‘I haven’t seen this before,’ began a recent email from my friend and frequent contributor Nick Sandqvist. That meant it would be a bit special, and it certainly was.

Double game swings are not as rare as you may think: 4♥ making one way and 4♠ the other – usually with a double attached – happens every now and then. Rather more unusual though is that the same contract is bid and made at both tables by the same team! It was the third round of the EBU’s Online Teams League.

Most good declarers today are technically highly proficient and play the hands with the odds. It is in the bidding that the big swings occur. This hand was in the third round of the EBU’s Online Teams League (see above diagram).

At the first table, Allison Green and Bridget Rampton, playing for team Sushi, had the auction to themselves South led a Diamond round to the King, and Allison wrapped up ten tricks.

At the other table, North-South for team Sushi were Nathalie Shashou and Nick. Here is their bidding:

When Nathalie opened a Weak Two in Diamonds, Nick had to decide what to do. Figuring that 4◆ would just invite the opponents into the auction, and 5◆ would go for 500 too often, he chose to fake strength with 3NT. West led a Heart to his King, and when the ◆K came down he could claim nine tricks. I wonder why the first North didn’t open a weak 2◆? Maybe he thought he was too good but NickNat got it spot-on.