Introduction to How Bridge is Played
Bridge is a card game that combines skill, strategy, and teamwork. It is played with a standard deck of 52 cards and enjoyed by four players, divided into two teams (partnerships). Partners sit across each other.
Sitting Arrangement. Each player sits on one side of a 4 sided table. The sides are called North, South, East, West. North and South are partners, East and West are partners.
N
W E
S
The game is played in two main phases: the Bidding phase and the Table Play phase, each requiring distinct skills and tactics.
Bidding Phase: The goal of the Bidding phase is for the partners to agree on how many tricks they will make and what will be the trump (or if there will be no trump at all). The final bid is called the contract. Once the contract is determined, the Play phase begins.
In the Bidding phase, players use a system of bids (called convention) to communicate about their hands to their partners. There are many conventions played by millions of bridge lovers in the world but only few are popular. A convention between partners cannot be kept secret from their opponents. Hence their opponents also know what they are communicating. This includes details about the number of high-card points (Aces, Kings, Queens, and Jacks) they hold, as well as the distribution of their cards among the four suits (spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs). Bidding revolves around a few key elements:
Level: Players bid the number of tricks their partnership aims to win. Bids range from level 1 to 7, indicating the number of tricks they intend to win. Level 1 means 7 tricks and level 7 means all the13 tricks.
Trump or No Trump: Players specify a suit (spades, hearts, diamonds, or clubs) as the trump suit, or they bid "No Trump" if they intend to play without a designated trump suit.
Combined Strength: Players communicate the number of cards they have in a particular suit to help their partners gauge the strength and potential of their combined hands.
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Dealing the Cards: When four persons sit down to play, who deals the first deal?
Answer:
-When you are not playing a tournament: you cut for deal (take out a card from the pack (deck)). Highest card person deals. But what if more than one player have same highest cards, like two have Aces? Then Spades are higher than hearts which are higher than diamonds which are higher than clubs. This is called hierarchy of suits.
Note: This hierarchy is very important during the bidding phase.
Cards are dealt clock-wise, first card to the person sitting left of the dealer.
Etiquettes:
Traditionally two packs are used for playing bridge. While dealer is dealing with one, the partner shuffles the second pack and keeps it on her right side, ensuring that it is ready for the next dealer to deal. Dealer turn also comes clock-wise.
Licking thumb or fingers: Some people have the habit of licking their fingers or thumb to arrange or select a card. This is a strict NO NO.
-When you are playing a tournament: Players do not deal. An already dealt board with N,S,E,W (13 cards each) is given to players and who the dealer was is also mentioned there itself.
Importance of who the dealer is: The dealer gets the first chance to bid. Next bidder is the player on left of the dealer and so on, clock-wise. So if South is the dealer, he will make a call (bid) first, then West, then North, and then East and then South again and then West etc, till three players say pass consecutively.
Example of Bidding Process and Continuation to Play
Suppose North is the Dealer and players hold following cards:
North
♠K, ♥A Q 9 7 6 4 3, ♦6 4, ♣A 3 7
West East
♠A Q J 5 4, ♥10 5, ♦9 3 2, ♣ K 9 8 ♠9 7 6 3 2, ♥ , ♦A J 8 7 5, ♣ 10 4 2
South
♠10 8 ♥K J 8 2, ♦K Q 10, ♣ Q J 6 5
Note: This is just to show how bidding is done. It is not an example of any convention.
The bidding starts with North, and players take turns to make bids or pass. To pass you can say Pass or No Bid but whatever you choose to say, you have to say that consistently during the tournament. Here's how the bidding process might unfold:
North: "One Heart." It means heart is trump and they will have to make 7 tricks
East: "Pass." East does not have much of good cards.
South: "Two Hearts." South has good heart support with the King and Jack, so he raises the bid to "Two Hearts." Now they will have to make 8 tricks with heart as trumps
West: "Two Spades." He shows he has good spades suit and some other decent cards. If bidding stops here, East and West will have to make 8 tricks with spades as trumps.
North: "Four Hearts.". Based on biddings, North thinks they can make 10 tricks with hearts as trumps.
