Marc Smith visits the round robin at MontreAlt

The second Major Alt event of the year (dubbed MontreAlt) effectively replaced the Spingold, which was originally scheduled to be held in Montreal as part of the North American Summer Nationals. With only online tournaments available, this was the next best thing, and thousands tuned into BBO VuGraph to watch a field packed with world class players ready to entertain.

Th3 32-team field included 24 invited teams plus the top eight finishers from the MontreAlt qualifying event, staged a couple of weeks earlier. With the same format already set for the next alt, TampAlt in November, it will be interesting to see how the teams that had to qualify fared when matched up against the seeded teams.

The format for MontreAlt was a Swiss-style event of 14-board matches, with the top eight teams qualifying for the knockout stages after ten rounds. With so many matches being played, and such an abundance of stars in action on BBO VuGraph, a four- or five-hand summary would not do justice to this event. So, this week and next we will take a look at the best of the action from the Swiss matches, and in two weeks time we will see how the knockout stages panned out.

As usual, we begin with some problems for you to consider. First, with neither side vulnerable, you hold as North:

Do you take any action?

If you pass, partner bids Five Hearts. Do you then pass again?

Next, with both sides vulnerable, your hand as West is:

What do you bid now?

While you cogitate over your moves on those hands, we delve into the early action. Match 1 turned out to be a fairly dull affair, will no spectacular deals: the Great Dealer’s idea of easing everyone quietly into the event, perhaps. Even so, the winners of the first Major Alt, GUPTA, put down a marker by collecting 19.47 VPs from a possible 20. Only one team scored more, and that was the team who had claimed the last spot in this field by finishing eighth in the qualifying event, HUNGARY – GALIM. They defeated a strong American team, SELIGMAN, 73-3 in their opening match. So much for the idea that the qualifiers would be outclassed by the invited teams.

Board 4 of Match 2 produced a flat board in only two matches and generated a double-digit swing in more than half of the sixteen matches. We will take a look at the action from the top two matches:

Both Vul - Dealer West

In MACAVITY (Netherlands) vs BRIDGESCANNER (Lithuania/Poland) at Table 2:

West – Araszkie’z  North – Lesmeister  East – Kotorowicz  South – Ros

A couple of brave souls opened a weak two on the North hand, but second in hand vulnerable that was too much of a stretch for most. It then became a question of when, or if, North could then get involved in the auction. Would you have entered the fray at any stage in the auction above?

Declarer was allowed to make twelve tricks somehow: E/W +230. With both sides able to make ten tricks legitimately in their respective major, North’s failure to get into the auction seems to have cost the Dutch little (with E/W +200 defending Five Hearts-Doubled the par result).

As for the Poles, it looks like West could never catch up after passing South’s Two Club overcall. I am certainly no expert on the Polish Club system but, as I recall, the One Diamond opening does promise at least four diamonds. It would seem to me that West is worth at least a simple raise to Two Diamonds, even if a negative double would be too much on that hand. Passing with this type of hand is often a recipe for disaster, and so it proved here, since the routine game was missed.

West – Coppens  North – Arlovich  East – van Bijstervelt  South – Vainikonis

Erikas Vainikonis started with a double on the South hand, which allowed Pim Coppens to introduce his moderate spade suit (via a transfer) at the one-level. Niels van Bijsterveldt then showed a strong four-card spade raise with his jump to 2NT. Now Vainikonis bid his clubs and, opposite an original takeout double, Andrei Arlovich felt safe joining in with his six-card major. I cannot tell you whether West’s pass of Three Clubs was stronger than bidding Three Spades would have been but, when his partner then competed to Three Spades, Coppens now decided that he had enough for a raise to game. And quite right he was too.

The Lithuanians were never likely to find the cheap save after this auction, so van Bijsterveldt was allowed to play peacefully in Four Spades. The defenders made their two top hearts and their trump trick, but that was it. E/W +620 and 9 IMPs to MACAVITY.

Things were much different at Table 1, in the match between GUPTA and HUNGARY – GALIM.

West – Szalka  North – de Wijs  East – Czimer  South – Muller

Simon de Wijs had no reservations about bidding his heart suit facing a takeout double and the auction thereafter gained speed quickly. De Wijs had no doubt which suit he preferred (although, remarkably, in one of the matches where this board was a push, both North/Sotuh pairs played in 5♣–X for -500).

