TampALT BULLETIN 4 • Friday December 18 • editor Christina Lund Madsen • [email protected] The TampALT Invitational

DECEMBER 14-18 2020

WORLD CLASS ONLINE BRIDGE EVENTS

No Holiday Yet We said goodbye to 34 teams yesterday. As predicted Clement won the Swiss and al- most knocked out Uli in the process and have an amazing average of 15 Vps pr. match. Among the other top 8 matches only Vinita missed the cut after a loss to Sweice, who we see in today's semifinal against Clement. The other semifinal is Bernal vs. Red Devils. In the quarterfinals we said goodbye to Lebowitz, Uli, Coppens and Seligman. You might be sad that this is the last day of entertainment before Christmas. Yet that is not the case at all. Beginning to- morrow is the Alt Supports CAT-event. All fees go directly to the CAT Legal Defense Fund. And the roster is definitely worth inspecting.

All players should enter BBO 10 Today’s Schedule minutes before the beginning of a match. TD Denis Dobrin will instruct Friday December 18 you where to sit. All players must have 10:00 EST / 16:00 CET – Semifinal (28 boards) their name in their BBO-profile. 14:30 EST / 20:30 CET – Final (32 boards) Private isn't allowed for the sake of opponents and kibitzers.

- 1 - Knock-Outs

Results

- 2 - Swiss Final Ranking

- 3 - Clash of the Titans By Mark Horton

In the final round of the Swiss I resolved to North led the ♠5 and South took the ace follow a match which included a number and returned the 9. North overtook the of world champions which also had a with the queen and exited with the ♠10, direct bearing on the qualification process, declarer winning and playing a heart for Vinita vs. Sweice. the ten and queen, the diamond return putting him two down, -200. On the opening deal EW held ♠A953 ♥QJ72 ♦J5 ♣T82 opposite ♠KQJT2 Closed Room ♥AK65 ♦AKT9 ♣-. Spades were 3-1, hearts 3-2 and the ♦Q singleton offside, so WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH all the tricks were there. Neither pair got Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen past 6♠. — — — Pass Nine pairs reached a grand slam - only Bakhshi and Malinowski played in hearts. 1♦ 1♠ 2♥ Pass 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass 3. Dealer South. EW Vul.

♠ Q 10 8 5 3 North elected to lead the ♣9 and the jack ♥ J 8 5 was covered by the queen and ace. When a ♦ A 10 8 diamond to the queen held declarer con- ♣ 9 3 tinued with dummy's ♥2 and South won ♠ K 6 2 ♠ J 7 4 with the queen and returned the ♣10. ♥ 9 7 ♥ A K 10 3 2 Declarer won with dummy's king and ♦ K J 9 7 4 ♦ Q cashed four rounds of hearts, pitching a ♣ A 6 2 ♣ K J 7 4 spade and a diamond and exited with the ♠ A 9 ♣4. South won with the eight and played a ♥ Q 6 4 diamond and North won with the ace and ♦ 6 5 3 2 returned the ten to declarer's king. ♣ Q 10 8 5 That left declarer with two losing spades, WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH -100 but a 3 IMP swing. Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde Having taken dummy's ♣K declarer should — — — Pass play back the ♣4, setting up a third club 1♦ 1♠ 2♣* Pass trick. Then the defenders cannot prevent 2♦ Pass 2♠* Dble nine tricks being scored. However, if South switches to the ace of spades and a spade 2NT Pass 3NT All Pass after taking the ♥Q declarer has only eight tricks. 2♣ 5+♥, one-round force

- 4 - There is a winning line after the club lead - declarer must rise with dummy's ♣K and play the ♦Q. He can then come to hand with a club and continue diamonds, the combination of the diamonds playing for four tricks (a 28.09% chance) and the ♠A being onside getting declarer up to nine tricks. Not one that would readily spring to mind.

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul. Bob Hamman

♠ 5 4 2 ♥ K Q 10 9 4 ♦ 10 7 6 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ♣ 7 5 Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen ♠ A J 10 9 8 ♠ Q 7 3 Pass Pass 1♣ 1NT ♥ 6 3 ♥ 8 7 2 ♦ J 8 ♦ A Q 2 2♠ 2NT* Pass 3♣* ♣ K 8 3 2 ♣ Q J 10 6 Pass 3♥ 3♠ All Pass ♠ K 6 ♥ A J 5 ♦ K 9 5 4 3 2NT Lebensohl ♣ A 9 4 3♥ Non-forcing

North led a for the queen, king and WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ace and after drawing trumps declarer Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde knocked out the ♣A, +140 and 7 IMPs.

