Marc Smith visits the round robin stage of Alt Board-a-Match Invitational II

Although ‘big swings’ are not necessary at B-a-M, some deals are still more exciting than others and, with so many world-class players in action, there was plenty for those watching on BBO VuGraph to enjoy. Last week, we left the Alt Board-a-Match Invitational II after five matches of the round robin. The standings at the top of the leaderboard were very close:

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

What action do you take?

Next, with neither side vulnerable, you are South with this hand:

What action do you take?

Whilst you consider those, we jump right in with the opening deal of Round 6. At almost half of the tables (6/14) a diamond partscore made ten tricks for E/W +130. At some tables, attempts to push the opponents around did not work out so well:

If perfect timing is the essence of great comedy, is seems clear that China’s Wenyi Wang should not consider a career in stand-up. Here, he certainly chose the wrong moment to step out of line with a speculative jump overcall. Katherine Todd was not willing to be pushed into anything despite her six-card major. When it came back to North, of course double would have been for takeout. Even if it wasn’t, though, even one as young as Danish protégé Christian Lahrmann understands that you never double when the opponents are in the only contract you know is going down. Three Clubs was not a happy spot for East, and declarer managed to accrue just five tricks: N/S +200 and the point on the deal to QUARANTEAM when South at the other table tried his luck in 2♠ -X (down two).

Perhaps Belgium’s Emiel Vandewiele has some Irish blood:

Irish eyes were certainly smiling on the Belgian, who also tried his luck with a 3♣ overcall. Here, though Mike Rippey could not resist bidding his six-card major. Dennis Dewit manged to avoid doubling, probably for fear that his partner might think he was expected to bid something. Do doubt, Dewit could not believe his luck when Kamil Nowak’s raise came back to him. He doubled this time and began by drawing dummy’s trumps and then switching to a diamond. Declarer could make just two trump tricks and his four outside winners: N/S -800 and the point to PITCH & PUTT BUSSLO when South played 2♠ for -100 at the other table. RIPPEY had the last laugh, though, as they won the match 5-1 to move up to second place, just 1 VP behind the leaders.

David Chechelashvili first represented Georgia (the country, not the state) at the 2004 Olympiad in Istanbul. In 2017, he was a member of the Georgian team that won the Open Teams at the European Small Federations Games. He was not willing to settle for a mere partscore on this deal, and his ambitious bidding set a star American pair a defensive problem that they failed to solve:

The auction started this way at a number of tables, but most East’s passed their partner’s 2♦ bid. Chechelashvili advanced with 2NT and his partner raised him to game. Joe Grue got the defence off to an excellent start by leading a spade, immediately skewering declarer’s communications. Checkelashvili won and played the ♥10, which held. He continued with a second heart, taken by Jill Meyers with the ace as Grue discarded a high spade. Nothing looked particularly attractive, so Meyers exited with her second spade, which kept the defensive hopes alive. Back in dummy for perhaps the last time, declarer cashed his spade winners, North and East both throwing clubs. Now came a heart to the jack and the ♦K.

Joe Grue had a count of the hand by now, so he knew declarer had a second diamond. He could not be sure, though, that his partner had two club winners, so he ducked the diamond, rather than taking his ace, cashing the thirteenth spade, and playing a club to the A-K for one down. That was all the help Chechelashvili needed. He cashed the ♥K next and exited with the ♣Q. Meyers could cash her long heart, on which declarer pitched his diamond loser, but she then had to give him his ninth trick with the ♣J at the end. A spectacular E/W +400 and the point on the deal to AMATEURS when West played a diamond partial at the other table.

Some boards defy logic: how often do you hold a 9-count facing a 2♣ opener, and find that you need to take a six-level sacrifice at adverse vulnerability? This deal from Round 7 was far too tough for many players:

Holland’s Bas van Roosmalen was faced with the first of this week’s problems. You have a balanced 18-count and partner has shown something like 8-10. The chances that you can make 6♣ are surely not good, so would you even consider anything other than a double?

With hearts 3-3, declarer easily set up his side suit and loses just one heart and one club in his spade contract: N/S +650. The Dutch were not alone, as this result was duplicated at six of the 14 tables. At three others, N/S made +690 (4♠-X +1) and at one +730 (3♠-X +2).

American Neil Chambers, a member of the USA squad that won the Seniors Teams title at the 2004 Olympiad in Istanbul, found himself in the hot seat on this deal. The other half of this veteran partnership, Allen Graves, is a Canadian native who was a member of the USA sextet that won the Seniors Teams at the 2017 World Championships.

Allen Graves’ 2♣ opening (which includes a balanced 18-21 in their methods) was doubled by North, showing both majors. I cannot explain the 2♦ bid (shouldn’t that be a natural positive after the double, as weak hands would just pass?) or, for that matter, South’s 3♦ bid (clearly intended as natural but, presumably, taken as some sort of forward-going pick-a-major move). When the bidding came back to Chambers in the East seat, it is hard to believe that you have such a good hand, partner has opened 2♣, and yet North is making a slam try!

The defence cashed a high spade and then switched to hearts. Declarer had nowhere to put his diamond loser, so that was one down, but only N/S +100 and the point on the deal to CAN-AM, who won the match 5-1 to move into the top half of the table. Only one other E/W pair (Zach Grossack and Giorgia Botta) managed to find the six-level ‘red save’.

