The Order of the Bath

The Order of the Bath

The Bath Coup, well known for over 200 years, from the game of Whist, usually occurs at trick one. It is well worth declarer’s and defenders’ study.

The classic situation is when the defender on lead decides to lead the King from a holding of K Q 10 x, and maybe more. This is often a good lead. If partner has the Ace, then tricks can be cashed without setting up some for declarer. If declarer has the Ace, however, it all depends on the whereabouts of the Jack. Consider these four examples, one shown in each suit:

S J x x

H x x x

D x x x

C x x x

S K Q 10 x (x)

H K Q 10 x (x)

D K Q 10 x (x)

C K Q 10 x (x)

W E

S x x (x)

H x x (x)

D A x (x)

C J x (x)

S A x x

H A J x

D J x x

C A x x

First, the bad news. In the Spade situation, defender will no doubt regret the lead. Declarer will win with the Ace and still have the suit stopped, with the Jack in dummy. Too bad, but that is life. Let us ponder, however, the situations where dummy does not have the Jack.

The classic position is in the Heart suit. Declarer simply allows the King to win! This is the Bath Coup. If West continues the suit, then declarer takes two tricks. If defender changes suit, declarer likely gains a tempo, and the suit is still stopped. Although given the status of a coup, this is really just self preservation on declarer’s part. Should the Ace win the first trick, then whenever East obtains the lead, a Heart continuation will allow West to win the remaining tricks in the suit. So as declarer, you do not have a difficult decision. Just do it! It is the defenders who are in difficulty.

Put yourself in West’s position for the Diamond or Club situation. Let us assume, for the moment, that the King has been led and wins. What should West do next? If South has A J x, then a switch is advisable. If South has just the Jack (as in Diamonds), or just the Ace (as in Clubs), then a continuation is safe. How is West to know? The answer is that East must tell West. But how? A nod or a wink is not allowed!

The opening lead of a King, particularly in No Trumps, should have told East that West also holds the Queen. It should also imply holding at least one of the Jack, or the ten. Holding neither, then West would often choose to lead something else.

Thus in the Diamond situation it is quite safe for East to overtake the King with the Ace and return the suit. In the Club situation, East simply plays the Jack, then West can safely continue. In the Heart situation East is unable to do either, and so plays a plain card. Conventionally, for some players, this is the lowest with 3 cards, a higher with two (or four), but this is a finer point. The key is that if East holds either the Ace or the Jack, it is played. If holding neither, then perforce East cannot play either. This is a typical example showing how the game of Contract Bridge depends to a great extent on negative inference. “No have, no can do!”

So, to summarise, the order of priorities for you as leader’s partner, to counter the Bath Coup is: first, if the Jack is not in dummy and you hold the Ace, overtake the King and return the suit; second, if you have the Jack play it on the King, to show that declarer does not have it; and finally, with neither of these options available, try to show how many cards you hold in the suit.