How bridge is played Larry Hammick larry@hammick.com 2000.04.18 This is only an informal account of the mechanics of bridge, for beginners. To get a copy of the full Laws, get in touch with your national bridge league (e.g. on the web) or your local club. Bridge is played by four players sitting at the four sides of a square table. In describing the game, the players are customarily referred to as North, East, South, and West, in the usual order of the compass. But those terms are not needed in the game itself. North and South play as partners against East and West. Partners, therefore, face each other across the table. Each player has a "left- hand opponent" and a "right-hand opponent". THE DECK The common western deck (or pack) of cards is used, with 52 cards divided into four "suits" of thirteen cards each. In bridge the suits are ranked in alphabetical order: clubs (lowest) diamonds hearts spades (highest) The cards within a suit also have ranks. From highest to lowest they are: ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. It is normal to have two decks at the table, of different designs to avoid accidental mixing, so that one deck can get shuffled while the other is being dealt. DRAWING FOR PARTNERS In a club game the partnerships are determined at random. A deck is fanned out face down, and each player draws a card. The two highest cards make one partnership against the other two. Also, the highest card determines who will be the first dealer. For this comparison of two cards, the rank within a suit is more important than the suit. For example, the 6 of clubs is higher than the 5 of spades, but the 5 of spades is higher than the 5 of clubs. THE DEAL The cards are shuffled by the player on the dealer's left, who puts the shuffled pack on the table between himself and the dealer. The dealer is entitled to shuffle the pack once more himself, and then moves the shuffled pack to his right. The player on his right cuts the deck by lifting a portion off the top and placing it nearer the dealer than the bottom portion. The dealer completes the cut by placing what was the bottom part upon the top part. Then the dealer distributes all 52 cards, face down, into four piles, one in front of each player. The cards come off the top of the deck one at a time, in clockwise rotation, beginning with his left-hand opponent and finishing with himself. Only when all the cards are dealt should each player pick up his pile, called his "hand". While the dealer is dealing, his partner shuffles the other pack, if there is one. When finished he places it at his right, i.e. at the left of his right-hand opponent, who will be the next dealer. THE PLAY After the deal comes the "bidding" -- also called the "auction" -- and then the "play" of the hand. It is convenient to describe the play first. The auction determines, as we shall explain, who will be "declarer". The declarer's left-hand opponent plays a card by taking it out of his hand and putting it face-up in the middle of the table. This is called the "opening lead". The next player (in the same clockwise order as the deal) displays his hand face-up on the table. He and his hand are called "dummy". The declarer will play dummy's cards as well as his own. Declarer chooses a card from dummy and plays it, also into the middle of the table. Then the third player in rotation (declarer's right-hand opponent) plays a card, and finally declarer plays a card from his hand. Four such cards, one from each hand, make up a "trick". Each trick is "won" by one of the four cards, as we shall explain. For any trick except the first, the lead is made by the hand which won the previous trick. The play continues until all the cards (therefore thirteen tricks) have been played. When each trick is completed, the four cards are gathered up, and that little packet is placed face-down in front of the player who won it or in front his partner. All the tricks won by the same side are normally collected by the same player of the partnership. Separate tricks are not stacked together, so that the players can always tell how many tricks have been won by each side in the play so far. The opponents of declarer and dummy are called the "defenders" or the "defence". A player other than dummy need not sort his hand, but almost all players do, at least enough that cards of the same suit are together. Some players alternate red and black suits to avoid error. Most also sort the cards within each suit from highest to lowest. The dummy hand is arranged on the table in a conventional fashion, as follows. The cards of any one suit make a column, sorted from highest to lowest, with the highest at the top of the column. The columns point from dummy towards declarer with the suit-symbols right-side-up for declarer. The trump suit (see below), if there is one, goes leftmost, from the point of view of declarer. FOLLOWING SUIT When leading (making the lead) to any trick, any of the four hands may play any card he has left. The other three hands, however, are restricted in what they may play. If a hand has any cards of the suit that was led, he must "follow suit" by playing one of those cards. There is no restriction on which card within the suit. But if a hand has none of the suit that was led, he may play any card he still holds. WINNING TRICKS The auction determines what suit, if any, will be the "trump" suit. Each trick is won by the hand which played the highest card _of the suit led_, unless one or more trumps were played, in which case it is won by the highest _trump_ card in the trick. THE BIDDING The bidding determines who will be declarer, what if any suit will be trumps, and how many tricks each side will need to win in order to score points. The dealer has the first chance to "call", and the opportunity to call rotates around the table in the same clockwise order as the deal. A call may be of any of these four types: a bid pass double redouble. The auction may go around the table several times; each player may get more than one turn to call. To pass, a player says "pass" or "no bid". The latter is preferred in some areas where "pass" may be mistaken for "heart". A bid consists of a number from one to seven, and a "denomination". The denomination may be any of the four suits or it may be "notrump". To bid "three spades", for example, promises that your side will take _nine_ tricks in the play with spades as trumps, if there is no more bidding. Likewise, to bid six notrump means that your side will take twelve of the thirteen tricks with no trump suit, unless someone else subsequently bids. The number in a bid always refers to the number of tricks promised in excess of the first six, which are called the "book". We will use the letters C, D, H, S for the four suits and NT for notrump. "Dbl" and "Redbl" will be short for the calls "double" and "redouble". The bidding is called an auction because each bid must be higher than any preceding bid. "Higher" means that it names a larger number of tricks, or names the same number but in a higher denomination. The suit denominations have the alphabetical order we have mentioned, but notrump is higher than any suit. To illustrate, each bid in the following sequence is higher than the previous: 1D 1H 1NT 2S 2NT 3D 4H 6C A player is never required to bid at his turn, but may pass. Furthermore, if the most recent call other than a pass was a bid by an opponent, he may say "double". Finally, if the most recent call other than a pass was a double by an opponent, he may say "redouble". On most deals someone will bid at his first turn, in which case the auction continues until there are three consecutive passes. But if the auction begins with three passes, the fourth player still gets a chance to "open the bidding". If he passes also, the hands are thrown in (there is no play of the hand) and the cards are dealt again by the next dealer (using the other deck, or the same deck reshuffled). Unless the deal is thrown in, there is a "contract" and a "declarer". The contract is the final (i.e. most recent) bid. The declaring side is the side that made that bid. The declarer is the member of the declaring side who first made some bid in that denomination (not always the player who made the final bid). The contract is played "doubled" if a double was followed by three passes. Likewise the contract may be a "redoubled" one. Here are a couple of auctions to illustrate the contract and declarer. S W N E 1S Dbl Redbl P 2S P P P The contract is "2S by South", i.e. South is declarer and the contract is 2S. Note that the contract is undoubled; any bid, such as 2S here, cancels any previous double or redouble. West, because he sit's on declarer's left, will make the opening lead. S W N E 1S 2C 2H Dbl Redbl 2NT P 3C 3H P P Dbl P P P The contract is 3H doubled, by North. North was the first of his side to bid hearts. THE SCORING The scoring looks complex but soon becomes second nature. The original scoring table composed by Harold S. Vanderbilt in 1925, which inaugurated Contract Bridge, has undergone only a few minor adjustments since. This table, and in particular the practice of scoring "toward game" only those tricks that were bid for, is what makes Contract Bridge such an improvement on the earlier Auction Bridge, and accounts for the explosion in the popularity of bridge throughout the world during the years 1925-1939. One player (or, often, one from each side) keeps score on a piece of paper marked out like this: We | They | | | ================== | | | | | | There is We column for points made by the scorer's partnership and a They column for the other partnership. Some of the points made in the play are written "above the line" and some "below the line". We will gather up the different kinds of points as follows: 1. Tricks bid for, and