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Short Report from Day 1Paul Street has assumed his favourite position on top after two rounds and two victories. Blass is also undefeated, and in this bulletin Josef Blass is our Victim of the Day.

Our rookie-teams Tulin and Lebowitz did not disappoint the kibitzers when they clashed in the first match.

We can hardly wait to see what the Gentlemen and their young musketeers are up to today. We all hope to witness more imaginative sword-fighting.

De Botton are in a lower gear than traditionally in this event, and Gillis' young Norwegians seemed not quite out of bed after the weekend (the bars in Norway are open, and we have all seen Boye Brogeland at a bar some time in 1998)

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PRE-BULLETINMonday, May 11, 2020

editor: Christina Lund Madsenclm@christina-bridge.com

logistics: Rosalind Hengeveld

big data: Joyce Tito

THE ALT INVITATIONAL

MAY 11-15, 2020

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THE ALT INVITATIONALMAY 11-15, 2020

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Important Notice All players should enter BBO 10minutes before their match starts atthe latest. Tournament director Denis Dobrin is waiting for you and willinstruct you where to sit.

ALT VI • BULLETIN 1 • Tuesday June 9 2020 • editor: Christina Lund Madsen clm@christina-bridge.com

Today’s Schedule Round 3 & 4Tuesday June 9 Tuesday June 910.00 EDT/16.00 CET 14.00 EDT/20.00 CET

Blass - De Botton Blass - GillisTulin - Gillis De Botton - StreetDonner - Street Tulin - Gupta Lebowitz - Gupta Donner - Lebowitz

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It's well known that most players are happy when the early deals in a match are straightforward. An easy game to settle the nerves is ideal.

This was the first deal of ALT VI:

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.

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

With a combined 25 points it does not look too difficult for EW to reach 3NT and the cards are lying so well that declarer does not even need to score four diamond tricks. However, the bidding comes before the declarer play.

Open Room

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

van Prooijen Gold Verhees Zia

— 2♠ Pass 3♠

All Pass

South's subtle raise was enough to keep EW quiet.

East led the ♦3 and West took the king and returned the ten for the jack, queen and ace. Declarer tied a heart to the king and East won and played the ♦9 declarer ruffing and trying the ♠K. West won, cashed the ♥Q and continued with the jack, ruffed with the ♥4 and overruffed by the nine, East cashing the ♠Q and exiting with a diamond. That meant declarer had to open up the clubs so he was five down, -250. Potentially it was a gain against a probable 3NT.

Closed Room

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

A Grossack Bakhshi Z Grossack Tulin

— 2♠ Pass Pass

Dble Pass 3♦* All Pass

3♦ Values

South led the ♠8 and North won and switched to the ♥K, declarer winning and playing a diamond. South put up the ace and returned a heart, declarer quickly clai-ming the rest, +150 but a loss of 3 IMPs.

If North opens 1♠ and South responds 1NT West might double - that is what Michielsen did, but when Upmark rebid 2♠ Cullin's 3♦ was passed out.

In the replay Blass and Pepsi reached 3NT easily enough - Pepsi bidding 3NT over West's double of 2♠. Declarer was allowed to win the spade lead with the queen and played a diamond to the king, finishing with ten tricks and 7 IMPs.

By Mark Horton

Simple Start

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David Gold with a fan in 2013

If West does not double 1NT and North rebids 2♠, West can double on the next round when East has 'fielder's choice'.

There was an identical swing in Gupta vs. De Botton where both North's opened a Multi 2♦ and West doubled South's 2♠. Hackett bid 3♦ to lose IMPs to Muller's 3NT.

In Street vs. Gillis Brogeland and Pachtman both bid 3NT after the Multi sequence.

Fireworks By Martin Cantor

When you commentate on BBO it’s hard not to choose a table where Zia is playing; on one hand you hope for some of his famous fireworks; on the other you know it’s where most of the kibitzers will con-gregate. So it was the Lebowitz vs. Tulin match that I picked in Round 1.

Board 3. S /EW

♠♥♦♣

6 2Q T 7 6 56 5 4Q 7 5

♠♥♦♣

A Q 3 A K 8 2A J 2 8 3 2

NW E

S

♠♥♦♣

J T 73K Q T 8 7 3K T 6

♠♥♦♣

K 9 8 5 4J 9 49A J 9 4

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

van Prooijen Gold Verhees Zia

— — — Pass

1♣* 1♥ 2♠* 4♥Pass Pass Dbl All Pass

1♣ strong2♠ transfer to ♦ GF

At favourable vulnerability it is often right to bid over a strong club even with a hand full of tram tickets. That is certainly David Gold’s philosophy, and when Louk Verhees announced that the hand belonged to his

side, Zia decided to mix things up even further. He certainly stopped them playing the cold 3NT or 5♦ but traded that with the opportunity for a better score of 4 down doubled. The defense started well with three rounds of trumps. Gold pulled the last trump, but when he next led a club tow-ards dummy, Verhees slipped by inserting the king. There are times when this might be right, but this wasn’t one of them; if he plays small declarer has no quick route back to hand for a second finesse in the suit. So Gold pitched a loser on the long club and lost just 500.

