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Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | Announcement A method of promptly informing the opponents that partner's call has a particular meaning. The purposes of announcements and alerts are similar, but an announcement gives the meaning where an alert may prompt the opponents to ask the meaning. Sponsoring organizations set rules on which calls should be announced. The ACBL specifies announcements including "Transfer" for some transfer replies to notrump bids, the point range such as "15 to 17" for an opening bid of one notrump, and "Forcing" or "Semi-forcing" for a 1NT response to a major suit opening bid. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | Antipositional A call is antipositional if it tends to make the "wrong" partner the declarer. If West opens the bidding, it may be best for South to declare a North-South contract, so that West will have to play from his high cards on opening lead. This positioning may protect South's tenaces. In that case, a call that will make North declarer is antipositional. See wrongside. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | Appeal In tournaments, to appeal is to request that a committee review a ruling made by a director.
Approach–forcing A principle, first used in the Culbertson system, that has survived in modern bidding. The original idea was to abandon the indiscriminate notrump bids that characterized auction bridge in favor of a slower exchange of information via suit bidding.
Arrow A marker, usually a large card with an arrow on it, that shows which direction is treated as North at a table in a duplicate event.
Arrow switch The action of changing the North direction during an event, typically for the last round of a Mitchell movement, so that the pairs who were North-South become East-West and vice versa. This allows a single winning pair to be determined.
Artificial A call that is not natural which by agreement carries a coded meaning not necessarily related to the call's (or to the prior call's) denomination.
A bidding system that contains many such calls.Asking bid A bid that, by prior agreement, requests information about a feature of partner's hand: for example, number of controls, suit length, or control of a particular suit.
Attacking lead A lead that instigates an active defense; often, the lead of an honor from a sequence, or a forcing defense.
Attitude A defender's desire, or lack thereof, for his side to continue playing a suit. By means of signals, defender encourages or discourages the continuation of the suit.
AuctionSee bidding. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | Auction bridge, an earlier form of bridge, differing from today's contract bridge chiefly in the scoring. Most notably, overtricks counted the same as tricks bid and made, so they were scored below the line and any contract, no matter how low, could produce a game or slam bonus.Austrian System Another name for Vienna System.Autobridge A variant of contract bridge for play by one person; alternatively, a means for one to learn or practice the game alone. Information for each deal is pre-printed on one sheet of paper in a special layout. Such a "deal" is loaded in a mechanical template (see image at right) which the operator-player manipulates selectively and sequentially to reveal some of the information. Paper deals are distributed in numbered sets of "Autobridge Refills". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | Automatic squeeze A squeeze position that succeeds against either opponent. Compare with Positional squeeze.
AverageIn matchpoint scoring, one-half the matchpoints available on a given deal. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | An average score is sometimes awarded to one or both pairs when for some reason they cannot play the board. If neither pair is at fault or both pairs are at fault, the director may decide to award an average to each side. Law 12.C.2 of the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge states that if one pair is at fault, it receives an average-minus (at most, 40% of the available matchpoints on the board). A pair not at all at fault receives average-plus: 60% of the available matchpoints on the board, or, if greater, the average of the matchpoints the pair earned on other boards played during the session or of the matchpoints earned against their current opponents. The assigned scores need not sum to the total available matchpoints. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | A | In IMP (Butler) pairs, "average" refers to the "datum" used in scoring.Avoidance play A play designed to keep a particular defender off lead, often to prevent the lead of a suit through a tenace position in either declarer's hand or dummy. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Back in To make a partnership's first bid, having previously passed. For example, in 1♥ – (P) – 1NT – (P); 2♣ – (Dbl), the doubler has backed into the bidding.
Backward finesse A combination of two finesses in a suit such that the first finesse is "backward": that is, leading away from the hand containing the tenace. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Balance To keep the bidding open when it is about to be passed out at a low level. For example, if the bidding goes 1♥ – (P) – P – (1NT), the 1NT bid is a balancing action. The balancing bid is often made with a hand of substandard strength in order to prevent the opponents from securing a low-level contract. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Balanced distributionNarrowly, a balanced distribution of a hand is 4–3–3–3, 4–4–3–2 or 5–3–3–2. Equivalently, there are no voids, no singletons, and at most one doubleton.
