History of Bridge + Whist - Trump chosen randomly - Points based on tricks won + Bridge-Whist (Straight Bridge) - Introduction of "dummy" concept - Dealer chose the trump suit, or passed and let partner choose - Opponents could "double" before the opening lead - Declarer could "redouble" + Auction Bridge - Players compete to become declarer - Bids composed of a number ("odd tricks" "over book") and a trump - Each trick "over book" scores points - no-trump: 10 - spades: 9 - hearts: 8 - diamonds: 7 - clubs: 6 - Game bonus at 30 points (3NT, 4S, 4H, 5D, 5C) - Winning a rubber (2 games) gets rubber bonus - Trump honor bonuses + Contract Bridge - Only tricks that are bid count towards game - no-trump: 40 for 1st trick, 30 thereafter - spades and hearts ("major suits"): 30 points - diamonds and clubs ("minor suits"): 20 points - Game bonus at 100 points (3NT, 4S, 4H, 5D, 5C) + Rubber Bridge - "below the line": points towards game "above the line": bonus points - partial scores are retained below the line - a pair is "vulnerable" after one game won - penalties and bonuses are higher - rubber bonus: 700 for 2-game, 500 for 3-game - unfinished game: 300 - unfinished partscore: 100 - undertricks: 50/100 - doubled contracts (redoubling simply doubles these) - overtricks: 100/200 - insult: 50 - undertricks: - non-vul: 100, 300, 500, 800, 1100, .. - vul: 200, 500, 800, 1100, 1400, .. - slam bonuses: - small slam (12 tricks): 500/1000 - grand slam (13 tricks): 750/1500 - honors: 100-150 for suit, 150 for notrump - passed hand: next dealer + Chicago (Four-Deal Bridge) - vulnerability is fixed - no one, dealer, dealer, both - game bonus: 300/500 - partial scores are retained - part-score bonus: 100 on the fourth deal - passed hand: same dealer - NO honors bonus + Duplicate Bridge - many players play the same hand - vulnerability is predetermined - game bonus: 300/500 - partial scores are NOT retained - part-score bonus: 50 - NO honors bonus Bidding + Dealer makes first call + All players make one call, in clockwise order, until there are three consecutive passes. - EXCEPTION: if the first three calls are passes, the fourth player may still make a call. + A call is one of: - "P" pass (always legal) - bid (number from 1-7 and a trump call) - legal bids must be higher than the last bid - higher number is higher - if same number, order is NT, S, H, D, C - "X" double (only legal if opponents make the last bid) - "XX" redouble (only legal if last bids were "X" or "XPP") Some Bidding Terminology - Opener: Person who makes the first bid. His/her seating position is called "opening seat". - Responder: Partner of the Opener. His/her seating position is called "responding seat". - Direct Seat: Left-hand opponent of the opener. The person who makes a call after the opener but before responder. - Balancing Seat: Right-hand opponent of the opener. This term is usually only used if direct seat and responder pass. - Uncontested auction: An auction where only the opener and responder make bids. Uncontested auctions take the form: + Opening + Response + Rebid by Opener + Rebid by Reponder They can be shorter or longer, of course. - Raise: Bidding the same suit that your partner last bid. - single raise: bidding one level higher. - double raise: bidding two levels higher. - triple raise: guess. - Overcall: a bid made by the opponents. Uncontested auctions cannot have overcalls. Any overcall makes the auction contested. - Jump bid: a bid whose number is higher than it legally needs to be. - jump overcall: a jump bid that is an overcall. - jump raise: a jump bid that is a raise. - jump shift: a jump bid that changes suit (and is not an overcall). - Skip bid: same as "jump bid". More Bidding Terminology (strategy-specific) - Strength: A general term for how good a hand is. - Natural vs. Artificial + Natural Bid: A bid that actually shows a correct trump desire. (I.e., a bid that would work in Bridge-Whist). + Artifical Bid: A bid that is not a Natural Bid. - Limit vs. Unlimited + Limit Bid: A bid that has an upper and lower-bound on strength that is no more than, say, a king. + Unlimited Bid: A bid that is not a Limit Bid. - Forcing vs. Non-Forcing + Sign-Off Bid: A bid where partner is requested not to bid again. Most game bids and slam bids are sign-offs. + Invitational Bid: A bid where partner is requested to pass if his hand is weak, or bid on if his hand is strong. + Forcing Bid: A bid where partner is requested to not pass (i.e., bid SOMETHING). Most artificial bids are forcing. + Non-Forcing: Any bid that is not forcing. - Weak or Pre-emptive Bids: A bid where the bidder does not expect to make the contract. He bids because he thinks that his bid will make it difficult for the opponents to find a contract, and that the penalties for going down are not as bad as the possible points lost for the opponents making a good contract. DO NOT make pre-emptive bids if you have a strong hand! (You may very well be removing your own bidding room). Most pre-emptive bids are skip bids. General Bidding Strategy - The general goal of bidding is to answer two questions: + What is the best suit to choose as trump? - Any suit with 8 or more cards combined is a good choice (called a "trump fit"). - If there is no suit with 8 or more cards, it is called a "misfit" (or "no fit"). + How powerful are our hands combined? Hand Evaluation - Hand evaluation is based on two attributes: + Power + Shape - High Card Point (HCP) Count ["Goren"] + A-K-Q-J = 4-3-2-1 + all Aces = +1 + no Aces = -1 - Distributional points + for length: + 1 point for 5-card suit + 2 point for 6-card suit + 3 point for 7-card suit etc. + for shortness: + 1 point for doubleton + 2 points for singleton + 3 points for void + DO NOT COUNT POINTS FOR BOTH LENGTH AND SHORTNESS + when a trump fit is found: + 1 point for doubleton + 3 points for singleton + 5 points for void + DO NOT COUNT SHORTNESS IN THE TRUMP SUIT! + DO NOT count distributional points in no-trump! - Balanced hand + 4-3-3-3 + 4-4-3-2 + 5-3-3-2 + 5-4-2-2 (borderline) - Some expert advice: + Experts tend not to use distributional points + Be careful of counting unprotected honors + 4-3-3-3 is usually bad. Consider subtracting a point. + When playing in no-trump, Aces and Kings are overvalued and Jacks and Tens are undervalues. A modified HCP is a scaled 5-1 scale. - Quick Tricks (old Honor-trick evaluation) + AK = 2 + AQ = 1.5 + A = 1 + KQ = 1 + K = 0.5 (if protected) + AKQ = 2.5 (queen is not quick enough) - Stoppers: holdings that make it hard for the opponents to "run" the suit + Any quick-trick is a stopper. + QJT (or better) + Qxx vs. Jxx + QJx is borderline + JT9x + J9xx is borderline - Control: being able to avoid losing early tricks in the suit. + First-round control: being able to avoid losing the first trick + Second-round control: being able to avoid losing the second trick Magic Numbers: + 3NT - 25 or more HCP - Stoppers in all suits - (Sometimes worth risking, if there's a long running suit) + 4H, 4S - Trump fit - 26 or more points (including distribution) + 5C, 5D - Trump fit - 29 or more points (including distribution) + Small slam (6-anything) - 33 or more points (including distribution) - First-round control in three suits, at least second-round control in the fourth + Grand slam (7-anything) - 37 or more points (including distribution) - First-round control in all suits.