In duplicate bridge every table plays the same deals, so your score depends on how you played, not what you were dealt. Here is how it all works.
14 min read
Plain guides to the rules, bidding, conventions and duplicate scoring, plus advice on learning and teaching bridge online.
In duplicate bridge every table plays the same deals, so your score depends on how you played, not what you were dealt. Here is how it all works.
Most people can follow a hand after an evening and play a beginner club game within about a month. This is how long each stage takes, and the plan to get there.
Teaching bridge over video is a different craft from teaching in a room. This is the setup, the lesson plan and the pitfalls, from teachers who made the switch.
Bridge has four players, 52 cards and one auction. This guide follows a single hand in five steps, from the deal to the score.
Bidding is a conversation with a vocabulary of 35 bids, plus pass, double and redouble. Start with point counts, the standard opening bids and the responses that keep partner informed.
A convention is a bid with an agreed artificial meaning. These are the ones most partnerships play, with the responses spelled out.
Online lessons range from a private hour over video to a weekly game with a teacher reviewing every board. Here is how to pick the right format and teacher.
You do not need the whole rulebook to sit down at a bridge table. These rules, a full scoring table and a few worked examples cover what actually comes up in your first month.
You take one seat and three robots take the others. Here is what Shark Bridge Game gives you for solo four-hand bridge, what is free, and which devices it runs on.
Count high card points, then adjust for shape: length when you open, shortness once you have a fit, nothing in notrump. Four worked hands show how.