Yesterday's Side Game

Lebanon vs Bulgaria

During the opening rounds of these Championships, when favourites only exist on paper, there is ample time to have a look at any of the participating teams. To pick the right match certainly is a delicate task, but we were not at all disappointed with the choice we made. Lebanon, well established again as regular participants and no mean performers, were playing Bulgaria, a team that might have won a Bermuda Bowl berth last year had they won their last match instead of losing it. The match ended 52-37 or 18-12 V.P. to Bulgaria, as both sides had their chances but Bulgaria just making more of theirs. Here are some of the highlights.

On board 1, the Strong Club used by Bulgaria showed its advantages.

Board 1. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª A 10 9 © 10 4 ¨ A J 9 8 7 6 4 § 10
ª Q 5 2 © K Q 6 ¨ 2 § A K J 9 8 5		ª K J © 9 7 3 2 ¨ Q 5 § Q 7 6 3 2
	ª 8 7 6 4 3 © A J 8 5 ¨ K 10 3 § 4

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1§	3¨	Dble	Pass
4§	All Pass

Just made. Bulgaria +130. The Strong Club put the final decision back to Trendafilov, so Kalin Karaivanov stayed out of trouble.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
	Pass	Pass	Pass
1§	3¨	Pass	Pass
Dble	Pass	3©	All Pass

Baroudy understandably preferred a cheap major to returning to what might be a short suit at the four-level. He went down one, but Bulgaria were off the mark with 5 IMPs.

Board 3 looked like another unlucky board to Lebanon, but when the smoke cleared they had recouped 3 IMPs:

Board 3. Dealer South. E/W Vul.
	ª K 8 7 © Q 10 6 2 ¨ K J 8 § 10 6 5
ª 10 4 © J 9 ¨ A 9 7 6 4 2 § K 8 7		ª A Q 5 3 2 © K 5 ¨ Q 10 § A J 3 2
	ª J 9 6 © A 8 7 4 3 ¨ 5 3 § Q 9 4

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2¨	Pass	2©	Pass
2NT	Pass	3NT	All Pass

A nice conventional sequence. 1NT was forcing, 2§ might be three cards only, and 2¨ showed either 5-10 with at least four hearts or 8-10 any shape. 2© was another relay and 2NT confirmed the latter variety. Eidi led a low heart and Trendafilov began by misguessing the hearts, putting up the king which lost to the ace. After four more heart tricks South played a diamond to his partner's king, and thus declarer had to guess which finesse to take in the end to escape with two down. When he chose the clubs, he was down three and 300 to Lebanon.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
			Pass
Pass	Pass	1ª	Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
2ª	Pass	2NT	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Same contract, same lead, same defence, but in the end Tchamitch took the spade finesse though Stamatov had discarded his two small spades earlier. Well done, and surprisingly enough worth 3 IMPs.

More overbidding on the next board, but this time with more normal consequences:

Board 4. Dealer West. All Vul.
	ª K 9 © 8 3 ¨ K Q J 6 2 § A 9 8 3
ª A 8 3 © K 2 ¨ 10 7 4 § Q 7 5 4 2		ª Q 7 6 5 4 © A Q 9 7 ¨ A 8 3 § K
	ª J 10 2 © J 10 6 5 4 ¨ 9 5 § J 10 6

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
Pass	1¨	1ª	Pass
2ª	All Pass

Simple and effective. Ten tricks made, Bulgaria +170.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
Pass	1¨	1ª	Pass
2¨	Dble	Redbl	Pass
2ª	Pass	4ª	All Pass

With both East and West stretching a little, the pair fell overboard. Declarer won the diamond lead and tried to discard the losing diamonds on the hearts, but North ruffed the third round of hearts with the nine to defeat the contract. Bulgaria another +100 and 7 IMPs.

The IMPs went back on the next deal when they offered their opponents a second chance.

Board 5. Dealer North. N/S Vul.
	ª J 4 © K 6 4 ¨ Q J 10 9 4 § A 5 4
ª A K Q 9 8 5 © Q 7 5 2 ¨ K 6 § 7		ª 2 © J 10 9 3 ¨ A 8 7 2 § J 9 6 3
	ª 10 7 6 3 © A 8 ¨ 5 3 § K Q 10 8 2

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
	1¨	Pass	1ª
2ª	All Pass

Just made. Bulgaria +110.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
	1¨	Pass	1ª
2ª	Pass	Pass	3§
3©	Pass	4©	All Pass

Declarer lost a club, ruffed the next club, drew one round of trumps to the ace and proceeded to play winning and later losing spades through North. This way, the only other loser was the ©K so the contract just made for a good +420 to Lebanon.

