Hasbro Bridge, Beginners Instructions

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FOREWARD
If you are a novice, with a desire to play Bridge, you
have, in this item, the necessary ingredients to learn
how to play reasonably well. The important thing is
that you will learn the “Goren Point Count System
of Bidding.” Armed with this natural system, you will
be able to sit with proficient players anywhere and
quickly gain experience and skill,
The hands used in Beginners Bridge are typical
hands, arranged to best illustrate the Goren system. As
you progress in your knowledge of Bridge, you may see
other ways of playing them but, to derive the maximum
benefit, they should be played as Goren recommends.
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BEGINNERS BRIDGE DIRECTIONS
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Contract Bridge is a card game for 4 players. The 2 players
sitting across from each other are partners and score jointly
against the other 2 players.
Bridge is played with a standard deck of 52 cards which are
divided into 4 SUITS: Spades (4), Hearts (Y), Diamonds (+),
and Clubs (4). Each suit has 13 cards, ranking from the Ace
(A), as highest, next the King (K), Queen (Q), Jack (J), Ten
(10), and so on down to the 2 (Deuce), which ia the lowest
ranking card.
The 52 cards are always mixed-up (shuffled) then dealt out
clockwise, one card at a time, to each player, face down, from
the top of the deck, until the deck is exhausted. Each player will
then have 1% cards, called a “hand”.
Each player should sort his 13 cards into suits and separate
the suits by color.
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For reference purposes, we will call the players North, South, The following rules apply to WINNING TRICKS—
East and West, You, the Beginner, will be South during the en- A — All players MUST follow suit, when possible, by playing
tire use of the sample “hands”. Your partner is North, East a card of the same suit led.
and West are your competition. E — When all 4 cards are played and . . . all are of the same
suit, the HIGHEST OF THE 4 WINS THAT TRICK!
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A "TRICK" consiata of FOUR cards played, one from each + + +: + *:
player's hand. Thus — there are 13 TRICKS in each deal or i | 8 5 | |
“hand” of the caros. THE KING OF DIAMONDS WINS THE TRICK. |
C — If you do not have a card in the suit led then you have one
of two choices: you may RUFF or DISCARD.
To RUFF is to play a TRUMP when another suit is lead.
When a TRICK is RUFFED, that TRUMP card will win that
trick if it ia the only trump played. When 2 or 3 players RUFF,
the highest TRUMP wins the trick (this is called an OVER-
Bridge has two main parts: (1) the BIDDING, and (2) the
PLAY. To understand the reason for bidding and the goal during
the play, you must first know the meaning of a TRICK, because
— the AIM OF EACH PARTNERSHIP IS TO WIN TRICKS!
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RUFF: SPADES ARE TRUMPS, 3 OF SPADES WINS THE TRICK
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The starting player places one card, from his hand, face y + 4
un in the center of the table, This first card is called the A y у
OPENING LEAD. (In Bridge, the player who leads first, is the Y + |
player to the LEFT of the person who has WON THE BIDDING | J |
CONTRACT). Then the others, IN TURN CLOCKWISE, play | : PY EY
one card from their hands. These 4 cards make a TRICK and OVERRUEF. SP ADES ARE TRUMPS. 7 OF SP ADES WINS THE TRICK
the player whose card wins a trick, plays (LEADS) the firat card
for the next trick. To DISCARD is to play a card of a different suit other than
the one led and other than TRUMP. It has no value toward
Several important factors determine how a TRICK is won! winning that trick.
HIGH CARDS (such as Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks) have a big (a í
triek winning potential. But ALL 18 cards in the TRUMF suit as
(even the deuce) rank higher than ANY of the cards in the |
other 8 suits! THE SUIT NAMED IN THE FINAL BID (the v Y Y
CONTRACT) IS TRUMP. For example, in 8 Contract of 4 Spades
all the 13 cards in Spades, distributed around the table are &
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TRUMPS, regardless of whose hand they may be in, © 00 J LN
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So far — these Bridge terms, TRUMP, FOLLOWING SUIT,
LEADING, RUFFING, OVER-RUFFING, WINNING TRICKS
and DISCARDING have been explained. Now, lets prepare for
the Tutor to simulate a simple game of cards (with NO bidding
as yet) to illustrate how these points are used in actual play.
THE BRIDGE TUTOR
The Tutor was designed so that ONE person could play an
actual FOUR handed game of Bridge by simply moving slides
over a printed sheet containing a pre-arranged deal of the
cards, called a “hand.”
The hands in the TUTOR are numbered 1 to 49. Their num-
bers appear in the upper left corner. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT
THAT THEY BE USED IN NUMERICAL ORDER!
The rest of the hands simulate actual play. These are used
IN the TUTOR. Beginning with hand number 2, each Hand
has an explanation section which designates the DEALER and
explains the play for that hand. In that section, for brevity at
times, we will refer to North as N, South as S, West as W and
East as E.
The top sheet (hand 1) in the TUTOR will help you get ac-
quainted with a hand: TAKE IT OUT of the TUTOR and refer
to it as you read the following.
In each hand, 13 cards have been dealt to the 4 players. You
only see the symbol and numbers, such as 99, K& or Aa, that
appear in the corner of a regular card. THE SMALL NUMBER
ABOVE EACH CARD IN NORTH'S AND SOUTH'S HANDS
INDICATE THE SEQUENCE OR ROTATION IN WHICH
EACH OF THEIR CARDS IS PLAYED, For East and West, the
plastic slides on the cover are moved up one space in turn, to
disclose the cards they play for each trick. As you progress
through this book you will be directed to the TUTOR to bid
and play the hands.
HOW TO SET THE BRIDGE TUTOR
AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH AND EVERY HAND:
1. Move the small slides for North and South on the Tutor
cover, (see illustration), toward the CENTER of the cover.
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2. Move the East and West slides down to the BOTTOM of the
curved slots.
3. Move ALL the BID slides to close the openings.
4. Set the WE and THEY scoring indicators to the empty space
next to the number one. These are used to record tricks won by
your opponents East and West (THEY), and you and your
partner North and South (WE).
5. Lift one end of the Tutor cover and place the sheet under
the cover. (At this point, turn the top sheet over, to hand
number 2, and place it under the cover). Adjust the sheet so all
the cards in South’s hand are centered in the cover slots.
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WHEN ALL THE SLIDES AND THE LESSON SHEET
HAVE BEEN CORRECTLY SET IN THE TUTOR AT THE
START OF A HAND, ONLY THE 13 CARDS IN YOUR HAND
(SOUTH), THE NUMBERS SHOWING THE SEQUENCE IN
WHICH NORTH'S CARDS ARE PLAYED, AND THE EX-
PLANATION FOR THAT HAND WILL BE VISIBLE.
Imagine you are set to play. The TUTOR is substituting for
your opponents East and West and your partner, North, YOU
play ALL the hands by moving the slides. For each trick, East
and West slides are moved up one space, to disclose the cards
they play. When the correct slide for North and South is moved,
to designate the card played, the number above the card will be
in trick sequence. For example:
For TRICK NO. 1 — East and West slides will be at the 1st
space. The number above the correct cards played by North
and South must be 1.
