Marc Smith visits the knockout stage of Alt Trophy I
A total of 22 teams set out at the start of the week. After a ten-round Swiss of 12-board matches, just eight remain. The quarter-final line-up (with carry-forward advantage shown in brackets) is:
| MULTI (+10.1 IMP) vs | JEDI KNIGHTS |
| ECF HOLDING (+6.1) vs | BRIDGE24.PL MIXED |
| RIPPEY (+3.1) vs | BLACK |
| FREDIN (+1.1) vs | VINO ROSSO |
As usual, we begin with some problems. We will discover later how your choices would have worked. Firstly, with both sides vulnerable, you are South holding:
Partner’s jump to 4♣ is Leaping Michels, showing a good hand with at least 5/5 in clubs and hearts. What action, if any, do you take?
Next, with just your side vulnerable, you hold as South:
What action, if any, do you take?
What if East’s opening was a Precision-style 2♣ (11-15 HCP, either 6+♣ or 5+♣/4M)?
Finally, with both sides vulnerable, you are sitting West with:
What action, if any, do you take?
While you consider those, we kick off the action in the first half of the quarter-finals. At only two of the eight tables, were North/South allowed to bid unopposed on Board 7:
Two Poles, Cathy Baldysz for BRIDGE24.PL MIXED and Piotr Nawrocki for RIPPEY, passed the West hand in second seat and then passed again after South had raised hearts invitationally via a Drury bid. This meant that both Tom Paske for the English and Jo-Arne Ovesen for the Norwegians were allowed to play peacefully in game at the four-level. N/S +620.
In one of the replays, the English pair presented Italy’s Barbara Dessi with the first of the problems posed above.
Andrew Black opened a weak two and David Gold correctly judged to take the advanced save (against South’s presumed 4♥), forcing the Italian to a decision. Dessi opted to bid game in clubs. There was no way for Leonardo Cima to avoid the two diamond losers so, when East showed up with a trump trick, declarer was one down. N/S -100 and 12 IMPs to BLACK.
In the other match, South was given more of a chance:
The auction started similarly here, although which major West held was unknown and thus North’s 4♣ announced a good hand with clubs and one of the majors. Does it seem unreasonable for South to attempt to play in hearts if that happens to be partner’s suit? Perhaps East would have allowed them to play game there. When Igor Chalupec simply raised to 5♣, though, he condemned the Poles to a minus score: N/S -100 and 12 IMPs to ECF HOLDING.
In FREDIN vs VINO ROSSO, Sweden’s Johan Bennett did the same as Barbara Dessi, bidding 5♣ after the auction presented in the problem. N/S -100. At the other table, Herve Vinciguerra for the French was in a similar position to Igor Chalupec at the previous table.
We have seen the imaginative Herve Vinciguerra produce some excellent results for his team in various Alt competitions throughout the year. His jump to slam on this deal does seem particularly over-optimistic to me. Yes, partner has a good hand, but with 5-5 he still has three cards in the other two suits, and you are contributing only one winner there and a single high card in partner’s suits. N/S -200 and 3 IMPs to FREDIN, so only a minimal loss on the scorecard for this particular flight of fancy an although, remember, of course, that South could have passed 4♥ for a big gain.
At the midway point, MULTI was the only one of the four teams with a carryforward advantage who was ahead in their match: they led JEDI KNIGHTS 52.1-27 including the 10.1-IMP carryforward. The other three pre-match favourites all trailed. The second halves of all four matches continued in the same direction as the first, the leading teams all extending their advantage. Indeed, none of the quarter-finals were close: all four matches were decided by at least 20-IMP margins. The semi-final line-ups would be:
| MULTI (+0.1 IMPS) vs | VINO ROSSO |
| BRIDGE24.PL MIXED (+0.1 IMPS) vs | RIPPEY |
The carryforward advantages now only come into play in the event of a tie. Only MULTI remains from the four teams who had led the Swiss qualifying competition earlier in the week.
After the first 12-board set, the Poles led 42.1-22 against BLACK, whilst the French narrowly headed MULTI, by 34-30.1. Early in the second half, Board 14 produced a potentially significant swing in both matches.
There were identical auctions at one table in each match, West simply raising the opening 1NT quantitatively and East declining the invitation. Both declarers managed to come to twelve tricks: E/W +490.
