JANE: I had six spades and seven points. Once Jack opened one notrump, I knew we had at least nine spades between us and enough for game, so I transferred and then bid it.

JACK: East led the ace of hearts and then the king, and Jane put down a perfectly nice hand. Then East switched to the ten of diamonds. I won the ace and counted: two heart losers already gone, the ace of clubs still to lose, and that's three. I couldn't afford a trump loser.

So it all came down to the queen of spades. We had nine of them between us, missing the queen, the nine, the six and the two. I cashed the ace and everybody followed small. Now, I could lead toward Jane's hand and finesse the jack, playing East for the queen, or I could cash the king and hope it fell.

There's an old rule for this: eight ever, nine never. With eight cards missing the queen, always finesse. With nine, never finesse; play for the drop. The odds are close, but they're on the side of the drop.

JANE: I could see him thinking about it. Forty years, I know that face.

JACK: I cashed the king. Marcia's queen fell on it. I ruffed my last heart on the table, led the king of clubs to knock out the ace, and the rest were mine. Four spades, making exactly, plus 620.

JANE: Three of the other seven North-South pairs made it too. The other four took the finesse into West's queen and went down one. Our 620 was worth 5½ matchpoints out of 7, and Jack has mentioned the rule at supper every night since.

JANE: Jack's three hearts was a limit raise: four trumps and about 10 to 12 points. I had 20, a singleton club, and a lot of tricks. The only question was whether we were missing two aces. So I asked, with Blackwood. Five diamonds showed one ace, which meant the opponents had exactly one. One ace can't beat a small slam by itself, so I bid six.

JACK: Frederick led the king of clubs, which won, and he continued with the queen. Jane ruffed it.

JANE: And then I counted, which is the part people skip. Five heart tricks counting the ruff, three spades and four diamonds. Twelve. Two rounds of trumps took all of theirs, and I claimed. Plus 1430.

JACK: Only three pairs out of nine bid the slam. Blackwood isn't fancy, but it gets you there.

JACK: Dorothy's one-spade overcall took away my one-heart bid. Years ago I'd have had to guess. With negative doubles, I just double, and that tells Jane I have four hearts and some values. Sterling raised to two spades, and Jane, with four hearts and a good 17, jumped to three hearts to show the extra strength. I had a maximum for my double, so I went on to game.

JANE: Dorothy led the king of spades. I won the ace and drew trumps in three rounds, finishing on the table with the jack, and Dorothy threw a spade on the last one. Then I led the queen of diamonds from the table. Sterling let it hold, took the ace on the next round, and led the ten of spades, which held. That was the defense's second trick. When Sterling led another spade, I ruffed with my last trump, and my diamonds were good: the king, the jack and the nine, with the ace and king of clubs to finish. Eleven tricks, plus 450.

JACK: Without the double we'd have been in three diamonds, or defending two spades. Half the room was.