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Today's deal is a last minute replacement for the one that originally occupied this space - because I had mistakedly copied another existing article over it. The original has gone forever, but since I started revising this site this replacement deal has always been on my radar because it is indelibly etched on my atrophied brain. It occurred on Jan 21st 2018 and it marked the day when I realised that I should give up playing this wonderful game because it wasn't fair to my partners.
I'd driven 35 miles to play at Ashby de la Zouch and my partner that day, for the first time, was Ben Norton. Ben was then a young player of 21 whose star was very much in the ascendant, and today he is one of England.s elite players. He found a brilliant defence on this deal, but it was all to no avail. Unluckily for me this was deal 13, the first board after the break. I was quietly having another little pre-deal doze, presumably dreaming about my wife's thighs or worrying about Leicester City's recent run of poor results.
I suddenly realised that everyone else was waiting for me to bid and, panicking slightly, looked at my collection of occasional picture cards.