East: "Pass." .
South: "Pass." South also passes.
West: "Pass." West also passes, indicating they have no further interest in the bidding.
The final contract becomes "Four Hearts," with North-South as the declaring side, and they aim to win at least 10 tricks (the bid level plus 6). Hearts are the trump suit.
This example shows how players use bids to communicate about their hand strength, their preference for a particular suit, and their willingness to compete for the contract. Bidding is a dynamic process where partnerships work together to find the most advantageous contract based on the cards they hold. It requires careful consideration of not only your own hand but also your partner's and opponent's bids. Information inferred from opponents' bidding is also very useful during the play of cards.
In this example, because North first said Hearts, he becomes the "declarer", which means East will play the first card - called "opening lead" of the play. In this example, once East plays the first card, declarer's partner's (South in this example) cards come down on table for everyone to see. South becomes "Dummy" in this example.
The Dummy (south in this example) cannot in any way interfere in the play. Declarer (North in this example) alone has to plan how to make the 10 tricks and play the game.
In this example after South's cards have come down, a card from South will be played, then West and then North to complete the round. Whosoever wins the trick shall play first card of next round, As there are 13 cards in each hand to start with, there will be 13 rounds to make 13 tricks in one deal.
Note that you have to follow same suit as the lead (first card of the round), if you have that suit in your hand. If you do not have, then you can trump it or play from some other suit. Note: In a "No Trump" contract, there are no trumps.
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Concept of Game, Part Games, Scoring, Double, Redouble and Vulnerable
We have discussed Bidding and Playing phases of Bridge. So what happens after all the 13 cards of the hand are played? How do we know who is winning and who is losing after many deals?
This is where Scoring comes into picture.
When You Make the Contract:
Suppose you bid 1S or 1H and make it, you get 30 points. Similarly if you make 4S or 4H, you get 120 points. If you make 7S or 7H, you get 210 points.
But…
If you bid 1D or 1C and make it, you get only 20 points. If you make 5D or 5C, you get 100 points. If you make 7D or 7C, you get 140 points.
For this reason Spades and Hearts are called Major suits, while Diamonds and Clubs are called Minor.
There is a further twist in the tale. If you bid and make 1NT, you get 40 points. However for each additional trick you get 30 points only. So if you make 3NT, you get 100 points (40+30+30). A 7NT fetches 220 points, if made.
What if you bid 1 of a suit or NT, but make 8 tricks, meaning one more than required? This extra trick is called overtrick. You will get 70 or 60 or 40 total points depending on whether the contract was in NT, Major suit or Minor suit. However points will be split between what you had actually bid and overtricks.
There are more rules regarding scoring when you make the contract - will be discussed later.
When You Fail to Make the Contract:
When this happens they are called under tricks or simply “Short”. Supposing you bid 2NT but made only 6 tricks instead of required 8, you are 2 short (or you made two undertricks) and for that you give a penalty. In other words, instead of you, your opponents get points. How many - we will see details later.
Game: If you bid and make a contract worth 100 points or more, it is said that you have made a game. You get extra points for that as a bonus in tournaments (or if make the rubber in a rubber bridge). You are also called Vulnerable now. Therefore 3NT, 4S, 4H, 5D and 5C make a game in one shot. If you bid and make less than 100 points contract, you have only made a Part Game. Your two or more part games can make a game if they add up to 100 or more, provided your opponent has not made a game after your part games.
Double: Suppose your opponents say 2S, meaning 8 tricks with spade trump, but you feel they will not make it. You can say Double to double the penalties if they do not make it. Please note, if they make, they will get double the points (double of 2S is 4S) and make a game. There will also be a difference in case your opponents are vulnerable.
Redouble: if you double but your opponents are confident of making the contract, they can redouble. This will make their points 4 times of undoubled play if they make. Vulnerability will also make a difference regarding points in case they make or fail the contract.
This link gives details of scoring: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_scoring. There are some differences in rules for scoring in Duplicate Bridge and Rubber Bridge.
Duplicate Bridge is played in tournaments, while Rubber Bridge we play in homes and clubs.
