How To Play Contract Bridge

While relatively easy to learn the basic rules of contract bridge, it can take quite some time to master. Contract bridge is played with the standard 52 card deck, with the cards ranked in the following, descending order: A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

In contract bridge, the suits are also ranked for bidding purposes, with Spades (♠) the highest ranked, hearts (♥) next, followed by diamonds (♦) and then clubs (♣). Spades and hearts are called the major suits and diamonds and clubs are referred to as minor suits.

Standard contract bridge is always played by four players, with two of the players playing as partners playing against the other two who are also partners. Each player will remain partnered with the same player throughout the entirety of the game. For variations of Contract Bridge for differing numbers of players, see the Variations section below.

Oftentimes, in this game the partnerships may be pre-arranged, especially amongst regular players. Otherwise, to determine the partnerships and the first dealer, the fully shuffled deck should be fanned out in the center of the table, face down. Each player then draws one card from the deck, but not one of the last four cards at either end of the spread out deck. The two highest ranked cards (see above for ranking of specific cards and suits) play as partners against the two lowest. The player who draws the highest card becomes the dealer for the first hand of the game.

Each player sits at the table directly opposite their partner such that the play will alternate between each partner. In bridge the seats are indicated by the four compass directions, North, South, East and West. Thus, player "North" sits opposite his partner "South" and "East" sits across the table from "West" who plays as his partner. The first dealer generally sits in the North position.

	North and South will thus play in partnership against the second partnership which consists of the players seated at positions East and West.

The pack is then shuffled by the player to dealers left and cut by the player to dealers right. The dealer then takes the deck and deals out one card at a time, face down to each player, starting with the player to his immediate left in a clockwise direction. He deals out the entire deck, with each player receiving thirteen cards. The right to deal each hand then passes clockwise around the table, with the next dealer being the player at the current dealers immediate left.

Bidding and the Auction

After each player examines his hand, the Auction begins. The auction begins with the dealer and continues clockwise around the table. On his turn at bidding, a player must make one of the following calls:

• Pass: A player not wanting to bid, double or redouble, may call "Pass". If the first four calls in the hand are all "pass" the cards are gathered together and the deal passes to the next player with no play or scoring occurring for this deal.



• Bid: The player, on his turn may make a bid representing a number of odd tricks. These odd tricks bid, are the number of tricks, over 6, that the bidder is contracting to win in the course of this hand. Along with his bid, he also names a specific suit to be the trump suit for the hand. Thus, a bid of three would indicate the player is declaring to win nine tricks in this hand (6 base tricks + bid of 3 = 9 total tricks). A bid can only be made if the bidder names a higher number of tricks than any previous bid or if he names an equal number of tricks to the previous highest bidder but calls a higher ranking suit (see suit ranking above) as the trump suit. A bid may also be made at "No Trump" which indicates the hand will be played with no trump suit at all. A "No Trump" bid outranks all other suited bids of the same number.



• Double: A player, on his turn to bid, may call "Double" if the last highest bid was made by a member of the opposing partnership. If the original bid that the player called "Double" on becomes the winning bid, that previous bid still determines which player becomes the declarer, the number of odd tricks to be won and the trump suit for the hand, however, all scores and penalties for odd tricks, undertricks and overtricks (see scoring below) are doubled. A "Double" call can be over bid by any legal bid that is higher than the previous, high call (either through a higher number of tricks or a higher trump suit declaration). In this event the double call is canceled, unless the higher bid is also doubled.



• Redouble: A "Redouble" can only be called if an opponent has called "double" on the current high bid. This current high bid must have been made by your partnership. A redouble again doubles the scoring and penalties for overtricks, undertricks and odd tricks. Similar to a call of "Double", a "Redouble" is overbid by any bid which would normally overcall the originally "Doubled" bid, which then cancels the "redouble" unless, through the bidding the new high bid again becomes redoubled.

The bidding continues clockwise around the table, player by player until three consecutive players call "pass". At this point, the player who made the highest bid is the winner of the bidding and his declaration becomes the contract for the hand for his partnership. The player from that partnership who first named the trump suit (or no trump) called in the winning bid is considered the "declarer" for the hand. Thus, the "winner" of the bidding may not necessarily be the member of the partnership who becomes this declarer. The declarer, who represents his partnership for the hand (see below), then attempts to win the indicated number of odd tricks declared in the winning contract. The suit named in the winning bid becomes the trump suit for the hand. Cards of this trump suit have additional precedence for winning tricks, as described later. If "no trump" was the suit called, then no trump suit is designated for this particular hand which indicates that none of the suits have any specific precedence for this particular round of plays.

Bidding Example
South	West	North	East
Pass	1 ♣	Pass	1 ♦
Pass	2 No Trump	Double	Pass
2 ♠	3 ♦	3 ♠	Pass
Pass	Pass	-	-
In this example, the dealer, South declines to start the bidding, with a pass. West bids the minimum bid of one club. North passes and East follows with a bid of one diamond. South passes and West increases the bid to 2 with no trump suit. North responds with a call of Double (whereas West's bid would remain the highest bid, but certain scores for the hand would be doubled). East passes and South, the dealer bids 2 spades which also cancels North's Double (although any player could again double the current high bid). West overcalls this bid with 3 diamonds and North responds with a bid of 3 spades. East, South and West all pass, thus three spades becomes the winning bid with spades as trump. Since North was the first player of his partnership to declare spades in a bid, he becomes the declarer and plays the hand for his partnership attempting to win a total of 9 or more tricks.

As bidding is one of the most complex components of the game of Contract Bridge, there are a number of standard bidding methodologies commonly used. These methodologies are generally designed to not only convey some information about your hand (through the various bids) to your partner, but also to complete the bidding (if you are the contract winner) with a bid in suit and number that the partnership can use to win the hand. All bidding techniques to be used by a partnership must be explained and discussed with the opponents before the game, and direct communications about the contents of a players hand are never allowed.

In fact, the major goal in the earlier bids in the round are simply to advertise information about your own hand and request information, through these same bidding conventions, about your partners hand. Before beginning their bidding players will thus evaluate their hands through a number of means, with the Goren point count system being the most commonly used in most social games of bridge. The bidding example above is not intended to so much illustrate anything about the players hands but more to show how the general flow of bidding in contract bridge might proceed.

Gameplay

Once the "declarer" and trump suit (if any) are determined as per the auction (see above) the play of the hand begins. The declarer attempts to win at least as many odd tricks as their final bid while the opposing partnership attempts to win as many tricks as possible in an effort to prevent the declarer from fulfilling the contract.

The dummy hand should be laid out in an ordered fashion for ease of play by the bidder.

The defender to the "declarers" immediate left starts by leading to the first trick. He places any card of his choice from his hand face up on the center of the table as the opening lead to the first trick. Immediately after this opening lead is played, the declarers partner must place his hand face up on the table in front of himself, arranged neatly. This hand is called the "dummy". This "dummy" hand is also played by the declarer who plays both his own hand and this face-up hand, in its proper turn. The partner who was the original owner of the "dummy" hand takes no further part in the play of any of the tricks in the hand. The opposing partnership, called the "defenders" play against the "declarer", each playing a card to the trick in their normal turn.