Pass Pass Pass 1NT Board 6. Dealer East. EW Vul. Pass 2♦* Pass 2♥ All Pass ♠ 9 7 6 4 ♥ 10 ♦ A 6 2♦ Transfer ♣ Q 9 6 5 3 2 ♠ A 3 ♠ J 8 2 West led a trump and declarer won in ♥ A K 42 ♥ 9 8 6 5 dummy and ran the ♦10, West winning ♦ Q 9 5 ♦ K 8 7 4 with the jack and playing a second trump. ♣ A K 10 4 ♣ J 8 That was taken in dummy and when a ♠ K Q 10 5 diamond was covered by the queen and ♥ Q J 7 3 king declarer could play a third round and ♦ J 10 3 2 was sure of nine tricks, +140. ♣ 7

- 5 - Open Room

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde — — Pass Pass 2♣* Pass 2♦* Pass 2NT* Pass 3♣* Pass 3♦* Pass 3♠* Dble 4♣* 4♠ Dble All Pass

2♣ 18-21 balanced or strong 2♦ Waiting 2NT 20-21 3♣ Muppet Stayman Vinita Gupta 3♦ 1 or 2 four-card majors 3♠ 4♥ 4♣ 4♥

When South doubled, North though it was Board 8. Dealer West. None Vul. reasonable to . East led the ♣J and West took the ace and ♠ K 9 5 4 2 played two rounds of spades. The best ♥ 8 declarer could do was cross- for seven ♦ J 8 7 tricks, -500. ♣ A Q J 3 ♠ Q 10 8 ♠ J Closed Room ♥ A Q 5 ♥ J 10 4 3 2 ♦ Q 6 2 ♦ A 10 3 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ♣ 10 8 5 4 ♣ K 9 7 2 Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen ♠ A 7 6 3 ♥ K 9 7 6 — — Pass Pass ♦ K 9 5 4 2NT Pass 3♣* Pass ♣ 6 3♥ Pass 4♥ Pass All Pass WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde Pass 1♠ Pass 2NT* North led the ♣3 and declarer won with dummy's eight and played a heart to the Pass 3♣* Pass 4♠ ace. A diamond to the king was followed All Pass by the ♥9 for the jack and king, North pit- ching the ♣5. That left declarer with four losers, -100 and a loss of 12 IMPs. 2NT Game forcing, 4+♠ 3♣ Minimum

- 6 - East led the ♥J and switched to the ♦3. My old mentor Ron McEwan reckoned that in general that was more likely to be from the ace than the queen, but declarer played low and West won with the queen and returned a diamond, East winning and exiting with the ♦10. Declarer won in hand, took two rounds of trumps ending in dummy and played a club to the queen, two down, -100.

Closed Room

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen

Pass 1♠ Pass 4♠ Morten Bilde All Pass

After the ♥J East switched to the ♠J and declarer took dummy's king, crossed to the WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ♠A, cashed the ♣A and ran the queen, pit- Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde ching a diamond. A cross-ruff got declarer — 1♥ Pass 1♠ up to eight tricks and he then exited with a spade which forced West to lead a dia- 2♣ Dble* Pass 4♠ mond, +420 and 11 IMPs. Pass Pass Dble All Pass

Board 9. Dealer North. EW Vul. Dble 3-card Spade support

♠ 10 4 3 West led the ♦K and declarer took the ace, ♥ Q J 10 5 2 ruffed a diamond, cashed dummy's top ♦ 8 clubs, ruffed a club and ruffed a diamond ♣ A K 8 4 with the ♠10, East overruffing with the ♠A ♠ K 7 ♠ A 8 6 and continuing with the ♥A and a heart. ♥ 4 ♥ A K 8 7 6 If declarer discards a diamond he can ♦ K Q J 3 ♦ 10 9 7 escape for two down, but he ruffed with ♣ Q J 7 6 5 2 ♣ 10 9 the ♠5 and West overruffed with the ♠7 ♠ Q J 9 5 2 and played the ♣Q, East pitching a heart ♥ 9 3 as declarer ruffed. A diamond was ruffed ♦ A 6 5 4 2 and overruffed and the♥ K ruffed and ♣ 3 overuffed and now the♣ J forced declarer's remaining trump, so three down, -500.