Balanced is sometimes used in a broad sense that includes semi-balanced. Broadly, balanced distribution permits no void, singleton, or 7-card suit.Balanced hand A hand with balanced distribution in the narrow or wide sense just above. On the first round of bidding, natural notrump bids generally denote balanced hands.
BAM Board-a-match, one method of scoring a duplicate bridge session or tournament. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Bar To prevent a player from making a bid, either by a penalty caused by an irregularity, or because partnership agreement requires a pass in a given situation. In either case, the player is said to be "barred." Bar bid A bid which by partnership agreement requires partner to pass at future turns to call in the current auction. Raises of partner's weak two opening bid are one common example. The raise might be extending the preempt, to make, or to push the opponents a level too high. If the opponents bid over a bar bid raise, the partner who made the bar bid may intend to pass, double for penalty, preempt, or raise again to push the opponents. Hence, the reason that partner is barred. The partner who made the bar bid may be ″operating.” None of the other three players can know the intent of the player who made the bar bid. Thus, the partner must pass, and the opponents must guess. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Barometer scoring In a duplicate event, the posting of contestants' running scores after each round. Knowledge of the current standings often adds excitement to the contest, and can affect the strategies adopted by those in a position to win the event.
Bath coup A holdup by declarer, to prevent an opponent from continuing a suit. In the classic position, declarer holds ♠AJ2 and West, on declarer's left, leads ♠K from ♠KQ1098. By playing the 2 on West's K, South makes it impossible for West to continue spades without giving South a free finesse.
Beer card The ♦7.
Below the line In rubber bridge, the place on the score pad (below the main horizontal line) where trick points scored for making a contract, i.e. tricks bid for and taken exclusive of overtricks, are recorded. These are the points counted towards game. See Above the line and Bridge scoring.
Benjaminised Acol or "Benji" A variant of Acol where 2♣ and 2♦ are strong bids of different strengths, and 2♥ and 2♠ are weak twos. Invented by Scottish international player Albert Benjamin. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Better minor A commonly used term for the choice of minor suit opening bid with less than four cards, typically in five card major systems. In Standard American Yellow Card, it is normal to bid the longer suit with 3 cards in one and two in the other, and 1 ♣ with 3–3. In this sense the term is a misnomer as a poor club suit (e.g. Jxx) may be opener instead of a stronger diamond suit (e.g. KQx). "Prepared minor" would be more precise terminology. See prepared bid. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Bermuda Bowl The trophy awarded to the winner of the World Zonal Open Team Championship, the most prestigious in bridge. More commonly the term refers to the competition itself, a biennial two-week tournament among open teams that have qualified in their geographic zones.
Bid A specification of both level and denomination or strain, such as three notrump or four hearts. While any legal bid constitutes a potential contract, some bids carry special coded meanings when used by the partnership as a conventional bid and as such are not normally intended as a potential contract.
An obsolete term meaning "contract" (noun).Bid out of turn A bid erroneously made when it was another player's turn to bid. Subject to penalty.
Biddable suit A suit that a partnership regards as long and strong enough to be bid naturally. Partnerships often employ different standards of length and strength for suits named in opening bids, in responses, in rebids and in overcalls.
Bidding The first stage of a deal, when players jointly determine the final contract. Having examined their own cards, they make a series of calls in rotation, which is called the auction or the bidding.
