Bridge
Goal
Partnerships score by making their contract (number of tricks) after bidding.
Key Terms
- Contract/Bid: The number of tricks a partnership commits to take.
- Trick: One card per player; highest led suit or trump wins.
- Dummy: Declarer’s partner’s hand, laid face up.
Setup
- Four players in two partnerships; deal 13 cards each.
- The dealer is chosen at random; the player to the dealer’s left makes the opening lead after the bidding.
Bidding
- Players bid to name a trump suit (or no trump) and the number of tricks.
- The highest bid becomes the contract; the winning bidder is declarer.
Play
- The player left of declarer leads.
- Declarer’s partner lays their hand face up as dummy.
- Must follow suit if possible; highest card in led suit (or trump) wins.
Scoring
- Points for tricks won in the contract; penalties for failing to make it.
Example Trick
Diamonds are led. You must follow with a diamond if you have one; otherwise, you may discard or trump if a trump suit was chosen.