Definition
The term safety play is difficult to define crisply. The Bridge World glossary defines safety play as "the surest line to make the contract, disregarding extra tricks that might be made in some other way." Marshall Miles has defined it as "playing in such a way as to lose a trick with average breaks in order to avoid losing additional tricks with bad breaks."
Conflating discussions from various sources yields the following points, each descriptive of safety play characteristics:
- A safety play is made in a single suit. In the context of that suit, it can often be described using other terms that might or might not pertain to the full deal, such as avoidance play, percentage play, coup or duck.
- A safety play, although made in a single suit, is intended to maximize declarer's chances to make the contract.
- A safety play usually gives up the opportunity to win as many tricks as possible in a particular suit in order to gain an advantage on the full deal. It therefore is sometimes compared to an insurance premium.
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