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HOMEPAGE > QUIZ > HAMMAN'S TIPS > WEEK 33

Dealer : South
Vuln : East-West

HAMMAN'S TIPS #33
by Bob Hamman
the world's #1 ranked player

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	North A K 10 9 7 4 A 8 3 K 4 Q 2
West Q J 2 Q J 10 6 J 9 7 3 K J	East You 6 9 7 4 Q 6 5 2 A 10 9 5 3
	South 8 5 3 K 5 2 A 10 8 8 7 6 4

I was East on this hand in a Bermuda Bowl.
The Italian Blue Team stars, Belladonna
(North) and Garozzo (South), bid to 3NT,
and my partner, Bobby Wolff, led the queen
of hearts. Declarer won in dummy and cashed
the ace-king of spades and led another spade.
I discarded the 2 of diamonds and a low heart.
My partner switched to the king of clubs and
we took five club tricks, to set the contract two
tricks.

Today's tip is that when defending notrump,
beware of discarding from the suit you need
partner to shift to. If you discard a club on this
hand, you throw away one of your tricks. If
you discard the 10 or 9 of clubs as a come-on
signal, you throw away the entire contract.

By the way, at the other table, North declared
3NT, and East gave away the contract with the
10-of-clubs lead, sabatoging his club winners.

South pass 1** 1NT 3	West pass pass pass pass	North 1* 1 2 3NT	East pass pass Pass all pass
* 17+ points, artificial 0-6 points, negative, artificial Opening lead: Q**

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