Endplays in Bridge: The Ultimate Guide

An endplay is one of the most satisfying techniques in bridge—it’s the moment when you force your opponent to make a play that helps you. Think of it as the bridge equivalent of a chess zugzwang: your opponent has the lead, but every card they play loses tricks for their side.

The beauty of a bridge endplay lies in its elegance. Instead of relying on lucky finesses or favorable suit breaks, you engineer a position where the defenders have no good options. They’re caught in a trap of your making, forced to either give you a ruff-and-sluff or lead into one of your tenaces.

What is an Endplay?

A bridge endplay occurs when you deliberately give an opponent the lead at a point when any return will cost their side a trick. The most common endplay situation involves stripping the hand (removing all safe exit cards) and then throwing the opponent in, forcing them to make a fatal return.

Here’s the classic scenario: You’re in a contract where you need one more trick, but taking a direct finesse is only a 50% chance. Instead, you eliminate your opponent’s safe exit cards and then put them on lead. Now they must either lead from their honor into your tenace (giving you the trick you needed) or give you a ruff-and-sluff (allowing you to discard a loser while ruffing in the opposite hand).

The key elements of a successful endplay are:

Timing: Executing the play at the right moment
Elimination: Removing safe exit cards from the hand
The throw-in: Giving the opponent the lead
The payoff: Receiving a favorable return

Types of Endplays

While the term “endplay” covers several related techniques, the two main categories are throw-in plays and elimination plays. Understanding the distinction helps you recognize opportunities at the table.

Throw-In Plays

A throw-in play is the simpler form of endplay. You give an opponent the lead, and they have no safe return. This can happen even without extensive preparation if the position is right.

For example, with ♠AQ in dummy and ♠xx in hand, you might lose a trick in another suit to the opponent sitting over your ♠AQ. If they have nothing but spades left, they must lead from their ♠K, giving you two spade tricks instead of one.

Elimination Plays (Strip and Endplay)

An elimination play, often called a “strip and endplay,” requires more preparation. You systematically remove (or “strip”) certain suits from both your hand and dummy before executing the throw-in. The suits you strip are the ones that would give the opponent a safe exit.

The classic elimination play involves:

Drawing trumps (if in a suit contract)
Eliminating one or more side suits by ruffing them out
Throwing the opponent in
Receiving either a ruff-and-sluff or a lead into your tenace

This technique transforms a guess into a certainty. Instead of deciding whether to finesse, you let your opponent make the decision for you—and they can’t make the right one.

Setting Up an Endplay

The preparation phase is what separates successful endplays from wishful thinking. You need to visualize the end position and work backward to achieve it.

Step 1: Identify the Target Suit

Which suit do you want the opponent to lead? Typically, it’s a suit where you have a tenace (like AQ opposite xx, or KJ opposite xx). If you can force an opponent to lead this suit, you gain a trick.

Step 2: Count Your Tricks

Before launching into an elimination play, count your top tricks. How many do you need? Can you afford to give up the lead? This counting determines whether an endplay is even necessary or if you have simpler options.

Step 3: Determine What Needs Stripping

Look at the suits that would give the opponent a safe exit. In a suit contract, any suit that exists in both your hand and dummy (where you can’t ruff) is potentially a safe exit. You need to eliminate these suits before the throw-in.

Step 4: Plan the Throw-In Card

You need a way to give the opponent the lead at the right moment. This might be the last card in a suit you’ve been eliminating, or it might be a deliberate duck in trumps or another suit.

Strip and Throw-In: The Complete Play

Let’s walk through a complete strip-and-endplay sequence. You’re in 4♠ and you need all the remaining tricks. Here’s the layout:

Dummy: ♠ A3 ♥ 5 ♦ — ♣ —

You: ♠ KQ ♥ AQ ♦ — ♣ —

RHO has: ♠ — ♥ KJ3 ♦ A ♣ —

You’re at the point where you’ve already eliminated diamonds and clubs from your hand and dummy. You have two hearts and two spades left. If you lead the ♥Q and finesse, you’re guessing—RHO might have the ♥K or LHO might.

But here’s the beauty: you play a diamond from dummy (which you don’t have). RHO wins the ♦A and is endplayed. If they return a heart, they must lead from their ♥KJ into your ♥AQ, giving you two heart tricks. If they return anything else, you can ruff in dummy while discarding your ♥Q from hand—a ruff-and-sluff.

This is the strip-and-endplay in action. You eliminated the safe exits (diamonds and clubs), threw them in (with the diamond), and now they hand you the contract.

Exit Cards and Elimination

Understanding exit cards is fundamental to endplay technique. An exit card is any card an opponent can safely return after being given the lead. Your job is to eliminate these cards before the throw-in.

Safe vs. Unsafe Returns

A safe return is one that doesn’t cost the defending side a trick:

A suit where they can exit to partner’s hand
A suit where there’s no tenace to lead into
In suit contracts, a suit where they won’t give a ruff-and-sluff

An unsafe return costs a trick:

Leading into a tenace (like leading from K into AQ)
Giving a ruff-and-sluff (ruffing in one hand while discarding from another)
Breaking up a defensive stopper

The Elimination Process

In a typical suit contract, you eliminate suits by:

Drawing trumps (so opponents can’t ruff your winners)
Cashing side-suit winners in both hands
Ruffing out any remaining cards in the suits you’re eliminating
Creating the void in the same suits in both hands

The goal is to reach a position where the only cards left in your hand and dummy (besides trumps) are in the suit you want the opponent to lead.

