Devil's Coup

The Devil's Coup is a play that seemingly causes a defender's trump trick to disappear.

		North
		-
		A9
West		2		East
-		-		J
J84				Q7
-		South		-
-		6		-
		KT
		-
		-

Hearts are trump and declarer is on lead. At first glance, it appears that the defense has a certain trump trick. However, look what happens if declarer leads her spade.

Say West ruffs low. Dummy overruffs with the 9. A diamond is then ruffed in hand with the K, and the A becomes declarer's final trick.

If West instead ruffs high with the J, then dummy overruffs with the the A. East is then subjected to a simple finesse in hearts.

The following example comes from David Bird and Marc Smith in their book "Bridge Technique 2: Tricks with Trumps".

		North
		6
		AT72
West		AT53		East
Q832		KQ52		J974
J963				Q84
Q7		South		J82
T98		AKT5		643
		K5
		K964
		AJ7

"Imagine that after some optimistic bidding you reach the seemingly hopeless contract of 7. West leads the 10 and you win with the ace. Playing on trumps directly will succeed only when one of the defenders holds Q-J doubleton. Suppose you cash two more club winners instead, both defenders following. You can then play the top two spades, throwing dummy's last club. After ruffing a spade, you play the king and ace of hearts, then ruff a heart in hand. When you ruff another spade, it proves to be your lucky day. Both defenders follow.

"You have arrived at this magical end position:

		North
		-
		T
West		AT		East
-		-		-
J				-
Q7		South		J82
-		-		-
		-
		K96
		-

"What can East do when you play dummy's last heart? If he ruffs with the eight or the two, you will overruff and claim the last two tricks with the trump ace and king. His only alternative is to ruff with the jack. You can then overruff and finesse dummy's ten of trumps. Thirteen tricks either way.

"The play is picturesquely known as the Devil's Coup. It is rarely accomplished, even by players aware of the technique. That's because the side suits have to be distributed very favorably, to prevent a defender from ruffing at an awkward moment."