Clubs are for the golf course, diamonds are for your fingers ( Roberta Salob)

This simply reflects the fact that clubs and diamonds are called the minor suits because they score poorly in comparison with the major suits, spades and hearts, or a NT contract at the same level. To make game in a minor requires eleven tricks and at duplicate bridge partnerships will aim to play in 3NT if at all possible where only nine tricks are required, versus in 5C or 5D where eleven tricks are required.

Board 29, played on September 26 is an example. East/West can make 5C comfortably for a score of 600 but 4NT is also possible for a score of 630. A 3NT contract when played by East, despite having only 1 x spade and 1x heart stopper, is worth the risk at Pairs Bridge.

-DC

Get the kiddies off the street unless there is something to ruff first.

The "kiddies" are the small trumps residing in the defenders’ hands. Beginners should focus on the three most common types of trump hands (I have mentioned that there are five in my lessons and there are actually more because others can be hybrids).

"Get the kiddies off the street" means that declarer should draw trumps as soon as they get on lead so as to ensure that the defenders’ lowly trumps are not given the chance to ruff declarer’s side suit winners. The main exception is when declarer needs, before drawing trumps, to first trump cards in a weak side suit in her hand with dummy’s trumps. This requires dummy to have a shortage in that side suit (void or singleton normally).

An example is Board 13 played on September 26. North opens 1C, East overcalls 1S and ends in an ambitious contract of 4S.

South leads the 4C. East wins with the AC in dummy, plays AD and KD and trumps a diamond in dummy. Then trumps a club back to hand before trumping her last diamond with the QS. North can over-trump with the AS or not but East will make 10 tricks by trumping the diamonds in dummy before drawing trumps.

The other type of trump hand that beginners should aim to deploy is the one where either hand has a long side suit that needs to be set up. Occasionally, this can be done by trumping small cards in the long side suit with trumps in the other hand before drawing the defenders’ trumps. An example is Board 3 played on September 26, with 4S played by East.

East wins the likely QC lead with the AC in dummy, successfully finesses the JS, plays AD and trumps a diamond in dummy, plays off AS and KS and then runs the established diamond suit until North chooses to trump. East will also lose a heart trick but retains the last trump to return to her diamonds and make eleven tricks.

NB: It is very important to understand that extra tricks can only be won by trumping with trumps in a hand (either declarer’s or dummy’s) that has the same number or fewer trumps. The trumps in the hand that has greater length will win tricks in any event once trumps have been drawn. This is a common mistake by beginners. Be particularly aware of this issue when a transfer bid has resulted in the long trump residing in dummy.
-DC

Explanation:
This is a safeguard measure for declarer to ensure, if she has no other entry to the long side, that she doesn’t block her access. 

Example:
An example is evident in a recent “Hand of the Week”.

East, as declarer, receives a ♥ heart lead against 3NT. She must win with the A♥ not the Q♥ to avoid blocking the suit and can then overtake the Q♥ with the K♥ in order to make four tricks in the suit rather than two. 

Such situations occur quite commonly in declarer play. Blocking the suit by ending up in the short side can also have an adverse effect by forcing declarer to prematurely use a valuable entry to the long side in order to unblock.

This idiom relates to the bidding process to reach, hopefully, an optimum contract.

If one partner opens 1NT, for example, she has already defined her hand closely in terms of point range and distribution. Her partner is now “in the know” and “goes on” to make the contract by requiring the 1NT hand to transfer and/or describe her hand even more precisely.

In general, once one of the partner’s has defined her hand in terms of point range and distribution, the other is then in a position to determine the eventual contract.

It is a common failing that one partner, holding a “big” hand in terms of points and/or distribution, bids to a high level far too fast without first understanding fully the potential of their partner’s hand. There are clear rules around which bids and rebids are forcing and if the partnership complies with these, there is never a rush when the partnership has the benefit of the bulk of the high card points and the assurance of winning the contract.

Board 27 played on September 26 is an example where taking time over the bidding can reap rewards. West opens 1H. East has an opening bid herself and could bid 4H direct but with a doubleton spade and an extra heart in support, let’s say she bids 2D. West will rebid 2H, which shows a minimum 12-15 points for her opening but also 6 x hearts. East now knows that the partnership is likely to have 1 x heart loser at most and she, herself, has first round control in spades and diamonds. After checking for Aces or key cards, she may well believe 6H has good chances. Incidentally, a Jacoby 2NT response to the 1H opening also works well here because West will show her singleton or void diamond which makes the East hand even stronger.