In some deals, one defender may be “dangerous”If he gets in, bad things may happen. The other defender “safe”; An “avoidance” play keeps a dangerous defender out of the lead.

West leads the jack of hearts against four spades. If dummy plays low, East may signal with the deuce, and if West shifts to a diamond, South will be in jeopardy. So South puts up the king of hearts.

East wins and leads a second heart, ruffed. How will South play the trumps?

South doesn’t want West to win an early trick and lead a diamond. When South leads a trump and West follows low, dummy plays the ten. As the cards lie, South can lead another trump to his king and Wests ace, win a diamond shift, draw trumps and run the clubs to pitch two diamonds from dummy. Making five.

If East had the jack of trumps, he couldn’t lead a diamond effectively. South would have time to force out the ace of trumps and would be safe. But if South leads a trump to the queen in the actual deal, he fails.

Daily question: You hold: ? 6 ? A Q 6 2 ? K 10 8 6 5 ? 9 5 3. Your partner opens one spade, you respond 1NT and he rebids two clubs. The opponents pass. What do you say?

Answer: This problem is stressful and would be even more so in a style where your 1NT was forcing, and partner might have been obliged to bid two clubs with a three-card suit. To pass is the disciplined call. I wouldn’t criticize you if you choose to bid 2NT on a “more-to-gain” theory.

North dealer

N-S vulnerable

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