Marc Smith returns to the action at the Alt NewCo-2

We saw the early rounds of the second heat of the Alt NewCo (New Competition) last week. When we left after four matches, the team captained by Sylvia Moss had recorded four consecutive victories and had opened a sizeable gap at the top of Group A. 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. The standings in the top group after four matches are:

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).

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 your side vulnerable, you hold as South:

What do you bid?

Secondly, with both sides vulnerable, you hold this hand in the South seat:

What do you bid?

Finally, with just the opponents vulnerable, you hold in the West seat:

What do you open in third seat?

While you consider those problems, let’s take a look at the action from Round 5, the final match in the first of the two round robins. The key match in the top group is MOSS against third-placed LEBOWITZ. The first of this week’s bidding problems comes from a deal that created swings almost universally around the room.

Once Dennis Bilde had opened One Club and then freely rebid his suit at the four-level in competition, it is hard to criticize Agustin Madala’s decision to take a shot at slam. Regular partners should discuss whether this is one of those auctions in which 4NT shows an invitational club raise. Whether this hand is too good for that anyway, is another question. With South holding all of the missing clubs, eleven tricks was the limit: N/S -100.

The auction was quicker in the replay:

I suspect that most partnerships would consider this North hand too strong for a three-level pre-empt, even vulnerable against not. Not this American pair, though. John Hurd perhaps had a few anxious moment after a diamond lead, particularly when West then showed out on the first round of clubs. Of course, East could not afford to take the ♣ K and, with two club tricks in the bag, declarer switched to spades at trick three. Adam Grossack took his ace and cleared the diamonds, but Bathurst won, unblocked the spades and returned to hand with a heart (East contributing the ♥ K, and thus a gratuitous overtrick). N/S +630 and 12 IMPs to MOSS.

Although the board was flat in only one of the 15 matches, the bidding in that match was not without interest.

Brad Moss’s assessment of the hand seems more mainstream if you are not going to open with a one-bid. Joe Grue had an easy raise: a painless N/S +600.

Steven De Donder preferred 1♣ and the 1♥ response showed spades. Marion Michielsen’s 3♦ overcall put North in the same position as we saw Dennis Bilde earlier, but de Donder’s pass slowed down the Belgian auction. When Sam Bahbout doubled 4♦ , De Donder retreated to game in his long suit and South was not tempted to bid again. Another N/S +600 and board’s only push.

In the third Group A match, the Norwegian North found a fourth alternative to the opening bid question.

A close decision for Tor Helness. After all, does anyone know quite what a vulnerable against not five-of-a-minor opening looks like? That was N/S -100 and so no Norwegian cigar this time, or was there? At the other table, it was time for a game of ‘Who’s Saving Now?’

Like his teammate at the other table, David Bakhshi got into the auction one level higher than anyone else on his cards, and put the cat amongst the pigeons he most certainly did. By the time Zia got a second bid, the auction was already in the strathosphere, but everyone’s favourite Pakistani saw that he was still in with a chance of the ‘macho bid of the board’ award. Thereafter, it was just a question of which contract North/South were going down in. Tom Townsend joined the party late with a growing crescendo of doubles, like bullets from a rapid-fire machine gun. That was N/S -500 and, no doubt, a surprise bonus for the Norwegians at the other table of 9 IMPs to DE BOTTON.

MOSS won for the fifth straight match, but only narrowly, 27-25. The narrow loss means that LEBOWITZ almost keeps pace for second place with RED DEVILS, who defeated DONNER, but only 22-17. The second round robin gets underway with none of the top three teams playing each other. A chance for someone to pick up a bundle of IMPs against one of the also-rans, or the opportunity for one of the dangerous teams in the lower half to bite one of the contending behinds and close the gap?

Round 6 produced one of the wildest deals in the history of the Alt, and I could have posed any number of problems. Indeed, one variation appeared in the BBO Prime Bidding Challenge for May, and another as the second of this week’s problems above. I also know that readers enjoy seeing experts with egg on their face, and there was plenty of that to spread around on this deal. (Is there such a thing as egg spread, or is that a mixed metaphor?) Anyway, enjoy!

It is always frustrating when you double a contract you know is going down only to see your opponents escape into one they can make. I don’t think I have ever seen anyone double a game contract they could have passed out, only to find that their opponents were cold for a grand slam in a different suit. That, though, is exactly what happened to Thor Erik Hoftaniska on this deal.