The lost undertrick only cost 2 IMPs because at the other table this happened:

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

A Grossack Bakhshi Z Grossack Tulin

— — — Pass

1♣ Pass 1♦ 1♠

Dbl* Pass 3♦ Pass

3♠ Pass 4♣ Pass

4♥* Pass 4♠* Pass

6♦ All Pass

Dbl 3-card support 4♥ keycard for ♦ 4♠ 1/4

The spade king is well placed for declarer, but it is 3-1 odds against to have two finesses right, so the slam looks to be going down. Expecting his ♠K to be onside, and holding a singleton trump, Stan Tulin may have

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thought that the best chance to beat the contract was his ♣A and a trump trick with his partner. Whatever his reasoning, he led the ace and another club, so declarer drew trumps, and when his ♠J was covered he could claim a fortunate 1370 and 13 IMPs.

The other six tables all played 3NT making at least 11 tricks.

Board 9. N / EW

♠♥♦♣

K Q 4K 8 7 34 3 2Q 6 2

♠♥♦♣

T 2 Q 9 5 2 T 7 5 T 9 7 4

NW E

S

♠♥♦♣

J 9 8 7 3TQ J 9 8 6J 8

♠♥♦♣

A 6 5A J 6 4A KA K 5 3

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

van Prooijen Gold Verhees Zia

— Pass Pass 2♣

Pass 2♦ Pass 2NTPass 5NT* Pass 6♣Pass 6NT All Pass

No range was given for the 2NT rebid, but Gold alerted his 5NT as a strong invitation to slam. Zia offered clubs as a strain and

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Gold, perhaps because of his flat 3433, declined to make a counter offer of hearts.

Van Prooijen led a safe diamond. Declarer played a spade to the queen, then tested the clubs ending in dummy, and when they failed to break, he needed four heart tricks. King and another heart gave him his second bit of bad news, and all he could do now was to cash his spades and diamond, to endplay West to give him the ♥J at the end for one down.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

A Grossack Bakhshi Z Grossack Tulin

— Pass Pass 2♣

Pass 2♦ Pass 2NT

Pass 3♣ Pass3♥ Pass

Pass 3♠* Pass 3NT

Pass 4NT Pass 5♣*

Pass 6♥ All Pass

3♠ slam try in ♥

Stan Tulin

Tulin and Bakhshi did a better job in the bidding, identifying their heart fit and choosing to play in it. And Stan Tulin played it to perfection. He won the ope-ning diamond lead perforce, crossed to dummy with a spade to lead a trump towards hand - a classic safety play that was well rewarded when the ten appeared. He finessed the ♥7, unblocked the second diamond, went to dummy with a club for the diamond ruff, played the trump jack to the queen and king and cashed his black suit winners to concede the ♥9 at the end.

Elsewhere, there was one other 6NT (2 down), three other 6♥, two making, one 1 down, a 5♥ making and a rather unambi-tious 3NT that made 12 tricks.

Board 15. S/ NS

♠♥♦♣

K J 4A J 7 6 4K 9 8 5Q

♠♥♦♣

— Q T 9 8 3 6 4 A K J T 7 3

NW E

S

♠♥♦♣

T 9 8 7 3 25A 3 29 6 4

♠♥♦♣

A Q 6 5K 2Q J T 78 5 2

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

Birman Gold Padon Zia

— — — 1♦

2NT* 3♣* Pass 3♦4♣ 5♦ Dbl All Pass

2NT ♣ & ♥ 3♣ ♦-support inv. or better

Tulin changed his lineup after 12 boards, the Israelis replacing the Dutchmen.

The replacements got this one right when Dror Padon produced a sharp double of what would be a perfectly decent contract given reasonable breaks. Today the breaks were not reasonable.

On the ♣K lead Padon dropped the 9, suit preference. Birman duly played the ♥T, again suit preference, so, when Padon took the trump ace at the first opportunity, they could score a ruff in each hand for 2 off.

