A term used to describe a play where, like the victims of Henry VII’s Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Morton, a defender is given only losing options.
Here is an example:
As South in 6♥, you receive a trump lead. You win with the ace and use high hearts from hand to draw trumps. It looks as if you might lose a diamond and a club (if the finesse fails). However, if you play a small diamond from hand towards dummy’s Q-3-2, West has no recourse.
If he rises with the ace, this will establish dummy’s queen for a second club discard (the ♠K will take care of one losing club). If West ducks, the queen wins and you can go on to discard the ♦K on the ♠K, just losing one club.
