Bridge For Dummies

Bridge Bidding Tips

When you’re playing bridge, bidding is regarded as the most valuable part of the game. It’s obvious that a winning bridge player is a good bidder. Use these bidding tips when playing bridge to get you started:

• Before opening, add your high card points (HCP): Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. With 12 or more HCP, open the bidding.

• To open 1♥ or 1♠, you need at least five cards in the suit.

• With two five-card suits, open in the higher-ranking suit first. The rank of the suits, from highest to lowest, is spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs.

• With two four-card suits, one a major (hearts or spades), one a minor (diamonds or clubs), open in the minor. With two four-card minors, open 1♦.

• Open 1NT with 15 to 17 HCP plus a balanced hand (no voids, singletons, or two doubletons).

• If your partner opens, pass with fewer than 6 HCP. With 6 or more HCP, bid your longest suit at the one level, if possible. Responding at the two level requires 11 or more HCP. A response of 1NT shows 6 to 10 HCP and denies a four-card major if your partner opens 1♣ or 1♦.

• Supporting your partner’s first bid major suit requires three or more cards in the suit; supporting any second bid suit requires four or more cards in the suit.

• Remember: A primary objective in bidding is to locate an eight-card or longer major suit fit between your hand and your partner’s.

Bridge Tips for Play of the Hand in a Notrump Contract

Due to the way bridge is scored, more hands end up being played at notrump (no cards are designated as wild, or trump) than in any other denomination. Try these tips on playing a notrump contract:

• Count your sure tricks — the number of tricks you can take without giving up the lead.

• If you have enough sure tricks to make your contract, take them!

• If you don’t have enough sure tricks to make your contract, attack suits in which you may be missing the ace, the king, or both the ace and the king — tricks you have to lose anyway.

• Long suits can provide extra tricks. Just keep playing them until both opponents are void in the suit; the remaining cards are all winners.

• When taking or establishing tricks in unequally divided suits with equal honor cards, start by playing the high card from the short side. With Kx (the x stands for a small card) facing the AQJx or QJ10x, start with the king.

Bridge Tips for Play of the Hand in a Trump Contract

The following bridge tips will show you new options to win more tricks, play the proper sequence, and prevent your opponent from taking loads of tricks when you wind up in a trump contract.

• Count your losers. If you have too many losers to make your contract, try to develop extra tricks in unevenly divided suits (more cards in one hand than the other).

• If the dummy has a short side suit (singleton or doubleton), void the dummy in the suit and then trump whatever losers you have left in the dummy.

• If the dummy has a long side suit, think in terms of establishing the suit by trumping a card or two until the small cards morph into extra winners — good for discarding losers.

• As the declarer, when you’re able to take a trick with a choice of equal cards such as the KQ, take the trick with the higher equal. It’s more deceptive.

• When trying to take a trick with a queen or king, lead from the other hand toward the honor. With xxx facing Kx, lead toward the king. With Axx facing Qxx, lead low toward the queen.

Preferred Leads in Bridge against a Notrump Contract

When you’re leading against a notrump contract, selecting the right opening lead offers you a chance to finish off the declarer. Check out these suggested leads:

• The top of a three-card honor sequence: A from AKQx, K from KQJx or KQ10x, Q from QJ10x or QJ9x, and so on

• The J from suits headed by the J109, J108, AJ10, or KJ10

• The 10 from suits headed by the 1098, 1097, A109, K109, Q109, AK109, or AQ109

• Your partner’s unsupported suit: top of two cards, low from three or four cards

• The fourth highest card from your longest suit

Preferred Leads in Bridge against a Trump Contract

Having the opening lead in bridge is an advantage because you can devise a strategy depending on your hand and the bidding. You have more options when leading against a trump contract than when leading against a notrump contract, as you see in the following list:

• Top of a two- or three-card honor sequence, such as K from the KQJx or the ace from the AKx(x)

• Your partner’s suit

• Short suit leads: a singleton or top of a doubleton

• The unbid suit: top of a doubleton, low from three or four cards headed an honor card, top of three or four small cards

• The stronger of two unbid suits; however, if one is headed by an ace, lead the other

• Your longest unbid side suit with four trumps

Points Scored in Bridge by Contract

Bridge scoring operates around the final contract and the actual number of tricks taken by the team buying the contract. If you don’t feel like doing the math, use this table to see how many points you score, if you make the contract.

(Game = 100 points)