Circolo del Bridge di Padova. Sunday February 8 2015.
An interesting Vienna Coup double! Atention: not a double Vienna Coup!
Christmas Challenge Tournament. Stong turnout (28 tables). Serene atmosphere.
Elegant, friendly, but also really inspired players … !!!
Many zeros, and many hands well below the average that I was checking in my personal account.
Among the “wrong hands” is a small slam in spades. The auction was a little rough but the final contract was a good slam.
I was sitting in West, with: 
54 
K10983 
1097 
J72
I decided to lead the10. The bidding had not shown a monster fit in the North / South line and, therefore, I did not attack with a trump.
These were the four hands:
| A Q 10 9 8 6 Q 5 Q 6 4 8 3 |
||
| Paolo | ||
| 5 4 K 10 9 8 3 10 9 7 J 7 2 |
7 J 6 4 2 K J 5 2 10 9 6 4 |
|
| K J 3 2 A 7 A 8 3 A K Q 5 |
Declarer, Eugenio Brunet, although he did not feel happy with the fact that the two red Q didnt match with his hand (any red K or the J generated 12 winning tricks!), realized immediately what to do and quickly drawing the right inferences … he hold up his ace!
I won the trick with the 10 and finding nothing better, I continued with the same suit.
South, won the second trick with his A, played the A and then he run all dummy’s trumps, leading to this 5 cards end position:
| 6 Q Q 8 3 |
||
| Paolo | ||
| K 10 J 7 2 |
K 10 9 6 4 |
|
| 7 A K Q 5 |
Over the last dummy’s trump – West is irrelevant – South troughs his heart loser, but East, my partner is squezzed in and ! No useful discard!
By playing his A, declarer has made another– the second in the present case – “Vienna Coup” (a threat transfer): a play that is revealed as the winner, when one opps has 4 (or +) club cards and have at least one of the red kings.
Well done Eugenio.
P.S. Only a lead (and playing this suit again if South gives a diamond trick – not the expasse!! – ) creates problems for the declarer, which, however, can still find the winning line (6 spade rounds, A and 4 club rounds. East wins but is forcesd to play under his K!) . But for that … he should be very inspired !!
Note: As for the title, a double Vienna Coup means 2 winners on a suit (A + K) thus transferring the threat in that suit to the neighbor across the table, through a communicating card, he can exploit a threat in another suit.
This play – is quite unusual – I think we can then define it as a: Vienna Coup double!