Scoring

A typical score sheet for Bridge has two scoring sections for each partnership, called "above the line" scores and "below the line" scores. Each scoring category, detailed below, is scored in one or the other locations.

• Tricks bid and won:
  If the declarer has won the requisite number of tricks (six plus the number of tricks they bid for the winning contract) they score dependent on number of tricks and trump suit (if any) for the hand, using the following table:

  Suit	Odd tricks Bid and Won
  	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
  Spades(♠)/Hearts(♥)	30	60	90	120	150	180	210
  Clubs(♣)/Diamonds(♦)	20	40	60	80	100	120	140
  No Trump	40	70	100	130	160	190	220

  This score is Doubled if the contract was "doubled" (see bidding section above).
  If the contract was "redoubled", the score in the chart should be Quadrupled.
  These trick scores are scored "below the line" for the declarers partnership.
  
  
• Overtricks:
  For every trick won beyond six plus their bid, the declarers partnership scores as follows (these extra tricks are called overtricks):

  Suit	Score
  Spades(♠)/Hearts(♥)	30
  Clubs(♣)/Diamonds(♦)	20
  No Trump	30

  If the contract was doubled each of these overtricks, regardless of the trump suit, is scored 100 points. If the partnership winning the deal is vulnerable (see below) they score 200 per overtrick instead.
  For a redouble, these tricks are scored at 200 points when not vulnerable and 400 when vulnerable.
  All overtrick scores are scored "above the line" for the partnership winning them.
  
  
• Undertricks (Scored for Defenders):
  If, however the defenders are able to prevent the declarer from winning six plus their bid in odd tricks, they are set and the defenders score as per the following tables for each trick short of their total bid plus six:

  Partnership Not Vulnerable   First Additional Standard Bid 50 50 Doubled Contract 100 200 Redoubled Contract 200 400

  Partnership Vulnerable   First Additional Standard Bid 100 100 Doubled Contract 200 300 Redoubled Contract 400 600

  This score, which is earned by the defending team, is scored "above the line".
  
  
• Double/Redouble bonus:
  If the declarer is able to fulfill a "doubled" or "redoubled" contract they score 50 points. This score is added in the "above the line" scoring section for the partnership.
  

Potential Honor cards if Spades were the trump suit for the hand.

• Honors:
  If any player (including the dummy hand) holds any four of the following cards in the suit chosen as the trump suit for the hand (Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Ten), his partnership earns 100 points, above the line. These five trump cards are called the Honors. If any player holds all five of these honors, his partnership scores 150 points "above the line". If the hand is being played at No Trump, the four aces are considered the Honors and any player holding all four earns a 150 point bonus "above the line".
  
  
• Little Slam:
  If the declarer is playing a contract to win 6 odd tricks (12 total tricks) and he is able to fulfill the contract he has made a little slam and his partnership earns a bonus of 750 points if vulnerable and 500 if not vulnerable. This score is added in the "above the line" section of the scorecard.
  
  
• Grand Slam:
  If the declarer has bid for and wins 7 (every trick in the hand) they have completed a grand slam. A grand slam scores 1,500 for the partnership if they are vulnerable and 1,000 if not vulnerable. As in a little slam, this score is added "above the line".
  
  

Winning a "Game"

This sample Contract Bridge Score sheet shows the typical layout and locations for possible scoring areas during the game. The individual sections have been labeled to show where the different scores should be recorded. Notice the separate sections for Above the line, Individual game sections and the Final Score given at the bottom of the sheet.

When, at the end of any hand, a partnership has scored an accumulated 100 or more points in the "below the line" section of the scorecard, it is said to win a game. When this happens, the score keeper draws a new line beneath the tally for both sides, setting each partnerships "below the line" score back to zero and again beginning to accumulate the "below the line" scores beneath the new line. Scores in this "below the line" section are only possible from bidding and making contracts. A partnership can score the requisite 100 points for a "game" through one or more hands, depending on the number of odd tricks bid for and won and the suit (if any) selected as trump for the hand.

The first partnership to win two "games" in this manner wins a "rubber". The partnership winning the rubber earns a 500 point bonus above the line. If, however, the opposing partnership have not won any games during the rubber, the winning partnership score 700 points instead.
Once one partnership has won the two games, completing the rubber, both sides accumulate all of their scores, totaling all of their previous below the line and above the line scores. The partnership with the higher grand total is declared the winner of the rubber. A rubber is usually considered a "complete game" of Contract bridge, with one or more rubbers being played in a contract bridge session.

Being Vulnerable or Not

When a partnership wins it's first game of a rubber, they are considered to be "vulnerable". Before that time they are considered not vulnerable. Being vulnerable dramatically increases the scoring and possible penalties for a partnership (see scoring section above).

In no-trump contracts, the four aces are the honors for that hand.

• In Plafond only odd tricks bid for and won are added to the below the line score.
• Overtricks always score 50 points each.
• Undertricks earn the opponents 50 points for the first trick the opponents miss their bid, 100 points for the second and 150 points for those beyond the second trick. These scoring values can be doubled and redoubled as appropriate.
• A Grand slam earns a 200 point bonus and a small slam earns 100. The bidding partnership earns this bonus regardless of whether the slam was actually bid.
• If one player holds all of the honors (a total of five) the bonus earned is 200. For one player holding four of the honors the bonus is 100. If the players partner holds the fifth honor the partnership earns 150. In a contract at no-trump, holding all four aces earns the partnership 200 points.
• The bonus for making the contract is 50 points when not doubled, 100 when doubled and 200 when redoubled.
• Although there is no concept of vulnerability in Plafond, a partnership still earns a bonus for winning games. A partnership winning it's first game of the rubber earns 100 points. Earning the rubber (second game) earns the partnership 400 additional points. If a game ends with a rubber incomplete, if one partnership has won one game and the other none in the rubber, the first partnership earns 150 points.

Duplicate Bridge: In Bridge tournaments and parties, the form of Bridge most commonly played is Duplicate bridge. Duplicate Bridge is set up in such a way that the arrangement of the cards is predetermined for each specific table, with each table having its own such set and arrangement of cards. This helps ensure that when players are competing they are playing with the same hands, which allows skill to play a much larger part in determination of the winners. Generally, in Duplicate Bridge the same pair of players will remain the same partners throughout the tournament. However in some tournaments each player may play independently and keep his individual score independently, or in other tournaments, teams of four may compete as a unit (each partnership of this team playing at a different table with the same tray, one team playing as North - South the other as East - West).

When duplicate bridge is played a "Bridge Board" is used at each table. This bridge board is a tray that contains four pockets holding the four hands for North, South, East and West. The tray also contains an indicator on who the dealer is for the hand, and which sides, if any, are vulnerable. A similar set-up is found at one or more other tables, with different hands. When all the tables complete their hands, the trays are reset (individual cards for the hand placed back into their respective envelopes) and the tray is moved to another table. Thus, the table that receives this tray will be playing with the exact same hands. The original table will receive a tray with different hands (and other factors) from another such table.
A set of duplicate bridge boards usually comes in a set of 16 (or some larger multiple of 4). Each board would have a different combination of cards in each pocket.
The illustration to the right shows an example Duplicate bridge board with the grey pockets for each of the hands. Notice all necessary details for the hand are indicated, including the Dealer (west) and the vulnerable partnerships (both in this case).

