Card Games
How to play Contract Bridge
Partners bid a contract and try to take its promised tricks. Declarer controls their own hand and exposed dummy; defenders cooperate without revealing their cards.
What you need
A 52-card deck, four players in opposite partnerships and a scoring reference
Set up the game
- Deal thirteen each. Set vulnerability before the deal; duplicate boards specify it. Aces rank high, twos low.
Playing Contract Bridge
- Dealer starts the auction: pass, sufficient bid, legal double of opponents’ contract, or legal redouble of your doubled contract. A bid promises six plus its stated level in tricks.
- Bids ascend by level then clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, notrump. Three passes after a bid/double/redouble finish; four initial passes pass out.
- Declarer first named the final denomination for the winning partnership. Left-hand defender leads, then partner exposes dummy.
- Play one card per hand clockwise. Follow suit if possible; otherwise discard or trump. Highest trump wins, else highest of led suit. Winner leads next. Declarer selects dummy’s cards in proper turn.
- After thirteen tricks score the contract or undertricks. Play the agreed deals; duplicate events compare results with other players of the same cards.
Six tricks form the book
At 3NT, nine tricks exactly make the contract: six plus three. Points are 40 + 30 + 30 = 100, enough for game. Nonvulnerable duplicate adds 300, total 400. Eight tricks instead means one down; you do not receive partial credit toward making 3NT.
An initial scoring reference
Undoubled made-contract points: 20 per contracted minor-suit trick, 30 per major, or 40 for first notrump and 30 thereafter. Duplicate adds 50 for partscore, or 300/500 for game depending on vulnerability. Undoubled undertricks cost 50 each nonvulnerable, 100 vulnerable. Doubles, redoubles and slams require the full table, not multiplying every figure blindly.
Beginner decisions
- Count likely winners across both declaring hands before playing from dummy. A short plan can preserve an entry needed several tricks later.
- Agree one simple bidding system. High-card counts measure strength but are not themselves bids.
Common rule mix-ups
- Reading two hearts as only two tricks; it requires eight.
- Letting dummy recommend declarer’s next card.
Questions about this game
Must I trump when void?
No. Discarding is legal.
May defenders discuss their hands?
No. Partnership methods require appropriate disclosure, not secret signals.
Sources and edition notes
Four-player contract bridge introduction using duplicate-style deal scoring. Rubber and Chicago session scores differ; bidding systems are partnership agreements.
Sources and stated format checked October 14, 2026. This records a document check, not a claim of hands-on testing.
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