A few boards later, Lebanon reached another good game not bid by their opponents, but this time they managed it completely on their own, and vulnerable too:

Board 9. Dealer North. E/W Vul.
	ª J 2 © J 10 6 2 ¨ 8 4 3 2 § 9 7 5
ª A K 4 © 7 5 4 ¨ K 10 5 § K Q J 4		ª Q 10 9 8 7 3 © K 8 ¨ 6 § 8 6 3 2
	ª 6 5 © A Q 9 3 ¨ A Q J 9 7 § A 10

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
	Pass	Pass	1¨
1NT	Pass	2©	Dble
Redbl	Pass	2ª	All Pass

With the redouble denying a heart stopper, Karaivanov successfully put the contract back into the correct hand, but Trendafilov understandably made no further move. Ten tricks, +170 to Bulgaria.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
	Pass	Pass	1§
Pass	1¨	1ª	2¨
3¨	Pass	3NT	Pass
4ª	All Pass

Here, Tchamitch had more information, as he knew about the Strong Club to his right. With the ©K protected there were no problems. Lebanon +620, 10 IMPs back to take the lead for the first and only time in the match.

Two successive slam swings to Bulgaria changed the pattern of the match.

In the Closed Room, the Lebanese investigated but did not consider the fits they found good enough for slam. As might be expected by the connoisseurs, the Bulgarians fully exploited the values of their nines and tens.

Board 14. Dealer East. None Vul.
	ª K J 4 2 © 9 7 5 ¨ J 10 6 4 § K 4
ª Q 8 6 © Q J ¨ A Q 8 5 § A 9 7 2		ª A 10 7 © A K 6 3 ¨ K 7 § J 10 8 5
	ª 9 5 3 © 10 8 4 2 ¨ 9 3 2 § Q 6 3

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
		1§	Pass
1NT	Pass	2§	Pass
4NT	Pass	5NT	Pass
6§	All Pass

Strong Club and positive response, 2§ relay and a quantitative reply accepted with 5NT. Next, 6§ was the first of possible alternative spots and when it turned out to be a 4-4 fit, there it rested. Bulgaria +920.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
		1NT	Pass
3§	Pass	3¨	Pass
3NT	All Pass

Ten tricks, Lebanon +430, but 10 IMPs to Bulgaria.

And next:

Board 15. Dealer South. N/S Vul.
	ª 5 4 © K 9 6 ¨ A J 10 9 7 2 § K 10
ª K Q 10 2 © J 5 4 ¨ Q 6 5 § J 8 3		ª 9 8 7 6 3 © Q 10 8 ¨ 8 § 9 7 6 5
	ª A J © A 7 3 2 ¨ K 4 3 § A Q 4 2

Both sides reached 6¨ by North and got a spade lead, won by the ace. We leave it to Deep Finesse or others to work out what the best line is. Picking up the trumps for no loser definitely helps a lot, but neither declarer showed that amount of clairvoyance. Stamatov, after getting the bad news, put all his remaining eggs in one basket when a played a club from dummy to the ten in his hand. Bulgaria +1370.

At the other table, Eidi went for a squeeze that might develop but did not, so he had to concede one down and a 16-IMP loss. Bulgaria led by 28 now.

Two boards later, their winning margin was restricted to 15 IMPs when Lebanon got a substantial gain:

Board 17. Dealer North. None Vul.
	ª Q 10 6 5 2 © A Q ¨ 5 3 § J 8 6 3
ª A J 9 7 4 © K 9 2 ¨ 10 9 § A Q 4		ª K 8 3 © 4 3 ¨ A 7 4 2 § K 9 5 2
	ª - © J 10 8 7 6 5 ¨ K Q J 8 6 § 10 7

Open Room:
West	North	East	South
Trendafilov	Eidi	Karaivanov	Harfouche
	Pass	Pass	3©
All Pass

Just made, Lebanon +140.

Closed Room:
Tchamitch	Stamatov	Baroudy	Karaivanov
	Pass	Pass	2©
2ª	Pass	3©	Dble
3NT	All Pass

The double showed a fair hand, but it inspired Jerry Stamatov to lead the ©A. Though he found the diamond switch at trick two, the damage had already been done. Tchamitch won the second diamond and led a spade. When South showed out, Tchamitch won his ace and led a low spade. Stamatov did well not to put in the ten, but dummy's eight won and all was set for an endplay. ªK, §AQ, ©K, §K and a club throwing a heart from hand. Last trick to the ªJ. Just made, Lebanon +400 and 11 IMPs back.