Safety plays Larry Hammick larry@hammick.com 2000.03.16 Even within a single suit, there are several varieties of "safety play". 1. Show-up play: That's our term for a way to develop a suit which will disclose some (or any) hostile distribution in time to overcome it by means of a finesse. 2. Extra-chance play: This kind of safety play improves the chance of taking a specific number of tricks, at the cost of reducing the chance of taking more than that number. Declarer plays for an early drop before leading up to the remains of a tenace. 3. Obligatory finesse: These are finesses which cannot cost a trick in the suit on any lie of the cards. 4. "Obligatory non-finesse": There are times when a finesse cannot gain on any distribution. These are not really safety plays, but it seems natural to include them here. One day there will be a complete mathematical theory of suit combinations. For now, we just list the commoner cases in which a safety play is available, plus some examples of the rarer kinds. Many of them admit minor variations, such as 6-3 instead of 5-4 length. To identify such variants when they occur at the table, you need to take apart one case and observe its principles of operation. The suggested lines of play assume ample entries and control of the hand. Show-up plays which are certain to work: Qxxxx ATxxx For 1 loser, lead to the Q or finesse the T. The latter line scores an "overtrick" if North has the bare K. Q9xx AKTxx You have the whole suit provided that you start with the K. K9xx ATxxx For 1 loser, finesse the 9 or the T. K8x A9xxx For 2 losers, finesse the 8. Q8x AK9xx For 1 loser, finesse the 8. JTx AK8xx For 1 loser, lead to the T. QJx A9xxx For 2 losers, lead to the J. For _no_ loser the only chance is to lead the Q. K8x AJTxx For 1 loser, finesse the T. You must still play the T (or J) if North shows out. K9 AJxxxx For 2 losers, finesse the 9, but play the K if South shows out. A9x QJxxxx For 1 loser, lead to the J. Jx AK9xxxx For 1 loser, lead to the J. Tx AKQ8xx For 1 loser, lead to the T. Txx AK8xx For 2 losers, lead to the T. T9x AJ7xx For 2 losers, lead to the 9. JTx Q8xxx For 3 losers, lead to the T. Txx Qxxxx For 4 losers -- just one trick -- lead to the T. Txxx AJxx For 2 tricks cash the ace and continue with a low card toward the T or toward the J. K9x AJxxx For 2 losers, cash the ace and finesse the 9. Three tricks are still cold if the suit is 4-4. T6x AJ87x For 2 losers, finesse the 6, or cash the ace and lead toward the T6. K6 A987xx For 2 losers, finesse the 6. Show-up plays against some but not all breaks: Jxxxx AQ9xx For no loser, run the J, exposing KTx with North. Qxxx AK9xx For no loser, start with the Q. K9x AJxxx For 1 loser, cash the ace and finesse the 9 (the same line as for 2 losers), failing only if the suit is 5-0. KJx A9xxx For 1 loser, cash the king and lead to the J (the same line as for 2 losers), failing only if the suit is 5-0. KTx Axxxx For 2 losers, finesse the T, failing only if North has all five. Extra-chance plays: Kxx AJxx For 3 tricks, cash the AK before leading to the J. xx AKJxxx For 1 loser, cash the ace and finesse next. Tx AKJxxx For no loser, cash the ace and finesse the J next if the Q doesn't fall. xxx AQJxx For 1 loser, cash the ace before leading to the J. Obligatory finesses: xxxxx AJxxx Finesse the J. Txxxx AJxxx Finesse the J or lead to the T. Kxxx ATxx If you start with the K, then finesse the T next. 9xxx KTxxx Finesse the T. Jxxx AK9x Three tricks are certain provided that you start with the ace and, if there are no surprises, then lead to the J or finesse the 9. Obligatory non-finesses: QJxx Axxx Cash the ace and lead to the J. Leading the Q wastes a trick against a singleton K on either side. Jx AQxxxx Cash the ace. Kx with North is of no use since your J is doubleton. xxx AQx With no intermediates, there is no profit in _capturing_ the K from North. So you should cash the ace before leading to the Q, or duck the first round and then finesse. If West is dummy, there is an intangible advantage in leading low from the East hand, for South might get nervous with Kx.