Board 12. Dealer West. NS Game K J 6 3 K 10 9 6 4 2 9 K 2 Q 10 9 A 8 7 5 4 A 7 — A 5 K Q J 10 4 A Q J 10 9 3 7 5 4 S Q J 8 5 3 8 7 6 3 2 8 6

The following auctions before were typical…

West North East South Levy Cohen 1 1 1 3 Dble Pass 4 All Pass

West North East South Hackett Smith 1 1 1 Pass 2 Pass 3 4 4 All Pass

Both declarers received a heart lead, won the Ace and played the Queen of spades. That was virtually the end of the hand whatever North did. E/W +650 for a fairly normal result… Not quite, for there were a number of rogue tables.

West North East South Pagan Holowski Godfrey Nehmert 1 1 1 3 4 Pass 5 Pass 6 Pass 6!!! All Pass

Most players who found themselves in a similar position to Britain's Lizzie Godfrey elected to settle for game in view of the poor quality of their spades, Partner's lack of a 4 bid, and the known poor breaks (opponents are Vulnerable and they have bid a lot with no points).

Godfrey decided to bid on, with the result that Ian Pagan was able to bid a slam missed consistently around the room. Unfortunately for Pagan, partner was still there. It is certainly a strange decision for East to remove 6 looking at three-card support, a void in the opponents' suit, bad spades, and a source of tricks on which to discard West's spades.

At least Godfrey came to the same eleven tricks as most East players. This hand offers all aspiring players an excellent lesson - even the best players sometimes take their eye off the ball. Bep Vriend is a World Champion and the Netherlands' top woman player. She played the normal 4 against Britain's Callaghan-Duckworth and received the usual heart lead. However, when she now tried Ace and another trump, the roof caved in on her. Brian Callaghan won his Jack of Spades and forced declarer with a second heart. When Vriend now took the loosing club finesse, Callaghan cashed his high trump, forced declarer's last trump, and now had the thirteenth trump and three heart winners left. 4-4 N/S +200.