Introduction to Bridge classes typically introduce students to the slogan “cover an honor with an honor”. For example, if declarer leads the Jack and you have the Queen, the slogan suggests playing the Queen (“covering” the Jack). But bridge is not a “never or always” sort of game, and in The Real World, sometimes covering is the best play and sometimes not covering is the best play.
We noticed two tendencies by less experienced players. Some nearly always duck (perhaps thinking that declarer will play partner for the missing honor), while others nearly always cover (perhaps playing bridge-by-slogan rather than bridge-by-thinking).
We suggest a different guideline: cover when covering stands to gain a trick for your side. That is, it’s necessary to make a specific decision each time.
For more information, see Real World Bridge 9: Defense. We also discuss a few frequent types of covering decisions, in Chapter 2 of Real World Bridge 1: Tips for Getting Better at Bridge.