For TRICK NO. 2 — East and West will move to the 2nd
space. The number above the correct cards played by North
and South must be 2.
If the number above either of the North and South cards is
not in correct trick sequence, that slide must be closed BEFORE
you decide on another. It is important for the Beginner to play
the correct cards in the correct sequence to receive full benefit
from these lessons. |
Hand 2 differs from regular Bridge in that there is no
Bidding and no Dummy (these will be discussed later). For
hand 2, assume that the first part of a Bridge game, the Bid-
ding, is over and YOU, South, have won the Contract in Spades
(SPADES ARE TRUMP). West plays the first card for the first
trick (opening lead) since he is the player to the left of the
‘Contract winner.
NOW GO TO THE TUTOR AND FOLLOW THE EXPLA-
NATION FOR HAND NO. 2. BEFORE PROCEEDING ANY
FURTHER IN THIS BOOK.
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THE BIDDING
Bidding is nothing more than ESTIMATING how many
TRICKS a partnership can WIN! In the bidding process, part-
ners use Bridge language to convey a message to each other.
The final (hence the highest) bid on a hand is called the CON-
TRACT. When partners BID intelligently, they will arrive at a
CONTRACT and, if played correctly, they should MAKE THAT
CONTRACT! THUS, THE AIM IN BIDDING IS FOR PART-
NERS TO CONVERSE IN BRIDGE LANGUAGE SO THEY
CAN ARRIVE AT THE BEST CONTRACT!
BRIDGE LANGUAGE is simple! The BID is made in a
MINIMUM of words — a NUMBER and a SUIT. For example:
“ONE SPADE”, “TWO HEARTS” etc.
To understand the meaning of a BID, you must first be in-
troduced to another Bridge term — BOOK. The Contract win-
ning team must win a minimum number of tricks in playing
that hand. THE FIRST SIX TRICKS THEY WIN IS A BOOK
AND DO NOT COUNT TOWARD THE CONTRACT! So —
a bid of “ONE SPADE” means the bidder estimates his team
could win SEVEN TRICKS (or 6 tricks for the Book plus 1 as
the BID) with SPADES AS TRUMP. The bid “Four Hearts”
is an estimate toward winning TEN TRICKS with HEARTS AS
TRUMP.
A BID could also be made in NO TRUMP. This means the
Bidder wants NONE of the 4 suits as TRUMP to make all suits
equal in trick winning value. A bid of 2 NO TRUMP 1$ an
estimate toward winning 8 TRICKS without any TRUMP.
If a player does not wish to Bid, he may PASS. He may have
another opportunity to bid again if other bids are made.
The lowest number which can be bid is ONE (7 tricks) and
the highest is SEVEN (13 tricks.)
BIDDING is actually an AUCTION for a CONTRACT and as
in a typical auction, each BID made must be HIGHER than the
previous BID. For this purpose, each suit has a different RANK.
RANKS OF SUITS IN BIDDING
de Clubs is the lowest ranking suit.
€ Diamonds ranks next.
¥ Hearts ranks next.
A Spades is the highest ranking suit.
NT No Trump, while not a suit, ranks higher than Spades.
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For example: Let's assume all 4 players make a BID (no one
Passes). You, South, Bid 14. West would have to Bid at Icust
14, then North would have to Bid at least 1W, and East would
have to Bid at least 14. If you continued Bidding, your minimum
Bid would have to be INT. If the Bidding continued further
the number 2 (as 24, 2Y, etc) would have to preceed the suit,
then 3, etc.
The opportunity to Bid starts with the Dealer, then proceeds,
clockwise, around the table. Each player must either make a Bid
higher than the previous Bid, or Pass (P).
The FIRST BID made is the OPENING BID and has a
significant meaning (to be discussed later).
When 3 successive Passes are made — the Bidding ends! The
last Bid is the CONTRACT!
The player (of the partnership who bought the contract) who
FIRST BID THE SUIT (OR NT) NAMED IN THE CON-
TRACT IS THE “DECLARER” AND MUST PLAY THE
HAND WITHOUT ANY FURTHER HELP FROM HIS
PARTNER!
If all four players Pass, without making an -Opening Bid,
the cards are reshuffled. The next player, to the left, becomes
the Dealer for the new hand.
EXAMPLES OF BIDDING SEQUENCE
(South Dealer — read in sequence, starting at South and going
to right)
BID SEQUENCE
S W N E
1% P 2% P
COMMENTS
South was the original bidder in
&. South is the Declarer in the
24% contract.
Note that * ranks e, allowing
North to overbid at the level of
1, and East to overbid North at
the level of 14. South, in turn,
had to bid 2% to overbid East.
West bid 24, raising his part-
her’s suit to arrive at the con-
tract. East will play the hand
because he bid the contract suit
first.
S W N E
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P 2% P 3
Pp P P
The call of 1NT required any
following bid to be at the 2 level.
East's raise in Y showed a con-
fidence in that suit of his part-
ner's bid. Contract is 3V, played
by West as Declarer.
HOW TO DETERMINE WHAT TO BID
Without a great deal of experience ‘in. playing, it is difficult
to judge the value of a hand. Over the years many “systems”
have been devised to evaluaté Hands in an effort to avoid ex-
cessive underbidding or dangerous overbidding. The system
that has been universally accepted as the standard method for
estimating hands and communicating between partners is the
GOREN POINT COUNT SYSTEM. It proved to be the easiest
and most accurate! To use this system, a player merely counts
point values of certain cards in his hand and uses the total |
of these points as the BIDDING GUIDE!
GOREN POINT COUNT
In Lesson 2, you were shown the trick-winning importance of
the high cards ACE, KING, QUEEN and JACK. In Goren's
System these important high cards are given values —
ACE — Counts 4 Points
KING — Counts 3 Points
QUEEN — Counts 2 Points
JACK — Counts 1 Point
Add 1 Point for possession of all 4 Aces
The first step is to add the point values of the high cards in
your hand!
The other factor to consider is the DISTRIBUTION or —
the number of cards you have in each suit! This is important
because of the RUFFING action that could happen. In Goren's
System, DISTRIBUTION is given values —
A DOUBLETON (a two card suit) is worth 1 Point
A SINGLETON (a one card. suit) is worth 2 Points
A VOID (no cards in a suit) is worth 3 Points
Thus, the factors to consider in determining the strength of
your hand is — HIGH CARDS AND DISTRIBUTION! Form
the habit of adding the point count of your hand BEFORE
YOU BID!
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EXAMPLES OF COUNTING POINTS
HAND NO. 1
4 AQ42 2 A= 8 Points
V AKJ10 1K= 3 ”
+ 643 1Q= 2 ”
+ 82 1J= 1 »
1 DOUBLETON = 1 ”
High Card Count — 14 Points
Distribution _1 Point
Total Count 15 Points
HAND NO. 2
& AQ42 3 À — 12 Points
Y AKJI10 1K= 38 ”
+ 6 1Q= 2 ”
+ А 1054 17 = 1 ”
1 SINGLETON= 2 ”
High Card Count — 18 Points
Distribution _2 Points
Total Count 20 Points
HAND NO. 3
ÑN AQI32 1A= 4 Points
V 10764 2Q= 4 ”
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1 VOID = 3 ”
High Card Count — 8 Points
Distribution _3 Points
Total Count 11 Points
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OPENING BID
The first player to make a bid (not Pass) is the OPENING
BIDDER. This is an especially important bid, in that it is sup-
posed to show a definite minimum Point Count strength. This
information is taken into account by the Bidder's Partner (and
the Defenders). It determines the strategy of all subsequent
bidding.
