BRIDGE BITES #39
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THE MERRIMAC COUP
Brian Gunnell |
Historians of the
Spanish-American War will have no difficulty figuring out how this week’s
coup got its exotic name. For the rest of us there is Google.
Both Vulnerable
South West North East
1NT Pass 3NT Pass
Pass Pass
♠ A6
♥
754
♦
763
♣ KQT96 |
|
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ KJT9
♥
AJ3
♦
JT8
♣ A54 |
South’s 1NT opening is in the
15-17 range and against this 3NT contract West leads the Heart Two. Who’s
got what, Sherlock?
►
Based on the bidding and on
the points that you see in your hand and in Dummy, Partner has a maximum of
two HCP, probably the ♥Q.
What do you play at Trick 1?
►
One possibility is to play the Jack,
forcing Declarer (who does not know you have the
♥A) to win
her King immediately. That way, when you get in with the ♣A,
the defense can take its Heart tricks. But three Heart tricks and the
♣A is not enough to beat 3NT.
Furthermore, once Declarer has knocked out your ♣A,
she will have plenty of tricks … a Spade, a Heart, three Diamonds and four
Clubs at the very least. So, getting the Hearts going is not going to be
enough, there’s a more urgent priority.
►
Those Clubs must be shut out and the way to
do that is to shift to a Spade at Trick 2. But
shifting to the ♠J does not get the job done. Declarer will hop up with her
Queen, saving Dummy’s ♠A entry for later. What is needed is the spectacular
shift to the ♠K, that does knock out Dummy’s entry (if the ♠K is
ducked then East simply continues with another Spade). Nicely done! East’s
sacrifice of the ♠K (the Merrimac Coup) shuts out the Clubs and is the only
way to set the contract.
►
|
♠ A6
♥
754
♦
763
♣ KQT96 |
|
♠ 432
♥
QT82
♦
954
♣ 872 |
Dummy
West East
Declarer |
♠ KJT9
♥
AJ3
♦
JT8
♣ A54 |
|
♠ Q875
♥
K96
♦
AKQ2
♣ J3 |
|
Of course, after the ♠A has
been dislodged, East must keep up the good work by ducking one round of
Clubs, in order to complete the job of shutting out the Club suit. Why not
duck a second round in case Declarer started with three Clubs? West will
help out by giving a count signal, playing the ♣2 on the first round. This
“low-high” tells East that West started with an odd number of Clubs
and therefore that Declarer does not have three. Ducking the second
Club would be fatal as it happens, allowing Declarer to scamper home with
two Spades, a Heart, four Diamonds and two Clubs.
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