MIKADINHO records a 6-1 victory in this round to move up into a first-place tie with SELIGMAN. RIPPEY wins 5-2 to move to within 0.5 VPs of the leaders, and the top three have opened a gap of 3.5 VPs ahead of the field.

In Round 8, SELIGMAN wins again, and remain undefeated (six wins and two ties), whilst MIKADINHO defeats RIPPEY 4-1. Now there are just two teams in that group at the top with a gap behind them.

The first deal of Round 9 was something of a curiosity in that North/South were cold for nine tricks in notrumps, and yet East/West could make game in hearts despite holding only a 4-4 fit. However, only one N/S pair managed to play the hand in notrumps, and that was at the one-level. Half the field bought the contract in a spade partial:

David Gold opened the stronger version of his weak two options and the Dutch were quite content to allow him to play there. The early play was straightforward, the defenders starting with two rounds of clubs, declarer ruffing. Now Gold played two top diamonds and ruffed dummy’s third club, followed by two top hearts and a third round of diamonds, ruffing when North pitched his club. Gold had made seven tricks and, in the five-card ending, he exited with a heart, won by North with the ♥J. North had to lead a trump now, and South won with the ♠10. Not wishing to lead away from his ♠A-Q, South exited with his club. Of course, it cannot cost North to ruff with the ♠K. When he instead ruffed low, though, Gold was able to score the ♠J as his eighth trick. E/W an excellent +110.

With 6-4 in the majors and poor spades, this East hand is not the ideal weak two opening, and I am sure that many would agree with Marco Zomer’s decision to pass. The subsequent auction does not look unreasonable, although neither side got close to the true potential on their cards. It is almost always bad news when your team plays in the same suit at both tables. The defensive slip at the other table, though, meant the world at B-a-M scoring. Simon de Wijs managed to overcome the 6-0 trump trick sufficiently to scramble six tricks. E/W +100 meant the whole point to GUPTA by the smallest possible margin.

Only SELIGMAN’s Norwegian stars showed how it should be done:

Espen Lindqvist overcalled in diamonds and then showed four hearts in response to his partner’s takeout double. With the opponents’ bidding telling Boye Brogeland that his partner had no spades, he was able to envision how the hand would play and he jumped to the ultra-thin game. Great judgement!

Lindqvist ruffed the opening spade lead and immediately played three rounds of diamonds, ruffing low in dummy when North pitched a club. Two rounds of trumps returned the lead to the lead to the East hand, and Lindqvist began running his diamonds. Ami Zamir could have ruffed in with the master trump and forced declarer with a spade to hold the contract to ten tricks but, instead, he pitched all of his spades, dummy throwing a club and two spades. Now, declarer ruffed a club in dummy. When Lindqvist ruffed a spade with his last trump, what could North do? If he discarded, that would be declarer’s eleventh trick but, if he overruffed, he was then endplayed to lead away from his ♣A and declarer would score the ♣K to make his overtrick. E/W +450 and a well-deserved point to SELIGMAN.

Despite this deal, SELIGMAN suffered their first loss, going down 2-3 to QUARANTEAM. MIKADHINO defeated BID72 5-1 to move into first place with four matches remaining.

In Round 10, players around the room had to deal with the second of this week’s bidding problems:

David Bakhshi’s 4♥ bid is certainly on the conservative side, but it had one major advantage – there was no chance of a nasty accident. Slam chances are close to 50-50, so whether you want to get to 6♥ is moot. One thing that experienced players will tell you is that there are lots of ways you can gain when you score +480. When you bid a marginal slam and go down, though, you nearly always lose, whatever the form of scoring.

On this occasion, the normal play in the heart suit would have worked to bring home the slam, so those pairs (there were three at the 14 tables) who bid 6♥ all scored +980 and won the board. There were two matches in which the board was flat at N/S +480. The SELIGMAN match was one of two in which scoring +480 was not such a bad thing after all.

Bas van Roosmalen decided that this South hand was too strong for 4♥, so he started with 4♣, self-alerted as a cue-bid. Now think about this from the North side of the table: is it clear that 4♣ is a cue-bid agreeing hearts? South is an unpassed hand, so why can he not just have a good hand with a club suit? Does he have to jump to 5♣ with that, or is there a risk that his partner might take such a bid as Exclusion?

Clearly, North thought that 4♣ was natural, and she had a great hand for clubs so she cue-bid in spades to agree clubs. Now South rolled out Blackwood, except that he thought hearts was the agreed suit and opener thought that it was clubs. Hence, if you glanced briefly at the bidding and thought that North had just miscounted her key cards when she showed zero or three, that is not what happened at all. Of course, South thought he had found exactly what he was looking for, so he jumped to the grand slam. Had he been slightly more cautious, and asked for the trump queen, that still would not have helped, as North would have shown the ♣Q. 7♥ was clearly a hopeless spot: N/S -50 and the point to SELIGMAN.

Are you 100% convinced that you and your regular partner would not repeat this expensive misunderstanding? Better ask him what he would do, but give him the North hand, not the South hand. Looking at just the South hand, it is easy to convince yourself that 4♣ is a cue-bid. It is far from clear when you are sitting North. Perhaps that 4♥ underbid is not such a bad idea after all.

After 10 matches, we have a tie for first place and the leading two teams are already quite a way clear of the field. These are the standing with three matches left:

We will be back next week to see the conclusion of the round robin.