The object of the bidding is to try to tell your partner how many points you have got and how many cards you hold in each suit. The standard holding to open the bidding with a suit is 4 cards, but partnerships are free to modify their system to show more or less but they must tell their opponents what they are doing.

This should enable both of you to judge how many tricks you can make and therefore decide the best Contract.

But the opposition may also be bidding, not always but often, and this can get in the way of your bids. Remember the auction goes upwards so if an opponent makes a bid that is higher than the one you want to make you have to find another way of expressing what you hold

It sounds very complicated but in fact learning to do this to start with is not all that difficult.

To start playing the game you only need to learn the basics.

But as you progress, learning how to cope with opposition bidding, learning new modifications,
using your judgement as to how to convey the information to your partner, when to pull out of the auction and leave the contract to your opponents etc takes lots of practice, teaching and experience.

That is part of the fascination of the game.

In the following example of an auction the meaning given to each bid could be considered as standard but would not always be same when made by different players.

One other point, if your "bid" does not comply with its standard meaning within the system you have told your opposition you are playing, you must "alert" them to this,that it is what is called a "conventional" bid and means something other than they would expect But you only tell them what it means if they ask you.

An example auction

Please read this only as an example of the sort of thing that happens. It is not intended to teach you anything.

It is usual, standard, but not mandatory,to bid your longest suit first .

North 1 Spade ( I have a minimum of 13 points and at least 4 cards of the Spade suit )

13 points being the criteria for saying anything at all as "Opening bidder" If your hand does not meet this minimum criteria you say Pass which in itself conveys this negative information to your partner

East Pass ( I have nothing useful to say and my hand does not contain sufficient points and cards to make higher bid)

South I No Trump ( Sorry partner I do not have 4 spades as well, I might have three and I have exactly 6 to 9 points ) Notice that this is the next bid up the ladder, i.e. the lowest you could make other than Pass

With less than 6 points you say Pass

West Pass Nothing to say

North 2 Diamonds - I also have at least 4 Diamonds , probably not more than about 15 points, but because I bid Spades first I must have more Spades than Diamonds, i.e 5 plus

East Pass Still nothing to say

South Whatever bid South makes now will reflect the cards held in his/her hand and on this particular auction there would only be three

Pass I think this is the best Contract

2 Hearts I have at least 5 Hearts and no more than 2 Spades ( still only 6-9 points of course ) I leave the final decision to you partner.

2 Spades I think this is the best Contract.

In this example the partnership has "contracted" to make at least 8 tricks with Spades as trumps ( it doesn‘t matter if you make more )

The next stage is the "Play"

Whoever "bid" Spades first, in this case North, becomes what is known as the Declarer

The player on the left of Declarer, in this case East, leads the first card.

Before any more cards are played South‘s hand is placed on the table laid out in suits face upwards so everyone can see it. South now becomes what is called Dummy and takes no further part other than to play a card from his hand as designated by North.

Yes, North now plays both hands !

East and West are known as Defenders or The Defence

East and West can only see their own cards and Dummy on the table but they are allowed to signal to each other to suggest certain  " plays"  but only by which cards they play.

They must refrain from any facial expressions, words or gestures that might convey information to each other

For example one common method is that when, as a Defender your partner leads an Ace which is likely to win the trick, if you want him/her to continue that suit you might play what appears to be an unnecessarily high card, say a nine or if you have no winners in that suit you might play the lowest card available.

The play follows the basic principles of Whist.

After the opening lead whoever wins the trick leads to the next one. In this context Dummy is considered a separate person.

Normally the highest card played wins but the trick can be won with a trump in accordance with principles of Whist

When all the cards have been played each side adds up the number of tricks won. If, as in our example, North/South have made 8 then they have "made " their contract. If not they are said to have "gone off" by however many tricks they are short of their target . The general shorthand would be, if they made only six tricks, that they were "Two off" or "Two light"

Scoring

There are two basic formats played in Bridge and the basic system of scoring is common to both but with minor differences

First the basics

The suits are designated minor (clubs and diamonds ) and major ( hearts and spades )

The basic scoring system is that you score 20 points for each trick ( over six ) in a minor suit contract and 30 points for each trick in a major suit or no-trumps with the slight exception that you score 40 points for the first trick made in a no-trump contract .

Thus to score a game in clubs or diamonds you need to win 11 tricks , i.e. 5 more than the level 6 @ 20 points each = 100

Similarly in the major suits you need 10 tricks , 10 less 6= 4 @ 30 points =120

9 tricks would only score 90 points

At no trumps , however, because the first trick scores 40 points you only need to 9 tricks, 3 over 6, - Thus 1 @ 40 and 2 @ 30 = 100

The two basic formats are called Rubber Bridge and Duplicate Bridge.

Many Bridge teachers do not teach beginners how to play Rubber Bridge, often because they don‘t know how to play it themselves !

Rubber Bridge is the style you usually play when there are only four players but there are others.It is normal to play for money but it can still be enjoyed just playing for fun.