Marc Smith visits the concluding stages of the Alt New-Co, Heat 3

Over the past two weeks, we have seen the best of the action as the teams jockeyed for position. With seven of the ten matches completed, the standings in Group A are:

It is starting to look like a two-horse race for the title, and the top two teams meet head-on in Round 8. A big win for either team would put them firmly in the driver’s seat. Meanwhile, at the other end of the table, the battle to avoid the automatic relegation spot is also heating up, with three teams still at risk.

In the other divisions, ORCA (England) lead Group B, with BLACK (England, Sweden) 15 VPs behind and SALVO (Turkey) right on their tail in the race for promotion. In GROUP C, FREDIN (Sweden, Denmark, Italy, South Africa, Netherlands) are almost 30 VPs clear of the field. HOK (Netherlands) are leading the chase for the second promotion spot, but five teams are separated by just a handful of VPs. In Group D, ULI (Austria, Poland) have opened a huge lead with OBJECTIVITY (Netherlands, England) in second place, well clear of the field, so the two promotion spots are almost decided there.

As usual, we begin with some problems for you to consider. We will find out later how your choices would have worked. Firstly, with just the opponents vulnerable, you are North holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with just the opponents vulnerable, you are North with this hand:

What action, if any, do you take?

Finally, with just your side vulnerable, you hold as South:

What call do you make?

While you consider those problems, let’s take a look at the Round 8 action, with the key match between MOSS and DE BOTTON. Board 3 had points of interest in all three Group A matches:

Gary Donner was the only one of the six West players to open this hand with a three-level pre-empt, but his timing was excellent as he would probably have bought the hand cheaply (3♦ is just one down). Was Sandra Rimstedt afraid that South would back in at the three-level on a hand that couldn’t open in first seat at ‘green’? She surely didn’t bid 4♥ expecting to make it, did she? It certainly looks like a strange action, and if she intended her jump to game as some sort of advanced save, I guess she was right: 4♥ was allowed to play undoubled and declarer managed to take seven tricks: N/S +300.

To me, the evaluation by the brothers at the all-Swedish table in the other room seems closer to the mark.

Mikael Rimstedt opened the West hand with a two-way 2♣, either any game-forcing hand or a weak two in diamonds, and Ola Rimstedt was content to play in Two Diamonds opposite the weak hand. Opposite a passed partner, is there any reason for Marion Michielsen to overcall, either immediately or when 2♦ comes back to her? A tricky situation, but Michielsen’s decision to pass on both occasions led to a soft result: N/S -90 and 9 IMPs to EDMONDS.

North/South also collected 100s defending 4♥ at one of the tables in the matchup between the leaders:

The auction here was very different, with West’s initial pass enabling John Hurd to open 1♠ on the North hand in third seat. Tom Townsend’s 3♥ overcall was described as ‘intermediate, a good opening bid’. I suspect that South’s 3♠ bid would have ended the auction, except that David Bakhshi wasn’t done. Would one not have expected his competitive 4♦ bid on a passed hand to include at least some heart support? It seems that Townsend did, as he retreated to his own suit. Kevin Bathurst did not double and his spade lead gave declarer a trick, so Townsend managed to get out for two down: a somewhat fortunate (for E/W) N/S +200.

Sjoert Brink opened the normal-looking weak two but Artur Malinowski is not a man who is easily shut out. Bas Drijver introduced his hearts at the three-level, but nothing was ever going to stop Janet De Botton bidding game after this start. Drijver doubled and now had to find a winning lead. There was one serious contender that would have kept defensive hopes alive, the singleton in partner’s suit. When, instead, Drijver opened the ♥A, felling his partner’s king, the defence was in trouble. Malinowski won the diamond switch and successfully ran the ♠J. A second round of trumps to the ace and a diamond towards the jack established a discard for one of dummy’s clubs. The defenders made just one trick in each side suit: N/S +590 and 9 IMPs to DE BOTTON.

A number of players were faced with the first of this week’s bidding problems on the final deal of Round 8:

Dennis Bilde removed his partner’s double to Five Diamonds, which looks like the wrong decision at first glance, but the Danish star proved that perception wrong. The defence started with a spade lead and a club switch from West. Declarer drew trumps in two rounds, ruffed his spade loser in dummy, and cashed one more high club. He then crossed back to hand in trumps and played a heart to dummy’s ten. Steve de Roos won with the ♥Q and exited safely with a heart, East’s ♥8 forcing dummy’s ace. Although the endplay had failed, Bilde still had another trick up his sleeve. He crossed back to hand in trumps again and cashed his final trump, squeezing East in hearts and clubs. N/S +400.

