Oct 11 2009
Botched Trump Coup
I’m playing with Lance in the first session of the 2-session pairs at Raleigh’s fall sectional. It’s one of the few remaining sectionals to offer a 2-session pairs event, and i hope it never goes away. It’s harder to string together two solid sessions – it means more if you can win. The directors urge us every time to only offer single-session events, because two single sessions pay out more masterpoints overall. Screw the ACBL and their blatant selling of points.
A few rounds in, we have had some good results, so things are looking good. In fourth chair, white on white, i hold QJ3 AKJ875 4 752. It’s not quite good enough for a 2H call, so i open 1H. Leftie inserts a double and partner bids a semi-forcing 1NT. I rebid 2H and everyone is content.
| LHO | CHO | RHO | me |
| Pass | Pass | Pass | 1H |
| X | 1NT | Pass | 2H |
| Pass | Pass | Pass |
LHO leads the four of clubs, and dummy is surprising. I’d have done the same thing with his hand, but still, i wasn’t expecting all those diamonds!
 T974
|
 |
| QJ3
|
9
KQTJ72
KJI stuck in the JC and rightie won the Ace. After a second’s thought, he returns the five of spades. I stick in the Q and leftie wins his Ace. He thinks for a few seconds and returns the ten of hearts (free finesse!), which rides around to my Jack. I pause to consider the hand.
I think the spades are 3-3. Rightie led a low spade, and leftie made a takeout double, which could be on 3. No one is trying hard for a spade ruff, so i think this is a fair assumption. Rightie has shown the AC, certainly the QH and has either the KS or the AD, but not both. If either opponent has both cards, he would have opened the bidding.
Dummy is providing lots of threats; leftie obviously doesn’t want me to ruff a club. Very well, i will pitch it on a diamond instead. But first, let’s see if the trumps are 2-4 or 1-5. I cash the AH, and leftie follows, so, good. I don’t have the entries for a trump coup, but I abandon trumps for the moment and lead a diamond.
Leftie thinks and finally hops the Ace. He returns a spade to his partner’s King and i unblock the Jack. Inexplicably, rightie exits with a diamond.
Well, now i do have the one extra entry needed for the trump coup. Obviously, i have gotten a lot of help to get to this position, but i may as well take advantage of it. I ruff the diamond, shortening myself once. I lead my preserved low spade to the Ten (yep, 3-3), and lead a big diamond. Rightie pitches a club, as do i**. Another big diamond, rightie pitches another club. This time i ruff, shortening myself again. Now rightie and i have the same number of trumps. One more club to dummy’s King catches rightie’s last club, and now in the two-card ending i have the K8 of hearts over his Q6.
The defense had to go almost exactly that way in order to reach that position, for which i thank the opponents. Almost any other defense will lead to only eight tricks, but nine was worth all the matchpoints.
Alas, we lost steam on the back nine, and came in with 54%. Combined with our 57% the second session, it put us 9th or 10th in the event. Maybe we’ll win it next year.
** I’ve told a fib – i actually botched this by ruffing when i should have pitched the club. I was so focused on shortening myself that i forgot about my club loser. Rightie could have set me now by ruffing in the 3-card ending, leaving me with a club loser in hand. He didn’t, though, and i got my trump coup after all. As i said, the defense was extremely helpful.