With the Soloway Trophy decided, it was time for teams to concentrate on a different form of scoring. This is the traditional highlight of the NABC Fall Nationals, the Reisinger BAM Teams, widely considered the most testing of all events on the calendar.

A field of 36 teams began the journey on Friday. The 20 teams that survived to contest Saturday’s semi-final were led by GROSSACK. The field was then whittled down to 10 teams for Sunday’s two-session final. Leading the field going into the final was FLEISHER, the reigning Spingold champions and semi-finalist in the Soloway earlier this week. Their status entitled them to carry forward an advantage of 3.0 points. Behind then came PLATNICK (carrying forward 1.61 points) and RIPPEY (1.48). Also in the 10-team field are the reigning Bermuda Bowl champions and the newly-crowned winners of the Soloway, ZIMMERMANN. Could they record an impressive double?

Of course, there is no such thing as a big swing board in BAM Teams. Effectively matchpoint scoring, teams play head-to-head matches and the best score on each deal scores 1 point, with each team scoring 0.5 points on a pushed board. (Unlike matchpoints, a 10-point difference such as +420 and +430 counts as a push in BAM.) Although only a single point is available on each deal, there were still plenty to thrill and perhaps educate those watching live on BBO VuGraph.

The format is a complete round robin of nine 3-board matches in each of the two sessions. In this visit, we will take a look at some of the most spectacular hands from the first session of the Reisinger BAM final. As usual, we start with a couple of problems. Firstly, with only your side vulnerable, you are East holding:

What action, if any, do you take?

Next, with only your side vulnerable, you are sitting in the North seat with:

What do you bid?

Suppose you overcall 3♥. What action, if any, would you then take when East’s raise to 4♠ is passed back to you?

While you mull those over, we start with the Round 2 match between NICKELL and GROSSACK.

Bobby Levin’s 2NT, an invitational or better four-card heart raise, left Michael Rosenberg (left) with the first of the problems posed above. At IMPs, it would be clear to raise to the four-level despite the adverse vulnerability. Losing 500 against a non-vulnerable game is no big deal compared to the potential gain from either pushing your opponents overboard at the five-level or robbing them of the space to investigate a slam. At BAM, that small margin could be the difference between winning and losing the board, and so it proved here.

Rosenberg raised to game with a fit-showing jump to 4♦. Steve Weinstein bid 4♥ but Zach Grossack was seduced by the double fit to take the red save. There were three aces and two trumps to be lost, so that was two down: N/S +500.

East/West were somewhat unfortunate here, as a more favourable trump position would have allowed declarer out for -200 against an easy game. There was still a silver lining, in that North/South were cold for 12 tricks in hearts, so perhaps teammates would get to the slam…

Nick Nickell did not overcall on the West hand, so the potential save was never in the frame. That did mean that North/South had the auction to themselves, and Adam Grossack (right) began with a Jacoby 2NT response. Larry Lebowitz’s 3♣ showed any minimum opening. Holding only an indifferent 12-count himself, it is easy to see why Adam Grossack gave up on slam in the interest of not assisting the opening lead or subsequent defence by giving away information. Unfortunately, the hands fit very well and the only potential problem, bringing in the clubs for no loser, was simplified by the singleton queen. N/S +480 and the point on the deal goes to NICKELL.

In the match between ANDRESEN and FLEISHER, the results turned in by both North-South pairs would have saved Rosenberg/Grossack. For FLEISHER, Lorenzini/Bessis bid to only 4♥ but, when West led a diamond rather than cashing his ♠A, declarer was able to get his spade loser away on dummy’s long clubs to make all thirteen tricks. N/S +510. However…

After the same start as the second table in the first match, Thomas Charlsen (left) decided that the North hand was still worth one more go despite his partner’s minimum opening bid. He advanced with a 3♦ inquiry and Martin Andresen’s 3♠ showed a singleton diamond. Galvanized by that information, Charlsen showed his club control. Now Andresen took over and Blackwooded his side to slam. West cashed the ♠A here, but that was the only trick the defenders could get. N/S +980 and the point goes to ANDRESEN.

We see ANDRESEN in action again on our next deal, this time from their Round 4 match against NICKELL. This deal illustrates that BAM scoring is not all about the bidding…

Once Ralph Katz had opened the East hand, Nick Nickell (right) forced first a diamond cue and then an admission to the ♣K from his partner. Finally, having heard enough, Nickell jumped to a grand slam.

North led the ♦7 and Nickell won with the ace. He then drew trumps and cashed his spade winners, pitching the remaining diamond from dummy. Now it was time to broach the clubs. Nickell cashed the ♣A and led a second round towards dummy. Of course, North followed with the last low club (don’t they always?) Nickell rose with the king and down came Souths queen. E/W +2210.

Thor Erik Hoftaniska (left) did not open the East hand, so Norway’s youngest superstar, Nicolai Heiberg-Evenstad, opened a 20-21 2NT on the West hand. Hoftaniska moved forward with Muppet Stayman, and 3NT thus showed five hearts. 4♣ was a cue-bid agreeing hearts and, despite two losing diamonds, Evenstad like the rest of his hand enough to venture beyond game to cue-bid his spade control. Thus encouraged, Hoftaniska rolled out Blackwood and learned enough to use up all of the cards in his bidding box. Quite a performance from a man who couldn’t open the bidding just moments earlier.

If this were matchpoints, getting to 7NT rather than 7♥ would be particularly worthwhile. At BAM, the two contracts are effectively the same, so the Norwegians gain only our admiration for their auction.

Bobby Levin led a heart and declarer immediately cashed five rounds of the suit. Levin discarded a spade and two diamonds, whilst Weinstein released the five, six and then the queen of spades. Now it was time for Evenstad to tackle the clubs. What can declarer read into the defenders’ discards? Does it not look like South has at least six spades headed by the Q-J? Do North’s diamond pitches suggest that South also holds the ♦K? With only such marginal inferences to go on, Evenstad cashed the ♣A and then played a second round of clubs to dummy’s jack. Weinstein won with the ♣Q and the contract was one down. E/W -100 and the point goes to NICKELL.

The Norwegians were no doubt delighted that this was not a regular team game, where this result would have cost them a massive 20-IMP swing. Here, it was just one lost board out of 54 that the teams would contest across the two-session final, so no big deal

There was a second spectacular deal in this three-board set. Let’s see the action at tables from a couple of matches. (Unfortunately, some players names are missing from the VuGraph record.)

With only the Swedes playing intermediate two-level opening bids, Poland’s Piotr Marcinowski (right) was alone in having to deal with the second of this week’s problems.

What are North’s options (assuming that you treat this intermediate 2♠ opening as you would a weak two)? Many partnerships play Leaping Michaels, but I suspect that for most this North hand would not be good enough for 4♣. A useful agreement is to use the cue-bid (so 3♠ here) to show a weaker hand with hearts and a minor, meaning that your Leaping Michaels bids can always deliver real powerhouse two-suiters. (On grounds of frequency this is much better than using a cue-bid to ask for a stopper.) I would guess that Marcinowski did not have that option available, otherwise would it not be the obvious choice? So, he settled for a simple 3♥ overcall. The question then was whether he was worth a second go (with a double, presumably) when Marion Michielsen’s 4♠ came back to him – after all, “6-5, come alive”. No doubt mindful of the vulnerability, Marcinowski decided to go quietly.

Marcinowski led the ♣10 against 4♠. When he continued with a second club at trick two, Per-Ola Cullin ruffed and drew trumps. He was then able to pitch one of his heart losers on dummy’s long diamond. E/W +450. Would that overtrick prove crucial in determining the destination of the point on this deal?

We don’t know the identity of the players at the other table in this match, but we do have the auction…

West opened the standard 1♠ at this table, which allowed North to show hearts and a minor with a Michaels cue-bid. Then the bidding took off and a game of musical chairs ensued. East’s jump to 4♦ was a fit-bid, showing both pointed suits. Suspecting that his side had big club fit, South was happy to take a shot at 4♥. Now everyone decided that they had something more to say. The music eventually stopped with South in 6♥-doubled.

