ª © CONTRACT BRIDGE PRELIMINARIES ¨ §

For those that have not played before, welcome to bridge, the most fascinating indoor game in the world. Bridge can provide an everlasting source of enjoyment, and can never be completely mastered!

THE 'CUT'

Bridge, like whist, is a game for 4 players in two partnerships. All cut a card, the two highest play together against the two lowest. The highest card entitles that player to;

-deal first

-choose the cards for the first deal (two packs are usually available to speed the game)

-choose a seat (yes, some people are very superstitious!)

THE SHUFFLE AND DEAL

The player to the left of the dealer shuffles the cards. The cards are then passed to the dealer who is entitled to have a final shuffle. The player to the right of the dealer then cuts the cards and the deal commences in a clockwise direction, 13 cards to each player.

(Dealer's partner shuffles the spare pack and puts it on their right ready for the next deal)

THE AUCTION

When the players have arranged their cards, there is an 'auction' starting with the dealer proceeding clockwise, and the two sides compete for the right to choose the trump suit (or no trumps). Players may make a bid or simply say 'pass' or 'no bid'.

At your turn, you must either pass or raise the level of the auction reached so far. A bid of 1ª says 'I propose spades as trumps and I propose to take 7 tricks. Always add 6 to your bid to calculate your trick target. 3¨ , for instance says 'I propose 9 tricks, diamonds as trumps'.

The auction always proceeds upwards with the 'ranking' of the suits being § ¨ © ª no trumps, e.g. you may bid 2© over 2¨ or 2§ but not over 2ª , you would have to bid 3© .

Players may bid 'double' saying, in effect, that they do not believe that their opponent will fulfil their trick contract. Either opponent may then bid 'redouble' saying 'yes I can'! Scores and penalties are adjusted accordingly (see below).

The auction ends after 3 consecutive passes. Declarer, the person who is to play the hand, is the person who first mentioned the suit in the final bid.

THE PLAY

The player to the left of 'declarer' leads a card first. Declarer's partner then becomes the 'dummy' who exposes his/her entire hand (putting the trump suit on their right hand side). Play now proceeds as in most forms of whist. Each player in turn follows suit (if possible) to every lead and the 4 cards constitute a trick. Dummy plays no part at all in the play, declarer plays those cards in turn on his/her behalf. The trick is normally won by the highest card of the suit led. All players are obliged to follow suit. If they have none, they may play something else, or win the trick with a trump. (if two or three players trump the trick the highest trump wins) The winner of the trick (this includes dummy) leads to the next trick until all cards are played. The hand is then scored.

SCORING

a) The Rubber

The objective at bridge is to win the 'rubber'. A rubber is the best of three 'games'.

b) The Game

A game consists of 100 points with points scored as follows;

Each diamond or club trick bid and made 20 points

Each spade or heart trick bid and made 30 points

Each no trump trick bid and made 40 for the first, 30 for the others

Thus 3 NT, 4ª, 4©, 5¨, or 5§ bid and made in one deal wins the game although a game may be made in stages, through a few smaller hands, called part scores, which add up to 100.

When one side wins a game, they become 'vulnerable' and the next game starts completely afresh, i.e. part scores by the losing side may not be used in the new game.

Doubled and redoubled contracts made multiply the trick value by 2 and 4 and score a bonus of 50 points 100 points respectively.

If you win the rubber 2 games to nil, you score a bonus of 700 points, if you win it 2 games to 1 you score a bonus of 500 points.

c) Overtrick Bonus

If you make more tricks than your contract, then you score a bonus to the value of the 'extra' tricks. e.g. if you make 10 tricks in 2ª (2 overtricks), then score a bonus of 2*30=60 points.

(If you are doubled, then the overtrick bonus is 100 points per trick not vulnerable, 200 points vulnerable. If you have the fortune to make redoubled overtricks, then the bonus is 200 and 400!)

d) Slam Bonus

In bridge, if you bid for 12 or 13 tricks and make it (a slam), bonus is as follows;

e) Honours Bonus

Honour cards are A K Q J 10. If you have all 5 honours in the trump suit in one hand or 4 aces in a no trump contract score 150 points. With 4 of the honours in a suit contract, score 100 points.

f) Undertrick Bonus

If you do not make the contract, your opponents score a bonus for each undertrick as follows;

Redoublesd undertricks are twice the doubled value.

THE SCORE SHEET

This is normally in the form of a 'cross' with a 'we' column on the left (our score) and a 'they' column on the right (their score). The trick scores bid and made towards the game are written below the horizontal line. All bonus scores are put above the horizontal line. At the conclusion of the rubber, add all the scores together, including bonus, and take the we/they difference.

SCORING EXERCISE
 Note: The little 'superscript' numbers next to each score refer to the actual hand number.

And for the serious student!