History of contract bridge - wikipedia History of contract bridge The history of contract bridge, one of the world 's most popular partnership card games, may be dated from the early 16th - century invention of trick - taking games such as whist. Bridge departed from whist with the creation of Biritch ( or `` Russian Whist '' ) in the 19th century, and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game. Contents 1 Origins 2 Boom years 3 Recent developments 4 References 5 External links Origins According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word bridge is the English pronunciation of the game called `` biritch ''. It followed on from whist, which initially was the dominant trick - playing game and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries. The oldest known reference to the rules of the game dates from 1886 and calls it `` Biritch, or Russian Whist ''. The game featured several significant developments from whist : dealer chose the trump suit, or nominated his partner to do so ; there was a call of no trumps ( biritch ) ; and the dealer 's partner 's hand became dummy. There were other similarities to bridge : points were scored above and below the line ; the score could be doubled and redoubled ; scoring a game in one deal required 3 odd tricks in no trumps, 4 in hearts, or 5 in diamonds ( although it could not be done at all, undoubled, in clubs or spades ) ; and there were slam bonuses. Despite the popularity of whist, this game, and variants of it, bridge and bridge - whist, became popular in the United States and the UK in the 1890s. In 1904 auction bridge, known for a time as royal auction bridge, was developed where the players bid in a competitive auction to decide the contract and declarer. The object became to make at least as many tricks as were contracted for and penalties were introduced for failing to do so. The modern game of contract bridge was the result of innovations to the scoring of auction bridge made by Harold Stirling Vanderbilt and others. The most significant change was that only the tricks contracted for were counted below the line towards game and slam. That made bidding much more challenging and interesting. Another innovation was the concept of vulnerability, a difference in the sizes of penalties incurred by partnerships that have or have not won one game. That discouraged sacrifice bidding to protect the lead in a rubber. Some other scores were adjusted to produce a more balanced game. Vanderbilt set out his rules in 1925, and within a few years contract bridge had so supplanted other forms of the game that `` bridge '' became synonymous with `` contract bridge. '' Boom years The Beasley - Culbertson match of 1933 This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( April 2011 ) Led by Ely Culbertson, contract bridge enjoyed a boom in popularity in the USA and the UK in the 1930s. Recent developments This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( April 2011 ) In the USA and Australia today, bridge is usually duplicate bridge played at clubs, at tournaments, and online. In the UK, bridge is still widely played in private homes ( rubber or Chicago ) as well as at clubs ( duplicate and rubber ) and tournaments ( duplicate ). References Jump up ^ First Steps of Bridge in the West : Collinson 's ' Biritch by Thierry Depaulis and Jac Fuchs in the Playing - Card Journal of the International Playing - Card Society, Volume 32, No. 2, Sept - Oct 2003. Collinson 's rules are in a miniature bound book of 56 pages about 3 by 5 inches between plain brown hard covers ; of the 56 pages, only 4 are printed on - the first 2 and the last 50 are blank. For the text, see wikisource : Biritch, or Russian Whist. Jump up ^ ( Foster 1889 ) Jump up ^ ( Elwell 1905 and Benedict 1900 ) Jump up ^ ( Melrose 1901 ) Jump up ^ ( Bergholt 1915 ) External links `` Biritch, or Russian Whist '' by John Collinson ( 1886 ), internet edition by John MacLeod ( 2007 ). -- This provides useful detail not in wikisource : Biritch, or Russian Whist and it appears to be a more faithful reproduction. `` History of Bridge ''. Singapore Contract Bridge Association reprint from The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. Brief history of contract bridge Contract bridge Overview General Auction bridge Bridge ethics Bridge - O-Rama Bridge maxims Bridge Murder case Bridge scoring Bridge whist Bridgette Cheating in bridge Chicago Computer bridge Contract bridge Contract bridge diagram Duplicate bridge Duplicate bridge movements Five - suit bridge Goulash Glossary of contract bridge terms High card by suit History of contract bridge Laws of Duplicate Bridge Masterpoints Minibridge Neuberg formula Rubber bridge Screen Singaporean bridge Suit Traveling scoreslip Trump Vugraph Bidding General Balanced hand Balancing ( bridge ) Bidding box Bidding system Board ( bridge ) Bridge convention Brown sticker Convention card Cue bid Five - card majors Forcing bid Forcing pass Game try Hand evaluation Honor point count Inverted minors Law of total tricks Losing - Trick Count Major suit Minor suit Optimum contract and par contract Overcall Preempt Prepared opening bid Principle of fast arrival Psychic bid Quantitative notrump bids Reverse ( bridge ) Sacrifice ( bridge ) Shooting ( bridge ) Single suiter Strong pass Takeout double Three suiter Two suiter Useful space principle Void ( cards ) Weak two bid Zar Points Systems List of bidding systems 2 / 1 game forcing Acol Bidding system Blue Club Boring Club Bridge Base Basic Bridge World Standard Canapé ( bridge ) Carrot Club