In the same position, Valerie Labaere chose to defend 4♠-X. To go plus, the Belgians just had to avoid opening the heart suit for declarer, and Valerie accurately kicked off with a top diamond and a trump switch. Zach Grossack won in dummy with the ♠7 and advanced the ♣J. Winning with the ♣Q, Alain Labaere exited with the ♦J, ruffed in dummy. The ♣10 was covered by the king and ruffed high, and now declarer tried a heart to the king and ace. Labaere exited with a low heart, and declarer had nowhere to dispose of his second loser in the suit. N/S +200 but 5 IMPs to RED DEVILS.

In the key match between the leaders, John Hurd (for MOSS) bid Five Diamonds and made eleven tricks via the same line of play as Dennis Bilde. N/S +400.

The auction essentially began in the normal way, with South making a takeout bid over 4♠ and North bidding 5♦. Here, though, Bas Drijver competed to 5♠ on the East cards. As we have already seen, only nine tricks can be made in spades, so North/South could have collected +500 for a small gain on the deal. The question of who the hand belongs to, though, is perhaps unclear on this auction. Who is saving? Is South’s pass of 5♠ forcing? If so, then, having already shown (or at least implied) 5-5 in the minors, should De Botton double 5♠ to warn her partner about bidding on?

When 5♠ came back to North, his diamond length opposite a hand with both minors was of obvious concern. I suspect that Malinowski bid 6♦, not with any great hope of making twelve tricks, but more in expectation that it would be a cheap save against a making vulnerable game. Dummy in 6♦-X was, no doubt, a disappointment in that it had far too much defence. Malinowski also dropped a trick in the play, ruffing out the black suits before touching hearts, in an attempt to endplay West, rather than playing for the squeeze against East. That meant two down: N/S -300 and 12 IMPs to MOSS.

The match was still close, though, as DE BOTTON had been a few IMPs in front before that final deal. MOSS won 29-22, extending their lead to 11 VPs. RED DEVILS also won, but only 38-34 over LEBOWITZ, so they remained in third place, a further 8 VPs behind. DE BOTTON vs RED DEVILS was the big match in Round 9. At the other end of the table, the bottom two teams were playing each other, LEBOWITZ vs DONNER, with the loser surely the favourite to be relegated.

Board 9 produced bidding questions for players in a number of seats. In the match between EDMONDS and MOSS, both North players faced the second of this week’s problems from the top of this article:

The auction began the same way at both tables, and we will come back to the decisions faced by both the West and South players later. Here, the focus was on North and, when Michal Nowosadzki pulled his partner’s double to 2♥, the gigantic Swedish fish had wriggled off the hook. Declarer dropped a trick in the play, but that was of little consequence: N/S +140.

The Polish pair at this table did not let their prey escape. Piotr Zatorski, twice a European junior champion and a member of the team that won the Open Teams at the 2016 European Winter Games, passed his partner’s double.

Michal Klukowski led the ♣J to his partner’s ace. Roger Lee won the club continuation and played a trump to the jack, getting the bad news. Only playing a heart from dummy at this point keeps declarer in three-figure territory. Instead, he tried a club to the queen. Klukowski made no mistake, ruffing and cashing one high trump before switching to the ♠Q. Declarer ruffed the spade continuation and tried a heart to the queen, but North won and led the ♣8 through declarer. Lee threw a heart and Klukowski disposed of his last spade, so Zatorski now continued with the ♠A. Declarer could make only one more trick from here, the ♥A. Four down: N/S +1100 and 14 IMPs to EDMONDS.

One can question East’s takeout double of 1♠, but it was the choice of every player in Group A. Whilst, obviously, passing would have worked much better on this layout, the double does look like the normal action. One has to be minimum sometimes, after all. In the match between DE BOTTON and RED DEVILS, it was the actions by the South and West players who decided where the IMPs would go. Let’s first focus on West.

What action would you take on this West hand after the auction starts 1♠-Dbl-Redbl?

