The Robert Coup - Bridge Ace

The Robert CoupThis Robert Coup is the unnecessary expenditure of a trump, in order to preserve a plain suit card tolead 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.♠ K Q 10♥ 7♦ —♣ —♠ J 2♥ 10♦ —♣ 7WNS♠ A 4 3♥ —♦ 5♣ —E♠ —♥ 8 6 5 4♦ —♣ —South is the declarer. The trump suit is spades. East is on lead and leads the four of hearts. If Southdiscards the five of diamonds, the only remaining trick for South is the ace of trumps. If South ruffs thefour of hearts and then leads the five of diamonds, West is limited to only one trump trick.This deal illustrates that the coup can be executed at an early stage of the play.South DealsE-W Vul♠ Q J 9 8♥ Q 10 9♦ Q 10 5♣ 9 7 3♠ 10 7 6 2♥ A K 8 7 6 5♦ 3♣ 4 2WNS♠ A K 5 4 3♥ 2♦ A K 8 7 6♣ 8 5♠ —♥ J 4 3♦ J 9 4 2♣ A K Q J 10 6West North East South1 ♠Pass 2 ♠ 3 ♣ 4 ♠All passLead: ♣ 9East wins the ten of clubs and cashes the ace. East is faced with a dilemma. He has no good choice anddecides to lead another high club at trick three.South ruffs in his hand and plays the ace of spades, discovering immediately the unfavorable trump split.South plays the ace and king of diamonds, followed by a diamond ruff, and after South plays the ace andking of hearts, followed by a heart ruff.EDownloaded from www.bridgeace.com

The Robert Coup♠ Q J 9♥ —♦ —♣ —♠ 10 7♥ 8♦ —♣ —W♠ K 5♥ —♦ 8♣ —NSE♠ —♥ —♦ J♣ Q JSouth is on lead and plays the eight of diamonds. West can make only one spade trick. The essentialfeature of the play was for South to reduce his trump holding by accepting the ruff and sluff in the longhand. The fifth spade could not be of use against any distribution but might get in the way, if trumpsbroke badly, as in the above example.Downloaded from www.bridgeace.com