The
Bath coup has nothing to do with getting
clean. It is nothing more than a fancy name
for a straightforward hold-up play that was
first recorded in Bath, England. In the
classical Bath Coup matrix, declarer, with
AJx in the closed hand opposite small cards,
follows low from both hands when an honour
is led from a king-queen combination. The
defence cannot continue the suit without
giving away a trick, and if the defence
shifts to another suit declarer often gains
a tempo or retains overall control. The Bath
Coup is a simple but effective play.
It must be said that neither side has a monopoly on Bath Coups. West leads
the
4
against South's 3NT. Plan the play.
South deals North-South vulnerable
|
West |
North |
East |
South |
|
|
|
|
1NT |
|
Pass |
3NT |
fin |
|
Opening Lead:
4
You might not care for South's decision to open 1NT with a weak doubleton,
but a 1
opening would leave him badly placed over
any response: a 1NT rebid is not enough but
a 2NT rebid is too much. Similarly, a single
raise of a major-suit response is not enough
but a jump raise is too much with too few
trumps.
If South wins the spade lead and plays a diamond to the queen, East,
remembering the Bath coup position, follows
with the seven. When declarer returns to his
hand to lead up to the
K,
East wins the ace. Declarer now needs two
entries to dummy - one to set up the
diamonds and another to cash them - but
North has only the
A
as an entry. Nice defence!
South can overcome this defensive coup, however. He must duck the first
diamond completely, forcing the defence to
win the first round of the suit. Declarer
wins any continuation in his hand, and plays
a second diamond, playing the king. It will
not matter whether East wins or ducks. As
long as the diamonds are three-two declarer
makes his contract and this line also caters
to the singleton ace, a little extra in the
percentages. Declarer should make this "safety"
play because he needs only three diamond
tricks; if he needed five tricks, it would
be necessary to play for the
A
onside with at most two siblings.
The four hands were: