BRIDGE

South inserted the queen of hearts ruffing away East's king. He continued with ace and a club ruff and cashed two hearts, discarding two diamonds from hand. East ruffed a fourth heart winner with the eight of spades but was overruffed by the jack. Declarer trumped another club and advanced a fifth heart. East and South each discarded a diamond as West ruffed with the spade three.

The diamond return fetched the queen and ace and was followed by another club ruff but East overruffed with the queen of spades. Declarer's ace-king-seven of spades yielded the last three tricks, N-S +650.

Unfortunately, West's opening lead had been an abject failure on this deal. Double-dummy, the singleton trump would have been an effective choice on this layout.

North's spade raise revealed 8-9 HCP with exactly three-card support. South gave up any notion of slam since there was only an eight - card fit and advanced to the major suit game. He might have been much more aggressive if partner had disclosed four-card support via a Bergen Raise or offered a limit raise.

The opponents' silence in the auction intimated that North would hold heart values.