- 7 - Board 10. Dealer East. All Vul.

♠ K J ♥ K Q 3 2 ♦ Q 6 3 ♣ Q 8 75 ♠ 8 7 5 ♠ A Q 9 4 3 ♥ — ♥ A 6 5 4 ♦ A K 10 8 5 2 ♦ 9 7 ♣ A J 10 3 ♣ K 6 ♠ 10 6 2 ♥ J 10 9 8 7 ♦ J 4 ♣ 9 4 2

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde Björn Fallenius — — 1♠ Pass 2♦ Pass 2♥ Pass 3♠* Pass 3NT Pass Closed Room 5♠ Pass 6♠ All Pass

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen 3♠ Minimum type in high-card-points — 1♥ Pass 1♠ If you consider the spade suit in isolation, Dble Rdbl* 2♠ Dble the chance of scoring four tricks is 54.82% 3♣ Pass 3NT All Pass so as long as that works out you can hope to set up the diamonds. On this layout declarer had no problems after a club Rdbl 3♠ lead saw dummy's ten take the first trick, +1430. South led the ♠Q and declarer won with dummy's king and played a club to the ten WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH and a club, North winning with the king Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen and exiting with the ♠10, South overta- — — 1♠ Pass king and clearing the spades. Declarer played a diamond and South took the ace 2♦ Pass 2♥ Pass at which point declarer claimed 7 tricks 2♠ Pass 2NT Pass - it looks more like 8 and I am pretty sure 3♣ Pass 3♥ Pass from the dialogue that Bob Hamman spotted it, but it is recorded as -200 and a 3♠ Pass 4♠ All Pass 12 IMP loss.

- 8 - After a club lead declarer played safe for 11 tricks, a 13 IMP swing. Aðalsteinn Jörgensen

Board 11. Dealer South. None Vul.

♠ A J 5 4 ♥ 9 7 ♦ A 4 3 ♣ J 5 3 2 ♠ K 10 9 7 6 3 2 ♠ Q 8 ♥ Q 3 ♥ A 10 8 4 ♦ Q 8 ♦ K 10 9 7 6 ♣ A 4 ♣ 7 6 ♠ — ♥ K J 6 5 2 ♦ J 5 2 ♣ K Q 10 9 8

Open Room

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Fallenius Gupta Nilsland M Bilde — — — 1♥ 1♠ 1NT Dble 2♣ Here too North led the ♥9, but at trick two 2♠ 3♣ 3♠ 4♣ South returned the ♥2 and declarer won 4♠ Dble All Pass with the queen, played a spade to the eight and pitched a club on the ♥A, restricting the defendrs to four tricks, +140 and 10 North led the ♥ and South won with the IMP back. king and switched to the ♣K, declarer taking the ace and playing a spade to the However, time was running out and alt- eight. Even so, there was no way to avoid hough Vinita picked up 5 IMPs on the next two down, -300. deal it was too little, too late and they lost 30-49, 4.94-15.06 VP. Closed Room Sweice went on to defeat Lebowitz 60.1-37 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH in the quarterfinal and are ready for Hamman Jónsson Lall Jorgensen today's semifinal against Clement, who — — — 1♥ defeated Seligman in their quarterfinal. 1♠ 1NT Pass 2♣ 2♠ Dble Pass 3♣ Pass Pass 3♠ All Pass

- 9 - Misplay of the Day by Christina Lund Madsen

Not many players can find ways to make North found the brilliant lead of the ♠K. impossible contracts and go down in cold Fredin won with the ace and ruffed a contracts as Peter Fredin. spade.

He confessed this board to me and grace- What did Fredin do next? fully allowed me to write about it in the bulletin. "I decided to my right hand oppo- nent. If I draw trumps and my left has ♦Q Board 7. S / All I will go down 4 to 5. Only time it is wrong is if it is stiff queen and North also has 7 spades." ♠ KQT9874 ♥ T6 Obviously that was the layout, and Lair ♦ Q happily returned a spade for his partner to ♣ 987 ruff. -100 instead of +1430. ♠ A32 N ♠ J ♥ AKJ2 W E ♥ Q85 ♦ AT52 S ♦ KJ984 ♣ A2 ♣ JT65 ♠ 65 ♥ 9743 ♦ 763 ♣ KQ43

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Fredin Lair Gottlieb Seligman Pass 2♣ 2♠ Dble* Pass 2NT Pass 3NT Pass 4♥ Pass 4♠ Pass 4NT Pass 5♣ Pass 6♥ All Pass

Peter Fredin - declaring as no man has declared before. Double was takeout and Fredin's 2NT showed 20-21.