For the French, Cedric Lorenzini chose to force to slam, searching for a potential 4-4 or 4-5 diamond fit on the way. When that search proved fruitless, Thomas Bessis was left in the notrump slam which, although unbeatable double-dummy from the East side, is hardly a certainty to make.
With both minors bid by the opponents, Stefano Tommasini managed to pick out the one opening lead that gave declarer a relatively easy ride, the ♠Q. Bessis won with dummy’s ♠A, played a club to the ace and a club back to the queen to check that suit was coming in, and then led a spade towards his jack. North duly rose with the ♠K and declarer claimed twelve tricks: E/W +990 and 11 IMPs to VINO ROSSO. For the French, this deal was the first swing in a set that they won convincingly, 55-18, thus claiming their place in the final with a comfortable 89-48.1 victory.
For the Polish sisters, Cathy Baldysz started with Stayman and then created a game forcing auction at the two-level. Sophia showed her five-card club suit and Cathy set trumps with a raise. A couple of cue-bids later and Cathy raised herself to slam. Only the ♠10 or ♠9 legitimately defeats this contract, but Simon Hult had no reason to find that lead and he opted for a give-nothing-away heart.
Looking at both hands, it seems as if declarer has eleven tricks and no real hope of a twelfth. Baldysz won the heart lead, drew two rounds of trumps with the ace and queen, and forlornly tried a low spade towards dummy. Although the ♠7 forced South’s queen, that did not greatly help declarer. Hallberg exited with his second spade and declarer won with the ace. She now drew the last trump, cashed her hearts, and played her trumps hoping to find either defender holding the ♠K and the ♦Q-J or any five diamonds. It was not to be: E/W -50 and 11 IMPs to BLACK. For the English, this deal was a false dawn that reduced their deficit to single figures. For them, though, that was the last good news in the match, the Poles winning the second half 45-18 and the match 87.1-40.
Baldysz had the right idea, in that only a squeeze can bring home this slam (and the position is the same whether the contract is 6♣ or 6NT). It is a squeeze without the count, though, and ducking the spade early wrecked the position. If declarer wins the heart lead, draws three rounds of trumps, cashes her remaining heart winners and the ♦K, and then plays the last two trumps, this is the five-card ending when the final club is led:
When declarer leads the last club winner from dummy, what can South discard? If South pitches a spade, baring the queen, declarer throws a diamond from hand, plays a spade to queen and ace, then leads a spade towards dummy’s jack. North makes the ♠K but the ♠J scores as declarer’s twelfth trick.
If, instead, South throws a diamond on the last club, declarer pitches the low spade from hand. A diamond to the ace and another diamond then establishes the ♦10 as a winner. With only spades left, South must surrender the lead to the ♠A and, again, declarer has twelve tricks. I wish Baldysz had played it that way, as I suspect we’d then have had a contender for the IBPA’s Best Played Hand of the Year award.
After six knockout ties with nary a close match in sight, it was up to BRIDGE24.PL MIXED and VINO ROSSO to produce a thriller to close the event.
The first half of the final produced the second of this month’s problem hands. Perhaps some of you wondered why it was a problem, as would I.
To me, doubling on off-shape hands makes it much more difficult for partner to compete effectively, and thus your side will sell out on many hands on which partner should compete, but he does not do so in case you do not produce the support that might be expected. However, I suppose it is a matter of style whether your partnership makes a takeout double of 1♣ on this type of hand.
Cedric Lorenzini started with a redouble and Bartosz Chmurski duly bid his diamonds. Fortunately for the Poles, though, Thomas Bessis held a shapely minimum, so he bid in front of his partner as a warning. Lorenzini made one more try for game, but gave up when Bessis retreated to 3♣. That was, indeed, the limit of the hand, although the defence dropped a trick and allowed declarer to score an overtrick: E/W +130.
Whilst perhaps the case for making a takeout double of a potentially short 1♣ is open for debate, doing so when East opens a Precision-style 2♣ is, IMHO, straight out of “Alice in Wonderland”. Herve Vinciguerra was not willing to be shut out, though, and the Polish sisters wasted no time pointing out the error of his ways. At this table, there was no need for East to announce a weak unbalanced hand by taking a second bid: she had already described that with her opening salvo. When Philippe Soulet’s 2♦ came around to Cathy, she was not hard-pressed to find the double.
