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Bridge
 And now for something completely different! Problemist Howard Sard once posed the problem: what is the weakest pair of hands on which 7NT can be made against a helpful defence? If you have the whole
week-end to spare, you could attempt the problem yourself. If, as is more likely, you have only five minutes left on the train before you arrive at your home station, you may simply like to admire Sard’s own solution, shown here. West leads the four of hearts and declarer cashes three heart ‘winners’, West following low and East throwing his three spade honours. Declarer continues by playing his two diamond ‘winners’, East following small and West throwing the ace and king of spades. ‘The rest are mine!’ says South casually, facing his remaining cards - all spades. ‘You could have beaten me, you know.’ What was your opinion of that? It was a silly hand and you are going to write a letter of complaint to the editor? All right, all right, no need to do that. Everything will be back to normal by next week, I promise you!
What would you say now on the West cards? Answer  3NT is not a very promising contract. The communications will be horrible. It is possible that 4S is the best game but I don’t like the idea of raising 3S on a void. In my view you should rebid the clubs, despite the moderate nature of the suit. At least you give partner one chance of preferring clubs to spades. If he says 4S at his next turn, you can pass happily. Note that 3S is forcing and you should not pass.
Awards: 4C - 10, 4S - 7, 3NT - 5, Pass - 2.
— David Bird — Knight Features
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