- 10 - To recycle a famous Fredin quote: 3♣ was modified Puppet, ♥3 showed four "I am the only one who could go down in hearts and 3♠ was explained as a relay to that contract." 3NT, either no 4S or a slam try.

The best part is that he enjoys telling West nmust have judged his hand with all about his failures as much as his successes. his points in controls to be good enough If you haven't already read his book, do it! for slam. There is plenty of similar stories. North led the ♠K too, West won and ruffed Four pairs got to the better 6♦-contract: a spade in dummy. Since North had not Niels van Bijsterveld - Emile Schols interfered, declarer had no reason to Oscar Nijssen - Tim van de Paverd suspect bad breaks, so trying to ruff two Norman Selway - Kay Preddy spades does look like a reasonable line, but Piotr Zatorski - Kamil Nowak you have entry problems if hearts are 4-2, which is more likely than 3-3 (as we all One other pair reached 6♥, but after a know). different auction: So Grainger relied on his ability to find the WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ♦Q. He cashed 4 trumps and played the ♦A Grainger Jorgensen Wooldridge Jonsson from his hand, claiming 12 tricks and the top in a matchpoint event. Pass 2NT Pass 3♣ Pass 3♥ Pass 3♠* Pass 4♣ Pass 4♥ Pass 6♥ All Pass

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* O f f e r v a l i d u n t i l D e c e m b e r 2 5 , 2 0 2 0 i n c l u s i v e . Quarterfinal Highlights By Toine van Hoof

Only one table was open for kibitzers Same auction at four other tables. Three yesterday and they played different boards South players inserted the ♥Q. The fourth from the three closed matches. As a jour- one put up the ♥A but returned a heart. nalist I was allowed access to follow the Eleven tricks. encounters in the closed matches.

Great Switch Great Save Red Devils vs. Uli (51.1-43) Clement vs. Seligman (57.1-42)

Sam Bahbout from Belgium found a great Yankos Papakyriakopoulos from Greece switch in yesterday’s quarter final: found a great save. (In his report Toine wrote "I am curious how Board 15. Dealer South. NS Vul. you will get the Greek names in the bidding diagram." See for yourself - if you can./CLM) ♠ A 8 6 2 ♥ J 8 7 ♦ 10 9 6 Board 16. Dealer North. None Vul. ♣ 9 6 4 ♠ Q 7 ♠ 10 9 3 ♠ A Q 9 8 7 5 4 ♥ K 10 9 ♥ 4 3 ♥ Q 6 ♦ A K 8 7 4 ♦ Q 5 2 ♦ J 10 9 ♣ A 8 3 ♣ K Q J 7 2 ♣ 7 ♠ K J 5 4 ♠ J 6 3 ♠ – ♥ A Q 6 5 2 ♥ 9 7 2 ♥ A J 10 8 5 3 ♦ J 3 ♦ K 8 4 3 2 ♦ A 7 6 ♣ 10 5 ♣ 10 2 ♣ K Q 6 4 ♠ K 10 2 WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH ♥ K 4 Primavera De Donder Percario Bahbout ♦ Q 5 ♣ A J 9 8 5 3 – – – 1♥

1NT Pass 3NT All Pass WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH Papakyriakopoulos Lair Delimpaltadakis Seligman – 2♠ 4♥ 4♠ North led the ♥7. Bahbout won with the ace and now found the switch to the ♠K, 5♥ A. P. saw the 2 from partner and contuned with the ♠4 over the queen and ace. NS cashed two more spades for 1 down and 11 IMPs. Seligman led the ♠K, ruffed by declarer.

- 13 - Delimpaltadakis played the ♣K, won by South, who contunued wioth the ♣J, ruffed by North with the ♥6; declarer still had to lose a heart and a diamond. Down two for minus 100.

At all other tables North opened 3♠. East overcalled with 4♥ and South bid 4♠. This ran around to East, who passed twice (NS +420) and doubled three times (NS +590).

