I know I’m not the strongest declarer in the world (or even at the table) but I didn’t realise my partner(s) literally stop breathing when they put dummy down. Unusually, I was declarer on quite a few hands in the recent European Mixed Teams, and I started to get an uneasy feeling when I heard a loud exhalation of breath coming from pard, which sounded like pheeeeeewwww, when I made my contract. I now understand why the late Danish International Jens Auken told my then partner Gunnar Hallberg that he wouldn’t have his job (i.e. playing with me) for £1 million a year. It’s dangerous!
Here is a hand from the Open Pairs, won by Bulgarian Internationals Jerry Stamatov and Diyan Danailov: (see image).
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