Contract Bridge

Bridge is played by four players in two partnerships: here you (South) and North against West and East. Each player is dealt 13 cards from a standard 52-card pack, Aces high. Play is clockwise.

Each deal begins with an auction, starting with the dealer. A bid names a number of tricks above six and a trump suit or no trumps (NT): 2♥ means eight tricks with hearts as trumps. Each bid must be higher than the last; suits rank ♣ ♦ ♥ ♠ and then NT. You may also double the opponents' last bid, redouble your side's doubled bid, or pass. Three passes in a row after a bid end the auction, and the last bid is the contract.

The player of the winning side who first named the contract's suit (or NT) is the declarer, and their partner is dummy. The player to declarer's left leads, then dummy's cards are laid face up and declarer plays them as well. You must follow suit if you can. The highest trump wins the trick, otherwise the highest card of the suit led.

• This is Chicago, or four-deal bridge: the dealer is North, East, South and then West, and the vulnerability goes neither, North–South, East–West, both. If all four players pass, the same dealer deals again.
• Tricks bid and made score below the line: 20 each in ♣ or ♦, 30 in ♥ or ♠, and 40 for the first and 30 for each further trick in NT. Doubling doubles them, redoubling quadruples them.
• Reaching 100 below the line makes a game, worth a bonus of 300 (500 when vulnerable); part scores carry forward until someone makes a game. A part score in the last deal that doesn't make game earns 100.
• Overtricks, slam bonuses (small slam 500/750, grand slam 1000/1500) and 50 for making a doubled contract are scored above the line. If the contract fails, the defenders score for each undertrick: 50 (100 vulnerable), more if doubled.
• After four deals the side with more points wins.

• In the auction, tap a level (1–7), then a suit or NT. Pass, Double and Redouble are below. The auction so far is shown in a table by seat.
• When your side wins the contract you play both hands, yours and North's, whichever of you is declarer. North's cards are shown face up; tap a highlighted card on your turn.
• When the opponents declare, you defend with your own hand and your computer partner defends with North's.

• Daily: everyone gets the same deals each day.
• New Game: four fresh deals.

• Count your points: Ace 4, King 3, Queen 2, Jack 1. With 12 or more, open the bidding. Your partner bids in the same simple style.
• A side needs about 25 points between the two hands for game in 3NT, 4♥ or 4♠, and about 33 for a small slam.
• Look for an eight-card fit in a major suit; it usually plays better than notrump.
• As declarer, draw the opponents' trumps early, then cash your winners, so they can't ruff them.

Contract bridge descends from Whist. The first known rule book for bridge is Biritch, or Russian Whist, published in 1886 by John Collinson, and it already had a dummy, a no-trumps call and scoring above and below the line. Auction bridge, in which the players bid for the contract, followed in 1904.

The modern game came from changes to the scoring of auction bridge made by Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and others in the mid-1920s: only the tricks contracted for count towards game, and vulnerability was introduced. That made the bidding far more challenging, and contract bridge soon replaced its predecessors. The first officially recognised world championship was held in Budapest in 1937.

The rules here follow pagat.com's description of Contract Bridge with its Chicago (four-deal) scoring. Honours, an extra scored in rubber bridge, are not counted, and the computer players bid in a simplified natural style with no conventions except a strong 2♣.

Contract Bridge is a free browser version of the classic partnership game, played with a computer partner against two computer opponents, with a daily game and online leaderboards. There's nothing to download and no sign-up.

A free, original browser game on PlayPendium. No download, no install.