1. If there are exactly two of each specific board card combination, this score can be the score from the same players playing the identical cards at that same board.
2. The average difference between the same score at all the other hands played on this tray.

1. Four Deal Method: In the Four Deal Method, exactly four deals are played. Scoring in this method is the same as Standard Contract Bridge with the following differences:
   Every deal is considered to be separate and scored independently of any other deal. No trick scores are advanced from one deal to the next. To make Game, a side must score 100 trick points, and this must be done in just one deal. Making game in this one deal earns a game bonus of 300 points for the partnership if they are considered vulnerable during the deal and 500 if not. For contracts bid and made that are less than the full value of game, the partnership scores an additional 50 points. Bonus points made for Small and Grand slams may only be scored if bid for. A side may never score more than 1000 points during a single deal. If their score exceeds this, the score is capped at 1000 for the deal. The one exception to this rule is if a slam contract was bid and made which may bring the score over this limit.
   
   Vulnerability for the hand is determined based on which deal of the round is being played. For the first deal of a round, neither side is vulnerable. For both the second and third rounds, the dealing side is considered vulnerable with the opponents not vulnerable. For the fourth and last deal, both partnerships are considered vulnerable.
   
   
2. Rubber Method: In the Rubber method the game is played similarly to the standard game, with as many deals played in the round as necessary to determine a winner for the round. Scoring and determination of vulnerability is exactly the same as in the standard game of Contract Bridge described above.


This game can be played by four or five players per table, with any number of individual tables. The objective is for, during a full session of Pivot Bridge each player will play as the partner and the opponent of each other player for one game. To accomplish this most of the players change position at the table after each round. The specific movement of the individual players after each round is shown in the diagram below:
Generally, Pivot Bridge is arranged with four or five players at each table. With five per table, a different player will sit out each round. Before starting play, each player should draw a card from a face-down shuffle deck. The player drawing the highest card becomes the first dealer for the round and his partner would be the player drawing the second highest card who would sit opposite the dealer. The players drawing the third and fourth highest cards would also sit opposite each other, becoming partners for the round. If five players are playing per table, the player drawing the lowest card would sit out the first round. During a round the deal rotates around the table from player to player clockwise around the table. At the end of three full rounds (with four players) or five rounds (with five players) the players would then again draw for first dealer and partners and start the table rotation over. At the end of the session, the player with the highest cumulative score over all the hands is declared the session winner.

Progressive Bridge: Progressive Bridge is another method of allowing a larger number of players to all participate in a session of Bridge and is sometimes used in small Bridge tournaments. Progressive Bridge is usually played using two or three individual tables (for 8 or 12 players), although sometimes four or more tables can be accommodated. After each complete round, the players would then move to another seat or table for the next complete round. Each round in Progressive Bridge consists of exactly four hands played by each table of four participants. Each player at the table deals one hand, starting with the player in the "South" position and continuing in a clockwise direction around the table. After the four deals have been finished at all tables, the players would then move to their next assigned table and seat for the next round.



Sample tally card which might be used in Progressive Bridge

The scoring for Progressive Bridge is the same as the Standard game of Contract Bridge with a few differences:
• Every deal is considered a separate deal with no trick points being carried over from hand to hand.
• In order to make game on a deal the bidders must bid and earn 100 trick points. If they are able to do so, the partnership earns a bonus of 500 points if considered not vulnerable and 500 points if the partnership is considered vulnerable.
• If a contract is made and earned for less than 100 trick points, the side scores a bonus of 50 points.
• All slams earn the appropriate bonus score only if actually bid for and made.
• A partnership may not score more than 1000 points on a single deal, except for when a slam is bid and made on the deal.
The rules for vulnerability are the same as for Pivot Bridge and Chicago, as follows:
On the first deal, neither partnership is considered to be vulnerable.
On the Second and Third deal, the dealers partnership are considered to be vulnerable.
On the fourth and last deal of the round, both partnerships are considered vulnerable.
If a deal is passed out and that hand not played, the deal passes to the next player in turn and both partnerships score 0 for the passed out hand. After the set of four deals is completed for each round, the players would reset their score for the next round.

Tally Cards: Before the start of a session of Progressive Bridge each player is given a special tally card. This can be assigned by the game mediator or they can be randomly drawn by each player. This tally card serves several purposes. First, the players cumulative score is recorded on their individual tally card. In addition, the opponents score should also be recorded on the players card. The tally card also contains a number which indicates that players number. This number is used to indicate the players table and seat position for each round during the game session. The attempted goal in Progressive Bridge is for each player to play as partners with each other player for one complete game and twice against each other player as an opponent. To accomplish this goal, the player movements during the session are arranged in a specific manner. Any arrangement which allows this pattern may be used, but the following player movements (shown for sessions consisting of two and three tables) are common:



Two Table Arrangement		Three Table Arrangement
Round Number Table 1 Players (N-S vs. E-W) Table 2 Players (N-S vs. E-W) 1 1-6 vs. 2-5 3-8 vs. 4-7 2 2-3 vs. 5-8 1-4 vs. 6-7 3 1-8 vs. 3-6 2-7 vs. 4-5 4 1-2 vs. 3-4 5-6 vs. 7-8 5 1-7 vs. 2-8 3-5 vs. 4-6 6 2-6 vs. 3-7 1-5 vs. 4-8 7 2-4 vs. 6-8 1-3 vs. 5-7		Round Number Table 1 Players (N-S vs. E-W) Table 2 Players (N-S vs. E-W) Table 3 Players (N-S vs. E-W) 1 1-2 vs. 3-4 5-6 vs. 7-8 9-10 vs. 11-12 2 2-6 vs. 3-11 7-9 vs. 8-10 1-5 vs. 4-12 3 4-11 vs. 7-12 2-9 vs. 3-8 1-6 vs. 5-10 4 2-12 vs. 5-9 3-7 vs. 4-8 1-11 vs. 6-10 5 1-7 vs. 4-10 3-9 vs. 5-11 2-8 vs. 6-12 6 3-10 vs. 5-12 1-8 vs. 2-7 4-9 vs. 6-11 7 6-8 vs. 9-11 2-4 vs. 10-12 1-3 vs. 5-7 8 3-6 vs. 7-10 1-4 vs. 9-12 2-11 vs. 5-8 9 1-10 vs. 8-11 3-12 vs. 6-9 2-5 vs. 4-7 10 1-12 vs. 6-7 4-5 vs. 10-11 2-3 vs. 8-9 11 1-9 vs. 7-11 2-10 vs. 3-5 4-6 vs. 8-12


As shown on the charts above, the seating arrangement at each table for the listed player would be in the order of North, South, East then West. The player in the South position would be the first dealer, with the deal rotating in a clockwise rotation for each of the four deals in the round.

Special sets of these tally cards can be created or purchased showing this information as well as spaces for a players assigned number, name and scoring information. The following links contain easily printable versions of two and three table tally cards for playing Progressive Bridge: Two Table Tally Card, Three Table Tally Card.

At the end of the entire session, all of the players' tally cards would be compared and the individual player with the highest total would be considered the winner for the session or tournament.

