Contract Bridge" is a very popular card game in Europe and the United States. It is a so-called "trick-taking game" (a game in which players play several mini-games, one for each trick, and the winner is the player with the most tricks), and the rules and tactics are very complicated to explain in detail.
The game is played by four players using a deck of 52 playing cards. Players facing each other are paired up and play against the other pair. Contract bridge consists of "bidding," which determines the contract, and "play," in which the players actually play cards to win the game.
There are two sides in bridge, the "attackers" and the "defenders," and the "attackers" are the pair that "wins" the "bid," which will be explained next. First, let me explain about the bidding.
Bidding is an auction among four players to determine the following two factors
"Denomination" = Which suit (hearts, spades, etc.) will be the "trump" or NT (= no trump) which means "no trump
"Odd Trick" = Minimum number of tricks to take. Since all 13 cards are used, the attacker must take at least 7 tricks, which means that the attacker must take at least 1 trick more than the opposing team. The number of tricks to be taken by the attacker can be declared from 1 to 7.
Now, the four players bid in order, starting with the dealer. They declare "1♣", "2♠", and so on, but there is a condition.
Denominations have ranks, and they get stronger in the following order: ♣, ♦, ♥, ♠, NT, so if you have the same odd trick, you cannot declare a lower ranked denomination (e.g., after 1♥, you cannot declare 1♣). If you increase one odd trick (= declare to take more tricks), you can declare a denomination of a lower rank.
You can also declare "pass" if you do not wish to bid further. This is literally a statement that you will not bid, and you can choose this option if you want to see how your partner or opponents are doing.
After someone bids, the bidding ends when the other three players pass, and the last player to bid is the "contrarian". To actually succeed (= "make") this contract, you move on to "play".
Only when the opposing team is bidding can the player declare a "double". If you declare a double and the opposing team fails to make, the defending team gets a bonus point. However, if they succeed in making the double, they will give more points to the opposing team.
When the opposing team declares a double, they can declare a "re-double". This literally doubles the score of the double. Both a double and a redouble are declared when you are confident that you can get more tricks than your opponent can.
Now, once the contract is decided, the player who bid the contract is called "declarer" and his partner is called "dummy. Next, we move on to the explanation of play.
Play begins with the player to the declarer's left.
The card played by the first player in a trick is called the "lead. Any card may be played in this lead. When the opening lead is played, "dummy" (= declarer's partner) opens his cards for all players. Dummy will then play cards as instructed by declarer.
The turn goes clockwise. The following conditions must be observed by the player after the lead player
1.If the contract suit is other than NT
-If the player has a card of the same suit, he or she must play a card of that suit.
-If the player does not have any card of the same suit, he or she can play any card.
2.When the contract suit is NT
-Any card can be played.
Now, when all four players have played their cards, the player with the strongest card can take the trick. The strength of the cards is determined by the following conditions
A is the strongest card, followed by K, Q, J, 10, 9... and 2 is the weakest.
However, if the contract suit is other than NT, the trumps (the "trumps") are effective.
-If a card in the trump suit is played, it unconditionally beats a card in any other suit (e.g., if the contract is 1♥, 2♥ is stronger than A♣).
-If the cards are trump to trump, A♣ is the strongest and 2♥ is the weakest.
Now, the player who takes the trick is entitled to lead at the next trick. Likewise, he/she can play any card of his/her choice when leading.
This process is repeated 13 times, and play ends when all cards have been played.
If the number of tricks taken by the attacker is as declared in the bidding or more, the attacker's make is successful. If the number of tricks taken by the attacker is more than declared, it is counted as "over" and added to the score.
If the defending team takes more tricks than the attacker declared and the attacker failed to declare, the make is unsuccessful, and the number of tricks taken below the declaration is counted as "down" and a point is added to the defending team's score as a penalty.
Rubber bridge is a method of playing a game of contract bridge used when playing among friends.
The game ends when either team has won two games (said to have taken the "rubber").
1. The basic points for each odd trick (the number declared in the contract) made are 20 points for clubs and diamonds, and 30 points for hearts, spades, and NT (10 points are added separately for NT).
For example, if you declare 2♣ and the make is successful as declared, you get 2 x 20 = 40 points, and if the 3♥ is successful as declared, you get
3 x 30 = 90 points.
In 4NT, the score would be
4NT would be 4 x 30 + 10 = 130 points.
The calculation is as follows.
2. For each over or down declared, the attacker receives 20 points for each ♣ or ♦, 30 points for each ♥, ♠, or NT, and the defender receives the same for each down declared. Also, if the hand is doubled or redoubled, these scores are doubled and quadrupled, respectively.
However, these bonus points are counted separately from the 100 points for getting the game. To get the game, the score is calculated based on the score for a successful make.
The winner of the rubber is the team with more points from the make plus the bonus points. Please note that the team that took the rubber does not necessarily win the game.
Please refer to Wikipedia or other sources for more detailed information, such as the bar where the team that took the game is treated as the barnerable, and the slam bonus for taking 12 or more tricks.
The strategy of contract bridge is too deep to be explained in this page, but here we will explain only the basics of the game so that beginners can learn to take, make, and defend tricks to a certain extent.
The following points are important to keep in mind when bidding for beginners.
When bidding, choose a suit with winners (A, K, etc.) and as long a hand as possible.
Bid NT only if you have a lot of winners in all suits and if your hand is not unbalanced.
It is easy to be strong when you have winners in all suits, but you also need to consider the length of that suit. You should also be aware of your partner's hand, since you may have a hand full of cards in that suit, but your partner may not have any at all.
Basically, when you play, you should always try to take the lead by playing winners (A, K) and taking as many tricks as possible. If you are the attacker and the contract is other than NT, you should cooperate with dummy (partner) to mow the trump suit (let the opposing team use up their trump suit) by utilizing the trump winners.
If you have a weak hand, it is difficult to take tricks other than trumps, so use up your short suit (a suit with few cards in hand) early so that you can play trumps ("ruff") when the exhausted suit is led.
In the case of NT, you should connect with a winner to prevent your opponent from taking the lead.
If you keep the above points in mind to some extent, even beginners will be able to get some tricks.
In the free browser game "Contract Bridge for Mobile," which you can play on our website, you can compete against the AI in a single player game of Contract Bridge. We invite you to play Contract Bridge online.