Csaba Czimer led the ♦A against 5♥-X and, at trick two, switched to his singleton club. Tamas Szalka won with the ♣A and fatally, but quite rightly in my view, returned a club in the hope that his partner would have a trump holding such as ♥Q-x. Not today! Declarer ruffed high, drew trumps, and away went his spade losers on dummy’s club suit: N/S +850.

West – Gupta  North – Gabor  East – Zia  South – Gal

Here it was East who first bid spades, but the outcome was the same: East/West bid their cold game and the Hungarians found the cheap save. Zia had seen this sort of situation before, though: do not give partner a losing option if you can see the winning defense from your side of the table. After opening with the ♦A, Zia cashed his ♠A before playing his singleton club. When Naren Gupta took his ♣A, it was the setting trick. There were no losing options. N/S -100 and 14 IMPs to GUPTA.

You can see now why I observed that Szalka’s club return at the first table is surely correct. If partner holds the ♠A, then he would (should) have cashed it before playing his club. Thus, the only chance of defeating the contract is a trump promotion.

GUPTA continued their impressive start, and topped the table with 38.00 VPs from a possible 40 after two matches.

There are exceptions to most rules. Knowing when to ignore some of the most basic principles of good bidding, though, is something that even experts struggle with. The idea that you do not bid again uninvited after pre-empting is something most of us learned in our bridge cradles. Players who ignored that restriction on the first of the problems posed earlier reaped the rewards on this deal from Match 3, earning a substantial swing in both of the top matches:

None Vul - Dealer West

In MACAVITY (Netherlands) v TBD (Canada/USA/France/Italy) at Table 2:

West – Coppens  North – Kloesnik  East – Bakkens  South – Lavee

For the transnationals, American Under-21 international Finn Kolesnik passed over West’s raise to Four Spades. When Canada’s Daniel Lavee soldiered on to Five Hearts, Kolesnik again produced a green card. The singleton spade and the top clubs, though, was all partner needed: N/S +480.

West – Grosset  North – v.Bijstervelt  East – Freeman  South – Schols

By contrast, Niels van Bijsterveldt took immediate action after the same start. His 4NT was self-alerted as ‘no agreement’, but Emile Schlos correctly drew the inference of good clubs, a partial heart fit and a spade control. That’s all he needed to know: N/S +980 and 11 IMPs to MACAVITY.

In GUPTA vs POTTER (USA) at Table 1:

West – Lorenzini  North – Dwyer  East – Bessis  South – Huang

Tomas Bessis’s delayed entry into the auction on the East cards virtually cut Kevin Dwyer out of the decision-making process. Sure, he might have raised to slam at the end, but partner had jumped to Four Hearts rather than starting with a forcing Three Hearts, so raising to slam now would have been a big position: would partner not bid this way with, say, xx/KQJxxxxx/A/xx? N/S +480.

West – Demuy  North – Zia  East – Bathurst  South – Gupta

Naren Gupta began with a double of East’s Three Spade overcall. That didn’t stop Zia from bidding again after West had raised to game, though. Even the imaginative Zia could not bid hearts on two small, but repeating his club suit just about got the job done as Gupta raised to slam, inferring very short spades for his partner’s unusual action. E/W +920 and 10 IMPs to GUPTA.

POTTER temporarily put a brake on the early charge by the tournament favorites, restricting them to a 15-10 win, but they still led the table with 49.58 VPs from three matches. TBD, LOMBARD (the Dutch winners of the qualifying event) and POTTER were the only three other teams with scores in the 40s.

Good hands can quickly turn sour. Consider the West hand on this deal from match 4: you have 16 HCP and partner opens the bidding. Great! Ask yourself again just how good your hand is by the time you reach the decision point presented as a problem at the top of this article:

None Vul - Dealer North

For ISRAEL OPEN, Michael Barel chose to raise his partner’s third suit. With two spade losers off the top and that trumps suit to negotiate, this contract was never likely to be a success. E/W -100.

Once partner shows a three-suited hand, it is surely clear that your diamond honors will be of use in only one denomination, notrumps. With a void diamond opposite, this is not a good hand to play in a fragile trump suit. Put me down for 3NT over Three Clubs.

West – Kowalski  North – Brownstein  East – Vainikonis  South – Zack

In a much shorter auction, the Polish/Lithuanian combination was less ambitious. Not the optimum contract, perhaps, and it is a rare deal on which you play in the opponents’ eight-card fit and gain IMPs, but E/W +90 was 5 IMPs to BRIDGESCANNER.