Bidding box A box placed on the table (one box for each player) that contains cards with calls printed on them, as well as other cards such as "alert". By selecting and displaying a card, a player can make a call without speaking. Silent bidding removes one source of unauthorized information from the game. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Bidding space The number of steps available in an auction, or the number of steps consumed by a bid. The sequence 1♣ – 1♦ consumes only one step, whereas 1♦ – 2♣ consumes four steps. Because alternative bids are skipped, it often happens that the more steps a bid takes up, the more specific meaning it carries. See Useful Space Principle. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Bidding system The complete set of agreements and understandings assigned to calls and sequences of calls used by a partnership, including a full description of the meaning of each treatment and convention. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Biltcliffe coup (British slang) A sarcastic term applied to a poor result as a consequence of four steps: (1) the opponents are about to play in a part score, when you bid in pass-out seat, (2) the opponents then bid game, (3) you double for penalties, and (4) they make the contract. In some circles, the coup is not recognized unless the contract makes through misdefense. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | BIT Break in tempo. See Tempo def 2.
Blackwood convention Popular bidding convention in contract bridge, used to determine number of partner's aces/kings to evaluate for slam bids.
Blank(Adjective) Unprotected by other, usually lower cards in the same suit: "I held the blank king of spades." (Verb) To discard in such a way as to leave a card unprotected: "She blanked the king of spades."Blitz (Slang) A win by a sufficiently wide margin in IMPs to earn the maximum possible number (or difference) of victory points. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Blocked (Adjective) If a suit is divided between partners in such a way that the hand with the shorter holding has only high cards, the suit cannot be run without an entry to the longer holding in another suit; it is then said to be blocked. If North holds ♦AK and South holds ♦QJ10, South cannot cash a third diamond trick without an entry in another suit. The diamonds are blocked until North is able to unblock by playing the ace and king. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Board One particular allocation of 52 cards to the four players including the bidding, the play of the cards and the scoring based on those cards. Also called deal or hand.
A device that keeps each player's cards separate for duplicate bridge. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | The dummy's hand. For example, "You're on the board" means "The lead is in the dummy".Board-a-match (BAM) A form of scoring for teams, analogous to matchpoint scoring for pairs. A team earns 1 point if its pairs score higher than the opposing pairs (with the same cards at the other table), 1/2 for equal scores, and 0 for lower scores. Board-a-match scoring is now less common than IMP scoring, or IMPs victory points in a Swiss teams tournament. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Body Intermediate cards such as the 9, 8 and 7, that contribute to a suit's trick-taking potential. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Bonus In bridge scoring, beyond points for bid tricks taken, which are awarded for making a contract, the additional points awarded for making a doubled contract, or for making doubled or redoubled overtricks. There are different bonus amounts at the partscore, game, small slam, and grand slam levels. The size of most bonuses depends on the vulnerability. Bonus amounts are different in rubber bridge and duplicate bridge. See Bridge scoring. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Book(Noun) The basic six tricks that must be taken by the declaring side. The first six "book" tricks are always assumed and are not taken into account in bidding or scoring. Thus, a contract at the 1-level commits declarer to take at least 7 (that is, 6 + 1) tricks, and provides trick points only for the trick above book. The term apparently originated from the whist practice of arranging the first six tricks into a stack called a "book." (Noun) The number of tricks that the defensive side must take so as to hold declarer to his contract. If the contract is 4♠, defenders' book is 3. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | (Verb, usually passive) Slang. As declarer, to have lost the maximum number of tricks without being set. At 4♠, declarer is "booked" when he has lost three tricks.Bottom At matchpoint scoring, a result no better than any other by a pair playing the same cards, resulting in an award of minimum matchpoints; either jointly (a shared bottom), or alone (a cold bottom, or zero). |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Boxed (British slang) Adjective applied to a card found to be face-up during dealing, and by extension to the whole pack. Also used for a card found to be face-up in a hand extracted from a duplicate board, or for the hand itself.
Bracket A group of entries in a tournament that will eventually have one winner. The grouping is often done on the basis of masterpoints. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | Break(Noun) The distribution of cards in a suit between the two opponents' (often unseen) hands: "I got a 4–1 spade break." An even break occurs when the cards are distributed evenly or nearly so, such as 3–3 or 3–2. A bad break, connoting a distribution that is difficult to handle, suggests an unexpectedly uneven distribution, such as 5–1 or 6–0. See distribution. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | (Verb) To be divided between two hands. "The spades broke 3–2." (Verb) To lead a particular suit for the first time during a particular deal.
