Dealer South
Vulnerability —
Contract —
Declarer —
NS Tricks 0
EW Tricks 0
North N — HCP
West W
East E
South (You) S — HCP
Rubber Bridge Scoreboard Hand 1
Hand Contract Result NS Above NS Below EW Above EW Below

Your Bridge Statistics

0
Hands Played
0
Contracts Made
0%
Make Rate
0
Slams Bid & Made
0
Rubbers Won
0
Win Streak

About Contract Bridge

Contract Bridge is widely regarded as the world's greatest card game, demanding a unique combination of memory, logic, partnership communication, and tactical play. It evolved from Whist through Auction Bridge, reaching its modern form as Contract Bridge in 1925, codified by Harold Vanderbilt on a steamship voyage. Today it is played by an estimated 100 million people worldwide.

The game is played by four players in two partnerships — North-South versus East-West. Every hand begins with an auction to determine the contract (how many tricks the declaring side commits to win) and the trump suit. The declaring side then plays to fulfil that contract, while the defenders try to defeat it. Scoring rewards precise bidding as much as skilled play.

How to Play

  1. Deal: 13 cards are dealt to each player. Count your High Card Points (HCP): Ace=4, King=3, Queen=2, Jack=1.
  2. Auction: Starting with the dealer, each player bids or passes in turn. A bid names a number of odd tricks (1–7, meaning 6+that number) and a trump suit (♣ ♦ ♥ ♠) or No Trump. Each bid must be higher than the last. You may also Double an opponent's bid, or Redouble after a Double.
  3. Contract: Bidding ends after three consecutive passes. The final bid becomes the contract. The first player on the winning side to name the trump suit becomes the Declarer.
  4. Dummy: Declarer's partner (Dummy) lays their hand face-up on the table. Declarer plays both their own cards and Dummy's cards.
  5. Play: The player to the left of Declarer leads the first card. You must follow suit if possible. The highest trump wins a trump trick; otherwise the highest card of the led suit wins. Trick winner leads next.
  6. Scoring: If Declarer's side wins at least as many tricks as contracted, they score points below the line. Overtricks score above the line. A rubber is won by the first side to win two games (100+ below-the-line points in a game). Undertricks score for the defenders.

Bidding & Strategy Tips

  • Open 1-of-a-suit with 12–21 HCP. Open 1NT with 15–17 HCP and a balanced hand.
  • As Declarer, count your losers before playing to the first trick — plan the whole hand.
  • Draw trumps early (usually), but stop if you need them to ruff losers in Dummy.
  • As a Defender, lead your partner's suit or a singleton when on lead against a suit contract.