East started with at most 4 ♣’s, he was unlikely to have four or more ♦’s. With a balanced hand and 4-4 in the minors, it is normal to open with 1♦ rather than 1♣.*

North could also count 24 points for N-S and so E-W started with 16. As East had opened the bidding and West passed, East has the bulk if the points. In particular, East was certain to have the ♣A as otherwise East would have only 11 HCPs and West would have taken the ♣A to cash the ♦’s.

Although it works as the ♣’s lie, it would be an error to let the ♣10 run at trick five. West could have the ♣J and would take two more ♦ tricks. Therefore you should rise with the ♣Q. Do not take the ♠ finesse next, instead continue with four rounds of ♥’s and exit with a ♣. East can have the ♣A and ♣J, but then has to lead a ♠ into your ♠AQ. You make two ♠’s, four ♥’s, one ♦ and two ♣’s.

*Terry Note. I disagree with this bidding assumption, many (including me) will open 1♣ when 4-4 in the minors. Anyway, it’s a rather strange problem as most will open 1NT with the East hand, most N-S’s will not bid game, it assumes opening 1♣ when 4-4 in the minors, and it does not actually matter how you play the ♣ suit as the ‘error’ leads to an overtrick.

And what happened at the Pattaya Bridge Club? 3NT+1, 1NT*(E)-2, 2NT+1, 2NT=, 2♣+2, 2♣+1 and 3♥-1.

NoTrump Bidding in the balancing seat

Showing a balanced hand after an overcall is different in 2^nd seat and 4^th seat. This is because with say 10-14 you pass in 2^nd seat but need to say something in 4^th seat. Assuming a 1♣ opening on your left is passed to you, a good treatment for NT bids in the balancing seat is:

10-13 1NT

14-17 dbl followed by 1NT

18-19 2NT

20-21 dbl followed by 2NT

A penalty double? Board 14 from Wednesday 22^nd Sept

Dealer: ♠ 9 West North East(C) South

East ♥ K98 - - pass pass

E-W vul ♦ J8 1♥ 3♣ dbl (1) pass

♣ KJ96542 pass (2)

♠ AKJ6 N ♠ Q875

♥ QJ654 W E ♥ 3

♦ KQ93 S ♦ A10742

♣ - ♣ A103

♠ 10432

♥ A1072

♦ 65

♣ Q87

(1) What did you bid with this East hand C in this week’s quiz? This double looks right to me, a negative double promising four ♠’s in my style.

(2) Unfortunately West thought that East’s double was penalties with a ♣ stack.

And what happened? 3♣* went down just one for a good score to N-S. Other results were 6♦=, 3NT+2, 3NT+1, 4♠=, 3♠+1 and 4♠*-1.

The bottom lines:-

- Obviously you need to agree how high to play negative doubles. With my regular Wednesday partner we play to 3♥, without discussing it I would assume 3♠.

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	1894.9 Janne Roos 1894.0 Hans Vikman 1862.9 Paul Quodomine 1722.3 Johan Bratsburg	670.4 Janne Roos 662.4 Hans Vikman 640.1 Paul Quodomine 629.3 Sally Watson 627.0 Derek & Gerard 626.8 Tomas Wikman 619.8 Lars Broman 615.9 Jean Wissing 613.4 Guttorm Lonberg 611.6 Johan Bratsburg	344.6 Janne Roos 338.9 Hans Vikman 329.6 Tomas Wikman 327.5 Derek & Gerard 325.4 Sally Watson 323.5 Jeremy Watson 323.4 Paul Quodomine 322.9 Lars Broman 320.3 Jean Wissing 319.5 Duplessy & Coutlet

Bidding Quiz Answers

Hand A: 1♣. The usual stuff, deduct a point for the totally flat 4333 type shape.

Hand B: This one is very interesting and depends upon the vulnerability; and what’s more, you double when the opponents are non-vul but not when they are vulnerable! :-

(a) double. This is penalties but you know that partner does not have enough points to pass the double and will pull it. But that’s fine – you expect 1NT to go two down for just 100 to you and hopefully when partner runs he will score 110 in his resting place.

(b) pass. Seems strange I know, but partner will pull a penalty double, so pass and hope to set them by two and get 200 to beat any partscore your way.

Hand C: dbl, negative, showing four ♠’s. Maybe you have to agree this, but negative doubles are generally (best?) played to 3♥ or 3♠.

Hand D: Another interesting one. This hand is ‘impossible’ to bid in standard methods as neither 2♣ nor 3♣ are forcing and 1♦ is probably best. But the best solution is to play inverted minors where 2♣ is forcing (and 3♣ would show a weakish ♣ hand).

Hand E: Pass. It’s not 4333 and so has decent shape, but the QJ and KQJ are poor holdings (points belong in long suits), the hand is ace-less, and the one long suit is rather feeble.

Hand F: Double. This is a classic take-out double shape, so get it in now.

Bidding Sequence Quiz Answer

G 1♥ 3♣ dbl dbl here is best played as negative. I play it as just showing ♠’s but some play it as showing the two unbid suits.

H 1♣ pass pass 2NT 2NT here in the balancing seat shows a strong NT hand, typically 18-19 but up to partnership agreement.

There is no point in it being the Unusual NoTrump as there is no need to pre-empt in the pass-out seat.

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