With no slams to choose from this week, I thought I would look at some defensive coups. First on Board 6, where I failed to find an unintuitive duck when partner led a spade to my AKxxx. Had I done so, when he gets in again with his clubs, he can continue the suit and I get four spade tricks. On Table 1, South led a heart and the situation must have become clearer, resulting in a 2 trick set of the unwisely bid 3NT. However, my detailed look is at Board 18, where South is faced with a tricky choice after East inevitably opens 1NT. With 16 points, a penalty double comes to mind. On our table, partner correctly discounted his QJ diamonds and lack of a good source of tricks and passed. We set 1NT by 2 tricks for an unexpectedly poor score. Another choice is to overcall 2H. This could potentially lead to a making 4H game but no one got that far. Still, making 9 or 10 tricks in 2H was a better score than 1NT-2. 2H was not an option on my table as, in our system, that also shows a 5-card minor. In the end, the penalty double, unattractive as it seems, was the money shot. One pair used it for a 2 trick set and 300 points but, on table 3, NS went one better and scored 500 and the top. Well done, Stephen and Richard. By the way, do you notice that NS can make 3NT+1? Hard to find when the opponents open 1NT!