WEST NORTH EAST SOUTH

A Grossack Bakhshi Z Grossack Tulin

— — — 1♦

2NT* 4♣* 5♣ Pass

Pass 5♦ All Pass

2NT ♣ & ♥ 4♣ splinter

Hoping to get partner in for a spade ruff Adam led the ♣7. He did indeed get his spade ruff, at trick 3, after Zack won the diamond ace at trick 2. But that was it for the defense, 600 at this table to go with the 500 from the other meant a whopping 15 IMPs for the Tulin team, who went on to win 81-50 or 15.97-4.03.

In the other matches four pairs made 5♦, one with an overtrick, while one went down a trick, as did one pair in 4♦.

A match that continued the entertainment we have come to expect from these Alt Invitational tournaments, with more to come throughout the week.

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Rules and regulationsThe numbers 1 through 4 from the round robin will go to the semifinals. In case of a tie in victory points:1. the mutual result will decide2. still equal: the most ’wins’ (BAM-ish) will decide.3. after that: the team with the highest IMP score on a board will go through

The winner of the round robin may choose its opponent between the teams placed 3 and 4. The captain will mail their choice to info@netbridge.online within an hour after the round robin is finis-hed. If late, then matches will be: 1 versus 4 and 2 versus 3.

Link to results

Alt VI results

Link to previous Alts & bulletins

Bulletins

Results / Ranking

RR1 IMPs VPs

BLASS DONNER 33 17 13.53 6.47

LEBOWITZ TULIN 50 81 4.03 15.97

GUPTA DE BOTTON 83 34 18.09 1.91

STREET GILLIS 68 45 14.76 5.24

RR2 IMPs VPs

BLASS TULIN 49 28 14.43 5.57

DONNER DE BOTTON 52 52 10.00 10.00

LEBOWITZ GILLIS 65 28 16.77 3.23

GUPTA STREET 28 57 4.31 15.69

After RR 2 VPs

1 STREET 30.45

2 BLASS 27.96

3 GUPTA 22.40

4 TULIN 21.54

5 LEBOWITZ 20.80

6 DONNER 16.47

7 DE BOTTON 11.91

8 GILLIS 8.47

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Alt CalendarJune 22-26 Major ALT - End of season

World Class field resembling the round of 32 at the Spingold. The format is Swiss followed by knock outs. All matches on BBO.Stay tuned!

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Victim of the DayJosef Blass

by Christina Lund Madsen

Please tell us about your background. Where you come from, live, family, educa-tion, professional career.

- My family is from the city of Lwów (today, Lviv, part of Ukraine). Until 1939, Lwów was part of Poland, and since September of 1939, it became a part of the Soviet Union.

Both of my parents were highly educated people with multiple academic degrees. I grew up in a very caring environment, but with a strong emphasis on educa-tion. I went to elementary and high schools in Warsaw. After I graduated in 1963, I enrolled into the Mathematics Department of Warsaw University from which I graduated in May of 1968 with a Master of Science degree. In July of 1968, I immigrated to the United States and enrolled into the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I received my Ph.D. in early 1970 and ended up teaching for over 30 years at various universities.

Since 1976, I pursued a parallel business career and I am still involved, but on a very limited basis.

In 1981, I founded a company, Pension Research Institute (PRI), with the objective of bringing academic research to real life applications in pension plan design and the investment field. Our main contribu-tion was coming up with a concept of the 401(k) Plan and developing the original master 401(k) Plan for Fidelity Group.

You were born in 1945. How did your family fare during WWII? - I was born in July of 1945 in Krasnoturynsk (USSR). It is hard to ima-gine, but both of my parents were pri-soners, so I was actually born in a labor camp. We are Jewish and my parents were the only survivors of their 23-member family.

How do you remember growing up in Poland in the post WWII years? - We returned to Poland in August of 1946. My memory of growing up in Poland in the post-WWII years is very positive. We lived a very privileged life. My father became a high official in the government and also a university pro-fessor. My mother worked with foreign artists visiting Poland and traveled with Polish artists abroad. There was not much money, but there were plenty of privileges: a free apartment, a limousine with a driver, a housekeeper, free vacations, etc. I had plenty of friends interested in history, sports statistics, mathematics, books, and many other topics.

What made you leave Poland and move to the US? - I was literally kicked out of Poland. In March of 1968, we had large student demonstrations at Warsaw University and I was one of the leaders. After the student movement was suppressed, we had a choice: Leave Poland, or go to jail.

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I decided to leave. The others stayed and twelve years later formed Solidarity. (An anti-bureaucratic social movement, using methods of civil resistance to advance the causes of workers' rights and social change in Poland during the 1980's/ed.)

