Contract Bridge is a popular card game in the United States and Europe. With roots dating back to around 1930 and including whist and its predecessor, auction bridge, the game is loved in more than 130 countries and has an estimated 100 million players, making it as popular as poker and gin rummy.
The game is played by four players, with each pair facing the other at the table and playing against the other pair. In our contract bridge game, we play rubber bridge, which is different from competitive bridge, using the rules of bridge played at home or with close friends.
First, players play a kind of auction called "bidding. This is an act to determine the "contract," the suit of the trump card in the game (hearts, spades, etc.), and the number of tricks (turns in the game) that a pair can take.
The more stringent the conditions, the better the bidding for the "contract," but of course the more stringent the conditions, the more difficult it is to achieve that "contract. The more stringent the conditions, the more difficult it will be to achieve the "contract. If the opposing team bids more than that, it is one way to give it to the opposing team and play defense.
Once the contract is decided, the game begins. The player to the left of declarer who bid the contract is the first to play a card. The declarer and his partner are called the offense and the opposing team is called the defense.
When the lead is played at the first trick, the partner sitting opposite the declarer (called dummy) reveals his cards to all players and tells the declarer which card to play (in this game, even if the partner is the declarer, he tells the declarer which card to play). (In this game, the declarer is expected to give instructions to the declarer even if partner is the declarer).
There is a rule about the cards that can be played in each trick, and as long as you have a card of the suit of the first card played (lead suit), you must play a card of that suit. Then, according to the order of card strength, with A being the strongest and 2 the weakest, the player with the strongest card out of the four players has the trick. However, the player who draws a card not in the lead suit loses the hand, regardless of the strength of the cards.
However, if any player plays a card in the contract suit (even if he/she does not have a card in the lead suit), the card in the lead suit is considered stronger than any other card in the contract suit. If two or more cards of the contract suit are played at the same time, they are judged as stronger or weaker. If the contract suit is declared "NT" (no trump), the strength of the cards is judged purely on the strength of the cards. Therefore, "NT" is the most difficult contract suit to play.
The player who takes the trick may play the lead at the next trick. This is repeated 13 times, with the score awarded to the offense if the number of tricks taken by the offense is equal to or greater than the contract, and awarded to the defense if the number of tricks taken by the offense is less than the contract.
In rubber bridge, a "rubber" can be taken after two basic units of "games" have been taken. The game ends when either team takes the rubber. The points scored when the offensive team successfully makes the rubber (called "trick points" here for convenience) and the points scored when the defensive team successfully makes the rubber (called "bonus points") are different, and the game can be taken when the points scored by the offensive team (trick points) reach 100 points.
For a more detailed explanation of the rules, please refer to "Rules" in the menu.