Today's deal is from an eight-deal Chicago. Just when the declarer was feeling pretty confident of the outcome, the east defender came up with a brilliant defence to defeat the contract.
What is it?
Contract: 4 S by south. West leads the heart five. Dummy plays the three and you win with the jack, declarer following with the six. You cash the heart ace next, declarer following with the nine and partner with the seven. How do you continue?
Analysis: Bidding indicates declarer has a six-card spade suit headed by two honours at least. From partner's carding, you can infer declarer has a doubleton in hearts. If declarer has the D A in addition, he cannot have the club queen, for he would have overcalled one spade. . With S A-Q-x-x-x-x H x-x D A-x C Q-x-x, he should avoid the weak jump and simply overcall 1 S .
If partner has the D A and a trump honour, they are down one at least.
Whatever be the case, you need to shift to a club.
Defence: Shifting to a club was no problem but the east defender looked deeper into the situation. Providing for ace-king-queen sixth in spades and the club queen in declarer's hand, he shifted to the club king! at trick three This entry-destroying play shut out the diamond suit effectively, for the full deal is:
Discussion: You would have noticed that a shift to the club jack does not help. Declarer will win the club switch with the queen in hand, draw trumps, and play on diamonds. The club ace which is intact in dummy will provide the necessary entry for discarding the club on the winner diamond.
The shift to the club king came like a bolt from the blue as declarer was taken completely by surprise. If he draws trumps and plays on diamonds, the defence will win the second diamond and play back a club to defeat the contract. If he plays on diamonds before tackling trumps, west can win the second diamond and play a third diamond to kill the diamond winner. The club ace is no longer in dummy! Declarer cannot avoid losing a club.
You cannot beat the contract if south has S A-K-Q-x-x-x H x-x D x-x-x C Q-x.
This entry-destroying play is known as ‘Merrimac Coup'. The coup derives its name from the name of the ship ‘Merrimac', which was destroyed deliberately for preventing entry of the enemy ship to a port in a battle in South America. Here, you sacrifice the club king to prevent an entry later to the diamond winners that threaten to be established.
Draw a slanting line to each trick or better still play out the deal using a deck of cards. You will appreciate the beauty of the defence!
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