What are the most distinctive differences between Poland and the US? - The main difference between Poland and the United States, in my opinion, is that in the US, “the sky is the limit.” I have never encountered institutional objections to what I wanted to do. And also, there is a real acceptance by the majority of people for immigrants like myself.

In which of the two countries does your heart lie?

- My heart clearly lies in the United States, but I continue being Polish – Chopin music, Mickiewicz poetry, my Polish students, the Solidarity movement, my bridge team, and the language – that’s my “Polishness”.

Paul Street has the following question for you: How did you first start playing bridge and have you ever given it up for a period of time? - I started playing bridge when I was eight years old. I was on vacation in southern Poland. There were three boys there, ages 12-14. They made me the fourth. I have played ever since, but not as frequently as I have since 2001.

Which is your fondest bridge memory so far?

Josef Blass

- My fondest bridge memory is being exposed to and befriended by so many top players including Rodwell, Meckstroth, Levin, Weinstein, Grue, Moss, Hampson, Greco, Passell, the Italian Team, and obvi-ously my team members: Pepsi, Zaremba, Lesniewski, Kalita, Nowosadzki, Brink, Drijver, Jassem, Martens, Kwiecien and Buras.

I also acquired new life-time friends like Paul Street, Mike Levine, Rose Meltzer, Wayne Stuart, Melanie Tucker and Hugon Karwowski.

What do you like to do when you do not play online bridge? - When I am not playing bridge, I study history, and still do a little investments. I also spend a lot of time with my grandchil-dren.

You have accomplished more than most in life. Is there any goal you have not achieved and regret having missed? - I have achieved much more than what I expected, both in mathematics as well as in business. I do not think I regret missing any goals.

What has been the greatest sorrow in your life?

- The greatest sorrow in my life was the health of my youngest grandson, Hudson. He is currently eight years old, but at the age of two, he fell victim to a very rare type of leukemia.If you could give a piece of life advice to all us youngsters, what would it be? - My advice is to pay close attention to your family life. I have been with my wife Ewa for 53 years. This is the main reason behind my successful and very good life.

Do you have any tattoos? If you were to get one in writing, what would it say? - I have no tattoos. If I were to get one, it would be two points, three inches apart and a sign saying “How to get there.”

Who would you like to partner, kiss, kill among Fredrik Nystrom, Johan Upmark and Michal Nowosadzki? Partner: Michal NowosadzkiKiss: Fredrik Nystrom, Johan UpmarkKill: None. Poles and Swedes have not fought since the early eighteenth century.

Who do you think should be the next victim in the bulletin? Tell us something you would like to know about this person.

- The next victim should be Rose Meltzer. I would like to know how “she swims in this man-infested bridge world.”

(Since Rose Meltzer is not participating in the Alt VI, we are postponing her interview till the Major Alt in two weeks. Instead Josef has picked Stan Tulin.)

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Josef Blass has been happy to befriend so many characters and teammates in the bridge world.

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Teams / Players / Nicknames

Team BlassJacek Pszczola pikoloJosef Blass bljosefJacek Kalita bridge24jkMichal Nowosadzki bridge24mnJohan Upmark MostovoiFredrik Nyström F_Nystrom

Team GillisSimon Gillis rayas78Erik Saelensminde skaal1Boye Brogeland boyeEspen Lindqvist steviegChristian Bakke chrienTor Oyvind Grude teg91

Team LebowitzZia Mahmood ziaLaurence Lebowitz 0 lhl12Adam Grossack nevereastZach Grossack germs345David Gold dagoldMichael Rosenberg ScottyKevin Rosenberg KevstersThomas Paske Thomas1000

Team TulinStan Tulin returnedDavid Bakhshi BakhshiLouk Verhees LoukieRicco van Prooijen RiccovpDror Padon DrorpAlon Birman Hatol

Team De BottonJason Hackett muttonAlexander Hydes itsgrimJanet de Botton capt LuluArthur Malinowski malisuperThor Erik Hoftaniska kasper20Thomas Charlsen tcharlsen

Team StreetNicolas L’Ecuyer caucasePaul Street Boulevard1Ron Pachtman ronpaPiotr Zatorski dzeronimoFred Pollack FredpKamel Fergani fergani

Team DonnerGary Donner Gdonnersc1Cecilia Rimstedt cillarSandra Rimstedt SandriaMarion Michielsen Lady007Per-Ola Cullin pockenJoe Grue joegrueBrad Moss brad

Team GuptaBauke Muller beukertjeSimon de Wijs sm1Cedric Lorenzini piercedHuub Bertens H BertensThomas Bessis malpalucheNaren Gupta narengCurtis Cheek curtis

How to kibitz the Alt Invitational on BBOAs in the previous editions of the Alt Invitational, we expect thousands of spectators on BBO. Even though the Alt is not broadcasted via the BBO Vugraph, you can still watch any of your favourites. You simply search for your favorite player’s nickname and join his or her table.