EHAA Fantunes Highly unusual method Kaplan -- Sheinwold Little Major Moscito OKbridge 2 / 1 Polish Club Precision Club Roman Club Romex system Säffle Spade Standard American Strong club system Conventions List of bidding conventions Card play General List of play techniques Avoidance play Beer card Caddy Card reading Duck Endplay Entry Grosvenor gambit Hold up Percentage play Pin ( bridge ) Principle of restricted choice Probabilities Revoke Ruff Shooting Smother play Tempo Trump promotion Uppercut Vacant Places Declarer play Basic : Finesse Safety play Coups : Alcatraz coup Bath coup Belladonna coup Coup Coup en passant Crocodile coup Deschapelles coup Devil 's coup Loser on loser Merrimac coup Morton 's fork coup Scissors coup Trump coup Vienna coup Squeezes : Backwash squeeze Cannibal squeeze Clash squeeze Compound squeeze Criss - cross squeeze Double squeeze Entry squeeze Entry - shifting squeeze Guard squeeze Knockout squeeze Non-simultaneous double squeeze Progressive squeeze Pseudo-squeeze Saturated squeeze Simple squeeze Simultaneous double squeeze Single - suit squeeze Squeeze play Stepping - stone squeeze Strip squeeze Triple squeeze Trump squeeze Vice squeeze Winkle squeeze Suit combinations : Suit combination Defender play Forcing defense Journalist leads Opening lead Rule of 10 - 12 Rule of 11 Rusinow leads Signal Smith signal People and organizations General ACBL Youngest Life Master List of contract bridge people List of nationality transfers in sport Players by country Australia Austria Brazil Britain Bulgaria Canada China Denmark Netherlands Egypt England Fiction France Germany Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Jewish players Mexico Monaco New Zealand Norway Pakistan Poland Russia Sweden Switzerland Taiwan United States Other lists List of bridge people with Wikipedia ( english ) articles List of bridge administrators List of bridge writers Teams Blue Team Dallas Aces Four Aces Clubs Bridge Club Brașov Cavendish Club Crockford 's Galatasaray Bridge Team Melville Bridge Club Portland Club ( London ) Savoy Club Young Chelsea Bridge Club Governing bodies American Bridge Association American Contract Bridge League Austrian Bridge Federation Brazilian Bridge Federation British Bridge League Canadian Bridge Federation Dutch Bridge Federation English Bridge Union European Bridge League Hungarian Bridge Federation International Mind Sports Association List of contract bridge governing bodies Norwegian Bridge Federation South African Bridge Federation United States Bridge Federation World Bridge Federation Championships General List of bridge competitions and awards World Bermuda Bowl Bridge at the 2008 World Mind Sports Games Bridge at the 2012 World Mind Sports Games Cavendish Invitational Computer Olympiad McConnell Cup Rosenblum Cup Senior Bowl ( bridge ) Triple crown of bridge Venice Cup WBF Youth Award World Bridge Championships World IMP Pairs Championship World Junior Pairs Championship World Junior Teams Championship World Mind Sports Games World Mixed Pairs Championship World Mixed Teams Championship World Open Pairs Championship World Senior Pairs Championship World Senior Teams Championship World Team Olympiad World Transnational Open Teams Championship World Women Pairs Championship National and Zonal Buffett Cup Camrose Trophy Commonwealth Nations Bridge Championships European Universities Bridge Championships Gold Cup ( bridge ) North American bridge Championships : ACBL King or Queen of Bridge Edgar Kaplan Blue Ribbon Pairs Bruce LM -- 5000 Pairs Chicago Mixed Board - a-Match Fall National Open Pairs Fast Open Pairs Fishbein Trophy Goren Trophy Grand National Teams Hilliard Mixed Pairs Jacoby Open Swiss Teams Keohane North American Swiss Teams Lebhar IMP Pairs Leventritt Silver Ribbon Pairs Machlin Women 's Swiss Teams Manfield Non-Life Master Pairs Marcus Cup Master Individual Mini-Blue Ribbon Pairs Mini-Spingold Mitchell Board - a-Match Teams Mott - Smith Trophy Nail Life Master Open Pairs National 199er Pairs National 49er Pairs National 99er Pairs Non-Life Master Swiss Teams Norman Kay Platinum Pairs North American Bridge Championships North American Pairs Red Ribbon Pairs Reisinger Rockwell Mixed Pairs Roth Open Swiss Teams Senior Knockout Teams Silodor Open Pairs Smith Life Master Women 's Pairs Spingold Sternberg Women 's Board - a-Match Teams Truscott Senior Swiss Teams Vanderbilt Trophy Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs Wagar Women 's Knockout Teams Wernher Open Pairs Whitehead Women 's Pairs Young LM -- 1500 Pairs Publications and resources Books List of contract bridge books 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know Bridge Squeezes Complete The Cardturner Design for Bidding Contract Bridge for Beginners Edwin Kantar bibliography Master Point Press Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand Terence Reese bibliography The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge Tickets to the Devil Magazines List of contract bridge magazines Bridge d'Italia Bridge Magazine The Bridge World External links Bridge Base Basic Bridge Base Inc. OKbridge 2 / 1 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_contract_bridge&oldid=713721117 '' Categories : Contract bridge Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from April 2011 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Suomi Edit links This page was last edited on 5 April 2016, at 15 : 34 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: why is the game of bridge called bridge
Answer: English pronunciation of the game called "biritch"