Bridge is Arguably the Greatest Card Game Ever – But it is Tricky
Further on from the guru Eddie Kantor’s 4 Basic Phases of Bridge, I came across his crib notes that my partner and I used to get us up and running in this most difficult, yet addictive card game.
Bridge – the Card Game: Some Winning Tips
As any bridge player will know, bidding is considered the most important aspect to master in the game. A good bridge playing bidder is a winning bridge player.
· Count – before opening take stock. Add your high card points (HCP): Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2, Jack = 1. Holding 12 or more HCP, you should open the bidding.
· To open 1♥ or 1♠, you must have at least five cards in the suit.
· If you have two five-card suits, open in the higher-ranking suit first, i.e. spades before hearts. The suits rank from spades to hearts to diamonds and then clubs.
· If you have two four-card suits, one a major (spades or hearts), one a minor (diamonds or clubs), you should open in the minor. If you have two four-card minors, open 1♦.
· With a balanced hand, i.e. no voids, singletons, or two doubletons, open 1NT with 15 - 17 HCP.
· If your partner opens, holding less than 6 HCP pass. With 6 or more HCP, bid your longest suit at the one level, if possible. Responding at the two-level in a new suit requires 10-11 or more HCP. Replying 1NT indicates 6 to 10 HCP. This tells your partner you don’t have a four-card major when she opens 1♣ or 1♦.
· To support your partner’s first bid major suit you need three or more cards in that suit; to support any second bid suit, you need four or more cards in that suit.
· In bidding, the primary objective is to find an eight-card or longer major suit fit in the partnership.
Playing duplicate bridge at home – Bridge stationery and equipment that you will need.
This is a fun way of playing the game of bridge. To do so you need basically:
· You need at least 8 players (2 tables). If you want more players it is preferable to do so in multiples of 4.
· Card/bridge tables - you can use any table which accommodates 4 people, but it is nicest to use a standard card table.
· Bridge cloths - preferably plain coloured.
· Duplicate boards – at least one for each table.
· One pack of playing cards for each duplicate board
· Score sheets or travellers – one for each board.
· Movement cards - to direct players to their next table position after each round.
A "movement" in the game of duplicate bridge is a direction of circulating the pairs and boards around so that for every round each pair meets up with an opposing pair to play the next set of boards that neither has played. There are various types of movements, but these two – The Howell Movement and Individual are common and will show you how to set up the movement. It is essential to have these movement cards so that players know where to go and what boards to next play. You can get them at a bridge supply shop. https://www.bridgeshop.com.au/club-supplies/movements.html
