PITT COUP

The reason for the terminology is unknown at the moment. This is a play or coup by the declarer, whereby the declarer places himself in a position to lead through his left hand opponent in a suit, in which the dummy holds a major tenace over the minor tenace held by the left hand opponent. Generally, this coup involves the unblocking of a trump suit in the dummy, and also might include a deliberate higher-than-necessary ruff with an honor in the closed hand so as to be able to lead low through the left hand opponent. The following illustration should clarify this concept.

	J986 863 865432
10432 95 KQ Q9854		Q AQJ1072 107 AJ72
	AK75 K4 AJ9 K1063

South	West	North	East
1	Pass	2	3
4	Pass	Pass	Pass

West leads the 9 of Hearts, which is won by East with the Ace of Hearts. East returns a Heart, won by South. South then leads the Ace of trump and plays the 8 of Hearts from the dummy, which will allow South, if necessary, to maintain a two-way finesse against the 10 of trump. As soon as East plays the Queen of trump, West is marked with four trump cards to the Ten of trump. South then leads the Ace of Diamonds and then a small Diamond and discovers that the Diamonds split 2-2.

West wins the second Diamond and returns a small Club, hoping to make his 10 of trump good. South discards the losing Heart from the dummy, and East wins with the Ace of Clubs. East returns a high Heart which South ruffs with the King of trump. South then leads the 7 of trump, finessing West, and when West plays low, South plays the 6 of trump from the dummy. Another Spade lead by South captures the 10 of trump held by West and discards his high Diamond in his hand, thereby unblocking the suit. South collects the remainder of the tricks with his good Diamonds.

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.