Contract Whist: This game is played identically to contract bridge in all respects save one. In this variation, the hand opposite the winning bidder is not turned over as a dummy hand, with this player (as the bidders partner) instead retaining his hand and taking an active part in the hand. Thus, the bidder's partner would play a card from his hand to each trick at his normal turn. He does not expose his hand (as the dummy hand is normally exposed) but keeps it concealed as the rest of the players in the game. Scoring, bidding and all other rules for this game are the same as in contract bridge.

Chicago: This game also known as Four Deal Bridge or Club Bridge and each game consists of exactly four hands or deals. This game was created in the Standard Club in Chicago, Illinois to allow faster games and more frequent rotation for partners in larger groups. In this game, each of the four participants deals once. At the conclusion of these four deals all the players would then cut again for partners, first dealer and seating position as normal. At the end of a full session (one game or multiple games), the player who has accumulated the most total points would be declared the overall winner. If a deal is passed out due to no bids being made on the hand, the same dealer deals again and the passed out deal not counting as one of the four deals in that game.



The top diagram shows an aid that can be drawn on the score sheet to help clarify the current dealer and vulnerability. The second diagram shows it being used, with the third deal currently in progress.

Any partial score during a hand is carried over to the next hand. However, at the completion of the four deals (making a complete game) only full game scores are attributed to the partners winning them, with any partial scores being dropped. However, making a partial score on the fourth and final deal of the game, each player in the partnership would score 100 points. All scores for the partnership are attributed to the individual players such that if changing partners in subsequent games of Chicago a cumulative total score can be kept for each player.

For a partnership making Game when vulnerable, they receive a 500 point bonus. For making when not vulnerable, the bonus is 300. With each deal during the round, as the dealer changes so does the vulnerability. The following chart shows the dealer and vulnerability for each deal in a game of Chicago:

Deal Number	Dealer	Vulnerability
1	North	Neither partnership
2	East	North/South partnership (Non Dealing side)
3	South	East/West partnership (Non Dealing side)
4	West	Both partnerships

One method often used to help keep track of the current deal, dealer and vulnerability, is to draw a large X, either on the top of the score sheet or on is own separate sheet. Thus, at the start of the first hand, a number 1 should be written that faces the first dealer (North). At the start of the second hand, a number 2 would be written in the angle facing the second dealer (East) and so on. Thus, it is always easy to determine at a glance which deal it is and which partnerships are vulnerable.

Another variation of this game, swaps the vulnerability in the second and third deals, thus making the dealing side vulnerable. The game can be played using either cycle, but is much more commonly played with the non-dealing partnership being vulnerable on those deals.

Bridgette: Bridgette is a fun two player variation of Contract Bridge created by Joli Quentin Kansil in 1970. Bridgette is played using a special deck consisting of 55 cards. These special Bridgette decks can sometimes be found for sale by game and card manufacturers, but the deck can also be created using a Standard 52 card deck with the addition of three Jokers which are called Colons. As most card decks come with only two Jokers, a Joker from another pack with the same back design can be used, or, sometimes an additional card with the same back design is included with some card decks (usually the display card or rules card). These Jokers should be distinguishable in some manner from each other as each of these Colons has a specific name and purpose. The color Joker is designated as the Grand Colon, the black and white joker included with most packs is the Royal Colon and the display card is designated the Little Colon. The usual recommended way to recall which Joker is which Colon is to mark the faces with the cards with a permanent marker in certain ways. The chart below describes the markings usually made on the Jokers to distinguish them , which is some form of the colon punctuation mark, filled out in different ways.



The markings commonly used to distinguish the Colons in Bridgette

The normal cards are ranked exactly the same as in standard Contract Bridge (rank and suit). The three Colons have no actual comparative ranking, but are associated with a specific group of other cards in the deck as follows:

Colon	Group	Standard Marking
Grand Colon	The Aces	Colon mark consisting of two filled in circles with a letter "A" between the dots.
Royal Colon	The Royalty Cards (King, Queen, Jack)	A colon mark with one circle filled in and the other empty (non-filled). Between the two vertical dots is written "JQK".
Little Colon	Numbered Cards (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)	A colon mark with both circles empty, plus "2 - 10" written between the dots.

To determine the first dealer, both players should draw a card from a shuffle deck. The player drawing the higher card (using standard Contract Bridge card ranking) becomes the first dealer. If either player draws a Colon, they should draw again as the Colons are considered to have no rank. Thereafter the deal alternates between both players from hand to hand. After the dealer is determined the dealer should thoroughly shuffle the deck and his opponent cuts. After the cut, the dealer distributes 13 face down cards to each player, one at a time, starting with his opponent. The dealer then places the deck face down on the table as the stock. He removes the top card of the stock and places it face up next to the stock to begin the discard pile.

By convention, upon completion of the deal, both players would then pick up their cards and arrange them by suit. The Colons should be placed between two suit groupings in the hand or at either end of the hand to separate them.

After arranging their hands, there is a sort of drawing phase. The dealer gives the top two cards, face down, from the stock to the non-dealer. He then draws a certain number of cards for himself from the stock. This number is directly dependent on the face up card on the discard pile. If the face up card is an Ace or the Grand Colon, he draws 12 cards from the stock. If the card is a royalty card or the Royal Colon he draws eight cards, and if the upcard is a numbered card or the Little Colon he draws four. After this draw each player then arranges their hand again by suit they then reduce their hand back to 13 cards. These cards are placed face down to the side and are not used again in the hand. However, before a player looks at the cards from the draw, he can elect to take the upcard into his hand. To do so, he must hold the matching colon for that group of cards and place it face down in front of himself. The non-dealer has the first opportunity to take this card, followed by the dealer. If the upcard is a Colon, it cannot be exchanged for.

After the draw phase of the game, the bidding begins. The Dealer is the first bid and must declare some type of bid. This bidding is similar to regular Contract Bridge in that a player bids a number and suit (or No-Trump). The lowest allowable bid for the dealer, is zero no trump (which is not a legal bid in standard Contract Bridge). This is a bid to win six tricks with no trump suit being used in the hand. The next highest bid after the Zero no Trump would be ONE Clubs, and continues as in normal Bridge. A bid of zero no trump is a bid by the dealer to play the hand at No Trump and to win no tricks. After the dealer bids, the non dealer then has the option to make a higher bid, but is not required to, and may pass instead. In this way, the bidding alternates between the players until there are two consecutive passes. Thus the original player would need to also pass after his opponent passes to make the bid official. Doubles and redoubles are also allowed, with the same effect on the final score. A bid of double ends the bidding if followed by one pass, and a redouble ends the bidding phase immediately. A bid may only overcall a redouble when that bid is higher than that necessary to increase the previous high bid during the hand. In order to declare a bid in a certain suit, the player must possess in his hand at least two cards of the bid suit. If a player makes a bid that is higher then would normally be required in order to raise the previous bid (called a Jump Bid), he must have at least four cards of the bid suit. In order for a player to be allowed a bid of No Trump, he must have in his hand at least one card of each suit. The final bid for a suited contract requires this bidder to have four or more cards in the bid suit.

After the bidding is completed, the Declarer makes the first lead to the first trick with any card. As in the normal play of the hand at Contract Bridge the opponent must play a card of the same suit led if he has it. If not, he may play any card, including a card of the trump suit. The player who plays the highest card of the trump suit to the trick wins the trick, or, if no trump suit was played to the suit, the highest played card of the led suit wins the trick. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick, continuing in this way until all 13 tricks have been played and won. By convention, the cards to each trick are not played to the center of the table but rather played face up in front of the player. The winning card is placed face down on that players left and the losing card is placed face down to a players right.



Playing the Royal Colon to this trick forces the leader to lead the next trick from a different suit

The Colons are special cards that a player can use for specific purposes during the hand. After a players lead, the opponent can play the appropriate Colon to a trick instead of a card of the suit led (whether the player has a card of the suit or not). The Colon so played must be the one associated with the card led to the trick (i.e. if a King was led to the trick the player could play the Royal Colon). When this is done, the leader of the trick still wins the trick, however, on the next trick they must lead a card of a different suit than that of the current trick. However, if that player does not have cards of any other suit, then this rule obviously would not apply. A Colon of a different group can also be played to the opponents trick, but it does not confer the same restriction on the winner of the trick. A Colon of a different card grouping can only be played to the opponents trick if the player has no cards of the suit led.
A Colon can also be played as the lead card to a trick. When a Colon is led to a trick the opponent may play any card in his hand. If the opponents card played to the trick is from the same group as the Colon or is a card of the Trump suit, the opponent wins the trick. However, if the player plays a card from one of the non-matching groups, the Colon wins the trick. Similarly if another Colon is played to the trick the leader to the trick wins.

The scoring in Bridgette is also very similar to standard Contract Bridge, except for a few notable differences:
• Honors are not counted or scored in Bridgette.
• A doubled contract which is made earns a bonus of 200 points.
• A redoubled contract which is bid and made, earns the player a 240 points bonus.
• A player bidding and making a Zero No-Trump bid earns a score of 10 points below the line. Each overtrick the player wins is worth 30 points above the line.
• If a player makes and bids Five No Trump, they score a Sub-Slam. This earns the player a 1000 point bonus. Similarly a bid of six No Trump bid which is made earns a 1300 point bonus and a bid of seven No-Trump which is made earns the player 1600 points.
• A small slam in a suited bid scores 900 points and a Grand Slam earned in a suited bid earns 1500.
• All Slam and Sub-Slam bonuses are the same whether the player is vulnerable or not.
• Usually, since there are only two participants in this game, instead of We and They, the score sheet is headed with the players actual names.
All other scoring and the criteria for winning a game are identical to that of standard Contract Bridge.

Brint: As evidenced by the name of the game, Brint is a hybrid combination of the games Contract Bridge and Vint (the National card game of Russia). Brint was created in 1929 by J. B. Chambers. Essentially, at it's core, Brint is basically the gameplay of Contract Bridge using the scoring mechanisms of Vint.

Thus, the deal, bidding, and play of the hand are all exactly the same as in Contract Bridge. Where the game differs is in the scoring, which is modeled after that of the Russian game.  Thus, in this game, the score that is accumulated for a team below the line (and which therefore counts towards winning a "game") is entirely based on the ultimate high bid for that hand. The following chart shows the scores that a team can gain for winning based on that teams bid for the hand as well as the base score the opposing partnership will earn if the Contracting team fails to make their bid:

High Bid	Score for each Odd Trick Won	Undertrick Score for Opposing Team
1	10	50
2	20	50
3	30	50
4	40	100
5	50	150
6	60	200
7	70	250

If the high bidding partnership manages to win as many tricks or more than bid, they score the indicated number for each trick won (including any overtricks). This score is the same regardless if the bid was doubled, and this score is recorded below the line (towards game). If the high bidders do not manage to win at least as many tricks as bid during the hand, the opponents score a certain number of points (as per the chart) per trick that the bidding partner was under the number needed to fulfill the bid. This score is recorded above the line for the opposing team. Although the point value earned for each trick is the same for a doubled contract as for a non-double contract, fulfilling a doubled contract entitles the partnership to a double contract bonus score as well as an additional bonus score for each trick taken over the required number to make the contract (called overtricks). In addition, in the event of a failed bid, the score the opponents earn for each undertrick is also increased if the contract has been doubled. The following chart shows these increased values:

Bid	Doubled Contract Bonus	Amount for each Overtrick	Score for each Undertrick for Opposing team
1	50	50	100
2	50	50	100
3	50	50	100
4	100	100	200
5	150	150	300
6	200	200	400
7	250	250	500

If the final high bid was redoubled after an initial double by the opponents, most of the scores are increased as follows:

High Bid	Score for each Odd Trick Won	Redoubled Contract Bonus	Redoubled Score for each Overtrick	Undertrick Score for Opposing Team (Redoubled)
1	20	100	100	200
2	40	100	100	200
3	60	100	100	200
4	80	200	200	400
5	100	300	300	600
6	120	400	400	800
7	140	500	500	1000

If a team is vulnerable (have already won one game in the current hand), the scores are also increased. The Doubled Contract Bonus, Overtrick Bonus, and Undertrick Penalty are all increased by 100 points each if a team is currently vulnerable.
Once a team manages to accumulate 160 or more points below the line at the end of a hand, they are said to have won a game. As in Contract Bridge, after winning one game a team is said to be vulnerable. Once a team wins two games, they are said to have completed the rubber. The team that wins a rubber (two "games") earns a bonus score of 500 points (above the line) if the opposing team has won one "game" or 700 if the opponent's team has not yet won a "game".

In addition to the scoring as outlined in the charts above, there are also various bonus scores which can be earned during the game (none of these bonus scores are affected by vulnerability of a team or whether the contract has been doubled or redoubled):
• Grand Slam:
Making a bid of seven and successfully winning every trick in the hand earns the bidding team 1000 bonus points (above the line).
• Little Slam:
Making a bid of six and successfully winning all or all but one trick during the hand earns the bidding team a bonus of 500 points above the line.
• Five Bid:
Making a bid of five and successfully winning 11 or more tricks during the hand earns the bidding team 250 bonus points above the line.
• Four Bid - Vulnerable:
Making a bid of four and winning 10 or more tricks during the hand when that team is vulnerable earns the bidding team 500 bonus points above the line.
• Four Bid - Not Vulnerable:
Making a bid of four and winning 10 or more tricks when that team is not vulnerable earns that team 250 bonus points scored above the line.
• Ace Honours:
If one player has all four Aces in his hand in a hand in which the high bid is No Trump, that player earns 150 bonus points (above the line).
• Five Honours:
If one player, holds the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and 10 of the trump suit, that player earns a bonus of 200 points, scored above the line.
• Four Honours:
If one player holds any four of Ace, King, Queen, Jack, or 10 in the trump suit, that player earns a bonus score, above the line, of 100 points.
Once a rubber has been completed (one team wins two games), the team with the highest accumulated score (both below and above the line) is declared the winner of that rubber.

Bridge with Deuces Wild: Deuces Wild Bridge is a fun variant of Bridge which was created by Jeff Rubens and first published in print in 1975, in the July issue of Bridge World magazine.

