THE SINGLE WAY TO IMPROVE BIDDING

A nne Frank wrote in her diary: "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

At the bridge table, occasionally one can improve slam bidding by showing a single card. In today's deal, what should North rebid after he opens one diamond and South responds one spade?

Despite the weak trumps, the North hand is now worth game. (Yes, in support-point terms the hand contains just 17: 15 high-card points and 2 shortage points for the singleton, but the hand has only five losers: three spades, one heart and one club. That makes it worth game. Edgar Kaplan's 4Cs method rates the hand at 18.25 points.)

However, rather than raise directly to four spades, North should jump to four clubs, which is a splinter bid showing game values in spades with at least four trumps and a singleton (or void) in clubs. (A singleton is seven times more likely than a void.) Now South knows that he has no club losers because, if necessary, he can ruff his two low cards on the board. He should then use some form of Blackwood to learn that one key card is missing and sign off in six spades.

How should declarer play after West leads the heart nine? (With dummy known to be so short in clubs, leading that suit loses its luster.)

South can afford one trump loser, but not two. This is a textbook suit combination. The correct play is first to cash the spade ace. If an honor drops, it's all over. But if only low cards appear, declarer crosses to the board with a heart and leads a spade toward his queen. This avoids any guesswork.