Since the deck contains 40 HIGH CARD POINTS (10 for
each suit), an average hand would have 10 points. To open the
bidding, a player should hold a BETTER than average hand
because his minimum OPENING BID is ONE (Suit or NT)
which is an estimate for winning SEVEN TRICKS (6 for the
BOOK and 1 for the BID). To win more tricks than the De-
fenders, the Bidder and partner must, generally speaking, have
a greater point count.
OPENING SUIT BID —
How much better than average should the Opening Bidder
be? In general, he should possess at least 13 points. There are
other factors to consider but, in Point Count alone, a 13 point
count hand MAY be opened. IF A HAND CONTAINS 14
POINTS IT SHOULD ALWAYS BE OPENED!
The SUIT in which to bid should also meet certain require-
ments. It should have at least 4 cards AND contain at least 4
High Card Points. For example: a 13 point hand, having the
following cards in a suit, is biddable in that suit — A976;
К@ 32; К 796.
These suits are NOT biddable: © 1084; 271076; АКЛ.
If the suit contains 5 cards or more, regardless of its point
- count content, it is biddable.
NO TRUMP OPENING BID
The INT OPENING BID requires a very different hand.
Since the meaning of NO TRUMP is a BID to play the hand
with NO suit as Trump, the hand must have certain requirements.
1, It must hold at least 16-18 points COUNTING THE HIGH
CARDS ONLY. DISTRIBUTION POINTS ARE NOT
COUNTED IN NO TRUMP.
2. IT MUST BE A BALANCED HAND. By a BALANCED
hand we mean it must have NO VOIDS, NO SINGLE-
TONS and at most, ONE DOUBLETON.
3. The distribution should be 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2. In
addition the Doubleton, if present, MUST contain a high
count card, a QUEEN OR BETTER. Whenever this kind
of hand is held, the 1 NT Opening Bid should be made
rather than a suit bid.
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QUIZ NO. 1 — OPENING BIDS
For each hand shown: a. Give the Point Count as High Cards and Distribution
b. What should be your Opening Bid?
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Answers
1. a. 12 +1 — 13 Points 6. a. 17 4 0 17 Points
b. Bid 1Y b. Bid 1 NT
2. a. 1442 = 16 Points 7. a. 1344 = 17 Points
b. Bid 14 b. Bid 14
3. a. 12--0= 12 Points 8. a. 124-0 = 12 Points
b. Pass b. Pass
4. a, 15 +1 = 16 Points 9. a 17 +2 = 19 Points
b. Bid 14 E, Bid 14
5. @. 9 -- 3 — 12 Points 10. a. 184-1 = 19 Points
b. Pass b. Bid 1 NT
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HOW A HAND IS PLAYED
Thus far, you have learned the mechanical, basic rules for
playing bridge, and have played a hand in the TUTOR to
illustrate these rules. You have been introduced to Bid-
ding and the GOREN Point Count System of determining the
Opening Bid. Before going on to the more advanced stages of
bidding to determine the Final Contract, certain other basic rules
for playing and terms commonly used should be understood.
1. After a final bid has been made and the contract awarded to
the team, the DECLARER (the one who made the FIRST bid of
the Final Contract) must play the hand. The Declarer's partner
becomes the DUMMY and does NOT take part in the play. For
example: If South is the Declarer, North would be Dummy.
The East-West players would be the DEFENDERS who try to
DEFEAT THE CONTRACT.
2. The first step in the play is for the player to the LEFT of
the declarer to make the OPENING LEAD by playing one card
from his hand, FACE UP in the center of the table.
3. After the opening lead is made, the Dummy's hand, (all
13 cards) is laid on the table FACE UP. All cards of each suit
are kept together, in vertical rows. Overlap the cards with the
highest of a suit at the top, next highest over it and so on.
Place the TRUMP suit (if there is one) on the Declarer's LEFT.
An example of how the dummy hand would look is shown below.
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4, The Declarer plays the Dummy hand, removing the desired
card and playing it in normal clockwise rotation for each trick.
WHEN A TRICK IS WON BY A CARD FROM THE DUMMY,
THE LEAD FOR THE NEXT TRICK MUST ORIGINATE
FROM THE DUMMY.
5. All tricks won (whether by the Declarer or from the Dummy
hand) are counted for the Declarer. All tricks won by either
Defender are counted for the Defender partners. In our TUTOR,
the tricks won are accounted for by the 2 scoring dials. “WE”
for North and South (the Declarer) “THEY” for East and
West (the Defenders).
We will next direct you to the TUTOR to play some hands.
Hand No. 3 is the first one where you will be BIDDING and
playing. This hand will give detailed comments, requiring BOTH
sides of the sheet to complete the hand.
WHEN USING the TUTOR, follow the instructions on page 3,
“HOW TO SET THE BRIDGE TUTOR,” 1 through 5.
IT IS SUGGESTED THAT FROM HAND 3 ON, THE BEGIN-
NER TRY TO BID THE SOUTH HAND AS BEST HE CAN
WHILE FOLLOWING THE BIDDING SEQUENCE WITH
THE SLIDES.
THEN, EXPOSE NORTH HAND AND READ “THE BID-
DING” COMMENTS.
AFTER THIS, PLAY THE HAND OUT AND THEN READ
“THE PLAY” COMMENTS.
NOW GO TO THE TUTOR TO PLAY HANDS 3, 4 AND 5.
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BIDDING MORE THAN ONE SUIT
After an Opening bid has been made, quite often an Opponent
or your Partner will bid another suit. This may be at the same
Level, when it is a higher ranking suit, as 14 over 14, or at a
higher Level, as 2Y over 14. This is done for many reasons. In
hands 2, 3 and 4 your partner North gave you a raise in the
same suit. In hands 5, 6, and 7 which you are about to play, one
of the Defenders is the Dealer and the Opening Bid is made by
East. In all these lessons you bid another suit, still at the same
(1) level. Notice that AFTER AN OPENING BID HAS BEEN
MADE, A PLAYER DOES NOT NEED 13 or more POINTS IN
HIS HAND TO BID. This will be discussed later in the book.
GO TO THE TUTOR TO PLAY HANDS No. 6 to 11.
READ THE EXPLANATIONS CAREFULLY AS YOU GO
ALONG.
RESPONSES
After a player has made an Opening Bid, his partner has an
opportunity to bid. This bid is called a RESPONSE. The
GOREN POINT COUNT SYSTEM has laid down some guide
lines to follow for this important step in arriving at the best
contract.
When your partner makes an Opening Bid his point count
may be anywhere from 13 to 21 points (or even more). If
you hold a weak hand and Pass along with the Defenders (3
Passes), the bidding will be over. If your partner also held a
weak opening hand, it would not matter, but if he had a power-
ful hand, you would have missed an opportunity for a good score,
Therefore, an effort must be made to keep the bidding open for at
least one more round. The proper response will also give informa-
tion to the opening bidder as to the relative strength of the hand.
