How do honours score in traditional rubber bridge?
Card editor of the London Field W.H. Whitfeld published this bridge problem in 1885. South is declarer and has the lead with hearts as trump. With a sophisticated finesse, South can win every trick. South begins by leading the ace of diamonds, which, depending on what the opponents discard, opens a possible finesse of North's jack of diamonds. Next, South passes the lead to North with a spade that North trumps. North then leads the last heart, and South discards the 10 of clubs. With the lead of the last trump and then the ace of clubs, the defenders are presented with an insurmountable dilemma. East must hold two diamonds or South takes the last two tricks in the suit by discarding a spade. However, in order to hold on to two diamonds, East must discard the jack of spades, which in turn would force West to hold the queen of spades. Since West also needs the queen of diamonds and the jack of clubs to avoid losing a trick, a discard from any of the three suits will allow South to win all of the remaining tricks by an appropriate discard.
In traditional rubber bridge, honours are specific high-ranking cards in the trump suit—the ace, king, queen, jack, and 10—or, in a no-trump contract, the four aces.1
Honours are scored "above the line" on the score sheet, meaning they do not contribute toward winning a game. The scoring rules for honours are as follows:1
- Four trump honours: If a single player holds four of the five trump honours in their hand, their side scores 100 points.1
- Five trump honours or four aces: If a single player holds all five trump honours, or all four aces at a no-trump contract, their side scores 150 points.1
It is important to note that these points are awarded based on the cards held by an individual player, not the combined partnership. All other bonuses, such as those for overtricks, slams, and doubled or redoubled contracts, are also recorded above the line.1