The exceptions continue to roll

Ambrose Bierce, author of The Devil's Dictionary, said, "The covers of this book are too far apart."

Last week, we looked at "cover an honor with an honor" and found that it is usually right not to cover the first of touching honors, but to cover the last ... as long as it might gain a trick. However, as you are well aware, bridge stays healthy because there are exceptions to the rules. This week, so that the columns are not far apart, we will look at when you should break that cover-an-honor rule.

The first one features a tough play to find. South is in three no-trump, and West leads the spade queen to declarer's king. What happens after that? South starts with six top tricks: two spades, one heart, two diamonds and one club. Clearly, he must try to establish and run dummy's club suit.