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Trump Coups
Suppose that you hold AKQTxx in the trump suit and Dummy has xx. You cash the Ace and the King, but your LHO shows out on the third round of the suit. RHO still has Jx but there are no trumps left in Dummy to permit a finesse against the Jack. Can Declarer avoid a trump loser? Sometimes he can, via a Trump Coup. In the given example, he would need to get two ruffs in his own hand (shortening his trump holding to the same length as the defender), and then arrange for Dummy to win Trick 11. If all goes well, when Dummy plays a side-suit at Trick 12, the defender with the trumps will be Trump Couped, forced to ruff in front of Declarer.
Related Play Problems Play Problem 203
Related Extracts from Past Wednesday Games
The Club slam is such a good contract that it does not even get derailed by the 5-0 trump break and the losing Diamond finesse. South leads the K♥ won in Dummy, then the A♣ reveals the trump news. Abandoning trumps, Declarer takes the losing Diamond finesse and ruffs the Heart return. This has promoted a natural trump trick for North, but that disappears thanks to a Trump Coup. All that is required is for Declarer to cross to the A♦, cross back on a Spade and run the Diamonds … if North ruffs in her trump trick disappears, so she pitches Spades (as does Declarer). Then Spades are cashed, and Declarer’s last high Club. In the three card ending, the lead is with West, North has 954 of Clubs, and East has JT8 of Clubs. Declarer leads a Spade, and North must ruff in ahead of Dummy, losing her trump trick. What the Trump Coup has effectively done is to allow the Club finesse to be taken indirectly. Well done, indeed, if any pair bid that Club slam and then found the Trump Coup!
The E-W target here is 7 tricks, scoring +500 and beating any E-W pairs who might have struggled home in 3NT. Will they get their 7 tricks? It will be touch and go! Dr Goodlead chose the opening lead of the K♠, which seems reasonable enough to us, albeit not very promising on the actual hand. Here’s how the play might develop: K♠ opening lead, won by South’s Ace Spade return won by East’s Queen Now the A♥ and K♥ are cashed Next, the defense takes two Clubs A 3rd round of Clubs is ruffed by Declarer At this point, the defense has taken 5 tricks, and is hoping for two more trumps tricks. But they won’t get them if Declarer is at the top of her game. Here is the end position: Dummy ♠ ♥ 9 ♦ QT976 ♣ West East ♠ ♠ 983 ♥ T ♥ J ♦ KJ42 ♦ 5 ♣ 7 ♣ 2 Declarer ♠ J7 ♥ A7 ♦ A8 ♣ Now, Declarer cashes the J♠, West and Dummy both pitching Hearts (it does not help West to ruff), then ruffs a Spade, and leads the Ten of Diamonds to Dummy’s Ace. The coup de grace is now applied when Declarer leads the Diamond Eight, giving West three losing choices: - If he plays the King, he gets end-played - If he plays the Jack he has no chance of a second Diamond trick - If he plays low, Dummy can play the carefully preserved Seven … the trick is won by Declarer’s Eight, after which Declarer leads a Heart, and West is trump couped!
Against a Diamond contract, South leads a Club for want of better, won by Declarer’s Ace. Here’s one way in which sub-par defense by South might lead to no fewer than 10 tricks for Declarer: Opening lead of a Club (so far, so good!), won by Declarer’s Ace Low Spade, low from South (first mistake!), the Nine losing to North’s King Club return is ruffed by Declarer Spade finesse Cash A♠, Declarer pitching a Heart Heart led, won by South however Declarer guesses Club return (second mistake!), ruffed by Declarer Exit a Heart Now, Declarer gets his Heart ruff on the board, and North is trump couped at Trick 12! South went wrong twice in this unfortunate defense: - She should have hopped up with the Q♠ at Trick Two, disrupting Declarer’s communications, after which Declarer may make 8 tricks, not 10! Declarer will win the A♠, lose a Heart, now a Diamond return stops Heart ruff, and Declarer must use his last entry to the board wisely. Should he try for the 9th trick by hoping that Spades are 3-3? Or should he hope that the other Heart honor is on-side? It won’t be obvious, and he might well guess wrong and play on Hearts. - Once South had failed to rise with the Q♠ at Trick Two, Declarer was destined to make 9 tricks, but he could have been prevented from the 10th if South had shifted to a trump when she won her first Heart trick.
In 3♠ doubled, at first glance it looks as if West has 4 trump losers and 3 in the side-suits for a most unpleasant -800. But the tables will be turned if the play goes like this: A♦ cashed on opening lead K♦ ruffed by Declarer Spade Nine won by North’s King Diamond continuation ruffed by West Cross to the A♥ (North will no doubt split her honors) Diamond ruff Low Club to North’s Ace North cashes her Heart winner Club to Dummy’s King Diamond ruff Now, with 3 cards left, both Declarer and South are down to nothing but trumps. Declarer with Qxx exits a low trump to South who, with AJT left is forced to give Declarer his all-important 7th trick. Minus only 500 is a great board for E-W, of course.
The play in this hand is similar to a Trump Coup where Declarer must reduce her trumps down to the same length as the defender in order to effect the end-play. So, it was quite wrong for North to cooperate so willingly in Declarer’s plan. When North wins the K♠ she must not persist with Diamonds, instead she must shift to Hearts or Clubs. Now Declarer is a ruff short of engineering his end-play, and the end position leaves Declarer with ♠Qxxx, and South with ♠AJT and a Club. Declarer is on lead, and South scores all 3 of her trump tricks.
Against 3♣, the defense plays Spades and Declarer ruffs the third round. Now the Q♣ loses to the King and South fiendishly persists with a 4th round of Spades. Declarer ruffs this with the Jack, and North declines to overruff and Dummy pitches a Diamond. Declarer plays the 9♣, won by North who gets out with a Diamond, won in Dummy. Here is the end-position: North ♠ ♥ 54 ♦ 76 ♣ 83 Declarer Dummy ♠ ♠ ♥ AKJ8 ♥ Q7 ♦ JT ♦ KQ ♣ ♣ T7 South Immaterial
Now, North is about to fall victim to a Trump Coup. The Hearts are cashed and North’s apparent trump trick vanishes in a puff of smoke, when, sooner or later, she must ruff in front of Dummy. South defended well when she played that 4th round of Spades, and Declarer’s Trump Coup was a pretty counter.
4♠ doubled goes down two, so East’s 5♥ will be the winner if only East can manage to make his contract. With the bad trump split it won’t be easy, and if East takes the obvious line he’ll be down one. He’ll win the Spade lead, lead to the Q♥, planning to finesse against the Jack on the second round. Alas, North shows out, and South scores three trump tricks for down one.
The contract can be made if Declarer plays the trumps differently. After winning the A♠, he crosses to the K♣, leads a Heart to the King and Ace, then ruffs the Spade return, and leads another Spade, planning to finesse the Eight if South plays a low card. But South can spoil that plan by playing the Nine. Now Declarer cannot win this trick without losing control of the hand. So he ducks leaving this lovely position: North Immaterial Dummy Declarer ♠ ♠ ♥ Q8 ♥ T ♦ QJ6 ♦ AK9742 ♣ 543 ♣ A South ♠ 974 ♥ J5 ♦ T5 ♣ J South is on lead, and if she gets out with a Spade, then Dummy pitches a Diamond and Declarer ruffs. Now the Diamonds are run and South finds herself the victim of a trump coup!
Will Declarer be able to convince himself that he should play South for Heart length? Probably not, we’d expect down one at most tables.
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