Safety Plays

Nine trumps between the hands, a sound contract, and only a 4-0 trump break can beat it. The normal play of the suit gives you the best chance of an overtrick. A slightly different play gives up a little of that chance and makes the contract certain. Choosing the second play is a bridge safety play, a small premium, usually an overtrick, paid to insure the contract against a bad break.

A safety play is a way of handling a suit that guards against an unlucky distribution of the missing cards, at the cost of a trick you might otherwise have made. It starts from the question every suit combination starts from, which is how many tricks you need from this suit. If you need all of them, play for the maximum. If you can afford to lose one, look for the line that never loses two.

Some safety plays cost nothing at all. They change only the order of your plays, for example which honor you cash first, and the bad break shows up while you can still deal with it. Others genuinely cost an overtrick on the normal layouts. Both kinds come from the same habit. Before you lead the suit, picture the worst layout you can still handle, and play to handle it.

Whether the insurance is worth its price depends on the form of scoring. The bridge scoring guide covers the details, but the principle is simple.

At matchpoints there are still two cases for taking one. The first is a safety play that costs nothing. The second is a contract the rest of the field will not reach, such as a thin game or a slam, where making it is a good score whatever the overtricks. Outside those two, most pairs players go for the overtrick.

Here is the classic situation. You have nine trumps missing the queen, with enough strength around them that you can lose one trump trick but not two.

If you were playing for eleven tricks, the best start is the ♠K from South, which gives the best chance of no trump loser, about 58 percent. But it has a flaw. If West shows out on the king, East holds Q-T-6 behind North's ace and jack, and you lose two trump tricks.

The safety play is to cash the ♠A first. Now any 4-0 break is under control:

• If West shows out, East has Q-T-6 left. Lead from North toward South's king. East must play before South, and whatever East does you lose only one trick.
• If East shows out, West has Q-T-6 sitting in front of North's jack and nine. Lead twice from South toward them and you lose only the queen.
• If both follow, play the king next. At most the queen is left outstanding.

Ten tricks are now certain. The price is a little of your overtrick chance. The ace-first line makes all five trump tricks about 53 percent of the time instead of 58. At IMPs that trade is easy.

Lead toward the tenace and duck

K-10-9-8-7 in North and A-4-3-2 in South leaves you missing Q-J-6-5. Cashing either top honor first makes four tricks about 95 percent of the time. Leading a low card from South makes them every time. If West follows low, put in the ten, and if it loses, the ace and king pick up the rest. If West shows out, win the king and lead toward the ace, which forces East to play before South. Better still, this safety play costs nothing, because the chance of five tricks is the same whichever way you start.

Keep the honors over the length

A general rule covers many safety plays. When a 4-0 or 5-0 break is possible, cash first the honor that leaves your remaining tenace sitting over the defender who might hold the length. If you cannot cover both defenders, cover the one whose length you can pick up. Playing the wrong honor first is the commonest way to turn a bad break into a defeat.

Safety plays with the whole hand

Not every safety play is a one-suit technique. Holding up an ace in notrump so that the dangerous defender runs out of the suit, drawing a round of trumps before taking a ruff, or ducking a trick to keep communication with dummy are all forms of the same idea. Each gives up a chance of an extra trick to make the contract safe. An endplay is often the safest line of all, because it can replace a finesse that might lose.

• Playing the suit before counting your tricks. A safety play only exists once you know how many tricks you can afford to lose.
• Taking a costly safety play at matchpoints in a normal contract. The overtrick is usually worth more there.
• Skipping a free safety play. If one order of plays is never worse, use it every time, at any form of scoring.
• Cashing the honor from the wrong hand. Cash the one that keeps the tenace over the defender who can still hold length.
• Forgetting the rest of the hand. A safety play in trumps is useless if it gives the defenders time to cash a side suit.

Practice spotting safety plays in the Suit Trainer, where you play each holding against perfect defense, or look up any combination for a given target in the suit solver. The finesse guide explains the plays most safety plays are built from.

What is a safety play in bridge?

A safety play is a way of playing a suit that guards against a bad break at the cost of a possible overtrick. You take it when making the contract matters more than the extra trick.

Should I make safety plays at matchpoints?

Usually not, because an overtrick can be worth as much as the contract at pairs. Take a safety play at matchpoints when it costs nothing or when you are in a contract most of the field will not bid.

Are safety plays always right at IMPs?

Almost always. An overtrick is worth 1 IMP, while going down in a game or slam costs 10 or more, so a small premium for safety is a good investment.

What is the safety play with nine cards missing the queen?

It depends on the spots, but the idea is to cash the honor that keeps your tenace over the defender who might hold all four missing cards. With A-J-9-8-7 opposite K-4-3-2, cash the ace first and you can never lose two tricks.

Is a hold-up play a safety play?

Yes. Holding up an ace in notrump until one defender has no cards left in the suit gives up nothing in most layouts and protects the contract when the dangerous defender gets the lead.