All rules of the game are identical to Standard Contract Bridge Save one, regarding the four deuces (twos). In this game these deuces are considered wild cards and can be played by a player to any trick. There is no requirement for that player to follow suit to the trick, if that player is playing a deuce. Thus, even if a player could normally follow suit to a trick, he may instead play any deuce if he so prefers. Although these deuces can be played at any time, as far as in the capability to win the trick, the deuce is considered to be a card of the suit marked on the card. Thus, if the deuce of the trump suit is the only card in the trump suit played to a particular trick, the deuce would so win that trick. If a deuce is led to a trick, the other players must then, as usual, play a card of the same suit as the deuce led to the trick (unless they have another deuce which they could opt to play to that trick) if they so have one.

Other than this difference regarding the play of the deuces, all other rules of Bridge with Deuces Wild, including the bidding and scoring, are exactly the same as standard Contract Bridge.

Rex Bridge: Rex Bridge (or Rexbridge) was a variant of Contract Bridge created by Sten Lundberg in Sweden, in 1959 (first published in Bridge World magazine in the May issue of that year). Later, Bridge enthusiast and expert Eric Jannersten attempted to popularize the game and give it more exposure. It was thereafter played somewhat commonly in Scandinavia. It is played very similarly to Contract Bridge but has several major differences which make it a unique game, and worth trying for those who are looking for a change of pace from their normal Bridge game.

The differences from Rex Bridge to Contract Bridge are various differences in scoring, the inclusion of a new bid type, and an allowance of bidding above the level of seven odd tricks. The following sections detail these changes:

The first divergence of Rex Bridge vice standard Contract Bridge is the introduction of a new type of bid, called Rex (Latin for "King"). A bid of "Rex" is similar to a bid of No Trump, however the difference being that if a bid of Rex ends up the winning bid for the hand, the hand is played with No Trump and the Aces are considered the lowest cards in the deck. Thus, during a hand in which a Rex bid ends up the highest bid, the rank of cards in each suit is as follows (from highest to lowest): King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Ace. The bid of Rex would fall between spades and No Trump. Thus, the ranking of the bids, from highest to lowest, would be: No Trump, Rex, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and then Clubs. These bids are made as are all other bid types, with the bidder naming a number along with the bid type. Of course, in evaluating a hand for consideration of a Rex bid, a player would use a slightly adjusted point count system, with Kings given the point count usually used for Aces, Queens the points for Kings, and so on, with Aces contributing no points to such a count. Scoring for tricks in a Rex bid (for tricks bid and won, overtricks, as well as undertrick penalties), are identical to the scoring in standard Contract Bridge for bids in No Trump at the same number of odd tricks.

The second difference amongst standard Bridge and the Rex variety is that in Rex Bridge, bids of 8 and 9 are allowed. This is of course seems counter-intuitive to the game, as such a bid can never actually be fulfilled during play, however these bids are a tool to allow a player to out-bid his opponents for a strategic advantage. Thus, while the team might fail to obtain the necessary number of tricks to fulfill their contract (and will thus earn the opposing team one or more penalty trick scores), the team may still be able to more than offset that penalty with the capability to take control of the bid and potentially score a Slam or Grand Slam. These bids would be made the same as any other numbered bid, with a number and the bid suit (or No Trump/Rex).

The last major differences which is applied in using the Rex Bridge rules as opposed to those of the more conventional Contract Bridge is certain differences in some of the scoring (with most of these differences based around the new potential for higher level bids). If a player bids and makes a bid of 7 in No Trump or Rex, his team earns a bonus of 3200 points. If a team is set by one trick in an undoubled contract of 8 the declaring side still earns a bonus score of 2600. In case the bid is doubled undertrick 200 is deducted from that team's score if they not vulnerable and 300 is subtracted if that team is not vulnerable. Being set (by one trick) in a bid of 7 scores the same as in standard Contract Bridge (1950). If the Declarer's team, is set two or more tricks on the hand, they do not earn any points and instead will be forced to subtract points. Undertricks for a non-vulnerable team are penalized at the rate of 200 for 2, or 300 if the team is vulnerable. Similarly, if the team is set by 3 tricks, that team is penalized 300 if vulnerable and 450 if not. Each additional undertrick requires that team to subtract an additional 150 more per each additional undertrick. If the contract was doubled, these penalties are thus also doubled. In addition, bonuses are awarded to a team for making and fulfilling bids of 4 No Trump, 5 Hearts, and 5 Spades (50, 75, and 100, respectively). In a part-score contract, each odd trick scores 50 points. A game bid and made, in any denomination, earns that team a 600 point bonus.

Other then these differences Rex Bridge is otherwise played identically to standard Contract Bridge rules.

Crazy Bridge: Although only superficially resembling Contract Bridge, Crazy Bridge is sometimes played by players of Contract Bridge who are looking for an amusing break from the usual game. Crazy Bridge is a chaotic, and often hilarious game that is usually played in a card party setting. Thus, a number of four person tables (usually 5) are usually erected, each provided with one deck of cards, scoring materials and a set of rules. The initial assignment of players to tables is usually random, but after a number of hands, players will then change tables or seats at the same table (see below). Once players are seated, the game can begin. Each table of Crazy Bridge uses one standard 52 card deck with the same ranking as in standard Contract Bridge, with each table accommodating four players. The players sitting directly across from each other at each table will play as partners for one round (four hands) before changing partners or shifting tables.

Once the players are seated, there should be a draw of cards from the shuffled deck to determine the first dealer, with the player thus drawing the highest card set as the first dealer at that table. Thereafter, the role of dealer rotates in a clockwise direction around the table for the next three additional hands. Once the dealer is determined, this player then deals out the cards in a clockwise direction until the entire deck has been dealt out. He deals the cards one by one and face-down in front of each player, starting with the player at his immediate left.

Unlike Contract Bridge there is no bidding in Crazy Bridge, and after the deal, play will begin, with all four players participating fully in each hand. The game is played over the course of five rounds, with each round consisting of four hands played. Although the rules for each hand will change, the scoring is static such that each trick won by a partnership earns that partnership 10 accumulated points for that round. During certain rounds, additional point bonuses or penalties may also be applied to a partnership's score.

The general rules of play each hand are as for most other trick taking games. The player to the immediate left of the dealer leads the first card to the first trick and each additional player, in a clockwise direction plays one card from their hand to that same trick. The leader to a trick may play any card of choice remaining in their hand to start the trick. Each other player must play a card of that same suit to the trick if they have one. If they have no cards of the suit led to the trick, they may any card from the hand, including a card of the trump suit.

The exception to this normal rule of play is during hands 4, 10, and 16 in which players do not look at their dealt hands, and the cards are placed in a face-down pile. Each player, on his turn, then simply places the top card from his dealt stack onto the trick.

The player of the highest card in the trump to a trick wins that trick. If the trick contains no cards in the trump suit, the player of the highest card in the suit originally led to the trick wins it. The cards from each trick should be set aside and out of play near one of the team members winning that trick. The leader of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

As mentioned the rules for each hand change somewhat, with the following charts showing the rules for each hand in each of the five rounds making a complete game session:



Round 1
Hand	Special Rule(s) for the Hand
1	The suit of spades is always the trump suit for this hand.
2	No trump suit is used for this hand. The score earned by each partnership during this hand is assigned to the opposing partnership instead.
3	The suit of clubs is always the trump suit for this hand. The winning team earns a bonus of 300 points added to their ongoing score.
4	The suit of hearts is always the trump suit for this hand. Players do not look at their dealt cards. Instead, each player simply takes the next card from their stack and plays it to the table on each trick. Winners of the hand double their current overall score.