When Thomas Charlsen overcalled at the two-level, Steve de Roos was able to make a negative double. Thor Erik Hoftaniska’s raise to game then left Geert Arts with a tough decision, and Four Spades was not an unreasonable choice. What could de Roos do? 4NT now would surely be Blackwood agreeing spades, so he passed. Hoftaniska thought 4♠  was going down, and quite right he was too, but his double was like a white horse, galloping to North’s rescue. The Belgians quickly scrambled out of the frying pan, but only into the equivalent of a luke-warm bath, rather than the actual hot-tub. N/S +640 was not such a terrible board for the Norwegians, and their story had a happy ending.

Valerie Labaere’s overcall was a level higher, but Janet De Botton still found a negative double. Artur Malinowski’s decision to bid 5♦ over East’s 4 ♥ got the English pair into the right suit, and Alain Labaere had the chance to end matters there for a flat board. When he pressed on to the five-level in hearts, though, De Botton was not prepared to risk defending. It probably never occurred to her that she was still not bidding enough! N/S +1390 was sufficient to earn DE BOTTON a 13-IMP gain.

Looking at just the scorecards, it would be hard to believe they were playing the same deal in MOSS vs DONNER.

Although Sylvia Moss’s intervention was only at the two-level, Gary Donner remained silent at his first turn. Roger Lee jumped to game and Sandra Rimstedt braved a takeout double at the four-level despite her partner’s silence. Donner invited his partner to pick a minor with 4NT, and Lee’s double showed a good hand (or so he thought). Rimstedt duly chose diamonds and, that went back to Lee, who pressed on to Five Hearts. When that ended the auction, East/West were in great shape.

Donner led the ♦ A and, clearly not expecting a six-card suit opposite, Rimstedt understandably encouraged. Donner continued with a suit-preference ♦ 9, and declarer ruffed away South’s queen. After cashing the ♥ K (ie drawing the trump), declarer played a spade to the ace and a second spade towards her queen. Rimstedt won with the ♠ K, and can you blame her for trying to give her partner a spade ruff? Away went one of declarer’s club losers on dummy’s ♠ J. N/S +100 but the odd undertrick was probably going to matter little. The defence was more important in the other room.

Jacek Kalita showed a game-forcing hand with diamonds at his first turn, and now there was no stopping Michal Nowosadzki. His jump to 5♥ asked for key-cards outside the heart suit and Kalita showed just one, so they were going to stop in the small slam anyway. This seems like an impossible grand slam to bid: even if you have a way of showing a void in response to an Exclusion RKCB bid, you wouldn’t do so when it is in partner’s first suit. Besides, Kalita probably thought he had already pushed the boat out far enough with his first bid.

Kevin Dwyer did the best he could by saving at the six-level, but it didn’t save many IMPs as the defence here was deadly: ♦ A, ♣ K, club to the ace, ♠ 10 for North to ruff with his singleton trump and a diamond exit. South still had to make the ♠ K later, so that was four down: N/S +1100 and 14 IMPs to MOSS.

The swings we have seen so far are only small fry compared to some. Let’s take a look at the bidding problem posed earlier:

Adam Grossack decided that he did not have enough to bid over Michel Bessis’s three-level overcall. When Alain Levy’s raise came back to him, though, Grossack backed in with 4NT, showing minors. Larry Lebowitz showed good appreciation of just what his partner’s hand must look like, and thus he invited him to pick a slam with 5NT. Well bid! N/S +1390.

I did promise you plenty of ‘egg on face’, so here is a misunderstanding that any of us might have walked face-first into.

Probably most expert pairs would play 1♠ -(4♥ )-4NT as showing minors, but is the same true when the overcall is only at the three-level. Naren Gupta thought so, and self-alerted his 4NT bid in this sequence as minors. However, Zia clearly expected it to be RKCB agreeing spades. At last, we finally see East correctly taking the last bid in an auction. Suffice it to say that 7♠ -X was not the best of contracts: N/S -1700 and a massive 22 IMPs to LEBOWITZ.

Only one North/South pair in the entire field (30 tables) managed to reach the top spot, and even they had plenty of cajoling along the way. This was the multinational CANTOR vs SKEIDAR (Norway) in Group B:

The auction started normally enough, with Fredrik Jarlvik backing in with 4NT to show the minors after East/West had bid to game. Then the game turned into a cross between ‘The Price is Right’ and ‘Jeopardy!’. By the end, I was looking around to see if Monty Hall was going to walk up to the table or, perhaps, Allen Funt (for those old enough to remember 'Candid Camera'). In the end, it was the Norwegians who blinked, Tom Johansen doubling when it was surely obvious (sic!) to save at the seven-level, vulnerable, with a hand containing only two aces. N/S +2330 and 17 IMPs to CANTOR when their Danish pair ‘sold out’ to 5♦ +2 at the other table.

