Learn to Play Bridge

In order to bid a full game and have a good chance of succeeding, you and your partner together must have the number of recommended points as indicated in the chart below. Through your bidding (which follows rules and guidelines), you and your partner will be communicating about the number of points in each hand as well as the strongest suits

Point Guidelines for Bidding to Game
Game Bid	Points Required in Both Partner's Hands
3NT, 4 or 4	26
5 or 5	29

Games in a major suit (hearts and spades) require the partnership to hold 26 points between them. Games in a major suit require the partnership to take 10 tricks (book plus 4). Notice that bidding game in a minor-suit (clubs and diamonds) requires 3 additional points because it is necessary to win 11 tricks (book plus 5) for a game in a minor suit. This is the reason that minor suits are given a low priority when deciding the best contract. Many Bridge players enjoy playing the hand in no trump because a game bid of no trump can be achieved with a bid of three no trump (book plus 3). You will learn more about this when you learn about scoring the game.

Bidding and responding is as important to the success in Bridge as the actual playing of the hand. Bidding and responding is an art that is mastered with years of Bridge playing practice. You will be learning only very basic Bridge guidelines for bidding and responding. However, if you follow these Bridge bidding and responding guidelines you will find that you will gain a base of knowledge upon which you may continue to build.

Bids are announcements of how many tricks you think you and your partner will be able to make. You are also announcing which suit you will name as trump. When bidding progresses around the table clockwise, each bidder may respond in one of the following ways.

• Bidders may pass
• Bidders may make a new bid
• Bidders may double or redouble

Most beginning Bridge players will concentrate their bidding either on the pass or the rebidding based on the strength of their hand. When calling a bid there are some important issues to remember.

A bid specifies how many tricks the bidder believes that he can take using his hand and his partner's hand, and with which suit as trump. Any bid starts with the assumption that the bidder can make at least six tricks, called book, plus the stated number of additional tricks. So the bid includes a level (from one to seven, representing how many tricks beyond six the bidder proposes to make) and a suit. For instance, "3 hearts" suggests that his partnership can take nine tricks (book plus three) with hearts as the trump suit.

A player may bid at his turn as long as the bid is higher than the most recent bid. A bid is considered higher if it specifies either a higher level or the same level but with a higher-ranking suit. The denominations are ordered, from lowest to highest, as clubs (), diamonds (), hearts (), spades (), and no trump (NT). Thus, after a bid of 3 , bids of 2 or 3 are illegal, but 3 or 4 are legal. Clubs and diamonds are referred to as "minor suits" and hearts and spades are referred to as "major suits". This becomes more important as bidders work towards game and will be explained in later lessons.

If the most recent bid was made by the opponents, a player may "double" that bid if his partner has not already done so. This essentially states that the player is so confident that the opponents cannot make their bid during play that the player is willing to double their score if they do (and the penalty if they do not). If the most recent bid was made by the player or the player's partner, and it has been doubled by an opponent but not yet redoubled by the player's partner, the player may "redouble," further increasing the potential score or penalty.

The auction ends either if all four players pass initially (in which case the hand is not played or scored) or when three players pass in a row after any bid(s) have been made. The last bid becomes the contract, and its denomination determines whether there will be a trump suit, and if so, what it is. The pair that did not win the contract is called the defense. The pair that made the last bid is divided further: the player who first made a bid in the suit of the final contract becomes the declarer and his or her partner becomes the dummy.

The Opening Bid* - A player must have 13 or more points (counting both high card points as well as distribution points) in his/her hand in order to open (start the bidding for the partnership.) The dealer begins, if he/she does not have 13 or more points, he/she will pass. To open the bidding, the following guidelines are generally followed:

Responding to Your Partner's Opening Bid- Once a partnership has "opened" with a bid, subsequent bids will be responses. Just as there are rules and guidelines for the initial opening bid, there are also guidelines for the responses to a partner.

After the opening bid, bidding continues clockwise around the table

Responses to Your Partner's Opening of One No Trump - Let us assume your partner opens the bidding one no trump and the next player passes. You will be called the "responder" since you will be responding to your partner's bid.

First you should consider whether the best contract would be in a major suit or in no trump. Is a major-suit trump fit likely? Note that partner promised a balanced hand so he has at least two cards in every suit.

Next you should consider whether to bid game. This is done by adding your points to the 16-18 high card points shown by your partner. Is it possible to reach 26 points? Keep this in mind as you decide what to do.

