I hear the Vienna Symphony

I played online bridge last night at OKbridge in the fish game regular mini-tournament.

On board #6, I was in 3NT on this layout:

                ♠ Q 10 9 7 3
                ♥ 10 4
                ♦ Q J 8
                ♣ A 8 3
==
                ♠ K 4
                ♥ A K 2
                ♦ K 10 7 4
                ♣ Q 10 4 2

I opened 1NT and my partner, the famous Viking known online as Xwing, transferred to spades and bid 3NT. West led the ♥6 and I ducked East's queen. I won the heart continuation and advanced the ♠K. West grabbed that and led another heart, driving out my king.

What next? I didn't have nine tricks yet, so I played a diamond from my hand and West took his ♦A. He cashed his good ♥9 (the suit divided 4-4), and exited with the another 9: the ♦9, taken in dummy with the jack.

I had available three diamond tricks, two hearts, one spade and one club. The opponents had scored four tricks for book, so it looked like I needed to finesse for the ♠J, and hope the suit divided. But could I improve on that?

There is a chance for a squeeze, but when I play my diamonds, dummy may reduce to a singleton ♣A. If the ♣K now dropped, I would have no way back to my hand.

Aha, a Vienna Coup. This is a maneuver in which you cash a trick, setting up a winner for a defender, then squeeze him out of it. It is so-named because it is thought to have been first defined at the whist tables in Vienna, Austria. (Whist is the granddaddy of bridge.)

I cashed the ♣A, then overtook the ♦Q with my king and cashed another diamond.

Unfortunately, my plan wasn't necessary, and anybody could make 3NT. West had the tripleton ♠A J 5, and the suit was always playing for four tricks. It would have been a better story (and sweet music) if he had ♠A J 5 2 and the ♣K. Just sayin'.

Here are all four hands (rotated):

                ♠ Q 10 9 7 3
                ♥ 10 4
                ♦ Q J 8
                ♣ A 8 3
♠ A J 5                       ♠ 9 7 2
♥ J 9 7 6                     ♥ Q 8 5 3
♦ A 9                         ♦ 6 5 3 2
♣ J 9 6 5                     ♣ K 7
                ♠ K 4
                ♥ A K 2
                ♦ K 10 7 4
                ♣ Q 10 4 2

The deal was played 60 times. Thirteen pairs went set in 3NT. Twenty-nine pairs played and made a part-score. Eighteen pairs bid and made 3NT. We gained 7.56 IMPs for plus 600.

Bridge is a beautiful game. Our score was only so-so, but it's enough knowing I made a thoughtful play that (most likely) no one else made. If only one person saw the Mona Lisa, it would still be just as lovely.

You can see all the results if you click here.