Normally, the players try to determine (early in the bidding)
whether they have sufficient strength to “GO TO GAME.” This
involves an understanding of the scoring system of Contract
Bridge WHICH WILL BE DISCUSSED LATER. At this point, it
is sufficient for you to know that “GAME” consists of bidding and
making a Contract scoring a minimum of 100 points. The GAME
Contracts are: 3 NT, 44, 49, 5¢, or 5&. Note that it takes
the least tricks (3) to make GAME in NT, more (4) in 4 or Y,
and the most tricks (5) in the € and «+ suits. For this reason,
we refer to the A and Y as MAJOR SUITS and the * and 4
as MINOR SUITS.
If possible, the partners should prefer to make a GAME Con-
tract in a NT or MAJOR SUIT, because it usually is easier to
make a contract of 3 or 4 than 5. The point count, distribution,
and relative strengths in each suit, however, will determine the
final contract, keeping the GAME possibilities in mind.
Briefly, to bid a GAME CONTRACT, the following guide is
used:
A. To bid a game contract of 3NT, 4 4 or 4 Y, the two
partner's hands should have at least 26 points between them.
В. To bid a game contract of 5¢ dr 5%, the two hands should
have at least 29 points between them.
In discussing the RESPONSE to the opening bid, we will keep
the GAME possibilities in mind. The Responder will try to show
his partner, the Opening Bidder, how strong his hand is by his
Response, in order to let his partner decide whether the combined
point count has GAME possibilities. The response can be divided
into three categories, “PASS,” “LIMITED” and “UNLIMITED,”
PASS
The Responder should pass if his hand holds LESS THAN
6 POINTS. With a hand this weak, no encouragement should
be given to the opening bidder as the possibility of a game hand
is very unlikely. With few exceptions, these hands should be
“Passed.”
“LIMITED'' RESPONSE TO AN OPENING SUIT BID
The opening bidder is not forced to bid again (he may pass)
if his partner has Responded with a limited bid. The limited
Responses are either a Single Raise in the suit of the opening bid
or a bid of 1NT over partner's opening suit bid.
A. THE SINGLE RAISE: THIS BID (A RAISE TO 2 IN OPEN-
ING SUIT) DESCRIBES A HAND OF MEDIOCRE
STRENGTIL CONTAINING SUPPORT FOR PARTNER'S
TRUMP. SUIT. IT SHOULD CONTAIN 7-10 POINTS, IN-
CLUDING HIGH CARDS AND DISTRIBUTION.
1. Trump support is either of the following minimums:
a) Four small trumps
b) Three trumps headed by an “Honor” (A, K, Q, J, or
10).
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2. Recount the points in your hand AFTER your partner's
suit bid as follows:
Doubleton — 1 point in any other suit
Singleton — 3 points in any other suit
Void — 5 points in any other suit
ADD 1 point if holding K, Q, or QJ,
SUBTRACT 1 point for only 3 Trumps
SUBTRACT 1 point for 4-3-3-3 distribution
in Trump suit.
EXAMPLES OF SINGLE RAISES
Partner's Opening Bid: 1%
Your hand holds: (x means a non-honor card)
AÑ — X
Y — Kxxx 9 points
$ — Q 10xx Response — 29
de — XXXX
Your hand holds:
A — XX
¥ — Kxx 8 points
$ — A 10xxx Response — 2V
de — XXX
B. THE 1 NT RESPONSE: THIS BID DESCRIBES A HAND
CONTAINING HIGH CARD COUNT OF FROM 6 TO 10
POINTS. IT MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE BALANCED DIS-
TRIBUTION.
EXAMPLES OF 1 NT RESPONSES
Partner’s Opening Bid: 1%
The hand holds:
AN — XXX
¥ — xxx High Card Count 7 Points
$ — Axxx Response —- 1NT
de — Kxx
The hand holds:
A — Jxx
vx High Card Count 7 points
+ — Qxxxx Response — 1NT
+» — A 10xx
10
“LIMITED” RESPONSE TO 1 NT OPENING BID
The 1NT Opener is a special case for Response, since
this is a precise opening bid (16-18 high card points with bal-
anced distribution). The responder can determine, by simple
arithmetic, whether the combined hands have game possibilities
(26 point total). Thus the Responder, in one bid, can tell his part-
ner whether to try for Game or not.
If Responder wants to LIMIT the bidding to UNDER Game —
1) With 6 points or less — pass
2) With 7 points and a good 5 card suit — bid 2 of the suit
3) With 8-9 points and uneven distribution — bid 2 NT
All the above are “limiting” bids, requesting your partner, the
opener, to pass, closing the bidding at the level of the response,
UNLIMITED RESPONSES
The Responder may use certain bids to show that he holds a
GOOD “helping” hand and that these may be possibilties of a
GAME contract. These bids are an “invitation” to the opener
to bid once more so that the Responder may have another op-
portunity to evaluate the opener's strength.
A. The ONE-OVER-ONE Response. This means a bid in a
NEW suit at the level of ONE. For example, with an opening
bid of 14, the ONE-OVER-ONE Response would be 19, or 14.
This Response may be used with a rather weak hand of 6 points
to a strong hand of as many as 18 points. In general, it is trying
to force the opener to REBID so the responder can determine
his next step in the bidding. |
B. The TWO-OVER-ONE Response. This means a bid in a
NEW suit at the level of TWO. For example, with an opening bid
of 1W the TWO-OVER-ONE Response would be 24, or 24.
This response requires at least an average hand of 10 points and
may show up to 18 points. It also forces the opener to bid at
least once more.
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CHOICE OF RESPONSES
When partner opens the bidding, the Responder often finds
himself faced with a choice of possible responses. The guides
to Responding as outlined above show that there may be more
than one Response possible for a certain range of point counts
and distribution. The possible situations are numerous and it
is beyond the scope of this book to discuss all of them. In
general, however, the Bidder and Responder should try to arrive
at the bid which will give them the easiest Game Contract. A
review of Game Point Count requirements will serve as a guide:
Game Bid Recommended Relative Difficulty
49 or 44 26 Easiest
3NT 26 (High Cards) Next Easiest
bee or 54 29 Most difficult
From this it is concluded that the first thing the responder
should be looking for is a possible MAJOR SUIT FIT.
A. If the opening bid is 1é or 1 ¢, the Responder should look
for a biddable major suit (Q x x x or better) in preference to
bidding the INT or raising the opener minor suit. If he has no
biddable major suit, his next choice would be 1NT, and the raise
of the minor suit opener is reserved for weak, unbalanced hands.
EXAMPLES WHERE PARTNER OPENED 14
The hand holds:
A — XXX
Y — Q Jxx
$ — XXX
dh — K Jx
Response — 19
The hand holds:
A — Qxx
¥ — Kx
$ — XXXX
de — Q Jxx
Response — 1 NT
B. If the opening bid is 1Y or 14 (major suits), the Re-
sponder should prefer a raise if a major suit is available. With
a weak hand of balanced distribution, however, the 1NT is
recommended.