Round 2
Hand	Special Rule(s) for the Hand
5	Spades is always the trump suit for this hand. Losers of the hand must subtract 50 from their score.
6	Clubs is always the trump suit for this hand. Losers of the hand add 150 points to their current score.
7	Before the shuffle and deal for this hand, the deck is shuffled and the top card of the deck exposed. The suit of the card thus exposed is set as the trump suit for this hand. The winning team earns a bonus of 200 points added to their ongoing score.
8	No trump suit is used for the hand. The winning team earns all the points for that hand (130), as well as a bonus of 500 additional points.





Round 3
Hand	Special Rule(s) for the Hand
9	The suit of diamonds is always the trump suit for this hand. The score earned by each partnership during this hand is added to the score of the opposing partnership instead.
10	Clubs are always the trump suit for this hand. Players do not look at their dealt cards. Instead, each player simply takes the next card from their stack and plays it to the table on each trick.
11	Before the shuffle and deal for this hand, the deck is shuffled and the top card of the deck exposed. The suit of the card thus exposed is set as the trump suit for this hand. The winning team earns a bonus of 50 points added to their ongoing score.
12	The suit of hearts is always the trump suit for this hand. The winning team earns all the points for this hand (130) and the opposing team scores nothing on the hand.





Round 4
Hand	Special Rule(s) for the Hand
13	The hand is played with no trump suit. The losing team during this hand scores all points for that hand (130), and also adds a 200 point bonus to their current, ongoing score.
14	The suit of spades is always the trump suit for this hand. The losing team on this hand must subtract 150 points from their current, ongoing score.
15	The suit of hearts is always the trump suit for this hand. The score earned by each partnership during this hand is assigned to the score of the opposing partnership instead.
16	The suit of spades is always used as the trump suit during this hand. Players do not look at their dealt cards. Instead, each player simply takes the next card from their dealt stack and plays it to the table on each trick, in turn.





Round 5
Hand	Special Rule(s) for the Hand
17	Before the shuffle and deal for this hand, the deck is shuffled and the top card of the deck exposed. The suit of the card thus exposed is set as the trump suit for this hand. The losing team during this hand adds 100 points to their current, ongoing score.
18	The suit of diamonds is always the trump suit for this hand. The losing team on this hand must subtract 50 points from their current, ongoing score.
19	The suit of spades is always the trump suit for this hand. The losing team on this hand earns a bonus of 1500 points added to their ongoing score.
20	This hand is played with no trump suit. The winning team earns all the points for this hand (130) as well as a 1000 point bonus.


For determining which team won a particular hand, the team which managed to win the higher number of tricks during that hand is said to be the winner of that hand, although, as can be seen in the rules, that will not always be the team scoring the most positive points during that hand.

After each round of four hands, the players at a table will move. The two players from the winning team move to the next lowest table number (with the winning players at table 1 moving to table 5). In addition, these players will be paired with a different temporary partner at the new table. The losing team stays at the same table, however, each of these players will be paired with a different partner from the partnership that moves to their table.

At the end of each of the four rounds, before the partnerships are changed, each of the players in the winning partnership is assigned one Game Point. After the total five rounds of four hands each have been played, the player with the highest total in game points is declared the overall session winner.

Minibridge: Minibridge was originally created as a teaching aid to instruct new players in the various aspects of the standard game of Contract Bridge. While Minibridge is still used for that and is a great way to get a player's feet wet in the game of Contract Bridge, some players opt to play Minibridge as a game in itself.

Minibridge is designed to be a simplified variant of Contract Bridge, and like that game is designed for four players playing in two partnerships. It also uses the standard 52 card deck as the standard game and the cards in that deck have the same ranking.

Determination of partners, first dealer and the shuffling and dealing procedures are all performed in the same way as the parent game. The biggest differences are in the way the contractor for the hand is determined and a simplified scoring mechanism.

To begin, each player before any bids are made totals the number of high card points found in his hand and announces this total. The point value for these high cards are the same as used in many bidding conventions in which players evaluate their hands for possible strength or weakness. The following shows the high card point value for each of these cards:

Card	High Card Point Value
Ace	4
King	3
Queen	2
Jack	1
All Other Cards	0


This declaration by each player of the total number of High Card Points starts with the dealer and rotates around the table in a clockwise direction until each player has announced his total sum of high card points found in his hand. After each player announces his total High Card Point Value from his hand, this value is added to the High Card Point Value of his partner. The partnership with the higher total is automatically set as the Declarer for the hand. If both partnerships has the exact same High Card Point value (20) the cards are thrown in, the hand is not played and the same dealer deals a new hand.

Once the declaring team has been determined, the player in that partnership who had the higher High Card Point total of the two, plays the hand. His partner will then place his organized hand face-up on the table in front of himself as the dummy. If both partners in the partnership have the same number of high card points, the player who announced his total first amongst those two players is the active partner for the hand.

After having the opportunity to review this dummy hand and his own, the designated player of the hand then declares his choice of trump suit. He may also elect to play the hand using no trump suit (a declaration of "No Trump"). In addition, the player also decides if he is going to play the game at "partscore" or "game". A "partscore" declaration is a call that player will win at least 7 tricks during the hand. A "game" declaration indicates the player intends to win even more tricks, based on the decided trump suit for the hand. The following chart shows the minimum number of tricks the player must win during the hand for a "game" declaration based on the trump suit declared for the hand:

Trump Suit Selected Minimum Number of Tricks Declarer Must Win No Trump 9 Hearts or Spades (Major Suit) 10 Diamonds or Clubs (Minor Suit) 11

Once this is declared, play of the hand begins. The player to the immediate left of the declarer leads the first card to the first trick and gameplay is exactly the same as in standard Contract Bridge. After all tricks have been played and won, the Declarer checks the number of tricks won to determine if he has won the hand as well as his point score for this hand. The following chart shows the points earned by the Declarer for the hand based on the trump suit selected for the hand:



Tricks Won	Points Scored in No Trump Declaration	Point Scores in Major Suit Declaration (Hearts or Spades)	Point scores in Minor Suit Declaration (Diamonds or Clubs)
6 or Less	0	0	0
7	40	30	20
8	70	60	40
9	100	90	60
10	130	120	80
11	160	150	100
12	190	180	120
13	220	210	140



As mentioned, if a player called for a "partscore", in order to win the hand he must win at least 7 tricks during that hand. If he manages to do this, the player earns, for his partnership, the indicated number of points with a bonus score of 50 added to that score. However, if he does not win at least 7 tricks, the defending partnership instead wins a number of points based on the number of tricks the declarer actually did manage to win, as per the following chart:



Tricks Won by Declaring Team	Score for Defenders
0	350
1	300
2	250
3	200
4	150
5	100
6	50


In order to win the hand in the case of a "game" call, the player must win a total number of Game Points for the hand equal to 100 points or more. If he manages to do this, he wins the hand and earns a number of points for the win. The number of points he wins is 300 points added to a certain number of points for each trick over the minimum number required to win based on the trump suit selected. For No Trump declarations or declarations in a major suit (Hearts or Spades) the player earns 30 points for each trick over the minimum needed to be considered to win the hand, and for a minor suit selected as the trump suit for the hand, he earns 20 points for each trick over the minimum needed to win the hand based on the trump suit selected. However, if the player wins less tricks than required, the defending team wins a number of points, based on the specific trump suit selected for the hand, as shown on the following chart:



Tricks Won by Declaring Team	Score for Defending Team - No Trump	Score for Defending Team - Major Suit	Score for Defending Team - Minor Suit
0	450	500	550
1	400	450	500
2	350	400	450
3	300	350	400
4	250	300	350
5	200	250	300
6	150	200	250
7	100	150	200
8	50	100	150
9	N/A	50	100
10	N/A	N/A	50


Scores earned during the hand are added to an accumulated total for each partnership over the course of the game. The game is usually played over a set number of hands, and the partnership with the higher grand total is declared the overall game winner.



