The gremlins struck last week and the column didn't appear so here it is, slightly edited !The Bermuda National Teams competition was held over two sessions at the Bridge Club on December 11 and the team of Roman Smolski-Vera Petty-Bill Tucker-Marge Way won the event pretty comfortably. The team won all their seven matches and had the event won before the final match - they were probably the favourites going into the event but many a team has come unstuck in 8 Board matches so congratulations are in order.In second place were the team of Rachael Gosling-Elizabeth McKee-Kevin Comeau-Simon Giffen and in third were Russ and Dee Craft, Greg Carey and Paul Thompson, with Gertie Barker-Alan Douglas-Magda Farag-John Rayner-Jane Smith in fourth. This was a competitive event so the winners and all these placed teams can take positives from their performance .A while back I arrived in the UK on the BA flight, took my seat on the Gatwick Express to London and stuck myself into the morning paper. The next thing I knew the lady sitting opposite me screamed my name and proceeded to let everyone on the train know that I lectured on bridge, what a wonderful game it was and how it kept her young! Her loudly stated view was that not only did it keep her mind active but it also meant that she frequently got mad and frustrated and all of that was the secret to eternal youth! And I can tell you that she looked and acted 20 years younger than her 75+ years!This comes to mind because there are some remarkable performances at our own Bridge Club recently by a wonderful group of youngsters posing as nonagenarians! In the 8 table Open game held on Friday, December 9, one such person, Alice Palmer, came first East-West with her partner Annabella Fraser, and for good measure the ever-sharp Charlie Gambrill came second North-South with Tony Saunders. And then, as I was writing this column , I heard that our third nonagenarian Ivy Rosser (who I kibitzed at the Bridge Club on Pitts Bay Road straight off the BA flight on my first night in Bermuda 37 years ago!) came first in the Monday afternoon game with her partner Barbara Mulder. Must be the festive season that gets the juices going! Many congrats to Ivy , Alice and Charlie and we wish them many more wins - and many more maddening moments at the table!This week's hand came up at the teams event at the weekend and resulted in a big gain for the pair that handled it better .Board 3. E/W Vul. Dealer SouthS AQ106H KJ4D AQ42C QJS 32 S 854H1092 H83D1096 D KJ73C K10987 C 6543S KJ97H AQ765D 85C A2At one table South opened a heart and North took control immediately and in a split second South was playing in a heart slam … as you can see the slam is dependent on one of two finesses working (better than 75 percent ) but it fails as unluckily both minor suit kings are sitting badly.At the other table, however , North South were playing Flannery and south opened 2 Diamonds showing an opening hand with 5 hearts and 4 spades … now North bid the Spade slam (the ‘golden' 4-4 fit!) instead of the heart slam and this is much better. Declarer can draw trumps , play the hearts pitching a club from dummy and ruff a club, making the hand with 4 trumps, a club ruff, 5 hearts and the two minor suit Aces the diamond finesse was just for the overtrick !So remember , the 4-4 fit usually works better. Flannery is useful on the South hand especially when one opens a heart and partner responds 1NT …there is now no good rebid on the South hand. There are many responses over Flannery so sit with your partner and learn them if you decide to play the convention.I guess this is the last column before the holidays, so let me wish you all a great Christmas, happy Hanukkah and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable break!LATEST RESULTSMonday afternoon, December 5N/S 1 Joan Sims-Bea Williams 2 Gill Gray-Pat Siddle 3 Ted & Joyce Pearson E/W 1 Russ Craft-Judy Bussell 2 Heather Woolf-Annelies Scheland 3 Diana Kempe-Lyn O'NeillMonday evening, December 5N/S 1 Joe Wakefield-Tony Saunders 2 Alan Douglas-Ernest Paynter 3 Dee Craft-Mona Marie GambrillWednesday morning, December 7N/S 1 Russ Craft-Judy Bussell 2 Elizabeth McKee-Elysa Burland 3 Lyn O'Neill-Magda FaragWednesday evening, December 7N/S 1 Russ Craft-Judy Bussell 2 Elizabeth McKee-Elysa Burland 3 Lyn O'Neill-Magda Farag E/W 1 Lynanne Bolton-Peter Donnellan 2 Gertie Barker-Marilynn Simmons 3 Greta Marshall-Alice PalmerThursday evening, December 8N/S 1 Simon Giffen-Paul Thompson 2 Judy Harte-Stephen Smith 3 Irene Chew-Andy CarneFriday, December 9N/S 1 Jean Johnson-Joe Wakefield 2 Tony Saunders-Charlie Gambrill 3 Richard & Wendy Gray E/W 1 Alice Palmer-Annabella Fraser 2 Rachael Gosling-Kevin Comeau 3 Magda Farag-John Burville