PARTI

V:SAFETYPLAYS
PARTI
V:SAFETYPLAYS
Text © 2015 The Estates of Terence Reese and Roger Trézel
Cover image © Roger Whiteway

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is a violation of copyright.

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Reese, Terence
[Works. Selections]
Accurate cardplay part 4 / Terence Reese and Roger Trézel.
(Master bridge series)
Contents: Elimination play -- When to duck, when to win -- Blocking and un-
blocking plays -- Safety plays.
Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-55494-621-1 (pdf).

ISBN 978-1-55494-666-2 (epub)
ISBN 978-1-77140-856-1 (mobi)

1. Contract bridge. I. Reese, Terence . Blocking and unblocking

plays in bridge. II. Reese, Terence . Safety plays in bridge. III. Reese,
Terence . Elimination play in bridge. IV. Reese, Terence . When to duck, when
to win in bridge. V. Trézel, Roger . Elimination in bridge. VI. Trézel, Roger .
When to duck, when to win in bridge. VII. Trézel, Roger . Blocking and unblock-
ing plays in bridge. VIII. Trézel, Roger . Safety play in bridge IX. Title.

GV1282.3.R44 2014 795.41’5 C2014-906126-9

C2014-906127-7

Editor Mark Horton

Copyeditor/Interior format Sally Sparrow
Cover and interior design Olena S. Sullivan/New Mediatrix
 Contents

Introduction 5

Part I: Elimination Play 7

Part II: When to Duck, When to Win 69

Part III: Blocking and Unblocking Plays 123

Part IV: Safety Plays 181

 Introduction

The play of the cards at bridge is a big subject, capable of filling

many large books. In the 1970s, Roger Trézel, the great French
player and writer, had the idea of breaking up the game into
several small books, each dealing with one of the standard forms
of technique. He judged, quite rightly as it turned out, that this
scheme would appeal both to comparative beginners, who would
be able to learn the game by stages, and to experienced players
wishing to extend their knowledge of a particular branch of play.
The English version was prepared in collaboration with
Terence Reese, and appeared in eight small volumes. This new
edition, updated and revised for the modern player, presents
the eight original booklets as two larger compendiums, entitled
Accurate Cardplay and Imaginative Cardplay.

Introduction 5
 Part IV

Safety Plays
Safety plays are a form of insurance against a bad break.
Suppose, for example, that a normal division of the adverse
cards would enable you to lose no tricks at all in the suit that
interests you, whereas against a very bad distribution you might
lose two tricks; if there is a way to lose just one trick, whatever
the distribution, then a safety play is available and you must em-
ploy it whenever the contract depends on not losing more than
one trick. Putting it another way, you sacrifice a trick when the
distribution is favorable, but when it is unfavorable you make
sure you do not lose two tricks.
It is essential to know all the standard safety plays; they will
reward you many times over. The occasional overtricks you give
up, worth 20 or 30 points apiece, will be amply compensated by
the thousands of points you will gain by ensuring your contract.
A special point about safety plays is that it is not neces-
sary to count the hands or to know the adverse distribution: all
you need realize is that a particular suit may break badly. It is
enough, when you are playing a contract that seems to be lay-
down, to pause and say to yourself, ‘Can I go down if the breaks
are extremely bad?’ If the answer is yes, then look for a safety
play that will protect you against such a distribution.

Part IV: Safety Plays | 183

Example 1

You hold between dummy and yourself eight cards of a suit in-
cluding the ace, king and ten. These cards may all be in the
same hand or in opposite hands. Your object is to lose not more
than one trick in the suit. First lead the ace and then lead a low
card, intending to put in the ten if the left-hand opponent has
also played low. These are typical holdings:

K 10 x x x K 10 x x A K 10 x

Axx Axxx xxxx

A K 10 x x K 10 8 x x x A K 10 9 x x

xxx A9 xx

If the finesse of the ten loses to the jack or queen, then the distri-
bution must be 3-2 and the remaining honor will fall under the
king on the next round. Meanwhile, you insure against QJxx on
the left. If these cards are on the right, nothing can be done. Note
that in the last two examples, where declarer has only a double-
ton, it is necessary to add some strengthening cards; otherwise a
defender with, say, QJ9x could render the safety play ineffective
by splitting his honors on the second round.
You play the following hand as South in a contract of 4:

