Use Ctrl left click

• or right click and use open in new tab

The open in tab option you have selected is for where the action would otherwise open a new window.

Thank you for your response. I remember it all now.....! Must have had a case of brain-fade - temporarily as it may be. Thanks again.

You are welcome, maybe you would like to mark the problem as solved.

For the Google website you can set your preferences on the Google.com page via the Google Search settings link at the top right.

Results Window: Open search results in a new browser window.

The setting in Tools > Options > Tabs: "New pages should be opened in": "a new tab/window" is for links that specify a target window to open the link.
That option allows you to divert such links to a new tab or to the current tab.
For other links use a middle-click or hold down Ctrl and left-click the link or use the right-click context menu.
Left-click a JavaScript link to avoid getting a blank tab.

I was having the same problem & could not find an answer thru Google help. Thanks so very much for your post! (: