Safety Plays
You’re in 3NT and you need four tricks from ♠A-K-Q-J-3 opposite ♠6-5-4. Easy, right? Cash the ace, king, queen, jack. Four tricks.
Except when spades are 5-0, you get three tricks instead of four, and you go down in a cold contract.
The safety play would have been to cash the ♠A first, then if both opponents follow, cash the rest. But if someone shows out on the ace, you can finesse the other opponent and still get your four tricks. This costs nothing when spades break normally but saves you when they break badly.
That’s a safety play: a slight adjustment in technique that protects against a bad break, usually at the cost of a possible overtrick.
When to Use Safety Plays
The key question: Do I need maximum tricks, or do I need to guarantee my contract?
Use safety plays when:
- You’re in game or slam and making the contract matters more than overtricks
- Match points and making your contract will score well
- You can afford to lose a trick in the suit but can’t afford to lose two
Skip safety plays when:
- You need maximum tricks to make your contract (safety play won’t help)
- Playing for overtricks at match points (everyone will make this contract, you need to beat them)
- The safety play costs a trick you can’t afford
The Eight-Card Suit
One of the most common safety plays: you have eight cards in a suit missing the queen. How do you play it?
North: A K J 4
South: 10 7 6 3 2You need four tricks from this suit. You can’t afford to lose two tricks.
Normal play: Cash the ace, then finesse the jack. If the finesse wins, you’re golden. If it loses, you still make four tricks if the queen was doubleton.
But what if West has Q-x-x-x? Your finesse loses, and you still lose a fourth round. Down one.
Safety play: Cash the ace first. If both follow, cash the king. If both follow again and the queen hasn’t dropped, now lead toward the jack and finesse. If the finesse loses, the queen was originally Q-x-x, and now both opponents are out - your remaining cards are good.
The critical difference: by cashing the ace first (from the hand with more cards), you pick up the singleton queen on either side. If East has Q-singleton, it drops under your ace. You’ve lost nothing.
This costs a trick when West has Q-x (singleton) because you could have finessed twice if you knew where the queen was. But it guarantees four tricks when you need them.
The Nine-Card Suit
You have nine cards missing the queen. How many tricks can you guarantee?
North: A K J 10
South: 8 7 5 4 3You need five tricks. Can you be certain?
Normal play: Cash the ace-king, hoping the queen drops (about 52% with nine cards missing the queen).
Safety play: Cash the ace first. If West drops the queen, you’re done. If both follow low, cross to your hand and lead small toward the ♠K-J-10. If West plays low, put in the ten.
Why? If East started with Q-x, the queen will drop on this trick. If East started with Q-x-x, your ten loses to the queen, but now West is out of the suit and your K-J sit over East’s remaining card. You finesse on the next round and lose no tricks.
This guarantees five tricks when the suit breaks 2-2 or 3-1 (which is about 90% of the time). You only lose out on the maximum if West has all four missing cards or if West has Q-x-x-x exactly (in which case your ten loses and you need to guess the next round).
The safety play protects you against the most common bad break (East with Q-x-x).
The Seven-Card Suit
You have seven cards between your two hands, missing the king.
North: A Q 6 4
South: J 10 3 2You need four tricks from this suit.
Normal play: Finesse the queen. If it wins, repeat. You make four tricks if West has K-x, K-x-x, or K-x-x-x.
Safety play: Cash the ace first! If the king drops singleton from East, you’ve picked it up. If both follow low, now take the finesse.
This seems like the same play, but it’s not. By cashing the ace first, you guard against the singleton king offside. It costs nothing - if the king doesn’t drop, you still have your finesse.
The only time this costs is when West has the singleton king (extremely rare with seven cards in the suit). You’d drop it under the ace when you should have finessed. But singleton kings happen on both sides, and you might as well catch the one you can.
The Five-Card Suit
This is a classic safety play problem.
North: A K 7 6 3
South: 8 5 4You need four tricks from this suit. How do you play?
If you cash the ace-king and the suit breaks 3-3, you get five tricks. If it’s 4-2, you get three. That’s not good enough.
Safety play: Cash the ace. If both follow, lead low from your hand toward the king. If West shows out, you play low from dummy, letting East win their queen or jack. Now the K-7-6 sit over East’s remaining cards and you can finesse twice, making four tricks.
If East shows out when you lead low from South, rise with the king and concede a trick to West. Either way, you guarantee four tricks.
This absolutely costs an overtrick when the suit is 3-3 - you could have made five tricks. But it guarantees four when you need exactly four.