The biggest winner in this round was the LEBOWITZ team, whose 89-48 (over just 16 boards!) win over GUPTA opened a 10-VP gap between them and the third-placed Belgians. It also reduced the distance (to 16VP) between them and runaway leaders MOSS, who suffered their first defeat of the event, albeit only by a 26-28 margin against DONNER. In Round 7, it was MOSS vs third-placed RED DEVILS and LEBOWITZ against a resurgent DE BOTTON.

Board 2 created a major swing in all of the Group A matches and the opening bid, this week’s third bidding problem, was a critical factor.

Zvi Engel opened a Multi variant that was an eight-playing trick hand type in clubs. Philippe Conreats showed his spades, Engel took the obvious shot at 3NT, and Roger Lee fished out the ♥ 8 as his opening lead. Although Sylvia Moss quite rightly withheld her ♥ Q at trick one, declarer still had ten tricks. E/W +430.

At the other table, Michal Nowosadzki opened 3NT on the West cards. With no spade bid from East, Steven De Donder attacked with the ♠ 10 for the Belgians. Sam Bahbout won with the ♠ A, cashed the ♠ Q, and switched to a diamond. The defenders therefore took the first nine tricks: E/W -250 and 12 IMPs to RED DEVILS.

In DE BOTTON vs LEBOWITZ, the bidding was very brief at both tables. For the Americans, Larry Lebowitz opened Five Clubs on the West cards and Tom Townsend led the ♠ J. David Bahkshi won with the ♠ A and switched to a diamond, so the defenders collected the first three tricks: E/W -50. At the other table, Tor Helness opened 3NT. Antonio Palma kept defensive chances alive by leading the ♦ A but had then to find the switch the ♠ 5 to flatten the board. When he instead continued with the ♦ Q at trick two, declarer won with the ♦ K, rumbled a large number of clubs, and somehow emerged with twelve tricks. E/W +490 and 11 IMPs to DE BOTTON.

This West hand is an awkward combination. Not the ideal shape for a 1NT opening, Larry Lebowitz preferred to open his five-card minor. When Adam Grossack responded One Spade, though, Lebowitz was stuck: too strong for 1NT but not strong enough for a reverse to Two Hearts, he was left with rebidding his diamonds, which hardly described either his shape or his strength. Grossack did not have enough to bid again, so there things rested. Even the two-level was too high with diamonds as trumps: a disappointing E/W -100.

Tor Helness foresaw the problem and so opened the slightly off-centre 1NT. Thor Erik Hoftaniska transferred and then forced to game showing 5-5 in the majors, and thus Hoftaniska declared the normal 4♥ contract from the East seat.

Wrang led a club and Palma won to switch to his singleton spade. A heart to the king won, and now Hoftaniska played a second spade. Palma could choose to ruff or not, but declarer was in control. E/W +620 and 12 IMPs to DE BOTTON.

The Poles wasted no time on the auction, quickly arriving in the heart game after Jacek Kalita had opened with a weak, two-suited Two Hearts. South led a spade, and declarer won to play a heart to his king. He then continued with a second spade. Again, North could make two trump tricks whenever he liked but, with the ♣ A onside for declarer, there was no way for the defenders to make more than three tricks. E/W +620.

Zvi Engel also began the Belgian auction with 1NT, and Coenreats’ jump to 4♦ asked his partner to pick a major. The result was that the normal 4♥ was reached, but with West as declarer. North led a diamond, which seemed to be good news for declarer, who won with the ♦ Q and promptly cashed the ♦ A to dispose of a club from dummy. Now came a heart to the king, which won. When declarer then played a second round of trumps, though, he was in trouble. Roger Lee won with the ♥ J, cashed the ♥ A and the ♣ A, and then forced dummy with the ♦ K. Declarer could no longer set up the spades and, with a losing card in each minoir in his hand and only one trump left in dummy, he had to go one down. E/W -100 and 12 IMPs MOSS.

The big gainer in this round was DE BOTTON, their 63-22 victory over LEBOWITZ catapulting them from fifth place up to second. For MOSS, though, it was a return to winning ways, with a 59-45 win against RED DEVILS, and they now held a huge lead over a field that had dropped away sharply behind them. With seven of the ten matches played, these were the standings in Group A:

In Group B, EDMONDS (USA, Poland, Sweden) has a narrow lead over AMATEURS (USA, Georgia, Egypt). In Group C, ALTSHULER (Israel) has opened up a 14-VP lead over GILLIS (England, Norway). In Group D, HOK (Netherlands) leads ahead of ZHAO (CHINA, Netherlands) and WILSON (USA, Sweden).

We will be back next week, with the best of the action from the final three matches.