Played on a quiet club night the following hand had 2 people out of 6 trying for slam but both giving up when they found their partner had only one Ace.  However all six people made 12 tricks.  One person was given the chance to make all 13 tricks but did not make their plan.

West led the A and dummy went down as shown. 1 Spade trick (the K), 6 Heart tricks, 4 Club tricks, and a Diamond made the 12 tricks - the other declarers either lost a trick in Diamonds because one was led or simply gave a Diamond trick up.

However a little thought gets you 13 tricks.  Ruff trick 1 and draw trumps in 2 rounds ending in dummy.  Play Q, J and then a third to the K.  On the A you can throw the 6 from Dummy, ruff a Diamond and throw another on the K.  Ruff a Spade back to hand and finally ruff your K leaving you with just trumps to make all 13 tricks - easy.

The Match Points were shared 5-5 at all six tables.  If the declarer had made 12 tricks then the MP would have been 4-6 at five tables and 10-0 at hers for a "Top".  This would have equated to an extra 1.5% score increase for declarer and 0.4% decrease for all the other North/South pairs.  I know, not a lot, but this is how you get to score 60%+ regularly - all the little extra MPs add up for you and decrease the other players scores...

Just take your time and "Make Your Plan" !

Oh, nearly forgot -

1. DON'T BID BLACKWOOD WHEN YOU HAVE A VOID ! Learn to "Cue Bid".
2. DON'T JUMP THE BIDDING WITH TWO GOOD SUITS (Unless one of them is support for partners opened suit).

How about bidding the slam like this...

1 - 2 - 3 - 6 all pass.  Make your opponents guess !