(Verb) Slang. To play for and find a particular distribution, usually the most favorable. "I broke the spades."Bridge maxims A compilation of short "laws", "rules" and rules-of-thumb advice; often, not always, valid.
The Bridge World (TBW) A monthly magazine based in New York City, The Bridge World is the oldest continuously published periodical concerning contract bridge, and the game's most prestigious technical journal.
Broken sequence A sequence of honor cards, one or more of which is missing, for example AQJ.
Bullet (Slang) An ace.
Bump (Slang) A single raise of partner. Used as a noun or a verb.
In duplicate bridge, an adaptation of the Mitchell movement to accommodate a half table. The extra pair moves around the room, substituting themselves in for a particular other pair, bumping out the pair for one round.Business double A penalty double, in contrast to various competitive and informatory doubles including takeout doubles and negative doubles.
Bust (Slang) A very weak hand. Sometimes paired with the name of a long suit: for example, "club bust" to denote a hand with long clubs and very little high card strength. See also Yarborough.
Busy A card that is needed for some purpose is said to be busy. For example, cards that a defender is trying to preserve while declarer executes a squeeze are "busy". Contrast Idle. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | A busy defense is an alternative term for an active defense.Butler, or Butler scoring A method of scoring in duplicate bridge pairs events. Each pair's result on a board is compared against a "datum" score which is the arithmetic mean of all the results (usually after exclusion of one or more of the top and bottom results), and the difference converted to IMPs. Sometimes, the median is used instead of the mean. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | B | ByeA round of an event during which a team or pair is not scheduled to play.
A location ("bye-stand") such as a chair or table, where boards are kept when not in use during an event. Typically used in a Mitchell movement with an even number of pairs when there is a "share and relay". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Caddy An assistant to the director, or Head Director, primarily responsible for moving boards between tables and collecting score slips.
CalcuttaCross-IMP scoring.
A tournament in which bettors bid on participating pairs or teams. The proceeds from the auction are distributed partly as prizes to the top finishers, partly to the bettors who successfully bid on them. A pair or team can typically buy an interest in itself.Call Any bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage.
Canapé An approach to bidding in which a player bids his shorter suit prior to his longer suit. A feature of the Blue Team Club and the Roman Club. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | CaptainIn a teams competition, one person called the captain must represent a team in stipulated official settings and make stipulated official decisions for a team. A playing captain (pc) is eligible to participate as a player at the table; a non-playing captain (npc) may not play. Many team competitions including WBF world championships limit teams to six players, thus to seven members depending on the kind of captain. Other team officials such as a coach are not team members and are not covered in the rules of bridge. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | The partner who makes the decision for a partnership in certain bidding situations, such as ace-asking sequences.Card reading The act of determining the distribution of cards in unseen hands, and the location of high cards therein, by analyzing the bidding, play and other clues.
Carding The defensive signaling used by a partnership.
Carryover, or carry-over In a complex event, some participants begin a later stage with scores that depend on performance in an earlier stage. Simple accumulation of scores from stage to stage is full carryover but the term is commonly used only when carryover is less than full.
Some team events have a later knockout stage with carryover equal to some fraction of any margin of victory from an early-stage match between the same teams. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Many tournaments for teams, pairs, or individuals have stages that progressively reduce the field, such as by cutting the bottom half at the end of each day. Sometimes the qualifiers continue with a fraction of their qualifying margins as carryover, which effectively gives weight less than one to points scored in the earlier, larger, lower-quality field. Sometimes there is no carryover; comfortable and borderline qualification are equivalent in the next stage. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Cash To take a trick with a card that is currently the highest in the suit, thought likely to succeed, or to take all available winners in a suit.
Cavendish variation A version of Chicago, with dealer's side not vulnerable on the second and third hands, as in the standard version.
CBF Canadian Bridge Federation.
Change of suit A bid in a new suit, as 1♠ in the sequence 1♦ – 1♥; 1♠.