If you wish to watch the players whenever they are online, you search for your chosen one (fx Simon de Wijs ’sm1’, click on the name and choose ’follow’ instead of neutral. Any time you see him online, you can click on him and take a seat at his table (assuming the tournament allows it). See you on BBO!

1. The Tournament Director will create the tables and will arrange duplicated boards (same boards for every team). 2. The table settings will allow kibitzers but forbid communication between players and kibitzers. Barometer scoring will be OFF. The scores are only visible (for the players) after the last board has been played. Kibitzers can see the scores during the match. Undo and claiming according to the BBO-guidelines: all players have the right to reject an undo or claim request for any reason. They are not required to explain why they have rejected such a request. 3. Eight teams play a single round robin of seven matches, each match 24 boards. Four matches at the same time. After that there will be a knock-out phase: semifinal (24 boards) on the same day as RR 7 and a longer final on Friday (3 x 12 boards). Change of the line-up in the round robin and semifinal is possible after 12 boards provided that no player can change the compass direction (so East will stay East and so on). The big final will consist of 3 separate segments, so there are no restric-tions on the line-up. The teams are expected to submit their line-up as soon as possible using the line-up web utility (all captains will be provided with the respective link and the password). It is possible to change the submitted line-up but not later than 30 minutes before the start of the round.

Conditions of Contest • ALT INVITATIONAL VI

- 12 -

The line-up is completely blind and will not be published before the start of the round. The result of the round robin is scored based on the number of VPs. The WBF VP scale applies. In case of a tie in Victory Points:• the mutual result will decide;• still equal: the most 'wins' (BAM-ish) will decide;• after that: the team with the highest IMP score on a board will go through. 4. The numbers 1 through 4 from the round-robin will go to the semifinal. Team number 1 may choose its opponent from numbers 3 and 4. The captain will inform about this choice via the TD and/or will mail to info@netbridge.online within half an hour after the round robin is finished. If not or late then matches will be: 1 versus 4 and 2 versus 3. Numbers 1 and 2 get a carry over of 10.1 / 6.1 IMP.In the final there will be a carry over of 0.1 IMP for the highest placed team in the RR as a tiebreaker. 5. If players explain bids during the bid-ding via chat, then this is not commu-nicated to “the table”, but only to “the opponents”. This way their partner cannot see the explanation, similar to explaining the bids via the BBO alert mechanism.Players alert their own bids. 6. This tournament will of course be played in the most respectful way possible.

Fun and good bridge is paramount. Netbridge relies on reluctance and restraint to call the director. Should a team find a serious cause for demanding a ruling, then this will only be dealt with if the captain of the team announces this via email within 45 minutes after the last board played (with an explanation and a request for a specific adjustment of the score). Netbridge will inform the other team and give that team the opportunity (through its captain) to respond via email within 45 minutes after being informed. The protest will be decided by a qualified director or world class player; no further appeal will be possible after his/her decision.

- 13 -

Behind the Screens

Do you ever wonder who ensures the event runs smoothly, invites players to the table and makes sure results are up directly after the last table finishes? The answer is Anton Osipov and Denis Dobrin from Russia.Denis is also an EBL-director and our TD in the ALT. Thanks to their excellent software we are able to provide perfect scoring of all matches. Spasibo!

7. To submit protests, you can send emails to: info@netbridge.online 8. The starting times for the Monday-Thursday matches are:

• 10.00 EDT / 16.00 CET (first session) and• 14.00 EDT / 20.00 CET (second ses-sion). The final starts on Friday at 10.00 EDT / 16.00 CET and will be played with 5-10 minutes breaks between the segments.

Conditions of Contest • ALT INVITATIONAL VI

How to kibitz the Alt Mixed teams on BBOAs in the previous editions of the Alt Invitational, we expect thousands of spectators on BBO. Even though the Alt is not broadcasted via the BBO Vugraph, you can still watch any of your favourites. You simply search for your favorite player’s nickname and join his or her table.

If you wish to watch the players whenever they are online, you search for your chosen one (fx Bas Dri-jver ’BasDr’, click on the name and choose ’follow’ instead of neutral. Any time you see ham online, you can click on him and take a seat at his table (assuming the tournament allows it). See you on BBO!

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