“Repent what’s past; avoid what is to come.” – Shakespeare

The best play in a suit is not always one that will produce the largest number of tricks.

Sometimes your strategy is governed by the concept of avoidance – trying to keep one opponent off lead at all costs.

Say you find yourself in three no-trump on the lead of a low club to East’s 10 and your jack.

How should you play the diamond suit to try to ensure your contract?

The answer is that you do not mind losing a diamond trick – so long as it is to West, who cannot harm you, as opposed to East, who will make the potentially fatal play of a club.

So how are you going to achieve your target?

The answer is that you must cross to dummy (with a heart, of course) and lead the diamond jack from dummy, planning to run it if East plays low.

When East covers the diamond jack with the queen, you win in hand, cross to dummy with another top heart and advance the diamond seven, again planning to run it.

When East covers, you win in hand and are not disturbed by West’s discarding on this trick.

You go back to dummy’s last top heart and lead a diamond to your six to bring home 10 tricks.

But if you follow any other strategy in diamonds, you let East in prematurely, and the club continuation spells doom.

Bid with the aces

South holds:

Answer: Jump to four diamonds to show short diamonds and a hand worth at least game in hearts.

It is not so much that you have real slam interest but that you want to give partner a chance to make an intelligent decision over a potential sacrifice by the opponents in five diamonds.