Defending Against Endplays

From the defensive perspective, recognizing an impending endplay can help you avoid the trap. Here are key defensive tactics:

Keep Safe Exit Cards

If you sense declarer is stripping the hand, try to preserve a safe exit. This might mean:

Ducking a trick you could win (to avoid being thrown in)
Keeping length in a suit where partner has cards
Unblocking honors so partner can win the trick instead

Break Up the Endplay Early

Sometimes the best defense is aggression. If you see declarer preparing an elimination play, you might need to attack the key suit yourself before declarer can throw you in. This “premature” lead might be the only way to prevent declarer from endplaying you later.

Count Declarer’s Tricks

If declarer needs the endplay to make the contract, you might be able to force them to make an earlier decision. For instance, if you can see that declarer has enough tricks without the endplay, they might not bother with the complex line—but your counting will tell you whether to worry.

Communication with Partner

Discard signals become crucial when facing an endplay threat. You need to tell partner which suits to keep and which they can safely discard. Standard carding—whether count signals or attitude—helps you stay in sync about which defender should win critical tricks.

Example Endplay Hands

Example 1: The Simple Throw-In

Contract: 3NT by South

You have eight top tricks: three spades, two hearts, two diamonds, and one club. You need one more. The ♣Q is missing. After the opponents cash two heart tricks, West exits with a diamond.

You win, cash your diamonds and spades, and exit with a club to West’s ♣Q. West is endplayed—if they have the ♥J, they must give you your ninth trick by leading hearts. If they don’t have it, they’ll lead clubs, allowing you to score your ♣10.

Example 2: The Classic Strip and Endplay

Contract: 4♠ by South

West leads the ♥K. You have a potential loser in spades and two in hearts. After winning the ♥A, you draw trumps (they split 2-2), cash the ♦AK, and ruff a diamond. Now you eliminate clubs by cashing the ♣AK and ruffing a club in dummy.

The position is now:

You lead a heart from dummy. East wins and must give you a ruff-and-sluff (allowing you to discard your heart loser) or lead spades into your remaining trump tenace. Either way, you make 4♠.

Example 3: The Trump Endplay

Contract: 4♥ by South

West leads the ♠K. The trump suit holds the key. After winning the ♠A, you play a trump to your ace—everyone follows. You cash your clubs and play your remaining spade loser.

Say West wins and exits with a diamond. You win in dummy and cash dummy’s last club, discarding a diamond. Now lead a trump from dummy. East wins the ♥J but is endplayed. A diamond return gives you a free finesse (your ♦Q becomes good), and any other return gives you a ruff-and-sluff.

Common Endplay Mistakes

Even experienced players make errors when attempting endplays. Here are the most frequent pitfalls:

Executing Too Early

The most common mistake is throwing the opponent in before fully eliminating their safe exits. If you leave them even one safe suit, they’ll find it. Count carefully: every suit should be eliminated from both your hand and dummy before the throw-in.

Forgetting to Draw Trumps

In suit contracts, failing to draw trumps can ruin an endplay. If an opponent can ruff one of your elimination plays, you lose control. The standard sequence is: draw trumps first, then eliminate, then throw in.

Choosing the Wrong Opponent

Sometimes both opponents are potential throw-in candidates, but only one will give you the return you need. You must read the cards carefully to determine which opponent is likely to have the key holding, then ensure you throw in that specific player.

Misreading the Count

Endplays require precise counting. If you miscount the distribution, you might throw in an opponent who still has a safe exit. Maintain a running count of each suit throughout the hand.

Not Recognizing the Opportunity

Perhaps the biggest mistake is not seeing the endplay in the first place. Many declarers try normal finesses when an elimination play would make the contract a certainty. Train yourself to look for endplay positions: tenaces, potential ruff-and-sluffs, and suits that can be eliminated.

Overcomplicating

Sometimes the simple play is right. Not every hand requires an endplay. If you have a straightforward line that makes the contract, don’t get fancy. The endplay is a tool for when normal methods fall short.

Conclusion

The bridge endplay is a powerful weapon that transforms uncertain contracts into cold ones. By forcing your opponents to make the crucial lead, you eliminate guesswork and shift the pressure to the defense. Whether you’re executing a simple throw-in or an elaborate strip-and-endplay, the principle remains the same: control the timing, eliminate the exits, and let your opponents do the work for you.

Mastering endplays takes practice. Start by recognizing the positions in your games, even if you don’t execute the play. Gradually, you’ll develop the pattern recognition needed to spot opportunities during actual play. And when you successfully pull off your first elimination play, watching the defender struggle to find a safe return, you’ll understand why endplays are considered one of bridge’s most elegant techniques.

The endplay isn’t just about winning tricks—it’s about understanding the geometry of the cards and the logic of the position. It’s bridge at its finest: part strategy, part psychology, and entirely satisfying when it works.