The save (minus 100) gave team Clement 8 IMPs.

Nikos Delimpaltadakis Great Support Clement vs. Seligman (57.1-42)

Artur Malinowski from England found some great trump support in yesterday’s Opening 3♠ with zero HCP’s would not be quarter final: everyone’s cup of tea. Well, he did have an almost solid sevencard suit and who cares

Board 5. Dealer North. NS Vul. if partner brings ace, king, queen, jack and a small one in trumps. All declarer had to ♠ 6 do was guess the clubs and he did not err ♥ K Q 3 2 after South’s take-out double. ♦ T 8 5 2 ♣ Q T 8 2 Steve De Roos from Belgium also opened ♠ A K Q J 2 ♠ T 9 8 7 5 4 3 3♠. It went double - 4♠ - double - All Pass ♥ A 4 ♥ T 9 6 and he made an overtrick when South ♦ Q 9 3 ♦ 6 tried to cash the ♦K in trick 2 and later on ♣ K J 4 ♣ 9 6 ducked the ♣A: EW 690. ♠ – ♥ J 8 7 5 That gave the Red Devils 12 IMPs against ♦ A K J 7 4 Uli as East at the other table misguessed ♣ A 7 5 3 the clubs and went one off in 4♠.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH In the last quarterfinal Bernal beat the Bakhshi Maamarbachi Malinowski Vroustis fighting Dutch team Coppens 54-47.1 and will face the Red Devil's in today's semi- – Pass 3♠ Dble final while Clement are up against the 4♠ All Pass Swedish-Icelandic Vikings.

- 14 - Bridge Isn’t An Easy Game

By Martin Cantor

Iain Macleod wrote a justifiably famous WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH bridge book entitled Bridge Is An Easy Huang Lindqvist Dwyer Brogeland Game. He obviously never met this deal. Pass 1♠ Pass 3NT* Board 8. W / None Pass 4♠ All Pass 3♠

♠ K9542 3NT 10-12, some short, 4+♠ ♥ 8 ♦ J87 Huang won the heart lead with the ♥Q and played the ♣4. Declarer passed the ♣ AQJ3 first test by going up with the ace. He ♠ QT8 N ♠ J ruffed a club, ruffed a heart and played a ♥ AQ5 W E ♥ JT432 diamond to the king - East rising with the ♦ Q62 S ♦ AT3 ace makes no difference. ♣ T854 ♣ K972 ♠ A763 Another heart ruff brought down the ace, ♥ K976 and now it was time for a club honour ♦ K954 for the ruffing finesse. East ducked (again ♣ 6 rising makes no difference) and a diamond was discarded. Next a spade to the ace Almost every North opened (or overcalled and another to the king, the last club was if West opened) in spades, and a huge ruffed in dummy and the boss heart esta- majority of Souths (33 of 38) then forced to blished the ♠9 en passant for the tenth game. Such is bridge in the modern era. trick.

The great GIB tells us that best defence If you want to get a full idea of how sure- holds the contract to 9 tricks. But it also footed this play was, then go to alt.brid- tells us that this is only true if East can geresults.org and click through the play, find a diamond lead - any diamond. checking with GIB at each trick how often a different card would have led to poten- Nobody did. The natural-looking heart tial defeat. was very popular, a few led the singleton trump, and one outlier found an extrava- There were three key elements to the gant ♣2. play, with timing also playing a part. You need to lead a diamond towards the king, Let’s look at how the play developed where but you must not do it too soon. With the Espen Lindqvist played it card perfectly, benefit of the heart lead, you need to ruff albeit extremely (if understandably) hearts in hand, setting the king up. slowly.

- 15 - And you need to take the ruffing finesse, not the simple finesse, in clubs. All of which means delaying the drawing of trumps.

I haven’t checked the sequence of plays at every successful table, so apologies to all the other declarers who also gave the defence no chance after the . Well done to all of them. And no criticism of any declarers who didn’t successfully tread the tightrope, nor of any defenders who let a declarer recover from a small slip. Bridge really isn’t an easy game.

Espen Lindqvist

ALT’s first special in 2021

For the first time Alt will organise a Board-a-Match tournament. It’s also the first Alt event of the new year. It will be held from January 11-15 and pre-registration is open now. Invited so far: teams Donner, Gillis and Koeppel. Apply through this link

- 16 - Free, unlimited bridge on BBO

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