 Q2
 K43
 AQ3
 Q9876
 A K 10 9  87654
 9 N  QJ82
 J 10 9 8 7 W E  62
S
 532  J 10
 J3
 A 10 7 6 5
 K54
 AK4

184 | Accurate Cardplay

West leads the king and ace of spades, then switches to the jack
of diamonds. South wins with the ace and sees that there are
no more losers outside the trump suit; he must, therefore, avoid
losing two trump tricks.
South leads the king of hearts from dummy, East plays the
two and West the nine. On the next heart East plays the eight
and now South must put in the ten. If East began with QJ82,
South will win this trick and lose only one heart. If East began
with Q82, West will capture the ten with the jack, but East’s
queen will fall under the ace on the next round.
Note that it would not help East, as the cards lie, to play the
queen or jack on the second round. South would win, cross to
dummy with a diamond or a club, and then lead up to the 1076,
again losing one trick. East does better not to split his honors
in this type of situation; then he will make two tricks if South
neglects to make the safety play.

Example 2
You hold between dummy and yourself nine cards of a suit in-
cluding the ace and queen, with or without the ten, the ace and
queen being in the same hand. Your object is to lose not more
than one trick in the suit. You should lay down the ace, then
lead up to the queen.

A Q 10 x x xxx

xxxx AQxxxx

In the first example if the ace drops a singleton king from East,
you lose no tricks at all, as you can return to hand to finesse
the ten. In the second example you lose one trick if the king is
singleton on your left, but if you had finessed the queen you
would have lost a second trick to East’s J10x.

Part IV: Safety Plays | 185

 You play the following hand as South in a contract of 6:

 8432
 8
 AK642
 A83
 K  J76
 Q 10 9 5 4 3 N  KJ2
 8 7 W E  Q J 10 9
S
 7654  J 10 9
 A Q 10 9 5
 A76
 53
 KQ2

West leads the eight of diamonds and you win with the king
in dummy. You see that there are no losers outside the trump
suit; therefore your sole concern is to avoid losing two tricks in
spades.
If you lead a spade from dummy and finesse the queen, los-
ing to West’s king, you will have to guess on the next round
whether to play for the drop (by leading the ace) or to take a
finesse against the jack. You would be in the same dilemma if
you finessed the ten on the first round and lost to the jack: West
might hold the KJ or the jack might be singleton.
The correct play is to lay down the ace on the first round.
If West follows with a low card, you reenter dummy and lead
towards the queen. If West sits over you with the KJx, there is
nothing to be done, but if East has three cards, or if the distribu-
tion is 2-2, you lose just one trick.
When the king is singleton, as in the diagram above, you
lose no tricks at all, as you can safely cross to dummy and fi-
nesse against East’s Jx. If West has KJ alone, or the jack alone,
you lose just one trick. But if you finesse the queen on the first
round, losing to the king, you will have to ‘take a view’ on the
next round, and it is even money that you will do the wrong
thing.

186 | Accurate Cardplay

INTERMEDIATE

Learn from
the Masters
In the 1970s, two of the best bridge writers of all time collaborated on a
series of eight small books on a number of aspects of cardplay at bridge.
These books have long been out of print, and are republished now
in two combined volumes, edited and updated by BRIDGE magazine
editor Mark Horton.
Accurate Cardplay is the first of these two books, and comprises
the following titles from the original series: Elimination Play in Bridge;
When to Duck, When to Win in Bridge; Blocking and Unblocking Plays in
Bridge; and Safety Plays in Bridge.

Terence reese (1913-1996, UK) was a world champion and

one of the best-ever writers on the game. His Reese on Play
and The Expert Game are classics of bridge literature.

Roger Trézel (1918-1986, France) was a multiple

world champion. His partnership with Pierre Jaïs is
regarded as one of the greatest in the history of the
game.

MASTER POINT PRESS