Bridge
Also known as: Contract Bridge
Quick Rules
- Two fixed partnerships sit across from each other; all 52 cards are dealt out, 13 to each player.
- Bidding sets a "contract": the highest bidding partnership names a trump suit (or "no trump") and commits to taking a target number of tricks.
- After bidding, the declarer's partner ("dummy") lays their hand face up and takes no further active part - the declarer plays both hands.
- Must follow suit if possible; highest trump wins a trick, or highest card of the suit led if no trump was played.
- Meeting or beating the contract scores points for the declaring side; falling short scores penalty points for the defenders instead.
How to Play (Quick Overview)
- 1
Deal all 52 cards evenly, 13 to each of 4 players seated in two fixed partnerships across from each other.
- 2
Hold an auction: starting left of the dealer, each player in turn bids a number and a suit (or "no trump"), passes, or challenges the last bid ("double"/"redouble") - each new bid must outrank the last. Three consecutive passes end the auction.
- 3
The highest bid becomes the "contract": that suit (or no trump) becomes trump, and the partnership that made the bid must take at least that many tricks (6 plus the bid number) to succeed.
- 4
The player who bid the contract first for their side becomes "declarer"; their partner becomes "dummy" and lays their entire hand face up on the table, taking no further active role.
- 5
The player to declarer's left leads the first trick; play then proceeds as in any trick-taking game, with declarer playing cards from both their own hand and the face-up dummy hand.
- 6
After all 13 tricks are played, compare the declaring side's tricks won against the contract to score the hand.
Objective
Working with your partner across the table, either win the bidding and then take enough tricks to fulfill your contract, or defend against the other partnership’s contract and stop them from making it.
Setup
Shuffle a standard 52-card deck and deal all of it out evenly, 13 cards to each of 4 players seated in two fixed partnerships, partners sitting across from each other.
How to Play
The auction. Starting with the player to the dealer’s left, players take turns bidding. A bid names a number (1 through 7) and a trump suit or “no trump” - for example, “2 hearts” is a commitment to take 6 + 2 = 8 tricks with hearts as trump. Each new bid must outrank the previous one (either a higher number, or the same number in a higher-ranked strain: clubs < diamonds < hearts < spades < no trump). A player may instead pass, or “double” an opponent’s bid to raise its stakes (and a doubled bid can be “redoubled” in turn). The auction ends the moment three players pass in a row after the last bid.
The contract. The final bid becomes the contract. The suit named (or no trump) becomes trump for the hand. The partnership that won the auction must take at least (6 + the bid number) tricks to succeed; falling short means the contract fails.
Declarer and dummy. Whichever player on the winning side first bid the contract’s final suit becomes declarer. Declarer’s partner becomes dummy: immediately after the opening lead, dummy lays their entire hand face up on the table and takes no further active part in play - declarer plays cards from both their own hand and the dummy’s face-up hand for the rest of it.
Playing the tricks. The player to declarer’s left makes the opening lead. Players must follow the suit led if able. If any trump was played in the trick, the highest trump wins it; otherwise the highest card of the suit led wins. The trick winner leads next. Play continues through all 13 tricks.
Scoring
Bridge scoring is layered:
- Making the contract scores points based on the trump suit (or no trump) and the number bid, split between “trick points” (which count toward game) and any overtricks.
- Failing to make the contract gives the defenders penalty points instead, larger if the contract was doubled or redoubled.
- Bonus points exist for bidding and making a “small slam” (12 tricks) or “grand slam” (all 13), and for completing a “game” (reaching 100 trick points across one or more hands).
Full duplicate/rubber scoring tables are extensive enough that most groups keep a printed scorecard or app on hand rather than memorizing every value.
Winning
In casual “rubber bridge,” the game is won by the first partnership to win two “games” (each game being reached by accumulating 100 trick points across hands). In duplicate or tournament bridge, many separate deals are compared across tables and scored by total points, with no single “game” as such.
Variations
- Duplicate Bridge: the same pre-dealt hands are played at multiple tables, so all pairs compare results on identical cards rather than being at the mercy of the shuffle - the standard format for competitive and club play.
- Bidding conventions: partnerships agree in advance on signaling systems (Stayman, Blackwood, and many others) that give bids extra meaning beyond their face value.
- Chicago / Party Bridge: shorter casual scoring formats that wrap up a game in a fixed small number of hands rather than playing to a full rubber.
History
Bridge developed out of Whist through a series of intermediate 19th-century games, most directly Bridge-Whist and then Auction Bridge, before financier Harold Vanderbilt formalized the modern scoring system and rules for Contract Bridge in 1925, reportedly working them out during an ocean voyage. Contract Bridge quickly overtook its predecessors in popularity and became the standard version played in clubs and tournaments worldwide.
Fun Fact
Bridge is one of the few card games recognized as a “mind sport” by international sporting bodies, with the World Bridge Federation organizing regular world championships - and it’s famously been a lifelong passion of investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who have played together in tournaments.