A few new sponsors have sprung up lately, which is very exciting for the English bridge scene and means we can send teams to international events that the EBU (and practically every other bridge federation) can’t afford to sponsor. One of the best and most successful is Maggie Knottenbelt who, with her very good team, has just qualified to represent England in the Mixed European Teams in Denmark this June.

Here is her team mate Michael Byrne, locked in an epic battle with a super-charged West defending (see diagram).

West led the ♠J, East won the Ace and returned the ♠8 to the Queen and King. West knew there was no hurry to cash the remaining two Spades – all he could do was give declarer the tempo for a possible squeeze against his partner – so he exited instead with the ◆10. Michael knew his only chance was a squeeze against East in Hearts and Clubs, but the count had not yet been rectified. He can’t duck a Heart or a Club as the defence will cash the remaining Spades so he countered with another great play – he exited back in Spades! West realised what was going on and stubbornly refused to cash the last Spade, instead persisting with another Diamond. Now declarer would be fine if he could duck a Club to East, so he tried the ♣4 from hand, but West annoyingly inserted the ♣10. Dummy’s King won and a Club was returned on which East played small. The moment of truth had arrived; Michael could have covered with the ♣8 to make his contract, but the risk of West winning seemed too great so up went the ♣A and down went the contract.