I always try to find deals that highlight excellent play by an individual player or by a pair. It is not as easy as one might think. Too often the post mortem reveals that a top result was achieved by a mixture of good play by one side and a slippage by the other. That's Spades.

The East/West bidding was identical at all tables, but only one North/South was able to set them. This was achieved as follows.

AQ43 J10764 J876 -- 5 85 AKQ93 QJ1097 10987 AKQ2 52 A32 KJ62 93 104 K8654 The bidding: North East South West 3 4 3 2 East led the A

At every table East began with the top three hearts. Our South missed one opportunity here by trumping the third heart with the 2, and was promptly overtrumped by West's 5. West cashed the A-K (the K-Q is recommended, to help East place the A) and shifted to the Q.

North seized the chance to score his small spade by immediately cutting the club. Now he led the 8. Uncertain about the Q, East trumped with the 7 and was overtrumped by South's J. South was a chap who knew all about leading spades, but guessed that this was not yet a good time. He lead a second club, trumped by North's 4.

East/West still needed one more trick. With North on lead, the deal was down to five cards apiece.

AQ J10 J -- -- -- Q9 J109 1098 2 -- A K6 -- -- K86

North led the J and East tried once more to trump, only to be overtrumped by the K. South was down to clubs and spades. "Now?" South asked himself. "Yes, self, now!" was the reply. South placed the 6 on the table and North won the rest with top spades followed by hearts.

North and South showed excellent judgment in trump management, a critical phase of spades. It is true that East slipped by trumping diamonds and could have avoided the set simply by discarding on the J. But the mark of the strong Spades player is to take advantage of the opponents' mistakes. East and West did not give away the deal entirely; they merely presented their opponents with an opportunity. Full marks for North/South.