Bulgarians Bid Boldly

by Mark Horton

We haven’t had an alliterative title for a while, but one soon came to mind when Bulgaria’s Valio Kovachev produced a couple of noteworthy efforts during the qualifying rounds of the Mixed pairs.

I’ll start with a deal that is already well known from Session 3.

Board 23. Dealer South. All Vul.
	♠ J 5 4 3 ♥ 8 ♦ K J 10 7 ♣ K J 10 6
♠ 9 7 2 ♥ K 9 ♦ A 8 6 4 3 2 ♣ 9 4		♠ K 10 ♥ A Q 10 7 5 4 3 ♦ Q 9 ♣ A 8
	♠ A Q 8 6 ♥ J 6 2 ♦ 5 ♣ Q 7 5 3 2

West	North	East	South
Shah Bahrat	Kovachev	Vazirani	Wolfarth
			Pass
Pass	1♣	1♥	Dble
2♦	Pass	4♥	Pass
Pass	4♠	All Pass

When East bid Four Hearts North decided to ‘sacrifice’ in Four Spades. However that is tough to defeat as it requires the defenders to play hearts at every opportunity, which will lead to the promotion of West’s spade nine as the setting trick. Plus 620 was a very decent result for North/South.

Going back to the second session we can witness a tour de force in the bidding against a player who is himself a master of the art:

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	♠ A 7 6 ♥ A 4 3 ♦ 6 ♣ K Q 10 9 8 2
♠ 10 2 ♥ K J 10 8 ♦ Q 8 3 2 ♣ 7 6 4		♠ Q J 3 ♥ 9 7 2 ♦ K 10 9 5 ♣ A J 3
	♠ K 9 8 5 4 ♥ Q 6 5 ♦ A J 7 4 ♣ 5

West	North	East	South
Zia	Kovachev	Meyers	Wolfarth
	1NT!	Pass	2♥*
Dble	3♠!	Pass	4♠
All Pass

That was a strong no trump and when South showed a spade suit North upgraded his hand for a second time. Once again there is a way to defeat the contract, and Zia had given his side a slim chance with his lead directing double. No doubt partnering himself he would have found the lead of the nine of hearts, but that was very tough for his partner, who led the two. Now declarer could duck the ten of hearts and then play on clubs, taking a ruffing finesse against East’s jack to score an impressive 420.