Marc Smith visits the early rounds of Alt NewCo-2

The second heat of the Alt NewCo (New Competition) saw teams divided into four divisions based on their performance in the first heat. For the rest of the year, there will be monthly promotion and relegation between groups from one heat to the next during this monthly competition. Group A for this heat comprises the top four teams from Group 1A in the first heat, RED DEVILS, MOSS, DONNER and GUPTA, plus the top two teams from Group 1B, LEBOWITZ and DE BOTTON. Group B is made up of three teams from those top groups, BLACK, ORCA and EDMONDS, plus the top three teams from Group 3 in heat one, AMATEURS, SKEIDAR and CANTOR.

The format for Groups A, B and C is a complete double round robin of 10 x 16-board matches. Meanwhile. Group D, which contains the remaining teams, plays a 10-round Swiss.

As usual, we start with some problems for you to consider. We will find out later how your choices would have worked out. First, with only the opponents vulnerable, you hold as South:

What do you bid?

Secondly, with only the opponents vulnerable again, you hold this hand in the North seat:

What action, if any, do you take?

Finally, with both sides vulnerable, you hold in the West seat:

The sensible options seem to be Pass, 1♥ and 2♥ . Which do you prefer?

While you consider those problems, let’s take a look at the action from Round 1, and the deal that produced the first of this week’s bidding problems.

This was the auction at both tables in the match between MOSS and DONNER. Both South players, Sylvia and Brad Moss, raised their partner’s opening pre-empt to game. With both West players, Gary Donner and John Hurd, opting for caution at the adverse vulnerability, that was a push at N/S +420. Things were less clearcut in the other two matches.

After the same start, Artur Malinowski braved the vulnerability and entered with a takeout double of 4♥. Janet DeBotton removed to 4♠ , and there matters ended. As it happens, Sam Bahbout has to find a club lead to beat the contract legitimately. When he led the ♥A, ruffed in dummy, declarer was momentarily in with a chance. (A low spade from dummy at trick two and later guessing the clubs right is one winning line.) When De Botton played a diamond at trick two, the defence was again in control and declarer eventually finished three down. Still, N/S +300 would still be a small gain for DE BOTTON, wouldn’t it?

Rather than raising hearts, Thomas Charlsen took a shot at the nine-trick game. The defence got off to the best start when Valerie Labaere led a club and the defenders cashed five rounds of the suit. Understandably, declarer threw the spades from dummy and then bared the ♦Q. West cashed the ♠ A, then played a diamond to her partner’s ace. East continued diamonds to declarer’s king. When the hearts did not break, East claimed the last two tricks with the ♥ Q and a diamond. That was four down: N/S -200 and 11 IMPs to RED DEVILS.

Curiously. the bidding decision that determined the destination of the IMPs in the third match fell to East.

Frederic Wrang opted for a third alternative on the South hand, passing the opening 3♥ bid. Alain Levy reopened with a takeout double and now the decision fell to Michel Bessis. The Frenchman took the conservative decision to bid just 3♠ , ending the auction. Wrang led a heart and declarer ruffed in dummy to play ace and another club. Although Bessis had misguessed clubs, the defenders could score no more than two trumps and a trick in each minor: N/S -140.

Here, too, Zia passed the opening 3♥ bid and, again, West doubled. Dennis Bilde considered the East hand too good for 3♠ , though, so he took a shot at 3NT, which was promptly doubled by Zia. Augustin Madala was sure that this was the wrong contract, so he redoubled for rescue, and thus Bilde also finished in spades, but a level higher.

ZIA Led a top heart and Bilde ruffed and got the clubs right, playing low to the jack and king. He then ran the ♣ 10, North ruffing with the ♠ J. Alas for declarer, the ruff was from the short trump holding, so he still had to lose two more trumps and a diamond: N/S +100 and 6 IMPs to GUPTA.

Moderate wins for MOSS, LEBOWITZ and RED DEVILS saw those three teams atop the group in the early running. It does sometimes seem that the ‘rules of bidding’ just do not apply to true experts. Witness:

Very few East players challenged the vulnerability with a Three Club opening, so it was left to South to get the ball rolling with a weak two in hearts. Frederic Wrang overcalled a natural 2NT and Thor Erik Hoftaniska competed in hearts. That all seems very reasonable, and you would have expected Antonio Palma’s 3NT to end the brief auction, but not today. Having already opened a weak two on a jack-high suit, Tor Helness stepped back in where few mere mortals would fear to tread with a Four Heart bid. Wrang doubled and there matter rested.

