Merrimac and Deschapelles coups Larry Hammick larry@hammick.com 2000.06.23 Contents ;Introduction ;Merrimac coup ;;Merrimac against a hand with two entries ;;Merrimac with a threat to gain a tempo ;Deschapelles coup ;Introduction As an entry can be worth more than one trick, there are occasions for sacrificing a trick for an entry. A sacrificial _lead_ is called a "Merrimac coup" if it drives out an enemy entry before it can be used profitably, and is called a "Deschapelles coup" if it serves to create an entry to partner's hand. These entry gambits are available almost exclusively to the defenders, because declarer does not get as good a view of his opponents' entry position. ;Merrimac coup xxx Jxx Ax KQJ9x JT9x Axx xx QT9x xxxxx Kxx xx Axx KQx AKxx QJx Txx South opens a 13-15 1NT and is raised to 3. West leads SJ. East puts on the ace and returns DK, which kills the clubs unless South has four or five. East can see that even if West holds SKJTx, it is most unlikely that declarer can run nine tricks before letting East in. The entry is most often in the form of a doubleton ace, as above, or an ace opposite a doubleton: Qxx Qx JTx Kxx JTx Kxxx Axxx Axxx East might want to attack South's entry by leading the K. At left, declarer can duck, and win the next round with the Q. But at right the gambit succeeds. Another entry that may be vulnerable to the Merrimac coup is KQ trebleton, or KQ fourth opposite a trebleton: KQ6 KQ63 xxx AJ7 xxx AJ7 Txxx Txx Anxious to disable a side suit in dummy, East leads the J. This gives away a trick in this suit but kills the entry. Notice that East's 7 can beat dummy's 6, preventing a later entry-finesse. If East is weaker, he needs help from partner: KQ8 KJ8 J9x ATx Q9x ATx xxxx xxxx The ten from East remove's North's entry, but so does the small one. The sacrificial high lead is needed only to prevent the opponent from winning in the wrong hand: KQ7 KQ7 KQ76 8xxx AJ2 98x AJ2 98x AJx T9x Txxx Txx East must lead the J to silence declarer's ten. At left, declarer can unblock once (the ten or 9 under the J) but not twice, and the coup succeeds provided that West later goes up to block an entry-finesse of the 7. ;;Merrimac against a hand with two entries When there are two entries to the long suit, the gambit may be called for if the suit contains two losers or is blocked. Q AKx KJT9xx Txx 98xx ATxx xxxx Qxx x AQxx Q9xx Jx KJxx Jxx xx AKxx West tries a spade against 3NT. East wins and returns HQ. He must still duck the first round of diamonds. x Txx AKx JT9xxx Q9xx ATxx K9xx Jx xxxx Qxx x Axxx KJxx AQxx Jxx KQ South opened a strong 1NT and is in 3NT. S2 is led. East calmly takes the ace and returns DQ. But now he must duck _both_ the CK and CQ. T9x AQx KQ AKxxx Qxxxx Jx Kxx T9xx Ax xxx Jxx QT9x AKx Jxx JTxxxx x South has bid diamonds and is in 3NT. West leads a low spade to the 9, J, and K. Declarer leads a low diamond. West puts on the ace, leaving the suit blocked, and leads SQ. Declarer now cannot take more than eight tricks. If he leads HQ off the table, West must duck. This two-part Merrimac coup is sometimes available when declarer's trump suit has blockage. After taking his trump trick, the defender drives out the only remaining entry to the the long trump hand. Declarer then cannot readily pull trumps, and runs into a ruff or a trump promotion. This "trump Merrimac" is not a full-fledged gambit, in that the high card which the defender sacrifices would not otherwise take a trick. QJ Qx W N E S AKQx 1C 1NT P 4S ATxxx End KTx xx KJxx Txxxx Jx T9xxx KQJx x A9xxxx Ax xx xxx West leads CK to dummy's ace, and comes in again on the first round of trumps. He can see ten tricks for declarer, so he takes CQ and CJ and then, while trumps are blocked, exits with HK around to South's ace. Declarer can pull a second trump with dummy's high card, but then can't get off the table to draw the last trump. When the defence has two stoppers in dummy's suit, they may still need to make an entry-gambit, or even a double gambit, as here: xx S W N E Jx 1D P 2C Dbl AQx P 2S 3C P QJT9xx 3NT End xxxx Axxx xxx QT9x xxx KJx xxx AK KQJ AKxx Txxx xx West leads S9. Placing declarer with nine eventual tricks (2S+2H+1D+ 4C), East wins with SA and returns DK. When in with the CK he leads DJ, killing the dummy. Declarer ends up with four diamond tricks instead of one, but with no club tricks instead of four. ;;Merrimac with a threat to gain a tempo It can also happen that declarer can save his entry by ducking the sacrificial lead, but then loses a vital tempo. xx Jxx Axx KQJ9x Qxxx Axxx xxxx QT9 xxx Kxx xx Axx KJT AKx QJxx Txx After a 13-15 1NT and a raise to 3, West leads Sx against 3NT. Placing his partner with at most 3 HCP, East puts on the SA and returns DK. If declarer ducks, East reverts to spades, and the defence gets three spades to go with DK and CA. The Merrimac coup was named (by Ely Culbertson) for an American coal ship which was scuttled in the bay of Santiago, Cuba, to bottle up a Spanish squadron, during the Spanish-American War of 1898. ;Deschapelles coup Named for the whist master and chess champion A. L. H. Lebreton Deschapelles (1780-1847), this gambit creates an entry to two or more long card tricks in partner's hand. The usual setting is the lead of a king or queen to drive out a doubleton ace. Jxx Ax AQTxx Kxx T9xxx AKx Qxxx Kxx xx KJx xx JTxx Qx JTxx xxx AQxx Against 2NT West leads a spade, and East clears the suit, West dropping the ten on the third round. When East wins the first diamond finesse he leads HK, and the defence gets 4S+1H+1D. Like the Merrimac coup, the Deschapelles has a variant in which declarer can duck his control, but only at the cost of a vital tempo. Jxx E S W N AKQ 1D P 1S Dbl Kxxx P 1NT End KTx QTxxxx Ax xxxx xx Q AJ7x Qx AJxxx Kx Jxxx T986 xxx Against 1NT the defence starts with a spade to the A and a spade back. Declarer leads DT to Q, K, and A. East now tries the CJ, since his partner's only possible entry is CQ. If declarer ducks the J, East continues with A and another club and will take seven tricks by himself.