It's not clear how E and W benefit from this ruling. WBF tournaments are invitational, so unless the WBF is forced
to invite them not much has changed.
This auction came up in this year's Bermuda Bowl SF. The 2S bidder held KQxx AQx 98xxx x. That was doubled, intended
as takeout but left in. Dummy produced a hand which had
overcalled 2S at the other table!
Nystrom's defense was easier than Pepsi's since his partner
had responded 2S rather than 1NT, so declarer could not have
AKx. Pepsi could not switch to the KS since partner might have
held Kx.
I don't believe that this proposal is an improvement
over the current schedule. Consider the effect on players
who want to play in the Senior KO, which has become a
more popular event recently.
Entering the Senior KO means that you can definitely not
play the Blue Ribbon pairs ...
I'll pick Netherlands. Italy plays very well against everyone,
but in round robins they have consistently defeated the bottom
teams by wider margins than their competition. In this tournament,
results versus non-qualifiers do not count.
The problem with a 4S bid by opener over 4H is that neither
partner will know it's a 43 fit so they will stay there
when 5 of a minor is much better. I think opener's DBL
is correct and responder should remove to 4S.