Hand XXXVII
Coup of compelling a discard, same in principle as the Vienna Coup.
The Play
Remark (Trick 9).—Well played by Y. He can count B’s hand as follows: ten and two small diamonds; queen of spades (see Trick 6—the lead of the king could only be from king, queen); and one other card, probably a small spade, for had B another heart he would most likely have continued his partner’s original lead, instead of changing the suit. Y now leads a trump in hopes that B will discard the small spade, when Y will lead the seven of spades to throw the lead into B’s hand, and B will be obliged to lead a diamond up to Y’s tenace.
B, however, discards a diamond. Y continues his tactics (see Trick 10), leading another trump. This compels another discard from B. If B discards the small spade, Y leads the losing spade; if B discards another diamond, Y establishes the diamonds, and in either case wins the game. This fine coup occurred in actual play.
Tricks 11 to 13.—Y (Trick 11) leads the spade. B is obliged (Trick 12) to lead a diamond; and
YZ score three by cards and two by honours.
The Hands
(Y’s hand is given above.)
| A’s Hand. | B’s Hand. | Z’s Hand. | |||
| Knv, 9, 8, 4 | ♠ | Kg, Qn, 2 | ♠ | Ace, 10, 6, 5 | ♠ |
| Qn, 10, 9, 8, 2 | ♥ | Ace, Kg | ♥ | Knv, 7, 4, 3 | ♥ |
| 10, 8, 6 | ♣ | Qn, 9 | ♣ | Kg, 7, 4 | ♣ |
| 9 | ♦ | 10, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 | ♦ | Knv, 2 | ♦ |
At Trick 10, B should notice that he must lose the game if he retains the queen of spades. His only chance of saving the game here is to discard the queen of spades, in hopes of finding his partner with two tricks in spades, or with a trick in spades and hearts. If A has not these cards, the game is lost.