EXAMPLES WHERE PARTNER OPENED 1%
The hand holds:
& — xx
¥ — Kxx
$ — Axxx
de — JXXX
Response — 2V
The hand holds:
A — Kxxx
V — xxx
$ — Axx
de — XXX
Response — 14
The hand holds:
& — Kxx
V — xxx
+ — Axxx
he — XXX
Response — 1 NT
C. General guides to suit choice are:
1. Bid the longest suit first — unless the hand is weak and
the bidding level would have to be higher (such as 2 of a suit).
2. With two five card suits, the higher ranking is usually
shown first.
3. With four card suits, bid the one that can be shown most
cheaply, That is, try to stay at the same trick level in the re-
sponse or in the lower bid ranking suits if a trick level must be
raised.
NOW TAKE “QUIZ NO. 2 — RESPONSES” ON PAGE 12.
AFTER THAT, GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HANDS 12 TO 17.
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QUIZ NO. 2 — RESPONSES
For each hand shown: a. Give Point Count as High Cards and Distribution BEFORE
Partner’s Opening Bid.
b. Give Response to Partner's Opening Bid.
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LÉ ENE 2. в. 6 | 2 — 8 7. @. 7 +- 2 = 9
AQ YS b. Bid 14 b. Bid 14
ARE 7 3. a. 13+1=14 8. a. 1542=17
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AN 4. @. 9 -- 1 — 10 9. a 12 -- 1 = 13
e HAND 10 b. Bid INT b. Bid 2%
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b. Bid 2% b. Bid 1Y
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OPENING BIDS OF 3 IN A SUIT
There will be instances when a player will be dealt a hand
having less than 13 or 14 points and still be able to OPEN. If
your hand contains 10 OR LESS POINTS IN HIGH CARDS
ONLY AND A SUIT WITH AT LEAST SEVEN CARDS, YOU
SHOULD OPEN WITH 3 IN THE LONG SUIT.
It does not denote a strong hand. Instead, it tells your partner
you have a weak hand (10 points or less) BUT a 7 (or more)
card suit. If your partner has a strong hand that blends with
yours, his Response will enable you to bid again and score
higher. If his hand is weak and your Opponents remain silent,
you could conceivably fail to make your Bid.
However, if you did not bid, your opponents would have likely
opened the bidding and scored highly with no opposition from
you.
If the hand contains 11 OR MORE HIGH CARD POINTS
AND THE SEVEN OR MORE CARD SUIT, IT SHOULD NOT
BE OPENED WITH A WEAK 3 BID. SUCH HANDS CAN BE
OPENED WITH A BID OF ONE IN THE LONG SUIT!
Here are some examples of when to Open with a bid of 3:
1. A—AKJ10963 Y-—32 Æ—1093 6—4 Bid 34
2. &—3 Y—98 &--32 #—A10987654 Bid 34
3. #—32 Y —KQJ10984 &—3 6—QJ4 Ва ЗУ
4. M—AKQ7632 Y—32 &—95 фФ-—64 Bid 34
5. M—QJ109653 Y—3 4—7 6—QJ104 Bid 34
RESPONSE TO OPENING 3 BIDS
If your partner Opens with a 3 Bid, you should Pass unless you
possess 3 or 4 high cards capable of winning a trick the first or
second time a suit is led. Unless you have exceptional strength
in other suits, you should Respond with a limited raise in your
partners suit.
NOW GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HANDS NO. 18, 19, AND
20 FOR SOME EXAMPLES OF OPENING 3 BIDS AND
THEIR PLAY.
DRAWING OUT TRUMPS
By this time you have seen that the normal strategy plan of
the Declarer is to try to get the lead early in the hand and then
to play his trumps until both opponents’ hands are void in that
suit. This prevents the Defenders from being able to “Ruff”
ahd take an otherwise winning trick away from the Declarer.
While this plan of play is not always the best, the novice should
usually attempt to “draw out” trumps early in the play of the
hand.
Simple arithmetic will determine when this has been accom-
plished. Since there are 13 cards for every suit, adding the total
trump cards in the Declarer's hand and the dummy, then sub-
tracting from 13 will tell how many trump cards are in the
combined hands of the Defenders. Example: If South has 6
Trumps and his dummy shows 3 Trumps (8), then the Defenders
have 5 Trump cards between them. As the Declarer leads trumps,
he simply counts how many trumps fall on each trick until a total
of 5 are played by the defenders. In the above example, if 3 leads
of trump are made and 4 fall on the first trick, 4 on the second,
and 3 on the third, then the Defenders are out of Trumps. They
had held 3 in one hand and 2 in the other.
The experienced bridge player extends this method of ac-
counting to all of the suits. Hand 19 in the TUTOR was an ex-
ample of counting a key suit other than Trumps.
THE FINESSE
This term is used to describe one of the most common and
most important plays in bridge. The finesse has been mentioned
in several previous hands in the TUTOR. It is a play which may
prevent an opponent from winning a trick with one of his high
cards. It is best explained by an actual example.
Let us assume that the declarer, South, holds QJ 1075 of
Trumps and his Dummy, North, holds the A 6 3 of Trumps. This
would mean that the Defenders would hold K 9 8 4 2 in their com-
bined hands. The “split” would usually be 3 in one hand 2 in the
other. Unless one defender held the K as a singleton, the lead of
the À would NOT cause the K to fall — resulting in a trick taken
by the Defenders later. By means of the finesse, the K may be
prevented from taking a trick. If the K is in the West hand, the
finesse is possible.
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THE FINESSE (Continued)
Assuming that the K is in the West hand, the four hands
would look like this:
(North)
A 63
(West) (East)
Kx XXX
or or
Kxx хх
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(South)
The finesse play would be to lead the Q from South’s hand
and, if the K does not fall from West, play low from the Dum-
my. South then leads again with the J and, if West does not
play the K, play low again from the Dummy. The third lead
from South’s hand (if necessary) should be low (5) because
the K now MUST be played by West and will be covered by
Dummy’s Ace.
This finesse would be successful ONLY if the K is in West's
hand and only if as Kx or Kx x. If the K is in East's hand, it
would take a trick. Also, if either hand is K x x x, the finesse
will not work.
The finesse has many possible variations, too numerous to
illustrate here. In general, the finesse improves the players odds
in catching key cards. Often a finesse must be attempted and
be successful in order to make a difficult contract.
14
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SPECIAL FORCING BIDS
Thus far we have discussed Opening Bids and Responses with
rather normal hands. Occasionally a hand will be so good that it
requires an unusual signal in bidding to show the partner that
the bidder strongly feels that “game” or better is indicated. In
effect, these bids say to the partner, “I have a great hand and
1 DEMAND that you keep the bidding going until we can
find the best suit to make game — or more.” We will not go into
the many subtle ramifications of the various types of forcing
bids, but will discuss three rather clear-cut situations where such
bids are indicated: the DEMAND OPENER, JUMP RAISE, and
the JUMP SHIFT,
THE DEMAND OPENER
The demand opener is TWO OF A SUIT, This bid of TWO
(where one would suffice) is an alert to the partner that the
opener has enough strength to go to game even if the partner
has a poor hand; therefore the partner MUST respond.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR OPENING 2 OF A SUIT
25 Points with a good 5-card suit
23 Points with a good 6-card suit
21 Points with a good 7-card suit
EXAMPLES OF HANDS CALLING FOR DEMAND OPENER
1. #&—AKJ104 Y—AKQ10565 &—AJ #—3 Open 24
2. MN—AKQ642 Y—9 «—AQ €+«—AKQ4 Open 24
3. &—None Y—A K 62 #—A Q4 #—A K Q J 10 4 Open 24
4. M—AKQJ102 Y—AQJ *—A5S 4—K2 Open 24
Ta aa rm a ни
THE DEMAND OPENER (Continued)
The 2NT Opening Bid is not quite a DEMAND to the partner
to give a Response. The partner holding LESS THAN 4 POINTS
should pass. It is, however, a strong opener which urges partner
to keep the bidding open.
MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR 2 NT OPENER
22-24 High Card points and all suits “stopped”, that is J x xx,
Q x x, Kx, or better in all suits.
NOTE: If the hand contains 25 (or 26) high card points and
all suits stopped, an opener of 3 NT may be used, which partner
may pass with less than 7 points.
A TYPICAL 2NT OPENING HAND
& —À J 4
VY—A KQ3
de —K82
+—AK5
What does the responder do after his partner has made the
demand opener? It is difficult to cover every situation possible,
but if he has a very poor hand (under 6 points) he must show this
with a 2NT response (or 3NT if the opener was 2NT).
Otherwise, he should follow the normal responses as previously
discussed. If he has a strong hand (over 9 points) but no long
suit or no support in the opening suit, a 3 NT rather than the
weak 2 NT is recommended.
сл №5 09 59
THE JUMP RAISE
When the partner has opened with ONE (1) of a suit, and the
Responder has a strong hand with support in the opening suit,
the response should be THREE (3) of that suit. This is the
JUMP RAISE as it is MORE than necessary to keep the bidding
open. This response forces (or demands) that the opener keep
the bidding going to a game contract, preferably in that suit.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE JUMP RAISE:
13-16 points and at least 4 Trumps
EXAMPLES OF HANDS CALLING FOR THE JUMP RAISE
Partner opened with 1%. Each of the following hands qualifies
for a jump raise to 39.
A—AQ62 v—K J96 de —3 2 + —Q 10 4
& —3 v—QJ62 +—1098 +—AKT766
à —A 3 v—10987 +—J 1083 +—AKQ
4 — A Q 3 Y—Q765 d+ À J 10 9 +—32
M--10632 v—KQ174 4h —A8 +—A85
NOTE — Sometimes a special jump raise (a DOUBLE JUMP
to 4 of the suit) is indicated if the hand has less than the 13-16
point count, but has very good trump support of 5 or more cards
along with a singleton or void in another suit. This indicates that
the bidding should stop at the 4 level.
THE JUMP SHIFT
This describes a response in which the partner “JUMPS”
to another suit. That is, the responder bids HIGHER than
necessary in ANOTHER suit. For example, if North opened with
1%, and South responded with 24, this would be a JUMP
SHIFT. It is recommended that the Jump Shift be made if the
responder holds 19 points or more as high cards and distribution
count. The Jump Shift also forces (or demands) that the opener
keep the bidding going to a game contract (or more).
EXAMPLE OF A HAND CALLING FOR THE JUMP SHIFT
Partner opened with 1Y, the responder holds:
A4 Y—K 8 7 de— A 9 4 +—A KQI73
The response should be 34, a Jump Shift.
NOW TAKE “QUIZ NO. 3 — FORCING BIDS” ON PAGE
16. AFTER THAT, GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HANDS 21 TO
27.
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Give Response
Partner opened 1 Y
Give Response
16
QUIZ NO. 3 — FORCING BIDS
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Give Opening Bid
Partner opened 1 Y
Give Response
Partner opened 1 Y |
Give Response
Partner apened 1 Y
Give Response
— Answers —
Open — 14
Open — 1 A
IRON
Open — 2 NT 10.
8.
Open — 24 (Demand Opener) 9.
6. Response —3¥ (Jump Raise)
Open — 24 (Demand Opener) 7,
Response — 24 (Jump Shift)
Response — 24
Response — 3 Y (Jump Raise)
Response — 4 Y (Double Jump Raise)
THE SLAM
Hand 27 has been an example of a contract which falls into
the really “big league” of bidding — the SLAM. It is not the
province of this BEGINNERS BRIDGE booklet to go into depth
with unusual bidding or play situations, but a brief definition
of the “SLAM” is in order at this time.
What is a SLAM? There are two kinds. The LITTLE SLAM
is a Contract of SIX (12 tricks) — 6 Spades, for example. The
GRAND SLAM is a Contract of SEVEN (all 13 tricks) — 7
Spades, for example.
Why is a SLAM important? Because of the difficulty of
making such a contract, extra points are awarded in the Scoring
for making a slam Contract (more for the Grand Slam, of
course). We will discuss Scoring later in the book, but for now
it is sufficient to know that, if possible, a slam contract (6 or 7
bid) is highly desirable to obtain, if the cards warrant that bid.
For a guide:
33 points (in your and your partners hand) will normally produce
a small slam.
37 points will normally produce a grand slam.
Sometimes a partnership hesitates in bidding a Slam (even
though the count may suggest one) because one or both partners
fear that the opponents might have two Aces. This would
usually make the small slam impossible. In order to determine
the exact number of Aces (and Kings) held by the partner,
the “BLACKWOOD CONVENTION” was devised. It goes as
follows:
1. After a series of bids (i.e. 14—P—34—P), a bid of
4NT asks partner to respond as follows:
If he holds NO Aces — Respond 5%
15] у} ”› 1 Асе | — 5 54
ry ry LE 2 Âces — y” 59
ry LE Ir 3 Aces — LA) БА
» » ” 4 Aces — " 5NT
2. If the player then desires to try for a Grand Slam, a bid
of 5NT asks partner to respond as above, using 64% for NO
Kings, 64 for 1K, etc.
It is important that the 4 NT bidder (or 5 NT as in 2 above)
places the final contract for only he knows the number of Aces
(or Aces and Kings) in the combined hands.
GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HAND NO. 28 WHICH SHOWS
AN EXAMPLE OF “BLACKWOOD CONVENTION.”
THE OVERCALL
An overcall is a bid made AFTER an OPPONENT has
already made an opening bid. For example: you are South,
and West, the dealer, passes; North (your partner) passes; East
OPENS with 1 Diamond and it is now your turn to bid. If you
bid (19 or 14, ete) this is an OVERCALL bid.
Overcalls require special consideration. The reason is that once
an opponent has made an opening bid, you know that he has at
least a fair hand, making the chances for your partner holding
a good helping hand for you rather limited. You should not be
entirely discouraged, however, for it is possible that there may
be a good suit fit or combination of cards between you and your
partner's hand to allow you to go to game, or At least to complete
a less than game contract. The Overcall can also help to inform
your partner what suit you hold in strength so that if the op-
ponents do get the contract, your partner will know what suit to
lead to your hand. You must be careful, however, in making an
Overcall in that it might serve to warn your opponents that they
would be in trouble if they bid too high.
Certain general guide-lines have been established to help a
player who is in possession of a good hand but the opponents
have opened the bidding first. The previously established “Open-
ing’ Bid” requirements do not hold exactly. The most important
factors to consider are as follows:
1. You may have less than 13 point count, but rarely less than
9 or 10.
