west	north	east	south
	-	-	-	1♠
	2♥	3♥	5♥	Pass
	Pass	Double	Pass	5♠
	All Pass

Opening Lead: King of Hearts
Neither Side Vulnerable

This column is a tribute to Mr. Terence Reese, player and author, whose writings belong in any serious bridge library. The hand shown is an example of declarer using avoidance play, a card management technique designed to avoid a fatal blow from a defender's high card.
 
After West overcalls and some spirited competition, the defense began with the Ace of Hearts, ruffed. If you were South, how would you proceed? (You can give it a try before continuing).
 
Reese wrote that avoidance play frequently involves declarer playing on an assumption. To paraphrase Reese's own words:

When the fate of your contract depends on the location of one or two high cards, make an initial assumption about the location of one or both of them. If you can afford to have your assumption wrong, consider it wrong. If you cannot, play for it to be right, and build your actions on that assumption.

 
The Full Deal 

South should start the minors by leading a small diamond from the South hand towards the Dummy.
 
After the trump is extracted from each defender, South can manage any needed trick-taking, as long as he avoids losing three tricks in the minors.
 
If both the ace of clubs and the king of diamonds are together in either the west or east hand, only 2 minor tricks will be lost - either 2 clubs, or a club and a diamond. But what about when those high cards are split between the defenders?
 
So we start by mentally placing those high cards in different hands, and play for safety:

• If west holds diamond king and ducks the first lead, our diamond loser goes away.
• If west holds diamond king and puts it up, South can arrange to cash 3 diamond winners, discarding 2 clubs from dummy and holding club losers to one.
• Finally, If east wins the queen of diamonds with the king, our assumption strategy holds that the ace of clubs will be on-side when clubs are played.

Some might say that east's immediate five heart bid was not his best choice. east might have bid only four hearts, holding a five club bid in reserve, as a lead director, for the next round.

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