Checkback Stayman A common conventional agreement following a 1NT rebid, searching for an unbid major suit or a preference to responder's major.
Chicago A variant of rubber bridge in which a rubber consists of four deals with vulnerability predetermined for each deal.
Chicane A hand without any trumps.
CHO (Slang) Centre-hand opponent, a derogatory or facetious term for one's partner, or partners generally. Compare LHO and RHO, left- and right-hand opponents.
Chuck (Slang) An error in bidding or play, which was or might have been costly. Also used as a verb.
Chunky A suit with enough honor strength to play well unaided by partner's cards (but not solid) is chunky. Normally said of four-card suits. AQJ10 is a chunky suit; AQ96 is not chunky. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Claim A statement by declarer about how the remaining unplayed tricks will be won or lost. Normally the claiming player exposes his hand and describes the sequence of play for the remaining tricks (but such plays as finesses, unless already proven, are disallowed). A claim is best made only when the play of the rest of the hand is obvious. Claims are often inadvisable: apart from the possibility of a mistaken analysis, it can take longer to explain the line of play than to play it. See also Concession. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Clear a suit Knock out an opponent's high-card control of a suit, or unblock one's own high cards.
Closed hand Declarer's hand (as distinct from the dummy, which is faced or open).
Closed room In a team match, a room where two of the pairs compete, and in which spectators are not allowed.
Coffeehousing Making improper remarks to mislead the opponents, or asking improper questions designed to suggest a defensive play.
Cold A contract that a player cannot fail to make, even against the best defense, is cold. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Colors first A bidding approach where players indicate suits (denominations) before showing high card strength. For example, natural suit overcalls and natural one-level suit opening bids are usually "colors first". Natural notrump opening bids and natural notrump overcalls usually show strength rather than suits. A Michaels cue bid is usually "colors first", but a takeout double is usually more "values first". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | A combination finesse is one of several tactics in play of the cards that includes multiple finesses in one suit or combines another technique with a finesse.Combination play A line of play that offers more than one chance to take additional tricks: for example, playing to drop an honor in a longer suit and then finessing for an honor in a shorter suit. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Come-on A defensive signal that encourages partner to continue a suit, usually by means of the rank of the card used to follow suit.
Comic notrump A notrump overcall that shows a weak hand with a long suit, to which the overcaller can escape if doubled. Also known as Gardener 1NT.
Communication The placement of the lead in one or the other of the two partnership hands, so as to make a subsequent lead from the more advantageous hand, specifically the ability to place the lead in such hand. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | The means of conveying a message to partner via the bidding and by the card played to a trick. The only legal means of communication is through the calls and plays themselves, rather than through mannerisms such as tone of voice and hesitations. Often generalized as communications in both senses.Comparative scoring The method of scoring used in matchpoint or Board-a-Match events. The metric used is not the number of points earned on a particular deal, as it is when using quantitative scoring, but the number of pairs that have been out-scored. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Competitive auction A bidding sequence which involves both partnerships. Also, competitive bidding.
Concession A statement by a player as to the number of remaining tricks that he must lose. See also Claim.
Condone To act after an opponent's irregularity without arranging for the penalty specified in the Laws to be applied.
Congratulatory jack The unnecessary play (by follow-suit or by discard) of a jack following partner's exceptionally successful action. More often used by the defense, but possible as a play from dummy.
Congress (Mainly British) A nationally or locally organised duplicate bridge competition held at a single location and usually involving both pairs and teams events, typically lasting one or two days but sometimes as many as ten. The more usual North American term is tournament.