2. STRENGTH and LENGTH in a suit (preferably a major
suit) is the most important consideration in a suit overcall, The
suit should be at least 5 cards (6 if a minor) and the strength
in high cards should assure not more than 2 trick losses in this
suit, even if partner has poor trump support.
3. With no long, strong suit BUT a high card count of 16-18
points AND stoppers in the opponents’ opening suit bid will
allow the 1 NT overcall.
Normally, the Overcall bid indicates a strong suit rather than
high point count. The Response from the partner should take this
into account. Unless the responder has a good helping hand in
point count, he should pass. A raise in the Overcall suit is ad-
vised provided the point count is at least 10 points even though
the trump support may seem poor (Qx or Xxx).
17
THE OVERCALL (Continued)
A partner responding to an overcall with better than a single
raise indicates that his hand is strong enough to try for game.
The responder in this instance usually should have at least 12
points.
EXAMPLES OF OVERCALL SITUATIONS
1. The opponent has bid 19%, you hold as follows:
&—K J 1084 YV—A 62 A5 2 + —7 4 3
Your bid — 14.
This suit is strong enough to make an overcall even though the
total point count is only 9.
2. The opponent has bid 1W, you hold as follows:
a&—AJ652 Y—7543 ® — К 5 + — À 4
Your bid — Pass.
The Spade suit is too weak in strength. The opponents could
take more than 2 Tricks in Spades (K, Q, 10 9 etc.). Note that
this hand could be opened, but it is not advised to make an
overcall with it, even with the 14 points.
3. The opponent has bid 1W, you hold as follows:
A-—10 7 Y —3 de—AKJI1097 +—K 1093
Your bid — 2 &.
The Club suit, though a minor, is very strong. The 14 point
count is good. With the singleton in the opponent’s opening suit,
it can be ruffed after one lead.
4, You should not overcall immediately when you are strong
and long (4 cards or more) in opponent's suit bid. Wait for
developments.
NOW GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HANDS 29, 30 AND 31.
18
SUMMARY
The instructions in this book and the TUTOR lessons have
carried the beginner through a basic introduction to Contract
Bridge. We have covered:
Basic rules and mechanics of bidding and play
Introduction to the GOREN Point Count System
Opening bids, and responses
Basic play strategies — “Drawing Trumps” and the
“Finesse”
A special bidding situation — “3 opener”
Forcing bids — The “Demand Opener,” “Jump Raise,” and
“Jump Shift”
“Slam” bidding and “Blackwood Convention”
The “Overcall” bid
NOW TRY “QUIZ NO. 4 — GENERAL REVIEW” ON PAGES
19 AND 20.
If you have patiently and carefully followed this book and the
hands, you would qualify as a good novice who should be able
to hold his own in average 4 handed competition. It is recom-
mended that you take every opportunity to play with others as
that is the best way to learn more and put what you have learned
into practice.
Later we will give a “Glossary of Bridge Terms” so that you
can talk the correct language. Also we will give an outline of how
to SCORE. We have not yet gone into a detailed explanation of
scoring because it is not as important to the beginner as learning
how to bid and play the hands.
But FIRST, we would like you to play out more sample hands.
These will give you more practice in bidding and playing
a wide variety of hands. Please read the commentary for a
review of what you have learned (we hope) and additional
pointers for good bridge.
A NOTE TO THE EXPERIENCED PLAYER — The hands
in the TUTOR are samples or illustrations of actual play sit-
uations. We realize that any bridge hand can be played in many
different ways by both the declarer and the defenders. Ex-
perienced players may want to bid and play the hands different
from what we have shown — possibly better. We have selected
the hands and directed the sequence of play to help illustrate
specific points to the beginner and to give him practice in /
playing hands. We are not trying to challenge the expert!
NOW GO TO THE TUTOR FOR HANDS NO. 32 TO 49,
QUIZ NO. 4 — GENERAL REVIEW
Give the Response indicated according to each hand
Partner opened ЗУ
HAND 8
Partner opened 39
1. Bid 14
2. Bid INT
3. Bid 19
4. Bid 14
5. Pass
Answers
Xe HAND 3
Partner opened 1 ¢
Na HAND 6
Ps
A 0 [10 /6
V WAS [8 [s/2/%
A Ye ’
«\* e
> <
O и
J HAND 9
Partner opened 3V
6. Pass
7. Bid 4V
8. Pass
9. Bid 69%
10. Bid 49
19
QUIZ NO. 4 — GENERAL REVIEW
Give the Response indicated according to each hand
(After this Quiz, go back to page 18)
HAND 11
Partner opened 14
9
4/3 |
17
HAND 14
Partner opened 14
HAND 12 HAND 13 |
Partner opened 14 Partner opened 14 |
HAND 15
Bidding has been:
Partner opened 14 W-—1 +, N-—1 VŸ, E—P, S—-?
You are South
HAND 17
HAND 18 HAND 19
Bidding has been: Bidding has been: Bidding has been:
W—1 €, N—1V, E—P, $—? W—1 6, N—1V, E—P, 5-7 W—19, N—19¥, EP, §—?
You are South You are South You are South
HAND 20 Answers
Bidding has been: 11. Bid INT 16. Bid 2Y
W—1 4%, N—1Y, E—P, S—? 12. Bid 24 17. Pass
You are South 13. Bid 34 18. Bid 3V
14. Bid 2% 19. Bid 2 NT
15. Pass 20. Bid 2+%
FOR THE
GLOSSARY OF BRIDGE TERMS
PLAYERS:
DECLARER .............0 eno The player who, for his side, first
Erba nb bb bra RNAs Ebay
TAA REC ANTE EAE
teva srr barr arab bay
FOR THE BIDDI
CREA RAP NENT ARIS sb ab Aber aa r a a
hl sat ht ES EE ENN LE TELA EERE bE se anes
SE BE RE I ERAN rar FERRE srry
DEE
DEFEAT THE CONTRACT ....
bid the Suit named in the final
contract.
The opponents of the declarer.
Declarer's partner,
The person to the left of the
declarer.
The person who first bids on
each deal,
The partner of the
bidder.
opening
NG AND PLAY:
The process of bidding.
An offer to take a specified num-
ber of tricks.
First 6 tricks taken by declarer.
A bid, double, redouble or pass.
The final bid indicating the num-
ber of tricks which must be won
and the trump suit.
To distribute the cards one at a
time to the four players in ro-
tation. The word deal is also used
to describe the complete action
on a hand, including the bidding
and the play.
To prevent the declarer from
winning the number of tricks bid
for. Also called “SET”, such as
“SET the contract,” or “SET
the hand.”
DISCARD ieee,
A player discards when he is
unable to follow suit and also
fails to use a trump. The card
played is called a discard. Also
called “SLUFF”, or “THROW
OFF”,
NO a Á holding of two cards in n suit.
.To win the number of tricks bid
for. Also called “MAKE the con-
tract” or “MAKE the hand”
LEAD Wiener ne renace To play the first card of a trick
—or—the first card played to a
trick.
MAJOR SUIT une Hearts or Spades.
