Most players are familiar with the Bath Coup, even though they might not know the technical name for the play. It gets this name because the play is said to have originated in the resort town of Bath, in England.
Consider this deal where West leads the king of hearts. If South knows his way around a bridge table, he plays the four on the king, hoping West will continue the suit and hand him an extra heart trick. The duck of the king, holding A-J-x, is called a Bath Coup.
However, if West is familiar with this holdup play, he will switch to a different suit after East plays the discouraging deuce of hearts on the king. It is here that declarer must be careful not to dissipate his advantage.
Let's say West shifts to a club at trick two. South cannot afford to finesse, since this would subject him to defeat if the finesse lost and East returned a heart. So to ensure the contract, he goes up with the ace.
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He next plays the K-Q of trumps, followed by the queen of diamonds. Assume East wins the second diamond with the ace and returns a heart. South takes the ace, crosses to dummy with a trump and discards his heart loser on dummy's third diamond. He then concedes a club to the king to make the contract.
Observe that if South takes the king of hearts with the ace at trick one, he goes down. East later gains the lead with either a diamond or a club and returns a heart through declarer's J-4. The Bath Coup thus proves to be the key to making the contract, even though declarer may have no idea that the play he has employed carries a very fancy moniker.