ConstructiveBidding that is aimed at reaching a side's optimum contract, as distinct from calls intended to interfere with the opponents' bidding. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Constructive raise: by partnership agreement, a single raise of a major suit opening that shows more strength than usual.ContractThe statement of the pair who has won the bidding, that they will take at least the stated number of tricks. The contract consists of two components: the level, stating the number of tricks to be taken (in addition to the book tricks), and the denomination, denoting the trump suit (or its absence in a notrump bid). The last bid in the bidding phase denotes the final contract. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Short for contract bridge in contrast to auction bridge (auction) and other card games in the family.ControlA feature of a hand which prevents the defenders from taking sufficient immediate tricks in a specific suit so as to set the contract or make the setting of the contract unavoidable. Aces are termed "first-round" controls and kings are termed "second-round" controls. In trump contracts, voids are also considered first-round controls and singletons second-round controls. See also Stopper. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | (Said of trump contracts) Declarer's ability to manage the trump suit successfully. To lose control usually means being forced to shorten one's trumps so much that the opponents can subsequently control the play of the hand. See Forcing defense.Control-bid A bid that shows control of a particular suit. Often a cue bid, but not all cue bids are control-bids.
Convenient club See Short club.
ConventionAn agreement between partners on an artificial meaning of a call or sequence of calls, which is not necessarily related to the length and strength of bid suits or of willingness to play in notrump. Many bidding conventions are artificial; see, for example, Slam-seeking conventions.
An agreement that a particular defensive play has a special meaning. Compare with Treatment.Convention card A form filled out by a partnership and available to their opponents, that shows the bidding and play conventions they are using. Normally used during tournaments, their format may be prescribed by the governing bridge organization.
Convert To change the effect of a call. For example, passing partner's overcall of 2♦ when playing Michaels cue bids converts the overcall from a request to bid a major suit to a contract of 2♦. There are many other applications: for example, to pass partner's takeout double is to convert it to a penalty double.
In rubber bridge and Chicago, a part score is converted into game when a further score brings the total below the line to 100 or more points.Correct In the bidding, to choose (usually) partner's first bid suit; in that case, a correction is equivalent to a preference.
COS Acronym or initialism for Choice of Slams. An artificial or natural bid made to ask partner to select a strain from several choices where the slam might be played.
Count(Noun) The number of cards held in a suit or suits, usually said of an opponent's hand.
(Verb) To determine, by inference or by follow-suit, the number of cards held in a suit by an opponent.
(Noun) In squeeze play, the number of tricks that declarer must lose before the squeeze can function. See rectify the count.Count signal A defensive card play that shows whether the player has an even or odd number of cards in a suit.
CoupAny extremely skillful play. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Any of several specific play techniques, such as the Scissors coup, Trump coup, Devil's coup or Vienna coup.Coup en passant The lead of a side suit in which both second and third hands are void, second hand holding a high trump, in such a way that third hand cannot be prevented from taking a trick with a low trump. It is a form of elopement. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Coup without a name See Scissors coup. "Coup without a name" is an earlier term for the coup, conferred by Ely Culbertson.
Cover card A card (honor or extra trump) which is known to compensate one of partner's losers; for example, a king in trumps covers partner's trump loser.
Crack (Slang, verb). To make a penalty double. Also, "cracked", a doubled contract, regardless of the result; as in e.g. "The contract was 2♠ cracked". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Crash(Usually written CRASH or CRaSh) Acronym for Color, RAnk and SHape; a convention showing a 2-suited hand, as an overcall at first opportunity after an opponent's strong artificial 1♣, 1♦, 2♣ or 2♦ opening. The two suits share the same color (red or black), rank (majors, or minors) or shape (rounded or pointed). The type of pairing is shown by the number of steps above RHO's bid which are taken up by the over call. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | (Uncapitalised) The play of two winners by a pair on a single trick: for example, the ace and king of trumps. This usually involves a declarer's use of a deceptive play to cause a defender to follow suit with one high card (for example, the king from Kx when the other defender holds the singleton ace).Crocodile coup On defense, second hand's play of a higher card than apparently necessary, so as to obtain the lead. The play is intended to prevent fourth hand from being forced into the lead to make a return favorable to declarer. The name suggests a crocodile opening its maw to swallow up partner's winning card. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Cross To enter the opposite hand. Normally used of dummy or declarer's hand: "He crossed to dummy in diamonds." Crossruff A playing technique in trump contracts, where extra tricks are gained by ruffing in both hands alternately.
