Merrimac Coup

The deliberate sacrificing of an honor card, usually a king, in order to remove an entry:

                    642

                    87

                    KQJT53

                    A5

KQ95                                87

J9543                               AT2

2                                        A64

T87                                   K9643

                   AJT3

                   KQ6

                   987

                   QJ2

West leads the 4 vs South's 3NT and East wins with the Ace.  East can see once the diamonds are set up, declarer will have a lot of tricks, so he switches the the King !!!, a Merrimac Coup, destroying the entry for the diamonds. 

Declarer can actually still make at this point, but is unlikely to do so at the table. Do you see how? (Answer)

Compiled by Lorne Russell 2005