Cover cards
A cover card is an honour which covers a likely ''hole'' in your partner's holdings.
When considering the level at which to respond when accepting partner's suit, considering cover cards may be more accurate than losers.
Quick tricks are a measure of a hand's honours holding, used in response to a bid made on the basis of playing tricks or when considering whether a hand is strong enough to open 2C.
Counting quick tricks
Apply the following table in each suit:
| Holding | Quick Tricks to count |
|---|---|
| A | 1 |
| K | ½ |
| Q | 0 |
| A-K | 2 probably |
| K-Q | 1 probably |
| A-Q | 1½ probably |
| A-K-Q | 2 probably |
Longer honour holdings are less certain; consider the danger of opponents having a singleton.
Counting covers
- In partner's known long suit(s): Count 1 cover per A,K,Q.
- In other suits: Again look at the A,K,Q, but large honour holdings aren't so useful because of the danger that they will be wasted against a short holding by partner. Therefore, count cover cards according to what turns out to be the Quick Tricks table above.
Again, holdings of more than one honour are of variable use; yes, the A-K are two winners, but if partner only has a singleton there, there is only one entry in that suit.
Applying the cover count
Take partner's promised number of losers, then deduct your number of cover cards to give the combined number of losers you're likely to have. If this suggests slam (i.e. is 1 or less), then it's probably time to ace-ask.
Points to Covers table
If you've got a good idea of partner's point count - say they've made one of the very precise balanced hand opening sequences - then this table might be useful.
| HCP range | Expected number of covers |
|---|---|
| 0-6 | 1 if you're lucky! |
| 7-9 | 2 |
| 10-12 | 3 |
| 13-15 | 4 |
| 16-18 | 5 |
| 19-21 | 6 |
| 22-24 | 7 |
| 25-27 | 8 |