Trump Coup Tommy won the opening diamond lead in his hand with the king and laid down the ace of spades, noting the fall of the jack from West. Tommy considered crossing to dummy and finessing East for the 10 of spades, but he rejected that idea. First, West might hold the 10 along with the jack, and second, well, they didn’t call him “Trump Finesse” Tommy, did they? Tommy cashed the king of trumps, getting the bad (good?) news, and set about his favourite thing—setting up a trump coup. Tommy cashed the ace of clubs, led a club to the king, and ruffed a club. He then led a diamond to the ace, noting the fall of the queen, and ruffed a diamond while East discarded a heart. Tommy cashed the king of hearts and led a heart to dummy’s ace, leaving this position:
(Second grid)
Dummy led the jack of diamonds and East was cooked. A club discard and South would shed his heart. Dummy would keep the lead for a heart play, picking off West’s trumps. A ruff would see Tommy overruff, draw the last trump, and take the queen of hearts. Welcome back, Tommy!