Wrang led the ♦K, taken in dummy. Declarer took a winning spade finesse and led a trump towards dummy. Wrang stepped in with the ♥A, cashed his ♣ A and ♦Q, and delivered his partner’s diamond ruff to nip the contract by a trick. E/W +100.

Larry Lebowitz also opened a weak two on the South hand, but David Bahkshi decided that discretion was the better part of valour, eschewing the marginal 2NT overcall opposite a passed partner. Zack Grossack increased the pre-empt by a level and the English pair went quietly. The same opening lead again led to four defensive tricks, but that was E/W -140 and 6 IMPs to LEBOWITZ.

Michal Nowosadzki started with a Multi 2♦ opening on the South cards, showing a weak two in one of the majors. Although Philippe Caputo braved the 2NT overcall, the Belgians never even got to bid their game at this table, as Jacek Kalita saved on the North cards in front of East’s raise. There was little that East/West could do but take their small plus score. Again, E/W +100.

The auction here was perhaps the closest to what one might predict, with no late intervention from South. However, Steve de Roos was still there, doubling on the way out. All that remained was for the Belgian star to find the winning spade lead, allowing South to win and switch to hearts. As it happens a low diamond lead or even a club would have set the contract. Predictably, though, de Roos opened with the fatal ♥5. Declarer won with the ♥Q and rumbled off six rounds of clubs. By the time Kevin Bathurst played a diamond from dummy, the defenders had very few cards left in that suit. North won with the ♦ A and switched to the ♠Q and the defence took its two tricks there, but that was their lot. Declarer scored the remaining tricks with the ♥A and the ♦ Q-7. Fetch that man a beer! E/W +950 and 13 IMPs to MOSS, enroute to a 52-27 victory that carried them clear at the top of the table after two matches.

Victory by 64-28 over LEBOWITZ hauled DE BOTTON up into second place, but they were already 8 VPs behind the leaders, who they would play in Round 3. This week’s second bidding problem comes from the most explosive deal of this round.

We see the DE BOTTON team in the East/West seats (above) and the RED DEVILS (below).

John Hurd’s pre-emptive jump to the five-level severely restricted options for the English pair. Thomas Bessis’s gentle raise to the four-level in the second auction left room for the Belgians to use Blackwood. Should they, therefore, have done better? E/W +1390 for both DE BOTTON and for RED DEVILS.

Some variation of this auction was also duplicated at both tables in the match between LEBOWITZ and DONNER, resulting in a flat board at E/W +1390.

After the same start, Alain Levy decided that his hand was worth more than just a raise to 6♦ . Levy’s 6♣ cue-bid inspired Michel Bessis to show his heart control, allowing the French world champions to reach the grand slam. Only six of the 30 East/West pairs to hold these hands managed to bid the grand slam. There was nothing to the play: E/W +2140 and 13 IMPs to GUPTA.

There was even more excitement at the sixth table:

Thor Erik Hoftaniska produced a third variation when he introduced his modest spade suit at the three-level. Thereafter, the auction seemed to develop a mind of its own and a momentum that never seemed to stop. The only thing missing was the final 7NT bid from Roger Lee, which could have put the American pair in the frame for a Best Bid Hand award.

Lee opened the defence with a low heart to his partner’s ace. A diamond, shortening declarer’s trumps, is best, but Sylvia Moss switched to her club and duly received her ruff as declarer unblocked. Now the best she can do is to force dummy with hearts, which Moss duly did. With the ♠ 10 coming down, declarer could have scrambled eight tricks by cross-ruffing the red suits at this stage. When Hoftaniska tried the ♠ K. Lee correctly allowed it to hold. The best declarer could do now was to play another trump, allowing East to cash two heart winners. That was six tricks for the Americans: E/W +1400 and an exciting push board.

