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A handy card.

Safety Does it.

A nice controlled bidding sequence to 6. It’s your chance to ensure nothing goes wrong in the play. So, take a look below and plan the play after 10 lead from South.

 

 

 

The first 3 bids were natural (West might have bid 3, a splinter agreeing diamonds) were followed by 3 cue-bids and then 4 Minorwood. East showed 3 key-cards (A, A, K) and then denied holding the Q by bidding 5. 4NT asked if East held that card. With East also showing K, the cue-bid (it is unwise to cue a singleton in partner’s opening suit), West had enough strength and knowledge to try for small slam.

One worry for East was that that the opening lead was a singleton but it could equally be from the top of a sequence. If a trick was not lost to the Q, then all 13 tricks could be made in comfort. However, there was another nagging card missing, 10. Being negative, two trump losers would not be a good outcome.

This deal, which occurred in the final of last weekend’s Auckland Easter Teams offered a reward to those who knew their safety plays. Some safety plays offer the best chance of a bad outcome. Others offer 100% success, like the trump combination we have here.

We all know the horrible feeling of playing low to the A and then see North discard on the second round of the suit. Once bitten, safely in future. That 9 in dummy offers you salvation no matter which opponent has QTxx.

Start off with the high honour in the hand that holds J. Both opponents follow. If South discards on the second round, you will see that and play A and then a diamond towards the then Jx in the East hand. Only one diamond loser…no need to worry about whether to finesse J or go for the drop of doubleton queen. However, that was not the lay-out on this day:

 

 

 

On the K, South played 4 and then when you led 2, they played 5 hoping you will play the ace. However, you just cover South’s card by playing 8 which wins the trick. A takes 10 leaving just Q as the only trump trick for South.

It does not matter when they ruff as you run the clubs or if they do not ruff at all. You can play 5 rounds of clubs discarding two spades and a heart and eventually ruff West’s 10. There is no second trick for the defence.

 

The safety play is 100% guaranteed for no more than one trump loser. It works when the queen and 10 are missing and requires you not to take the finesse of the jack but to lead the suit in the way described above. When South holds Qx, you have the bonus of not losing a trick in the suit.

Safely Does it

On this deal, the defence does have a counter. Had South played 10 on the second round of the suit, East could no longer make the contract. It is a hard contract to make and requires East to start with a low diamond from hand and not playing dummy's ace unless 10 appears. In practice, taking the safety play was a good start, ensuring success if the 10 was not played. 

Without 9, this safety play does not work and, of course, if you cannot afford to lose any tricks in the suit, then the simple finesse, low towards the jack, offers you the best chance.

So, hopefully, your play matched your bidding and you secured your small slam.

Richard Solomon

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