Have you ever wondered why we were put here on this Earth? There are those who believe that we have been created as entertainment for some higher order form of life. After being involved in the following hand from the local Swiss Teams Club Challenge, I certainly felt that some Bridge God was amusing himself at my expense.
Holding 43 9 AKQJ10653 A7, you have the pleasure of hearing
partner open 1
. The auction proceeds
uncontested 1-3
-3-4-5. Now partner has denied a spade
control (we cue-bid singletons below the game level), so pass
is automatic. Instead, you take a completely unjustified pot at
6, mentally preparing your apologies
in advance.
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Then comes the first intervention from the gods - RHO leads
the 
Q out of turn! You summon the TD,
who explains your options. Naturally, you demand that LHO leads
a club.
With the hearts breaking 3-3, you establish a heart for a spade discard and make the overtrick. `I would have led the ace of spades' your LHO tells you as you nod sympathetically and write down +1390.
When your teammates rejoin the table, naturally you are
feeling rather smug from the proceeds of your ill-gotten gains.
However they look glum, and lose no time in telling you that
`they made that slam hand' as they sit down. It transpires that
the auction at the other table was 1-4NT-5-6,
making North declarer, and with East now legitimately on lead,
the same Q was tabled! More
intervention from up on high?
So now your teammates are elated that the `slam' hand didn't cost, and you are miserable that the result of your endeavour has turned to dust. Oppo didn't make the overtrick; one lousy IMP in.
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