Bidding : Pass (N) - 1S (E) - 2NT (S) - 4S (W) - 5D (N) - DBL (E) - Pass (S) - Pass (W) - Pass (N)

Opening Lead : King of Spades (E) = top of a solid sequence

Declarer (N) counts 2 possible losers : one each in Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. If this is going to be all he made an excellent sacrifice, one down doubled produces -100 points, whereas the Game in Spade would have cost -620.

Declarer Play
Unusual 2NT overcall   -   Sacrifice bid
East leads the Spade King which wins the first trick. Then, seeing Dummy is now void in Spades, East switches to his Club 5. Declarer wins with the Ace and immediately draws trumps. North wins again with the Ace, but whatever he does can not prevent Declarer making 10 tricks, one short of his contract. Declarer loses one Heart, one Diamond and one Spade trick.

If NS do not sacrifice, EW will easily make their 4 Spades contract. 5 Spades however will go down one trick. Therefore the best EW can do under the circumstances is to double the 5 Diamond contract. This way they collect at least some positive score.

Score = 1 x 100 pts = 100 pts total for EW

Bidding : 1H (E) - 2H* (S) - Pass (W) - 2NT** (N) - Pass (E) - 3C (S) - Pass (W) - 5C (N)
* = Michaels Cue bid     ** = "Which minor suit Partner?"

Opening Lead : 6 of Hearts (W) = MUD in Partner's suit

Declarer (S) counts 3 possible losers : one in Hearts and two in Spades if the K J sit over his A Q, but he can reduce one Spade loser by ruffing in Dummy.

Declarer Play
Michaels Cue bid   -   Finding Partner's long minor suit
East wins the opening lead with his Heart King, then leads his Queen which is ruffed by Declarer. At tricks 3 and 4 Declarer draws two rounds of trumps first with his Queen, then small across to Dummy's King.
At trick 5 Dummy leads the Spade 9, Declarer ducks and West wins with the Jack. West leads another small Heart which is ruffed by Declarer.

At trick 7 Declarer leads the Ace of Spades, followed by his Queen, West covers with the King and Dummy ruffs with the Ace (!). North follows suit so all Opponents Spades have been drawn. At trick 9 Dummy leads his last small trump, won by Declarer drawing West last remaining trump. All remaining tricks are now winners, a total of 11.

Score = 5 x 20 trick pts + 500 bonus pts = 600 pts total

Bidding : 2S (S) - 2NT* (W) - Pass (N) - 3NT (E)
* = 16-18 pts, balanced hand with at least one enemy suit stoppers.

Opening Lead : 9 of Spades (N) = Partner's suit, top of a doubleton

Declarer (W) counts 6 sure winners : four in Clubs, plus the two red Aces. Additional tricks can come from the Diamond suit, and hopefully too from Spades.

Declarer Play
Defence against a weak two opening   -   Double finesse   -   Leading up to Dummy's weakness
South ducks the opening lead and Declarer wins with the Spade Jack. He then leads his Club Queen, followed by a small Club to Dummy's Ace. At trick 4 Dummy leads the 10 of Diamonds, Declarer ducks and North wins with the Jack.
North then leads another small Spade, South wins this time with the Ace and (realising that the Spades are not going to bring in the bacon) switches to a small Heart (leading up to Dummy's weakness). Declarer plays low and North wins with the Jack and at trick 7 exits with a small Club. Dummy wins with the King.

Dummy now cashes his fourth remaining Club and at trick 9 leads Diamonds for a second finesse. South drops his King, captured by Declarer's Ace. Declarer now cashes his remaining Diamond winners plus the Ace of Hearts and King of Spades. He makes a total of 10 tricks, conceding at the end one more Heart trick to the Defence.

Score = 40 + 3 x 30 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 430 pts total

Bidding : Pass (W) - Pass (N) - Pass (E) - 1H (S) - 2NT* (W) 4H (N) - 5C (E) - DBL (S)
* = Unusual 2NT overcall <

Opening Lead : King of Spades (S) = top of an interrupted sequence

Declarer (E) counts 3 possible losers : one in Spades, one in Diamonds and one in Clubs. Declarer can perhaps avoid the Diamond loser if he can catch the Opponents' Queen.

Declarer Play
The Unusual 2NT overcall   -   Sacrifice bid   -   Deductions from bidding and play
Declarer wins the opening lead with his Spade Ace, then leads a small trump. South wins with the Ace. Seeing that Dummy is void in Hearts South cashes his Spade Queen at trick 3, followed by a third Spade which is ruffed by Declarer.
At trick 5 Declarer leads his trump Queen removing the last enemy trump then reflects on the next step. Where is the Diamond Queen ?
South who opened the bidding has already shown 9 of his points, K Q of Spades and the Club A. He most likely hold at least 4 or 5 points in his Heart suit. This does not leave much for his Partner North who must hold 6-10 according to his bidding. The Queen of Diamonds is therefore more likely to be in North's hand. North also has shown already his required singleton (or void), having discarded on the second round of trumps.

All in all it is likely that he holds Q xx (x) in Diamonds.
At trick 6 Declarer therefore leads hid Diamond 9 and when South plays low goes up with Dummy's King. Dummy then leads the Diamond Jack, North plays low, so do Declarer and South and the Jack wins. Next Diamond trick drops the Queen from North, captured by Declarer's Ace, who then makes all remaining tricks in Diamonds and Clubs. A total of 11 tricks.

Even if Declarer guesses wrong with the Diamond Queen, going 1 down doubled but not vulnerable would have cost only -100 points. The 4 Hearts contract of the NS would have made easily (but not 5H) and worth 620 points to them.

Score = 10 x 20 trick pts + 300 bonus pts = 50 for the dbl insult = 550 pts total for EW