West looks to have a fairly clearcut diamond lead, so the defenders safely collected their two winners in that suit (more of that later). Now the destination of the point on the board came down to whether declarer could pick up the trumps for no loser. With so much bidding around the table, declarer not unreasonably decided that it was likely that someone had a singleton heart, so he played a trump the ace and finessed on the way back. East won with the ♥Q, so declarer was two down. E/W +500 would be worth only a couple IMPs in a regular team game, but here that small margin meant that the point on the board went to RIPPEY.

In the match between FLEISHER and DYSON, the FLEISHER East/West pair competed to 5♠ over 5♥ and were allowed to play there. The defenders managed to collect all three of their tricks at this table, so declarer was one down: N/S +50. In the replay…

The auction began with a 1♠ opening and a Michaels overcall, but here East advanced with 2NT, showing an invitational or better raise with at least four spades. That allowed Cedric Lorenzini (left) to raise hearts via a strength-showing 3♠ cue-bid. That was the sign to light the blue touchpaper on this auction. Thomas Bessis rolled out Blackwood on a questionable hand for the convention. Not sure which two aces his partner held, he then made a forcing pass when West competed to the five-level. With no wasted values in spades and now certain that his partner was void, Lorenzini advanced with 6♣ – a suggestion of an alternative contract or a grand slam try? Bessis corrected to 6♥ and East doubled.

The VuGraph records show that West led the ♣4 against 6♥-doubled. Looking at all four hands, that doesn’t seem to cost, as declarer has nowhere to put either of his diamond losers. It is therefore strange that the result is recorded as 6♥-X making an overtrick for N/S +1860. I wonder whether, in fact, Bessis did not correct to 6♥, and the contract was actually 6♣-doubled. In that contract, failing to cash the diamond winners on the go is fatal as, assuming declarer gets the hearts right, the diamonds in declarer’s hand will disappear on dummy’s heart winners. We conclude this visit with a deal from the Round 7 match between ANDRESEN and GROSSACK. This deal had everything needed to entertain the kibitzers watching live on BBO VuGraph, but anyone of a nervous disposition should perhaps skip to the summary at the end of the article.

The auction at this table looks like such a mess that perhaps the names were omitted from the VuGraph records to protect the guilty. I have no idea what 4NT was intended as, or what North thought it was. Initially, it looks perhaps like South was offering a choice of minor suits, but would anyone really do that with 8-4 shape? Perhaps he intended it to show a slam try in diamonds. It certainly looks like North took it as Blackwood for hearts, 5♣ showing one key card and then the jump to 6♥ showing the ♥Q perhaps. They then stumbled from one doubled contract to another before stopping in what turned out to be the best spot available once the doubling started.

There were just two red aces to lose. N/S -500. Even so, it is hard to see how bidding a one-ace grand slam could be a good board.

If the auction here was a total mess, the one at the other table seemed relatively sensible in the circumstances. However, whilst the operation may have been a success, the patient still wound up dead.

Michael Rosenberg somehow dredged up a takeout double on the East hand. Martin Andresen started with a redouble, something that inevitably seems to lead to confusion in my experience, particularly when responder does not hold a balanced hand. Zack Grossack (right) then truly set the cat amongst the pigeons with his jump to 4♠.

Getting to the only making game (5♦) after this start seems just about impossible. The only other plus score available to North/South was to double 4♠ and collect +500. When Charlsen bid 5♥, the Norwegians were booked for a minus score. However, with North/South at the other table having bid a grand slam off two aces, it was still possible to win the point on the deal. When Andresen bid 6♦, they were in a winning spot. Charlsen’s decision to bid 6♥ was disastrous.

You may think it’s okay, because at least they are still at the six-level rather than seven. However, playing in hearts has a serious flaw. Rosenberg started the defence with the ♦A. It was not difficult to cash the ♥A, removing dummy’s lone trump, and to then cash two spade winners. Whilst the declarer in 7♦-X at the other table was two down, he still managed to win the point on the board as 6♥-X was three down here. N/S -800 and the point on the deal to GROSSACK.

We will be back soon with the highlights from the second half of the 2023 Reisinger BAM Teams final.