Combining Chances
Sometimes a safety play means trying one thing before another.
North: A Q 10 9
South: 7 6 5 4You need three tricks and can afford one loser.
You could finesse the queen (50%) or play for the drop (jack-king doubleton, much less than 50%).
Safety play: Lead low to the nine! This seems weird, but think about it:
- If the nine holds (West has neither the jack nor king), you’ve made four tricks
- If the nine loses to the jack, come back to hand and finesse the queen - you’ll make three tricks
- If the nine loses to the king, come back to hand and finesse the ten - you’ll make three tricks
By leading to the nine first, you combine the chance of a 3-3 break with either the jack or king being onside. This gives you better odds than a straightforward finesse.
The safety play combines multiple chances instead of putting all your eggs in one basket.
The Two-Way Finesse
When you have a two-way finesse for a queen, you might be able to take a partial safety play.
North: A J 10
South: K 9 8 7You can finesse either way. If you need all four tricks, you have to guess.
But if you need only three tricks, you have a safety play: Cash the ace and king. If the queen drops, great. If not, you were always going to lose to the queen, but at least you gave yourself the extra chance of it being doubleton.
This is a partial safety play - it doesn’t guarantee success, but it adds an extra chance without costing anything.
When Safety Plays Cost Too Much
Not every hand has a useful safety play.
North: A K 7 6 5
South: 8 4 3You’re in 3NT and desperately need five tricks from this suit. Playing “safe” by leading low to the ace costs you when the suit is 3-3, and you weren’t making the contract anyway if it’s 4-2.
Here, you need maximum tricks. The safety play doesn’t help because you can’t afford to lose a trick in the suit at all. Play for the best chance: cash the ace-king and hope for 3-3.
Similarly, at matchpoints when you’re in a normal contract, everyone else will be in the same contract. If you take a safety play and lose an overtrick while others make an overtrick, you get a bad board. Sometimes you need to play for the overtrick and accept the risk.
Reading the Auction and Opening Lead
Sometimes the opponents’ bidding or leads tell you about the distribution.
If East opened the bidding and West leads a suit, East probably has length in that suit. This information can guide your safety plays - you might know which opponent is more likely to be short in your key suit.
If West leads the ♠K from ♠K-Q-J-10-x-x, they have six spades. They probably don’t have four cards in your key side suit. Use that information.
Safety plays work better when combined with inference from the bidding and early play.
Common Safety Play Positions
Here are some you’ll see regularly:
A-K-J-10-x opposite x-x (need 5 tricks): Cash the ace. If both follow, lead low to the jack. Guards against Q-x-x-x on either side.
A-Q-x-x-x opposite x-x-x (need 5 tricks): Lead small from South toward the A-Q. If West plays low, finesse the queen. If it loses to the king, you later finesse against East’s jack. Protects against K-J-x-x with West.
A-K-10-9-x opposite x-x (need 4 tricks): Cash the ace. If the jack or queen drops from East, continue with the king and finesse the ten later if needed. If both follow low, play the king. You’re protecting against Q-J-x-x with West.
A-J-10-x-x opposite x-x (need 4 tricks when can afford one loser): Lead low to the jack. If it loses to the queen or king, you later finesse the ten. Combines chances.
Calculating the Odds
The math behind safety plays can get complex, but the principle is simple: you’re trading a small chance of an extra trick for protection against a larger chance of disaster.
If you have a 52% chance of making an overtrick by playing normally, but a 15% chance of going down, and the safety play guarantees the contract while costing the overtrick, you should take the safety play at IMPs or rubber bridge every time.
At matchpoints, the calculation is different. If everyone is in the same contract, making an overtrick might be worth it even at some risk.
Mental Discipline
The hardest part of safety plays is making yourself execute them. You see the finesse, you want to take it. Your instinct says “go for maximum tricks.”
Train yourself to pause before playing to trick one:
- How many tricks do I need from this suit?
- Can I afford a loser here?
- What’s the worst break I need to protect against?
- Is there a safety play available?
If there is, and you can afford the cost, take it. Going down in a makeable contract because you played for an overtrick you didn’t need is one of bridge’s most painful experiences.
Declarer’s Insurance
Think of safety plays as insurance. You pay a small premium (the potential overtrick) to protect against disaster (the contract failing).
Good insurance is worth the cost when the thing you’re protecting matters. Your game contract matters. That overtrick usually doesn’t.
Learn the common safety play positions. Practice recognizing them. And when you’re in a contract that matters, take the insurance. Your win rate will thank you.