abstract:The Merrimac coup (also known as Hobson's coup or Hobson's choice) is a contract bridge coup where a player (usually a defender) sacrifices a high card in order to eliminate a vital entry from an opponent's hand (usually a dummy). It was named after American steam ship Merrimac, which was sunk during the Spanish-American War in 1898 in Santiago de Cuba in an attempt to bottle up the Spanish fleet.