This lesson explains the basic responses to one no trump. As you play and learn more about Bridge, you will find that there are other options as well.

No Trump Responses to a One No Trump Opening - If responder does not have a five-card or longer major suit, the best contract will usually be in no trump. In that event it is simply a matter of point count. Remember, you cannot count distributional points when you intend to play in no trump.

If game is out of reach (0-7 points in your hand), simply pass. One no trump will be the final contract.

If game is possible (8-9 points in your hand), respond two no trump. This is called an "invitational bid" as it invites the opener to bid game with a maximum; opener should pass with a minimum. More specifically, opener should rebid three no trump with 17 or 18 points, or pass with 16 points.

If game is assured (10-14 points in your hand), respond three no trump. This brings the bidding to game and the bidding is over; opener must pass.

The following table summarizes these options:

Winning tip: Get in the habit of mentally adding your points to your partner's any time you know your partner’s point range. This will allow you to figure out the proper contract even if you forget the specific rules!

Major Suit Responses to a One No Trump - The most desirable response to partner's one-no trump opening is to bid a five-card or longer major (hearts or spades) suit if your hand has one. The responder may count distributional points when he/she plans to bid a suit.

Opening - With 7 points or less, the responder should bid his/her major suit at the two level. The opening no trump bidder should pass because game is out of reach (7 points + 18 points = 25 points at most). This contract will often fail, but it usually will be better than a contract of one no trump.

With 10 points or more (enough for game as 10 points + 16 points = 26 points at least), responder may bid his major suit at the three level. Alternatively, with a six-card or longer major suit, responder may bid at the four level.

These responses are summarized in the following table:

Major Suit Response to an Opening of One No Trump (*This usually occurs when you have a five card or longer major suit)
Points	Suit Length	Response
1-7	5+	2 or 2
10+	5+	3 or 3
10-14	6+	4 or 4

After a response of three hearts or three spades, the opener must not pass because the responder has announced the strength for game and bidding should advance to the game level. With three or more cards in responder's suit, the opener should raise to four hearts or four spades, respectively. With a doubleton in the responder's suit, the opener should bid three no trump.

When responding, keep in mind what your partner is telling you in the bidding process. Remember, your partner is telling you how many points they have as well as in which suits they possess strength. These legal conversations help you and your partner communicate across the table and help you to establish your contract.

Responses to Your Partner's Bid of One of a Suit - If partner opens the bidding one club, one diamond, one heart or one spade, the first rule to remember is that you need at least 6 points to make any response. That is to say, you must pass with all hands of 0-5 points.

Most of the time you will have at least 6 points, and in that event you must make a response if your right-hand opponent passes. It is your duty to keep the bidding going because partner may have a strong hand when he opens with one of a suit.

New Suit Responses - The most common response is to bid a suit at the one level that is higher ranking than the opener's suit. This requires at least four cards in the suit that you bid.

If the suit you would like to bid is lower ranking than opener's suit, it is impossible to bid it at the one level. In order to mention your suit you must bid at the two level, and this requires a stronger hand - at least 11 points.

In rare cases your hand may qualify for a jump response in a new suit. This is called a jump shift response and requires at least 17 points and a five-card or longer suit.

Below is a summary of the responses in a new suit. Note that there is no upper limit on any of the point counts.

It is important to understand how the ranks of the suits may affect the meaning of a response at the two level. For example: A response of two diamonds would show 11 or more points if partner opened the bidding one heart; but it would be a jump (showing 17 or more points) if partner opened the bidding one club.

Major Suit Raises - If partner opens the bidding one heart or one spade, it is very desirable to raise his suit. Partner has promised at least five cards so you need only three cards to ensure an eight-card trump fit. One of the big advantages of a "five-card major" system is that your partnership can locate a major-suit fit quickly.

Here is the table of major-suit raises:

Major Suit Raises to Your Partner's Bid of One Heart or One Spade
Points	Trumps	Raise To
6-10	3+	2 or 2
13-16	3+	3 or 3

Minor Suit Raises - If partner opens the bidding one club or one diamond, raising his suit is a low priority. Always look for some other response, such as bidding a major suit, before raising partner's minor suit.

In raising a minor suit you must have at least four trumps (preferably, at least as good as Q-x-x-x) because partner is likely to have just four cards.