The East Europeans’ defence was not quite as deadly as their bidding judgement, but most of the damage had already been done. Sophia started accurately with her trump, Cathy winning with the ♦Q and keeping defensive hopes alive by switching to a low heart, to the king and ace. Soulet played the ♦K and Cathy took her ace, cashed the ♥Q, and continued with the ♥10, shortening declarer. When Soulet then played a club to the ace and another club back towards his hand, though, Cathy pitched her low spade rather than ruffing. Allowed to score a trick with the ♣K, declarer had six tricks and thus ‘escaped’ for two down: but E/W +500 still meant 9 IMPS to BRIDGE24.PL MIXED.
After the first 12-board set, the Poles had opened a lead of 35.1-17: significant, perhaps, but certainly not insurmountable. As the second stanza wore on, the French chipped away at the deficit. After ten boards, and with just two deals remaining in the match, the Polish advantage had shrunk to only 2.1 IMPs, 40.1-38. Then came:
At both tables, South opened with a Multi 2♦, showing a weak two opening in one of the majors. The critical decision then fell to the West players: do you take this chance to get into the auction cheaply in anticipation that the bidding will be at the 2♠ level (or higher) by the time you get another turn, or do you keep your head off the potential chopping block?
Cedric Lorenzini decided that discretion was the better part of valor and kept his powder dry. When North’s pass-or-correct 2♥ was passed back to him, revealing that South suit was, surprisingly, hearts, he was no doubt mighty glad about the way things had gone. Thomas Bessis kept open the chance of beating the contract by two by leading a spade, Lorenzini immediately scoring a trick with a low trump. It is very difficult for West to return a low diamond from this holding, ensuring an entry for his partner with the ♦J, and when Lorenzini switched to the ♦K declarer could have ensured seven tricks by playing low. However, Bartosz Chmurski won with the ♦A and played three rounds of trumps, Lorenzini winning and then accurately underleading his high diamond to get Bessis in with the ♦J to deliver another spade ruff. When Lorenzini then exited with the ♦Q, declarer ruffed in dummy but then had to open the clubs, allowing the defenders to score three winners in that suit. Nicely defended: E/W +100.
Bobby Wolff is often quoted as having said that passing is just as dangerous as bidding, and we have certainly seem plenty of deals on which passing was not the winning option. When you live by the sword, though, you have to accept that you will sometimes die by it.
After the same start, Cathy Baldysz braved the vulnerable two-level overcall on the West hand. Sophia knew what was going to happen if she passed North’s pass-or-correct double of 2♥, so she tried her luck in spades in the hope that partner might produce at least some support for that suit. It was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire for the Poles, though. Sure, when North’s penalty double came back to her, Cathy might have managed to salvage the situation by getting her partner into a club contract, but you are never always going to guess correctly when to zig and when to zag in this type of auction. Do you really want to climb to the three-level with no guarantee of a fit? Indeed, is it not likely that you do not have a fit and your best spot is in partner’s seven-card spade suit and as low as possible?
Curiously, despite holding a total of only five trumps, 2♠-X is not the worst contract one has ever been in, and it was nip-and-tuck whether the French would beat it by more than just one. Michel Bessis led a diamond, and Bernard Cabanes won with the ♦A and needed to return his singleton trump to maximize defensive chances. When he instead played a second diamond, Sophia could have made seven tricks by winning with the ♦J and leading a top trump. When declarer played a low club at trick three, though, she was back to just six tricks again. E/W -300 and a huge 9 IMPs in context to VINO ROSSO, who now led by 6.9 IMPs with just one deal to play.
The French actually gained 4 IMPs on the final deal, so they won the second half 34-5 and the final by a score of 51-40.1. At last, an exciting knockout match for the hundreds watching live on BBO VuGraph. Congratulations to VINO ROSSO on their victory: Thomas Bessis, Cedric Lorenzini, Bernard Cabanes, Michel Bessis, Philippe Soulet and Herve Vinciguerra.
We will be back next week with the early action from Heat 9 of the monthly New-Alt competition.