Spokane Daily Chronicle – 25 Ago 1976
Opening lead: Q
Things had not been going well for Trump Coup Tommy. True, he and his partners had held most of the cards throughout the evening’s rubber bridge, but fate had made Tommy declarer most of the time, and since the suits were breaking normally Tommy was at a loss. He had already gone down in three simple game contracts when this hand came along. The kibitzers were surprised at the restraint Tommy exhibited during the auction. Since North’s response had created a forcing to game situation.
Tommy contented himself with a quiet rebid of 3. North made an inteligent decision when he raised to game with his doubleton spade honor, and Tommy needed to hear no more to contract for slam.
West led his top heart, won in dummy. The Q was cashed, followed by the A, on which Tommy discarded a club. Now he made a wise decision when he led a heart from dummy. East discarded a club and Tommy ruffed.
When West discarded a heart on the A, Tommy was a man reborn. At last there was a situation tailor-made for his peculiar skills. The K lost to the ace, an East’s club return was won in dummy. Next; declarer led a club from the table and when East discarded a diamond, Tommy: ruffed.
By ruffing twice declarer had executed a double trump coup and he had succeeded in reducing his trump length to that of East!
The rest was a mere formality for someone with Tommy’s uncommon knack. The ace-king of diamonds; were cashed and a diamond to the queen put declarer back in dummy. Everyone was reduced to two cards, and East held the J-9 of trumps in front of declarer’s K-10. Declarer simply led a card off the board, and no matter what East elected to do, declarer was assured of the last two tricks and the slam.