ROBERT COUP

This form of coup is the unnecessary expenditure of a trump, in order to preserve a plain suit card to lead later in the play. This coup was first analyzed and later named for Mr. Robert Darvas of Hungary. The following examples should illustrate this concept.

	J2 10 7
KQ10		8654
	A43 5

South is the declarer. The trump suit is Spades. East is on lead and leads the 4 of Hearts. If South discards the 5 of Diamonds, the only remaining trick for South is the Ace of trump. If South ruffs the 4 of Hearts and then leads the 5 of Diamonds, West is limited to only one trump trick.

A second example, analyzed by Mr. Jeff Rubens, illustrates that the coup can be executed at an early stage of the play.

	10762 AK8765 3 42
QJ98 Q109 Q105 973		J43 J942 AKQJ106
	AK543 2 AK876 85

The contract is 4 Spades. South is the declarer. West leads the 9 of Clubs. East overtakes with the 10 of Clubs and cashes the Ace of Clubs. East is faced with a dilemma. East has no good choice and decides to lead a high Club on the third trick.

South ruffs in his hand and plays the Ace of trump, discovering immediately the unfavorable trump split, but also realizing vital information about the holding of West, which must be evenly distributed. When South plays the Ace and King of Diamonds, followed by a Diamond ruff, and after South plays the Ace and King of Hearts, followed by a Heart ruff, the assumption of South is confirmed, namely that West is evenly distributed.

This knowledge is vital for the play strategy of the declarer leading up to the tenth trick.

	107 8
QJ9		J QJ
	K5 8

South is on lead and plays the 8 of Diamonds. West must play a trump, namely the Jack of Spades. The essential feature of the play, as noted by Mr. Jeff Rubens, is for South to reduce his trump holding by accepting the ruff and sluff in the long hand. The fifth Spade could not be of use against any distribution but might get in the way, if trumps broke badly, as in the above example.

If you wish to include this feature, or any other feature, of the game of bridge in your partnership agreement, then please make certain that the concept is understood by both partners. Be aware whether or not the feature is alertable or not and whether an announcement should or must be made. Check with the governing body and/or the bridge district and/or the bridge unit prior to the game to establish the guidelines applied. Please include the particular feature on your convention card in order that your opponents are also aware of this feature during the bidding process, since this information must be made known to them according to the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge. We do not always include the procedure regarding Alerts and/or Announcements, since these regulations are changed and revised during time by the governing body. It is our intention only to present the information as concisely and as accurately as possible.

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