An avoidance play is declarer play that keeps the danger hand, the defender who can hurt you if he gets the lead, from winning a trick. When you must lose a trick, you arrange to lose it to the other, safe defender: you take a finesse into the safe hand, duck a round to the safe hand, or lead so that the danger hand never gets a chance to win.
The classic case is 3NT after a hold-up: one defender has long winners in the suit led, the other has none left. Any trick you lose to the second defender is harmless; one trick lost to the first can beat the contract. Avoidance is card play, so it works the same in every bidding system.
What Is the Danger Hand?
The danger hand is the defender who can do damage with the lead. It depends on the contract:
- In notrump, it is usually the defender with established winners in his long suit. After a hold-up, his partner often has no card left in that suit, so his partner is safe.
- In a suit contract, it is the defender who can lead through a holding like your ♥K x, give his partner a ruff, or lead a trump that kills a ruff you need.
Before you decide how to play a suit, ask two questions: which defender is dangerous, and which line loses its trick, if it loses one, to the other defender?
Three Ways to Keep the Danger Hand Off Lead
- Finesse into the safe hand. With a two-way finesse, take it in the direction where a losing finesse loses to the safe defender. You give up any idea of guessing which way the queen lies; you play the side that cannot hurt you.
- Duck to the safe hand. When you must lose a round to set up a suit, lose it at a moment when only the safe defender can win it, for example by ducking when the danger hand has already played low.
- Pick the right kind of finesse. A plain finesse and a ruffing finesse in the same suit lose to different defenders. Choose the one that loses to the safe hand.
All three come from the same thought: you choose who wins the trick you must lose.
Rule of ThumbIf you must lose a trick, lose it to the defender who cannot hurt you. Plan the finesse, the duck or the lead so the danger hand never gets in.
A Full Deal: 3NT and a Two-Way Finesse
South opens a 15-17 1NT. North, with 9 HCP and a five-card diamond suit, raises to game.
You are South in 3NT. West leads the ♠K. You hold ♦K 10 4 opposite dummy's ♦A J 5 3 2.
Hold up first. You and dummy have six spades, so West and East have seven. The rule of 7 says to duck 7 - 6 = 1 time. Duck the ♠K, and win the second spade with the ♠A. East follows twice and has no spades left. West has three spade winners.
Count. You have the ♠A, ♥A K and ♣A K: five tricks. You need four diamond tricks, and you are missing the ♦Q, so you must lose at most one diamond trick, and it must not go to West. West is the danger hand: if he gets in, he cashes three spades and, with the first spade trick he won, beats you. East is the safe hand: he has no spade to lead.
The diamonds are a two-way finesse. You can play either defender for the queen:
| Line | If it loses, the trick goes to | Result if it loses |
|---|---|---|
| Cash the ♦K, then lead toward dummy's ♦A J and finesse the jack | East | You still make nine |
| Cash the ♦A, then lead toward your ♦K 10 and finesse the 10 | West | West runs spades: down |
| Cash the ♦A and ♦K and hope the queen drops | West, if he holds ♦Q x x | Down |
The avoidance play is the first line. Cash the ♦K, then lead the ♦4 and finesse dummy's ♦J when West plays low. If East wins the queen, he cannot hurt you, and the diamonds give you four tricks: nine in all. Here West holds ♦Q 9 7, so the jack wins, the ♦A drops the queen, and you take five diamonds for ten tricks.
A double dummy solver confirms all three rows on this deal: the avoidance line makes ten, the other finesse holds you to eight, and so does playing for the drop. It also confirms the backup: move the ♦Q to East and the avoidance line still makes nine. (Because it sees every card, the solver can find an eleventh trick on the actual layout, but ten is what a sound line at the table brings home.)
Cashing the king first also helps when East has a singleton queen: it falls under the king.
Why the Hold-Up Matters
Avoidance and the hold-up work together. Suppose you win the first spade with the ♠A. East still has a spade. If East then holds the ♦Q and wins the diamond finesse, he returns his spade, and West runs the suit. The solver confirms it: with the queen on East and no hold-up, 3NT goes one down.
The hold-up cut the link between the two defenders: it turned East into the safe hand. The avoidance play then made sure that only East could win a trick. One technique without the other is not enough.
Avoidance in a Suit Contract
In a suit contract the danger hand is often the defender on your right, who can lead through a king. Say you are in 4♠ with these cards:
| Hearts | Diamonds | |
|---|---|---|
| Dummy (North) | ♥8 6 5 | ♦A Q J 10 3 |
| You (South) | ♥K 4 | void |
West has shown the ♥A in the bidding. If East gets the lead, a heart through your king traps it in front of West's ace. If West gets the lead, a heart from his side lets your king score, so West is safe.
You want to set up the diamonds for discards, and the ♦K is missing. Do not cash the ♦A and ruff, hoping the king drops; use the ruffing finesse: lead the ♦Q from dummy. If East covers with the king, ruff it, and the jack and ten are winners. If East plays low, throw a loser. If the finesse loses, it loses to West, the safe hand. A plain finesse is not possible here, since you have no diamond to lead toward dummy.
The same logic applies to trump suits. If one defender can give his partner a ruff, try to lose your trump trick to the other one.
How to Spot an Avoidance Play
Look for an avoidance play when:
- One defender has winners ready to cash and the other cannot reach them.
- You hold a king or a tenace that one defender can attack by leading through it.
- You have a choice of lines in a key suit, such as a two-way finesse, a finesse against a ruffing finesse, or a duck in one hand or the other.
- You can afford to lose one trick, but only to the right defender.
Often the avoidance line is not the line with the best odds in the suit alone. That is fine: you are not playing the suit, you are playing the whole deal. A line that wins nine tricks every time beats a line that wins ten tricks 60% of the time and loses the contract the rest.
Common Mistakes
- Guessing the queen instead of choosing the safe side. In the deal above, which way the queen lies does not matter. Finesse into the safe hand.
- Winning the first trick by reflex. Without the hold-up, there is no safe hand. Count the suit first.
- Cashing winners in the danger hand's suit too soon. Every extra round you play may create a new entry for the danger hand.
- Forgetting the singleton honor. When you can, cash the top card on the safe side first, as with the ♦K above, so a singleton honor falls.
Practice: Avoidance Play
You are in 3NT with the hand below. West led a spade and you won the second round; East has no spades left and West has three spade winners. You need four diamond tricks from ♦K 10 4 opposite dummy's ♦A J 5 3 2. Which line?
Your hand:
You are in 4♠ and hold ♥K 4. West has shown the ♥A in the bidding. Which defender is the danger hand?
Avoidance plays come up in almost every session once you start looking for them. Enter the deal above in BridgeDummy's free double dummy analyzer and compare the two finesses, then move the ♦Q to East and see why the safe line still makes. For single-suit practice, the suit combination puzzles train you to choose a line, not just a card.
Related reading: the rule of 7, the finesse, finesse or drop, safety plays, what to lead against 3NT, loser on loser and Morton's fork.