Coup, coup, who do you coup?

Another hand from my e-mail archives from an old club game.

Holding ♠9, ♥Q87632, ♦KT53, ♣K8, I passed as dealer.  LHO passed also and partner opened 2NT.  RHO passed.  Needing a good board (what else is new?), I chose to leap to 6♥.  LHO led the ♠Q.  Partner — bless him — put down a most suitable dummy.

North ♠ AK6 ♥ AKT5 ♦ AJ9 ♣ Q63

South ♠ 9 ♥ Q87632 ♦ KT53 ♣ K8

Having won the spade lead in dummy, I realized that I can make my contract without having to guess diamonds if I can guess which opponent holds the ♣A.

• If East holds the ♣A, and I lead a club through him, he is faced with two bad choices.  If he ducks the club lead, I will win the ♣K and eliminate my club loser by pitching my remaining club on the other top spade in dummy.  Alternatively, if East rises with the ♣A, I will, after unblocking my ♣K, be able to pitch two diamonds from my hand on the ♣Q and ♠A in dummy.
• If West holds the ♣A, and I lead a club through him, the same situation arises.  If he ducks the club, I will win the ♣Q and later pitch my ♣K on the ♠A.  Alternatively, if West rises with the ♣A, I will, after unblocking my ♣K, be able to pitch two diamonds from my hand on the ♣Q and ♠A in dummy.

The play of leading a club through the hand with the ace is known as Morton’s Fork coup.  Morton was a tax collector for the king.  If you looked as though you had riches when he came to visit you, he would look to collect a share of those riches on behalf of the king.  If, on the other hand, you looked as though you had no riches, then, he reasoned, you must be frugal and he would look to collect a share of what you must have saved.  A gotcha, either way!

Of course, at bridge, unlike the world of vassals, one has to commit to a decision: here, which opponent to play for the ace.  At the table, I chose, after drawing trumps, to play a club from dummy.  My ♣K lost to the ace and West continued with the ♠J, won in dummy.  I later lost a diamond finesse, failing by one trick.  The whole hand was:

Dealer: South Vul:	North ♠ AK6 ♥ AKT5 ♦ AJ9 ♣ Q63
West ♠ QJT852 ♥ 4 ♦ 8642 ♣ AT		East ♠ 743 ♥ J9 ♦ Q7 ♣ T97542
	South ♠ 9 ♥ Q87632 ♦ KT53 ♣ K8

I never did ask West why he failed to open 2♠.