This image shows the first page from the original booklet on which these rules were based. This public domain Image is sourced from the online pdf file which can be found at this location: http://www.levantineheritage.com/pdf/Biritch.pdf.

Biritch: Biritch, also known as Russian Whist is the earliest known published description of a form of Contract Bridge. In fact, before Contract and Auction Bridge were developed or widely played, this game was what many players preferred to as simply "Bridge". It is also sometimes found under the headings Straight Bridge or Bridge Whist. The instructions provided here are as per these original rules as described for this game in a publication by John Collinson titled Biritch, or Russian Whist and is thought to have been printed around 1886.

Biritch is designed for play by four players playing in two partnerships of two players each. The game is played using one standard 52 card deck with the following ranking of the cards in that deck (from high to low): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

Determination of partnerships, first dealer and seating positions can be performed using any method, with a cut for high cards commonly used. Each player should sit directly across the table from his partner. Once the first dealer has been determined, that player should thoroughly shuffle the deck and offer it to the player at his right to cut. After the cut, the dealer begins distributing the cards. He deals the cards one-at-a-time and face-down, starting with the player at his immediate left and continuing in a clockwise rotation. He continues in this manner until he had dealt out the entire pack, with each player having received 13 total cards. After the cards have been dealt, the players can then pick up their cards for examination.

The dealer then, after reviewing his cards must make a declaration for the trump suit. This can be one of the four suits (hearts, clubs, diamonds, or spades), or he may announce "Biritch". An announcement of Biritch is a declaration to play the game with no trump suit. If the dealer cannot decide his most optimal call, he may also declare "Pass". In that event, the dealer's partner must then declare the trump suit (or may declare Biritch) for the hand.

After the dealer (or his partner) declares the trump suit to be used for the hand, either of the members of the opposing team may declare "Contre". This declaration will then double the score for tricks taken during the hand. In response to a "contre", the dealer's team may declare "Sur contre" which will have the effect of doubling the scoring value of tricks (quadrupling the value). After each "Sur Contre" announcement, the opposing team may again declare "Sur Contre", which will continue to double the value of the trick scores. This can continue until a team opts to not continue the doubling increases.

Play of the hand starts with the player to the immediate left of the dealer leading the first card to the first trick. This player may lead with any card from his hand to start the trick. As soon as this player leads his first card, the partner of the dealer places his entire hand face-up on the table in front of himself. This player no longer participates in the hand, with the dealer instead playing from this open hand when it is the turn for that player to play to each trick.

The leader to a trick may play any card from the hand to start a trick. Each other player in a clockwise direction around the table in turn, plays one card to that same trick. If a player has a card of the same suit as originally led to the trick, they must play it. If they have no such card, they may play any card from the hand to the trick. The cards won in tricks should be set aside and out of play. The winner of each trick leads the first card to the next trick.

After all the tricks in the hand have been played and won, the hand is scored. It is first calculated how many "odd" tricks that each partnership won during the hand. An "odd" trick is each trick over six that each team has managed to win during the hand. For a team that has won at least one such odd trick, that team earns earn a trick score based on the suit of the trump suit as shown in the following chart:

Trump Suit declared for the Hand	Points per odd trick won
Biritch (no trump)	10
Hearts	8
Diamonds	6
Clubs	4
Spades	2

These trick scores will also be affected by any Contre and Sur Contres that may have been declared during the hand. In addition, if one team manages to win every trick during the hand, they earn a bonus of 40 points, called a Grand Slamm. If a team manages to win 12 tricks during the hand, they earn a bonus of 20 points, called a Petit Slamm.

The team which takes more tricks during the hand is considered to win that game (or one game). The first team to earn, at the end of a hand (not counting the score for honours, mentioned later), 30 or more points is said to win one "game". Once a team finds, at the end of a hand, they have captured enough total trick points to win one "game", the players will then, on subsequent hands, play towards winning a new game (with the teams score set to zero). The first team to win two such "games" wins the rubber, which also earns that team a bonus of 40 points (called Consolation).

As mentioned previously, there are also bonus scores which can be won during the game for honours. These scores, however, are not considered part of the play score and thus do not count towards the 30 points needed to win a "game". The Honours scores are equivalent to the specific base value of each trick for that hand (not counting any Contre or Sur Contre that may have been declared during that hand). If the hand featured the use of one of the four suits set as the trump suit the following are the possible honours that can be scored on the hand:
• One team having 3 of the Honours (called Simple Honours) amongst both players in that team - This scores a bonus equivalent to 2 tricks at the current value of tricks during that hand
• One team having 4 of the Honours amongst both players of that team - This entitles that team to a bonus score equivalent to the score for 3 tricks at the current value of tricks during this hand
• One team having 5 of the Honours amongst themselves - This entitles to that team to score a bonus score equivalent to the scoring value for 4 tricks at the current trick value
• One player having 4 of the Honours in his hand - This entitles that player's team to earn a score equivalent to 8 tricks based on the current value of tricks during the hand
• One player having all 5 Honours in his hand - This entitles that player's team to earn a bonus score equivalent of 9 tricks based on the current value of tricks in this hand

If using a trump suit, the cards considered the Honours are the Ace, King, Queen, Jack, and ten of the trump suit.

If no trump suit was declared (a declaration of Biritch), the Honours are the four Aces. In this Case, the following are the possible Honours scores for that hand:
• One team having 3 Aces amongst the cards dealt to them - This earns that team a bonus score equivalent to the current value of 3 tricks.
• One team having 4 Aces amongst the cards dealt to them - This earns a team a bonus equivalent to the score of 4 tricks.
• One member of a team having all four Aces in his hand - This earns that team a bonus equivalent of a score of 8 tricks.
If one of the partnerships finds that they have none of the Honours in their hand (called Chicane) in a trump contract, the opposing team must subtract the scoring value for Simple Honors (2 tricks) from the scoring for Honours on that hand.

The final score for a Game is the total of all the trick points scores by a team during play of the rubber, with any bonus points also added (i.e. Honours and Consolation). Whichever team has the highest score is declared the actual Game winner.

Standard Whist: Whist was the predecessor to modern Contract Bridge. It still maintains a wide following, especially considering the games many similarities to Contract Bridge. Standard whist is just different enough to warrant its own separate game entry. Please see the How to Play Whist page for rules for this game and its variations.


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