Avoidance Play

Our dear friend Deepak Parekh sent this interesting deal for us, which we think is perfect for a rainy day. The theme is an avoidance play. A play which is intended to prevent a ]Dangerous Opponent’ from gaining the lead.

South’s re-bid is not ideal, but it seems like the best option. Against 3NT, West led ♠3. Declarer made the standard play of rising with the doubleton honor in dummy, and the ♠K held the trick. At trick two, declarer led the ♦K from the table and saw ♦Q drop from West. This meant that East held ♦1098 and diamonds could not be established without East winning a trick. South switched to play club but East won the third round and the contract was defeated.

To succeed, at trick two South should return to hand with ♣K and lead ♦2. When West plays ♦Q South must duck. West will be left on lead, unable to attack spades profitably, and all East’s diamonds will now fall under ♦AKJ. The contract will be completely secure.

A smart man makes a mistake, learns from it, and never makes that mistake again. But a wise man like Deepak Parekh finds a smart man and learns from him how to avoid the mistake altogether.

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