There are only three choices, Pass, 1NT and 2♣. For me, the first two options are much more sensible than the third. Steven de Donder’s 2♣ bid made things easy for North, who had an obvious double, and that was bad news for the Belgians. Not that 1NT-X is a walk in the park, but it is surely better to play a level lower than to find yourself at the two-level in a non-fit. After all, you know that partner is going to bid two of some suit if you pass. Surely, though, if partner has four clubs he will bid 2♣ and, if he doesn’t have four, do you really want that suit to be trumps?

A trump lead would have collected 1100 from 2♣-X, but Hoftaniska kicked off with the ♠A. At some point, declarer could have escaped for just 500, but he ended up three down. N/S +800, but not a total disaster for the Belgians if their teammates can bid and make their vulnerable game.

Alain Labaere chose to show his spade fit and invitational values on the first round of the auction, thus saving West from the problem faced elsewhere. If she could make her game, Valerie Labaere would limit the Belgians’ loss on the board to just 5 IMPs.

Tom Townsend opened the ♣K and declarer made a rather strange-looking duck, although no harm was done as East continued with the ♣Q, taken by the ace. Declarer then cashed the ♠A, which was not in itself fatal, but she must then switch back to clubs. When she played the ♠10 next, the defence was in control. Bakhshi ducked his king, won the third round of spades, and exited safely with a club. With dummy now dead, declarer could do nothing to avoid losing two hearts: N/S -50 and 13 IMPs to DE BOTTON.

With one match to play, the standings were:

With the leaders still to play, LEBOWITZ is likely to need all of their 5-VP advantage over DONNER if they are to avoid automatic relegation to Group B. Meanwhile, MOSS could afford a small loss even if DE BOTTON scored a blitz. A couple of players faced the last of this week’s bidding problems:

Mike Vandervorst started with a negative double for the Belgians. Good news – his partner responded in hearts, giving him a comfortable raise to game. As the defensive cards lie, though, the play in 4 ♥ was anything but comfortable. The opening lead was the ♠10 and dummy’s jack lost to the queen, and back came an obviously-singleton diamond. Declarer managed just seven tricks: N/S -300.

The Swedes’ Precision-style 1♦ opening silenced East, so North/South had a much easier ride to the same dreadful contract, albeit played from the other side. Steven de Roos led a club, won in hand by declarer to lead a heart to the king and the bare ace. Although East continued clubs, declarer was already in dire straits. Here too, he managed just seven tricks: N/S -300 for an inelegant push.

Kevin Bathurst intervened with just a simple overcall for MOSS against LEBOWITZ:

With hearts bid and raised, Augustin Madala settled for a game try on the South cards, rejected by Dennis Bilde. Here, too, the defence began with a spade through the king-jack and a diamond switch, but Bilde managed to come to eight tricks. N/S -100 looked like a reasonable result for LEBOWITZ.

With only 4-3 in the majors, the South hand is not ideal for a negative double after East’s pre-emptive overcall, so Jacek Kalita took the bull well and truly by the horns and followed Bob Hamman’s ‘First Law of Bidding’.

Frederick Wrang led his partner’s suit, the ♦8, and Kalita got off to a good start by winning with the ♦A and leading a low heart from dummy, picking off East’s singleton ace of that suit. Antonio Palma switched to the ♠10, jack and queen, and Wrang exited safely with a heart. Declarer won in dummy with the ♥K and called for a diamond. Palma rose with the king and continued with a low spade. When the ♠8 forced the ace from West, declarer had nine tricks: a spectacular N/S +600 for the Poles and 12 IMPs to MOSS.

MOSS defeated LEBOWITZ 44-20 to win the title pulling away from the field. DE BOTTON lost 27-34 to EDMONDS, but held on to second place. DONNER climbed out of the cellar with an impressive 57-19 win against RED DEVILS. This allowed EDMONDS to climb into third spot, an excellent performance from the newly-promoted team.

The final standings in Group A are:

It is, therefore, LEBOWITZ who are relegated to Group B. They will be replaced by the Turkish team, SALVO, who won Group B by just 4 VPs ahead of the two English-based teams, ORCA and BLACK. In Group C, FREDIN (Sweden, Denmark, Italy, South Africa, Netherlands) won by a margin of 35 VPs to earn promotion to Group B. ULI (Austria, Poland) won Group D by 15 VPs to climb into Group C along with OBJECTIVITY (Netherlands, England).

Heat 4 of the New-Co will take place at the end of next month. In the meantime, we will be back next week with the best of the action from the second running of the Alt Board-a-Match Invitational.