Dealer
: North
Vuln : Both |
HAMMAN'S
TIPS #18
by Bob Hamman
the world's #1 ranked player
|
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You
should pass 3NT. You do have a sixth spade
and you do have
three-card support for partner,
but 3NT is always the most
likely
game contract
and you need a good reason to remove it. At
the
table,
North bid 4 and South bid 6. West led
the ace and 10 of
trump.
Declarer ruffed a heart
in dummy, ruffed a spade back to
his hand and
played all his trumps. If East had held four
diamonds, he
would have
been squeezed in
spades and diamonds, but he didn't (as
usual)
and the slam failed.
Yes,
declarer could make the slam with a transfer
squeeze, leading
the king of spades off dummy,
forcing East to cover and then
West is
squeezed
later in spades and diamonds. This was not the
percentage
play.
Here
are two tips: (1) Be cautious about raising
partner with
three
small trumps; and (2) As always,
think 3NT. |