MINOR SUIT cu Diamonds or Clubs.
OPENING BID coool The first bid of any auction.
OVERTRICK eee, Each trick won in excess of those
contracted for.
PASS ooo A refusal to enter the auction.
RESPONSE uns A bid made in answer to your
partner’s bid.
RUFF ieee .To play a trump on a plain suit
when you are unable to follow
suit. After someone has “ruffed”,
to play a trump higher than one
already played is called an
“OVER-RUFF",
SINGLETON un e À holding of one card in a suit.
TRICK ooo Four cards, one from each
player's hand.
TRUMP SUIT ooo The suit named in the final con-
tract.
VOID oie ca cernes A holding of no cards in a suit.
21
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SCORING OF CONTRACT BRIDGE
The main objective in scoring is to be the first side to win
TWO GAMES,” in other words, the best two out of three
possible games. This is called a “RUBBER”, For example, if
North-South won the first game and East-West the second, the
winner of the third game would win the RUBBER. Of course,
it is possible (and desirable for extra points) to make a RUB-
BER by winning two games in a row.
There are two ways of getting points:
1. TRICK POINTS for bidding and making the contracts.
2. BONUSES and PENALTIES. The bonuses are made by
the declarer side for making their contracts or overtricks, etc.
The penalties are earned by the side defeating (or setting) the
opposing contract.
HOW THE SCORING IS SET UP:
WE THEY
Place for entering
Bonuses and Penalties (“above the line” scores)
(Place for entering
TRICK SCORES) (“below the line” scores)
SCORING GAME
A GAME is won by scoring 100 POINTS (or more) as TRICK
POINTS. These points may be obtained by scoring obtained
from one hand — a game contract, or by two or more hands of
“less-than-game-contract” which total 100 points. The “less-than-
game” contracts are called “partial scores”. All trick points are
entered BELOW THE LINE on the score sheet.
The TRICK POINTS for the suits of the contract are:
Clubs and Diamonds (Minor) — 20 points for each trick
Spades and Hearts (Major) — 30 points for each trick
No Trump — 40 points for the FIRST trick and 30 points for
each additional trick
Score for any OVERTRICKS, that is, tricks made over and
above the bid, are entered ABOVE THE LINE as bonus score
and DO NOT COUNT for game scoring.
22
From the above, it can be seen that the GAME CONTRACTS
for each Suit would be:
3NT — 100 points
44 or 490 — 120 points
od ог 5Ф — 100 points
When a side has won one game, it is VULNERABLE. This!
means it can get greater penalties or bonuses. Both sides could
be VULNERABLE if each has won a game towards the RUB-
BER.
Examples of scoring Trick Points
1. North-South has bid a contract of 2d. They made 3 tricks.
The scoring would be entered as follows:
WE THEY
(North-South) (Overtrick Bonus of
20 lee = 20)
(Contract of
40 2d is 2 X 20 = 40)
a
+
TES TETE
re Tarr, Fr.
o"
> EE
2. North-South, after example 1, has bid a contract of 3%
and has made it. The scoring would NOW show the following:
WE THEY
(North-South) (Previous overtrick bonus)
20
40 (Previous partial score)
60 (Score for 34 made)
This means that North-South has scored a GAME and they
are VULNERABLE. When game is scored, a line is drawn below
it to signify a game has been made and the scoring for the next
game is to be started below that line.
The DOUBLE and REDOUBLE :
When a contract has been DOUBLED, it has the effect of
doubling the trick points. Thus, a contract of 29, if made, would
score 60 trick points, but if DOUBLED, it would score 120 trick
points below the line. |
When a contract has been Doubled (by the opponents) and
then REDOUBLED (by the declarers), it multiplies the trick
scores by 4.
The Double and Redouble also increases the bonuses or penal-
ties according to the charts given below.
BONUSES
(entered “above the line”)
RUBBER BONUS
The rubber bonus goes to the side first winning two games
as follows:
If won in the first two AMES... 700 points
If won in three games....................... 500 points
HONORS BONUS
The “HONOR” cards in any one suit are the A, K, Q, J, and
10. To score the honors bonus, the declarer (or his dummy) must
have the following honor cards in ONE HAND, (either his or
the dummy) AND they must be in the TRUMP SUIT.
for 4 honor cards in the trump suit all in one hand — 100 points
for § honor cards in the trump suit all in one hand — 150 points
If the contract is in NO TRUMP —
for ALL FOUR ACES IN ONE HAND
150 points
If the 4 or 5 honor cards are divided between the declarer
and Dummy hands the Honors Bonus does NOT apply.
NOTE: “Honors” may be held by an opponent, in which case
he and his partner score the bonus.
SLAM BONUS
Not Vul- Vul-
nerable nerable
Small slam (a contract of 6 — bid and made) 500 760
Grand Slam (a contract of 7 — bid and made) 1000 1500
DOUBLED-REDOUBLED BONUSES
Bonus for making contract if doubled or redoubled 50
Bonus for making OVERTRICKS if doubled or redoubled—
Not Vul- Vul-
nerable nerable
For each overtrick if doubled 100 200
For cach overtrick if redoubled 200 400
PENALTIES
(entered “above the line”)
Penalties are scored by the opponents for defeating the contract.
Declarer Declarer
Not Vul- Vul-
nerable nerable
For each trick UNDER Contract... ны 50 100
If Doubled—for FIRST TRICK under ................ 100 200
for each additional Trick under .... 200 300
If Redoubled—for FIRST TRICK under .......... 200 400
for each additional trick under.... 400 600
AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE RUBBER: Al points
earned both above and below the line are totaled for each side
and the side with the greater number of points is the winner.
On page 24 is an example of a complete rubber played and
scored.
23
Fl, PT, A, PERE ть, = — — ia UN, ¡Uta e, E E A ау a
iy SE PE
SAMPLE OF A COMPLETE RUBBER SCORING
Hand 1. WE bid 24 and made 34. (Enter 60 below and
30 above for WE)
Hand 2. WE bid 2%, it was doubled. We got set by 3 Tricks.
(Enter 500 above for THEY)
WE THEY
Hand 3. THEY bid 6Y and made 6 Y. Declarer held А К J 10 9 500
of Hearts in his hand. (Enter 180 below, 500 above for slam 9 50
bonus, and 100 for honors bonus — for THEY). THEY are now ; 150 а 100
Vulnerable, having won a game. 4 100 3 500
| 1 30 2 500
Hand 4. THEY bid 2NT and got set by 1 Trick, (Enter 100
above for WE)
1 60 3 180
Hand 5. WE bid 2Y and made 4Y. (Enter 60 below and 60
above for WE) 5 60 6 60
7 40
Hand 6. THEY bid 34% and made 34. (Enter 60 below for
THEY) | 9 120
Hand 7. WE bid 1NT and made 1NT. (Enter 40 below 20 poa Tiago protal:
for WE). WE are now Vulnerable, having won a game.
Hand 8. THEY bid 44 and were set 1 Trick. (Enter 100
above for WE)
Hand 9. WE bid 34 and were doubled. WE made 3 6 . (Enter
120 below, 50 above for making doubled contract, and 500 for This ends the RUBBER. The total points show THEY to be
RUBBER bonus) the winner.
24