Here is the table of minor-suit raises:

Minor Suit Raises to your Partner's Opening Minor Suit Bid
Points	Trumps	Raise To
6-10	4+	2 or 2
13-16	4+	3 or 3

No Trump Responses - It is also possible to respond in no trump after partner's opening bid of one of a suit. A response of one no trump is used as a catchall bid, a way of keeping the bidding open as a courtesy to your partner. This is necessary when you have 6-10 points and are unable to bid a suit at the one level or raise partner's suit to the two level.

Unlike the above, a response of two or three no trump shows a specific kind of hand. Your hand pattern must be balanced — no singleton or void and at most one doubleton — with at least 13 points.

Below is a table of no trump responses to one of a suit:

Bidding tip: If your hand contains a four-card major suit that can be shown at the one level, you should bid that major suit in preference to bidding no trump. This way you may locate a 4-4 major-suit fit, which usually provides a better contract than no trump. You can always bid no trump later if you do not find a major suit fit.

Forcing Bids - A forcing bid is one that you as a partner are not allowed to pass; that is, you must not let the bidding end in that contract. A game-forcing bid is one that says, "We have enough points for game"; hence, all bids by either partner are forcing until game is reached.

After an opening bid of one of a suit, there are two important rules to guide your partnership in the bidding:

• A new suit bid by responder is forcing.
• A jump bid by responder is game forcing.

The concept of forcing and game-forcing bids is essential to accurate bidding. As you better learn the game of Bridge you will see that forcing bids help move you towards game points.

Rebidding - In the last section of this lesson you were taught how the partner responds to an opening bid. The next section will help the opener rebid his/her hand. It is not possible to detail every possible rebid in a beginner's course. Therefore the following guidelines will most generally be sufficient for beginning Bridge players. You will discover that rebids in other situations are similar to the ones described here, so a firm understanding of these rules will give you a solid background from which to expand.

Raising Responders Suit - Usually the most desirable rebid by opener is to raise the suit bid by responder. Opener should have four trumps to raise since responder promised only a four-card suit when he bid at the one level. Basically, the more strength opener has, the higher the level he should raise.

Note that opener will become the dummy so he should use the "5-3-1" formula (see end of this lesson under Dummy Points) to count distributional points.

New Suit Rebids - If opener has four or more cards in an unbid suit (a suit that has not been bid), it may be convenient to bid that suit. This is almost mandatory when opener has a four-card major suit that can be shown conveniently at the one level.

The basic structure is summarized below:

If opener names a new suit at the two level, he should have an unbalanced hand —otherwise a rebid in no trump (described later) would usually be more appropriate. When opener jumps in a new suit it is called a jump shift rebid and it is forcing to game.*

*The astute student may observe that the partnership is not certain to hold 26 points (19 + 6 = 25), but the odds are overwhelming that opener and responder do not have exactly 19 and 6 points, respectively. Point-count bidding cannot be 100-percent accurate because of the limited number of bids available.

Rebidding Your Original Suit - Opener also may rebid the same suit in which he/she opened the bidding. This usually requires at least six cards. With only a five-card suit always look for some other rebid option. Do not form the habit of rebidding five-card suits or you will be tagged as a bad Bridge player.

Rebids of the Original Suit As usual, the stronger opener’s hand is, the higher he is allowed to bid. The following table summarizes the options:

No Trump Rebids - It is common for opener to rebid in no trump. The meanings of these rebids depend on whether the response is a suit or no trump because opener will have different options available in each case.

If the response is one of a suit:

If the response is one no trump:

More on Point Count and Responding

It is now time to learn something more about distributional points. Earlier you learned to count three points for a void, two for a singleton and one for a doubleton. There is an exception to this: Do not count distributional points in a suit that partner has bid as you prepare your response.

For example, if partner opens the bidding one heart, you should not count any points for shortness in hearts. Being short in your partner's suit is not an asset; your chances of finding a trump fit are diminished.

Dummy Points - On the other side of the coin, if partner bids a suit that you like, your shortness in another suit may be more valuable. If you intend to raise your partner's suit (you will become the dummy), use the following table for distributional points if you have at least four trump cards:

For example, if partner opens the bidding one heart and you hold four hearts and a singleton spade, you should count 3 points (instead of the usual 2) for the singleton spade.

When raising partner with only three trump, count your distributional points in the normal way.

Bidding and playing hands of Bridge becomes more competitive once you understand the patterns for keeping score. Scoring a hand is determined by the bid of the hand and the number of tricks that the declarer is able to win. In Bridge, any player may keep score, but all players are responsible to make sure that the score entered on the Bridge score sheet is accurate.