game 2. Overtricks 3. Undertricks (penalties) 4. Honours 5. Premium for a doubled contract made 6. Slam bonuses 7. Rubber bonuses 1. Tricks bid for, and game These are the only points that go below the line and count "toward game", as we shall explain. If the declarer fulfills his contract -- takes at least as many tricks as his side contracted for -- his side scores: If the contract was undoubled: At a club or diamond contract: 20 points for each trick (beyond book) that they _bid for_ At hearts or spades: 30 for each trick bid for At notrump: 40 for the first and 30 for each additional If the contract was doubled but not redoubled: Twice the undoubled values If the contract was redoubled: Four times the undoubled values. When one side or the other accumulates 100 points below the line, it has made a "game" and is now "vulnerable". When that happens, another horizontal line is drawn below those numbers, so that they are now "above the line" and _neither_ side has anything below the line, i.e. counting towards the next game. Numbers appearing below the line are called a "part score" or "partial". The first side to win two games wins a "rubber", which is the normal unit of play. Because of the difference in scoring, clubs and diamonds are called the "minor suits" or the "minors", and hearts and spades are the "majors". As is apparent from the numbers above, a game can be made on a single deal: fulfilling a contract of 5Cor 5D is worth 100, 3NT is worth 40+30+30=100, and 4H or 4S is worth 120. If doubled, 2H or any higher contract is enough for game; if redoubled, 1H or any higher contract. Notice also that fulfilling a higher contract does not always produce a higher score. For example, 2NT makes 70, but 3 of a minor only 60; and 3 of a major is 90, but four of a minor is only 80. 2. Overtricks If the declaring side made more tricks than it contracted for (called "overtricks"), that side gets above the line: If the contract was undoubled: At diamonds or clubs: 20 points for each overtrick At hearts, spades, or notrump: 30 each If the contract was doubled (not redoubled): If the declaring side was not vulnerable: 100 points for each overtrick If the declaring side was vulnerable: 200 each If the contract was redoubled, the numbers are twice what they would be if only doubled. 3. Undertricks (penalties) If the contract was not fullfilled, but fell short by a certain number of "undertricks", the declaring side gets _nothing_ below the line, and the defending side gets above the line: If the contract was undoubled: If the declaring side was not vulnerable: 50 points for each undertrick If the declaring side was vulnerable: 100 each If the contract was doubled (not redoubled): If the declaring side was not vulnerable: For the first undertrick 100 For the second and third 200 each For each beyond the third 300 each (This 300 was just 200 until about 1990) If the declaring side was vulnerable: For the first undertrick 200 For the second and each third 300 each If the contract was redoubled, the numbers are twice what they would be if only doubled. 4. Honours If there was a trump suit, either side scores above the line: 150 if all five honours (A, K, Q, J, T) of the trump suit were in one of its hands (not both hands combined) 100 if any four but not five were in one hand If the hand was played at notrump, a side scores above the line 150 if all four aces were in one of its hands. Honours are scored whether the contract was made or not, and whether one's own side declared or defended. The amounts are not affected by a double or redouble. Honours are a throwback to Auction Bridge (which had a more elaborate table) and are not counted in tournament games. 5. Premium for a doubled contract made For making (fulfilling) a doubled, but not redoubled, contract, the declarer's side gets 50 above the line. For making a redoubled contract, they got the same 50 until about 1990, but the number is now 100. 6. Slam bonuses If the contract was for twelve tricks (a six-bid in any denomination) and was fulfilled, with or without an overtrick, the declarer's side has made a "small slam". If the contract was for all thirteen tricks (a seven-bid), a "grand slam". For these feats the declarer's side gets above the line: Small slam Grand slam If declarer's side was not vulnerable 500 1000 If they were vulnerable 750 1500 These numbers are not affected by doubles and redoubles. A grand slam does not get credit as a small slam as well. If declarer was in a 7-bid and made only 12 tricks, he _has not_ made a small slam (nor a game). 7. Rubber bonuses If a side wins a rubber in only two games (two to none) it gets 700 above the line; if in three games (two to one) it gets 500. If the play is stopped before the rubber is completed, each side gets 300 for having a game and 100 for a part score in an unfinished game. (The latter number was only 50 until about 1990.)