Feral Worlds: Tabletop Games · Card Games · Classic rules
Bridge
Bid it. Then make it.
Setup
- Players: four, in two partnerships. Partners sit opposite each other.
- Deal: each player gets 13 cards from a 52-card deck. Aces rank highest.
- Start: the dealer bids first, then the auction goes clockwise.
- Chicago: our default is four deals. Nobody is vulnerable on the first deal.
How to play
- 1Bid, pass, double or redouble. A bid names a number from 1 to 7, the tricks over six your side will take, and a trump suit or no trumps. Each bid must be higher than the last: a higher number, or the same number in a higher strain (clubs, then diamonds, hearts, spades and no trumps).
- 2End the auction. Three passes in a row after a bid end the auction, and the last bid is the contract. A double raises the stakes. A new bid cancels doubles. If all four players pass at the start, nobody plays the deal.
- 3Find the declarer. The declarer is the player on the winning side who first named the contract’s strain. That is not always the player who made the last bid.
- 4Lead and show the dummy. The player to the declarer’s left leads the first card. Then the declarer’s partner, the dummy, lays their whole hand face up. The declarer plays both hands.
- 5Follow suit. Everyone must follow the suit that was led if they can. With none of it, any card may be played.
- 6Win the trick. The highest trump wins the trick. With no trump in it, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner of each trick leads to the next.
Winning
The side with more points when the last deal is scored wins.
Scoring
| Result | Points |
|---|---|
| A trick in clubs or diamonds | 20 points |
| A trick in hearts or spades | 30 points |
| No trumps | 40 for the first trick, 30 for the rest |
| Reaching 100 trick points | A game: 300 bonus, or 500 when vulnerable |
| A slam (12 or 13 tricks) | A large bonus |
| A doubled contract that makes | 50 more, or 100 if redoubled |
| A contract that falls short | 50 or 100 a trick to the defenders, more when doubled |
In Chicago, the dealer’s side is vulnerable on the second and third deals, and both sides are on the fourth. Holding four or five top trumps in one hand, or all four aces at no trumps, can score 100 or 150 as honours.
Key terms
- Auction:
- The bidding that decides the contract.
- Contract:
- The last bid, once three passes follow it.
- Strain:
- The trump suit of a bid, or no trumps.
- Declarer:
- The player who first named the contract’s strain. They play both hands.
- Dummy:
- The declarer’s partner. Their hand is face up and the declarer plays it.
- Trick:
- One card from each player. The highest trump, or the highest card of the suit led, wins it.
- Double:
- A call that raises the stakes on the other side’s bid.
- Vulnerable:
- A side with higher bonuses and higher penalties on a deal.
- Undertrick:
- A trick the declarer fell short by.