MOSS beat DE BOTTON 51-14 and, with three consecutive victories to open the event, already found themselves more than 12 VPs clear of the field. A big win, 60-2 over DONNER, lifted LEBOWITZ up into second place, comfortably ahead of RED DEVILS. The key match of Round 4 pitted second place against third. Board 7, from which this week’s final bidding problem originated, generated a major swing in all three matches in Group A.

At least one of the six West players in the Group A matches opted for each of the three sensible options suggested earlier. The voting, though, may surprise you, in this era when everyone seems to bid on just about every hand, as three out of six Wests started with a Pass.

Larry Lebowitz passed, allowing the Belgians to begin a Strong Club auction. The Americans got their hearts into the auction with a one-level overcall and a single raise, but the European pair easily located their spade fit, with the right hand declaring, and quickly bid game. Not that a vulnerable five-level venture by East/West ever looked likely after this start.

Lebowitz began the defence by cashing his two aces, so the contract was never in danger. Geert Arts duly got the clubs right: N/S +650.

Philippe Caputo also started with a Pass on the West cards. North opened 1♣ (natural or balanced) and Mike Vandervorst waded in with a wafer-thin 1♦ overcall. South showed his spades and now Caputo made a fit-showing jump to the three-level, showing both his hearts and his diamond fit. Antonio Palma jumped to game and Vandervorst showed no interest in competing at this level, but Caputo was still there, and essentially accepted his own save invitation. It looks like a bad case of the ‘catch ups’, but I suppose one cannot argue with success. Although North/South had played their spade game from the wrong side, and presumably would have needed a winning club guess to bring home their game, the insurance was cheap. The defenders could just score three black-suit tricks and, with the ♥ K favourably-located for declarer, Vandervorst had no problem making ten tricks. N/S +200 and 10 IMPs to RED DEVILS.

In the match between MOSS and GUPTA, both West players opened 1♥ . Both North/South pairs were subsequently allowed to play in 4♠ , although at both tables North had become declarer.  

Zia duly led a low heart and the defenders cashed the first three tricks. Perhaps John Hurd reasoned that his opponents had bid their double fit to the four-level and that, with a singleton club, someone would have taken the push and saved. Whatever his reasoning, he duly dropped the ♣ Q and scored up his game: N/S +620.

Here, it was East who took two bites of the cherry, first making a minimum heart raise and then introducing a diamond suit. Even with the double fit, Jacek Kalita was not tempted by the five-level facing only a single heart raise. Quite right he was too: East cashed the ♦K and then switched to a heart through the king. West took two tricks in the suit and then tried to cash his high diamond, ruffed by declarer. With East having shown two suits at this table, and then showing up with spade length, it is hardly surprising that declarer played him for 3-3-6-1 shape and misguessed the clubs. N/S -100 and 13 IMPs to MOSS.

In the third match, Artur Malinowski, West for DE BOTTON passed at his first turn and heard his partner come in with 1♦ over a Strong Club opening. He introduced his hearts and bid up to 4♦ before allowing South to play in 4♠ . N/S +650.

Swedish world champion Cecilia Rimstedt was the only West to open with a weak two. North started with a double and Kevin Dwyer advanced with 3♣ , showing diamonds (or hearts and diamonds with interest in a diamond lead). South bid his spades now, but it was already too late. Rimstedt showed her diamond fit, encouraging Dwyer to take the five-level save when North bid his side’s game. The Norwegians could do no more than double and take their three tricks: N/S +200 and 10 IMPs to DONNER.

That match turned out to be all one-way traffic, DONNER running out winners by 73-18. MOSS recorded their fourth consecutive win, 49-16 over GUPTA, whilst RED DEVILS beat LEBOWITZ 45-30 to close the gap between second and third. With four of the ten matches played, these were the standings in Group A:

In Group B, BLACK (England, Sweden) leads narrowly from AMATEURS (USA, Georgia, Egypt), SKEIDAR (Norway) and EDMONDS (USA, Poland, Sweden). In Group C, ALTSHULER (Israel) has a 10-VP lead over RIPPEY (USA, France, Poland) and SALVO (Turkey). In Group D, OBJECTIVITY (Netherlands, Poland) leads VINITA (USA, Denmark) and JEDI KNIGHTS (England, Wales).

We will be back next week, with the highlights from the next rounds of matches.