A sharp way to shoot for a top score is to outbid the other pairs in your direction. If you make your bid you have the maximum result regardless of the bag situation.

North's nil bid looks bad, but in fact it is no worse than the alternative action of a 1-bid. Upon hearing the nil, West automatically upped his normal 3-bid to 4. South also made an aggressive call, and West chose to leave the total at 12 tricks.

Q7 K9654 7642 95 K10543 -- QJ9 KJ872 J62 A102 A1053 A106 A98 QJ873 K8 Q43 The bidding: North East South West nil 4 3 5 East led the 5

If you are trying to set the cover hand at nil it is usually unwise to underlead an ace. East had little choice in the matter, however, and selected the 5. South took his King and returned the suit, West winning. When a third round of diamonds came around to South, he surprised the kibitzers by trumping it. Now South led the J, which was trumped by West.

West led the 4 on which North played the 7. East took his eye off the ball momentarily. Forgetting that his side was trying to make an overbid, East played the 6. South gleefully won the 9; he saw the possibility of a set. Cashing the Ace of spades, South exited with the Q, trumped by West with the 3, and sat back to see if the defenders would yield him one more trick. A low club went to the Ace leaving these cards:

-- 654 2 9 K -- -- KJ72 2 A A 106 -- 873 -- Q4

Operating by instinct rather than logic, East missed his chance a final time by playing the 2. Trapped in the lead, West had no options but to cash a high club before surrendering the setting trick to South's Q.

While it is easy to account for E/W's poor result as a just consequence of East's folly, let us not overlook South's contribution to his side's 100% score. South surmised the opponents had gone overboard and played aggressively for the set. Note the play of the K at Trick 1, the unnecessary cut of the third diamond, and the later quest for opportunity in the club suit. Even when there's a nil on board, a 12-bid is always a setting situation.

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