Scissors coup (or, Scissor coup, also at one time called The coup without a name
[The Bridge Players' Encyclopaedia, Paul Hamlyn, International Edition 1967]) is a type of
coup in
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
, so named because it cuts communications between defenders. By discarding a card or cards either from declarer's hand or from dummy or both, declarer can stop them from transferring the lead between each other, usually to prevent a defensive
ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
.
Consider this hand and auction with an opening lead of the eight of hearts.
Superficially, it looks as if there are only two losers: a heart and a diamond. However, if East plays the queen, South (declarer) must win with the king, or else his contract will be quickly defeated. The danger is then that West will win the first diamond (trump) lead, and play his other heart which his partner, East, wins with the ace. Then if East plays a third round of hearts they can benefit from a
trump promotion
Trump promotion is a technique in contract bridge where the defenders create an otherwise non-existing Contract bridge glossary#T, trump trick for themselves. The most common type of trump promotion occurs when one defender plays a side suit (cards ...
- South must trump high, or West's jack will win. This promotes West's jack to the highest outstanding trump, guaranteeing a third defensive trick.
The solution is elegant: upon winning the king of hearts declarer must cross to the king of spades and lead the king of clubs, throwing away the jack of hearts! By this Scissors Coup, East can no longer gain the lead.
See also
*
Loser on loser
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scissors Coup
Contract bridge coups