From the desk of Bob Jones:

OLD BROMIDES

November 10, 2011

Hi All,

There are many ‘old bromides’ in bridge. An ‘old bromide’ is a piece of time worn advice that is usually, though not always, true. Examples are ‘3rd hand high’ and ‘cover an honor with an honor’. Another is ‘don’t cover the 1st honor off dummy’. Board #5 from Tuesday at Jourdan’s is a good example:

As the cards lie
bridge hand

North-South routinely reach 3NT from North and all the match points swing on the number of tricks you are able to take. The key suit is spades. At some point, declarer will lead the Q of spades off the dummy and East will be on the spot. If East covers with the K South will win the A and play a spade back towards dummy. South will play the 9 when West plays low, finessing against the 10 and take all the tricks in the spade suit. Top on the board for North-South.

East should remember the old bromide and not cover the Q of spades. This finesse will win, but declarer will have no winning continuation. If he now plays the J, East will cover with the K and partner’s 10 will be promoted as a winner.

Let’s all brush up on our bromides. Sounds like advice from a dentist?

Bob