See Contract Bridge Scoring for a typical Bridge Scoring.

See Scoring for a typical page from a Bridge tally pad. Notice that there are two columns labeled "we" and "they." Also notice that about halfway down the sheet there is a horizontal line. This line is significant because any points bid and made are registered below this line. Other points (for setting an opponent, premium points for making game, etc.) are recorded above the line

Scoring Tricks - When the declarer makes his bid by winning as many as or more than the number of tricks he/she has bid, his/her score is entered on the pad in the following manner. Only those tricks bid and made are entered below the line for that team. Any overtricks are entered above the line. So, if the declarer bids two clubs and makes three clubs, the score for two clubs bid and made is entered below the line (40 points). The 20 points for the third trick (overtrick) is entered above the line and does not count towards game (a game is 100 points). You can see the desire to bid your hand carefully!

Game - When a partnership has scored 100 or more points below the line, the team has won a "game". A game is designated on the score pad in the following manner. A horizontal line is drawn across the score sheet below the score, which ended the game. The line should cross both columns and signifies that a new game is beginning. Games may be made in one hand (i.e. a game of four hearts that are bid and made). Games may also be made from partial scores from more than one hand (i.e. a hand of one no trump bid and made equals 40 points and a hand of three diamonds bid and made equals 60 points. Together these partial scores equal 100 points or game).

When the horizontal line is drawn across the scoring pad to designate the wining of the game, any partial score that the opponents may have won is lost and the new game starts fresh. When a team obtains game over the opponent's partial score, this is called "cutting off a leg".

Being Vulnerable - A partnership that has won a full game becomes "vulnerable". The partnership's objective is then to win the next game and earn a bonus for obtaining a "rubber". When a side scores it's second game, the rubber is over and scores are totaled. Winning two out of two games is worth a premium of 700 points above the line and winning 2 out of 3 games is worth 500 points above the line. You can see the importance of these "premium" points above the line. To score a game of Bridge, the player simply adds each team's points being certain to include all points (those above the line, as well as those below the line).

Being "vulnerable" has positives and negatives. If a partnership is "vulnerable", the partnership can receive increased penalties if they fail to meet a future bid. Likewise, a vulnerable team is also able to receive increased bonus or premium points for other bids they do make.

Honors - In a trump suit, the ace, king, queen, jack, and ten are considered "honors". If a player holds all five of these "honor" cards in his/her hand, then they may call honors and receive 100 bonus points above the line for his/her team. If a player holds only four out of the five honors then the partnership is awarded 100 points above the line.

In notrump bidding, if a player holds all four aces the partnership receives 150 points above the line.

Usually the player waits until the hand has been played to declare their honor points. This helps to keep the location of the cards secret until after the hand has been played. Just remember to call "honors" before the next hand is dealt or you lose the points!

Slam Bonuses - If a partnership bids and makes a call at the six level (i.e. six hearts) then the partnership, in addition to their regular score, receives a "bonus" for making a small slam. If a partnership bids and makes all 7 tricks, then this is called a "grand slam" and the team receives bonus points for this as well. (These are outlined in the scoring sheet.)Doubling and Redoubling a Bid - If a declarer makes a bid that an opponent has doubled, the team receives bonus points above the line. Making a redoubled bid results in even greater bonus above the line. Unfinished Games - If the players are forced to end their Bridge session before the game is over, the session is scored in the following way. If one side has one game, that side receives 300 points. If only one side has a part score then they receive 100 bonus points.

Players should refer to the scoring sheet for explanation of all scoring guidelines.

Though the art of Bridge is to play with silent communication, during the learning of the game, it is most helpful to talk things over with everyone at your table. Once you become more accomplished, talking about your hands is forbidden.

• http://www.Bridgeworld.com/default.asp?d=intro_to_Bridge&f=introtoBridgemainpage.html
• http://www.fifthchair.org/school/
• http://www.jazclass.aust.com/Bridge/br0.htm
• http://www.acbl.org/learn/ltpb.htm
• http://www.iglou.com/baronbarclay/RUBBSCOR.html (Free information)
• http://www.baronbarclay.com/ (Bridge supplies)
• http://www.kardwell.com/Bridge-access.htm (Bidding helper)
• http://www.kittycooper.com/Bridge/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=search&query=Power-point Presentation about Benefits of Bridge