The Belladonna Coup and the Mysteries of a Genial Play by Red Jack

No trump, no cry. How to get away with competition

In May 1995 the world of bridge lost one of its most distinguished exponents, Giorgio Belladonna. Several times World Champion, member of the unforgettable Blue team, he was a recognized genius of the game for his brilliant inventions at the table both in bidding and in card playing. Compare your play with the Italian champion, sitting in south and attempting to realize the contract of 4, on West’s lead of a small trump, after this simple natural auction:

8 6 3 K 6 A K 5 3 2 K 6 4

A Q J 9 5 J 8 2 9 4 A Q 7

West	North	East	South
			1
Pass	2	Pass	2
Pass	4	End

After the 2 lead, 8 from dummy, you take in hand the 10 supplied by East with the Jack of spades. What’s your plan? At first glance, you can lose at most 2 tricks in hearts and one trump (probably West attacked from King third). But it will be necessary to ruff in dummy the third heart, which will be impossible if the opponents play trumps, preventing the ruff. You have only 9 sure tricks, however the prospects of respecting the contract are more than good, as you’ll be able to make the tenth trick with the King of hearts, if the Ace is well-placed in West, or with A and Queen of hearts in East. Last but not least, the hope to gain a diamond trick if this suit is divided 3-3 (in case of division 4-2 you would not have the number of entries needed). For percentage lovers, the success of the contract is roughly around 80% (division of diamonds or position of the hearts honors), more than satisfactory for a game contract. But there is a nearly 100% safe line of play (except for a very unlikely ruff in one of the minors), which safeguards against any position of hearts honors and does not depend on the division of diamonds rests. Did you find it? Just enter dummy with the King of clubs and play the heart spot towards the Jack in the hand. Look what happens. With AQ of hearts to the left West takes the declarer’s Jack but can not return spades without losing his trump trick. Returning in a minor, the declarer has the time to give him the Ace of hearts, once again without the possibility of a convenient return without losing a trick or being able to prevent the dummy to ruff the heart loser. With AQ on the right, East is forced to release a trick in hearts to the declarer, whether he passes the Queen or stays low. With Ace in west and Queen in east, if East passes the Queen, he can play trump but has already released a trick in hearts to the declarer, the same happens if he ducks. Conversely, with Queen in West and Ace in East, if he passes the Ace free the King in dummy, if he stays low allowing West to capture the declarer’s Jack with the Queen, West can not return conveniently a trump and must give the declarer the time necessary to ruff in dummy the heart loser. This is the full deal:

	8 6 3 K 6 A K 5 3 2 K 6 4
K 7 2 Q 10 5 3 10 6 9 8 3 2		10 4 A 9 7 4 Q J 8 7 J 10 5
	A Q J 9 5 J 8 2 9 4 A Q 7

As you can see, the plan based on the position of the honors of hearts or on the division of diamonds would have failed, while even with the ace of hearts above the King and the Queen on the Jack, playing a small heart from the dummy the declarer ensures a trick in hearts. What a real great play The particular beauty of Belladonna Coup is that it reflects different characteristic situations of the game, and acts against both opponents. Against East, it is a maneuver of Milton Work, also known as Morton’s Coup or Morton Fork. In addition, it is an avoidance play to avoid the dangerous player, East. Against West, it is a through-in play, which forces him to a disadvantageous return. Ultimately, it can be considered a safety play, that permit to lose only 2 tricks in a suit instead of 3, against both opponents, through a ducking play, which displace East. But the fascination of the coup also lies in the mysteries that surround it. Mystery: the ghost European Championship

Bridge literature (IMP Bridge Magazine, Wikipedia) reports that the coup was performed during an unspecified European Championship in Belgium in the mid-1980s. But no European Championship was held in the 1980s in Belgium. The closest one held in Belgium and precisely in Ostend is dated 1973 and it is not possible to find the record of the deals. Mystery: the paternity Aside from the inaccuracy about which European Championship it was, who actually played this hand? It seems that Giorgio Belladonna on several occasions refused the paternity of the coup, stating that he absolutely does not remember having played it. Mystery: the ghost deal Victor Mollo, a great bridge writer, in his book “The Bridge Immortals” (1966) reports the following deal, different but with the same theme and the same elegant solution, attributing it to Belladonna. Here it is:

	J 9 K 4 J 10 8 7 6 A 7 6 4
K 4 Q 10 8 7 K 9 5 K Q 9 3		2 A 9 6 5 Q 4 3 2 J 10 8 2
	A Q 10 8 7 6 5 3 J 3 2 A 5

As you can see the crucial figure of the heart suit is the same, Kx in dummy in front of Jxx in declarer’s hand. Although the lead, in the contract of 4, obviously is not a trump, the theme of the coup is the same: East can not take the hand without releasing a trick in hearts to the declarer and West can not return a trump to prevent the ruff of a heart in dummy.

Victor Mollo’s references are a bit more accurate and credible, as he reports that the hand would have been played by Belladonna in the 1965 European Championships, actually held that year in Ostend in Belgium and won by Italy against Netherlands with a team composed by Pietro Astolfi, Giorgio Belladonna, Benito Bianchi, Vito Gandolfi, Giuseppe Messina, Renato Mondolfo. But then the same English author states, a few lines below, that there is actually no evidence that the deal was ever distributed and played during those Championships. Mystery: who really played that hand? Even that deal, which according to Mollo was widely reported by the press at that time, Belladonna denied ever having played it. And even of that hand you can not find a record on who and when it was actually played, if ever it was really played. Mysteries not yet solved Victor Mollo himself suggests in his book that the hand is the result of a fervent fantasy and may have been built by the bridge problem specialist Paul Lukacs. The hypothesis that the shrewd mathematician, considered “the strongest bridge player away from the table” (Mollo), could be the creator would seem plausible. But then, how is it possible that there is no trace, at least with some variant, in one of the many books written by the Hungarian author on the declarer’s play? A counter-intuitive maneuver

Apart from all the inaccuracies and mysteries surrounding the coup, is it just a curiosity or a concomitant of factors that presents too rarely, since no one has ever reported another deal based on the Belladonna Coup? Probably some variants of it can be escaped even the most careful observers since it is a matter of handling a suit in a certainly not natural or intuitive way. The maneuver is in fact also effective by exchanging the King with the Jack, playing in the same way, but what is even more interesting is that it also works by replacing the King with the Queen, in a figure of the heart suit like Qx-Jxx or Jx-Qxx always starting from the honor doubleton spot. The concept of this “counter-tempo” against a particular opponent can also be used in No-trumps contracts and it would be worth studying other possible variants carefully, since it allows you to gain a trick, valuable to maintain a contract or to look for an over trick. In any case, no one has ever come forward to claim the paternity of this coup or reported to have played it in a similar deal. For all the bridge community around the world, to have christened it “Belladonna Coup” is a tribute to the great champion and a way to remind next generations. … after all, who else could have played it but Giorgio Belladonna? Keep bridge alive…and us.

wikipedia: Giorgio Belladonna (7 June 1923 – 12 May 1995) was an Italian bridge player, one of the greatest of all time. He won 16 world championship titles with the Blue Team, playing with Walter Avarelli from 1956 to 1969 and later with Benito Garozzo. A leading theoretician, he was the principal inventor of the Roman Club bidding system, from 1956, and with Benito Garozzo after 1969 created Super Precision, a complex strong club based method. He was known as much for his mercurial temperament as for the brilliance of his card play; see, for example, Belladonna coup.

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