In the game of soccer, a schwalbe refers to an attempt by a player to fake a foul by intentionally falling to the ground and faking an injury, hoping to mislead the referee and gain an advantage. Sometimes it works, but a good referee should not fall for this.
Schwalbes also exist in the game of bridge, here is an example that I ran across while directing a national event. IMP’s, north dealer and all vulnerable, and you pick up this hand as south. Partner passes, the next hand starts the proceedings with 4♠, your call?
You decide to pass after considering 5♦ for a while. West and north pass too and you find yourself on lead. The ♦A stands out, for 6, 2 (odd number) and 4. You decide to switch to the ♣Q for K and A. Partner cashes a second club and then tries to cash a heart.
That is not a success as declarer can now claim on a cross-ruff. A switch to a trump at some point would have defeated the hand. Even worse, you are cold for 5♦ yourself. Is there a way to avoid explaining this to your teammates?
Yes, during the next hand, you look at the convention card of the opponents and note that they play NAMYATS, that is, a 4♦ opener shows a solid major and 4♠, by interference, a non solid suit. You call the director claiming that if you had known that east could not hold a solid suit, you’d certainly have overcalled 5♦.
Nice try, but the director doesn’t fall for it. First, it is unclear if a minor interference makes a bid alertable, if we follow that principle, you’d have to alert a natural opening saying that it denies a balanced hand with 15-17 as you’d open that 1NT. Then, if you know that east does not have AKQJ, does that make a 5♦ more attractive? We didn’t think so, what matters is the number of diamonds partner has, not whether he has a useless spade honor.
Score stands.
Note: In order to protect the innocent, this hand is not quite the original and, as they say in movies, any relation to actual persons is purely coincidental.