| West | North | East | South |
| 1♦ | Pass | 1♥ | |
| Pass | 1♠ | Pass | 1NT |
| Pass | 2♣ | Pass | 3♥ |
| Pass | 3NT | All Pass |
When the Bermuda Bowl was contested in Estoril, Portugal, last fall, two of the best teams represented Italy and Egypt. This deal, from their meeting in round 13, shows why the Egyptian team was considered dangerous.
In one room, the Italian South played 3NT on the lead of a low heart. The Italian declarer ducked the ♥K and then the ♥Q, and he was doomed. The suit was cleared with a third round of the suit and when West came in with the ♣K, he had two hearts to cash for one down.
It was different at the other table, where Walid El Ahmady and Tarek Sadek for Egypt opposed Alfredo Versace and Lorenzo Lauria for Italy.
Versace also started with a low heart to the jack, queen and four. When Lauria continued with the ♥K, Sadek considered his play for some time before correctly winning the ace. He then played the ♣A and a club to Versace’s king, and when Versace continued with the ♠7, it was clear that Lauria had the ♥10 or ♥9 – Versace obviously did not hold both.
Accordingly, Sadek won the spade continuation with the ace, cashed the ♣Q, played a club to the 10 and led the ♥3 from hand in this ending:
Declarer had three club tricks, plus two each in spades and diamonds and one in hearts. If Versace went up with the ♥10, declarer’s ♥8 would be his ninth trick. If Versace ducked, declarer would discard dummy’s low spade, and Lauria would have to win the ♥9. Lauria would then have the option of leading into a tenace in diamonds or spades. Either way, Sadek had nine tricks for plus 600.
The full deal: