The match went down to the wire

Over the last 50-plus years, there have been many matches between expert teams that have featured nail-biting finishes. Eric Kokish from Canada and Mark Horton from England have described them in two books. The first is Close Encounters

Book 1: 1964 to 2001. There are seven matches described in 254 pages, with many old photos of the players. This was the 160th and final deal of the 1985 Bermuda Bowl semifinal between Brazil and the US, which was played in Sao Paulo. Unknown to the players, the scores were tied before this board. In the closed room, Bob Hamman (North) opened one notrump and played there. East led the heart two. This gave declarer nine sure winners: three hearts, one diamond and five clubs. The defenders slipped later in the play to allow Hamman to collect a 10th trick. Would that extra overtrick decide the match? No, because at the other table, Gabino Cintra (North) opened a strong club and rebid one spade. Then, Sergio Barbosa (South) jumped to two no-trump to show a maximum 7 or 8 points for his initial one-diamond negative response. So they reached three no-trump from the wrong side. Any lead by West could have defeated the contract, but Lew Stansby found the best start of a low diamond, which dislodged declarer’s entry to his long clubs. South could have taken eight tricks, but ended up down two, not that it mattered. The United States was through to the final, which it won easily over Austria.