In the top match, young Italian star Irene Baroni also chose to pass on the East hand, but at her next turn she leapt right back into the frying pan:

West – Tebah  North – Zia  East – Baroni  South – Gupta

I confess that I prefer the Lithuanian’s pass to the rather strange Two Spade bid chosen by Baroni, but then I would not have passed that East hand to begin with. North led the ♠Q but South understandably did not overtake, so declarer managed to dispose of his second spades loser. One spade and two trumps was still one down, though: E/W -100.

Of course, this combination was no problem for the Dutch world champions at the other table:

West – De Wijs  North – Grosset  East – Muller  South – Freeman

Simon de Wijs’s 1NT response was an artificial game force and set up a relay auction. Two Clubs was either natural, short in hearts, or three suited. Two Hearts showed that East was either short in heart or three suited, and 2NT confirmed the three-suited variety. Three Hearts then showed precisely 5-4-0-4 shape. De Wijs was never tempted by the 11-trick game on what is, effectively, a seven-count.

The play was over much quicker than the auction: de Wijs won the opening diamond lead and laid down the ♣A. When South’s king came clattering down, declarer’s transportation problems were solved and de Wijs cashed out his nine top tricks. E/W +400 and 11 IMPs to GUPTA.

Another big win by GUPTA, 47-23 over TBD, meant that they opened up a gap of over 10VPs at the top. LOMBARD and POTTER place a close match against each other, so both leapfrog the Canadians into podium places. Now it was the turn of the #1 qualifiers to take on the runaway leaders.

Board 13 of Match 5 presented a bidding challenge to the East/West pairs. It proved to be a lucky deal for some pairs and a very unlucky one for a pair who deserved better. What action did you take on the second of the bidding problems presented earlier?

Both Vul - Dealer North

This auction from the match between GUPTA and LOMBARD at Table 1 was duplicated at plenty of tables around the room:

West – Tebha  North – Dwyer  East – Baroni  South – Potter

Although both diamonds and spades split 4-1, twelve tricks are still easy in spades because of the favorable heart position. E/W +680. Indeed, three of the 32 East/West pairs reached Six Spades and gained an undeserved bushel of IMPs as a result. Other pairs deserved their swing:

West – Demuy  North – Kolesnik  East – Huang  South – Lavee

Vincent Demuy showed his second suit via a transfer. (I also play transfers here, and one of the major advantages is that opener usually shows a four-card diamond fit if he has one by bidding Three Diamonds, irrespective of how many spades he holds.) Demuy did have that information, but he still continued with a shortage-showing Four Clubs. Shari Huang decided that he had heard enough now, and jumped to slam. Twelve tricks in diamonds were easy: five spades, four trumps in hand, two aces and one club ruff. E/W +1370 and 12 IMPs to POTTER.

Spare a thought, though, for the Italians in the match between DONNER and RIPPEY:

West – Cima  North – S.Rimstedt  East – Donati  South – Donner

Leonardo Cima also showed his second suit via a transfer, but here Giovanni Donati was able to show a fit in both of his partner’s suits with a Four Club bid. Cima set diamnds as trumps and Donati cue-bid in hearts. 4NT then asked about top cards in diamonds and spades, the Five Diamonds response showing three (ie ♦A-K and ♠Q). When Cima made a grand slam try, Donat liked his pointed-suit jacks sufficiently to accept. Excellently bid to the contract you would want to reach.

Unfortunately, North was dealt a major-suit lead (the ♥K), which prematurely removed an entry to dummy. Declarer unblocked the ♣A, played the ♦Q and a second trump to dummy, and ruffed a club. A spade to dummy then enabled him to take a second club ruff. Alas, when he tried to re-enter dummy in spades to draw the outstanding trumps, North was able to ruff and cash a heart to put the contract two down. A most unfortunate E/W -200 and 17 IMPs to RIPPEY, whose East/West pair had bid and made Six Diamonds.

At the midway point of the 10-match Swiss, the teams occupying the eight qualifying places are GUPTA (five wins and an impressive 84.79 VPs from a possible 100), POTTER (in second place but already more than a match behind the leaders, with 67.63 VPs), ZHAO (China), MACAVITY, BLACK (UK), BARNSLEY (UK), ISRAEL and RED DEVILS (Belgium/Netherlands).

We will be back next week with the best hands from the remaining five matches in the Swiss stage of MontreAlt as the battle for places in the knockout stage heats up.