Cross-IMP scoring A form of IMP scoring in pairs tournaments, where each pair's score is determined as an (averaged) sum of differences to all other scores (rather than to a single datum score). Also known as X-Imps or Calcutta.
Cuebid, cue bid, or cue-bidA bid of the opponents' suit in a competitive auction. Usually a conventional, forcing bid that shows strength or an unusual hand, or a particular distribution. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | A bid that shows a control in a suit (usually with an ace or king, sometimes with a void), but does not indicate length or strength in the suit otherwise. See control bid. Partnership agreements indicate when in an uncontested auction a bid is considered a cuebid. Usually used in exploring for a slam contract (see Bridge conventions (slam seeking)), or for showing stoppers needed for a notrump game.Culbertson four-five notrump A slam-seeking convention devised by Ely Culbertson, in which a player bids 4NT or 5NT to show possession of defined numbers of keycards (aces, and kings in bid suits), and to which that player's partner responds in generally natural fashion. Since the 1950s, it has been almost entirely superseded by variants of the Blackwood convention. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Culbertson system The earliest dominant bidding system, developed by Ely and Josephine Culbertson. Its principal features were an approach–forcing bidding style, four-card majors, strong two-bids and the use of an honor trick table to evaluate hand strength.
Curse of Scotland The ♦9. The origin of the term is uncertain. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Cut in and cut out In rubber bridge, it is customary on completion of a rubber to invite other players in the cardroom to play in the next one, often by a cry of "Table up". The players in the completed rubber draw cards to determine who will withdraw; the one or more who draw the lowest card or cards are said to cut out, and their replacements to cut in. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | C | Cutthroat bridge A form of three-handed bridge. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | DAB An abbreviation of directional asking bid.
Danger handAn opponent who, if he obtains the lead, can damage declarer's prospects. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | When defending, either declarer's or dummy's hand which, if it gains the lead, can damage the defenders' prospects.Datum The mean or median of raw scores on a deal. The datum is used as a basis for calculating IMPs for the participating teams or pairs. The datum may be trimmed by removing extreme scores at either end of the distribution, a procedure whose effect on a mean or on a median depends on the degree of skewness in the raw scores. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | DeadA hand that has no card of entry, usually in reference to the dummy.
A hand that has a suit consisting only of low cards of no significance. For example, two dead spades.DealOne particular allocation of 52 cards to the four players including the bidding, the play of the cards and the scoring based on those cards. Also called board or hand. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | (Verb) To allocate the 52 cards to the four players or hands, 13 each.Dealer The player who makes the first call in the auction. In some versions of the game, this player also deals the cards. In rubber bridge, the first dealer is usually decided by a cut for the highest card. In duplicate bridge, cards are dealt only at the start of the session and the deal is preserved during the session by the use of boards. The "dealer" who will make the first call is identified by a mark on the physical board, commonly the word "dealer". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Deck The 52 cards used in bridge.
Declaration The contract in which a hand is played.
Declarative–Interrogative D–I. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Declarer Of the partnership that makes the final bid in the auction, declarer is the partner who first names the denomination or strain of the final bid, thus the strain of the contract. During the play, declarer sits across from the dummy and calls for cards from the dummy's hand, or "plays the dummy." Declaring side The side that wins the auction. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Deep finesse A finesse against two or more cards.
The trade name of a commercially available computer program which performs double dummy hand analysis.Defeat (Said of the contract). To prevent declarer from taking the number of tricks called for by his contract. Also, set.
Defence Declarer's opponents or their line of play.
Defenders The pair that tries to defeat the contract.
Defensive biddingA bid or sequence of bids designed to hinder the opponents' bidding, including sacrifices.
All bidding by the partnership which does not open, which necessarily begins with a double or overcall (intervention).Delayed Postponed, as the jump preference in the auction 1♥ – 1♠; 2♦ – 3♥. Many bids have a different meaning depending on whether or not they are made at the first opportunity. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Denomination (or strain) Component of a bid that denotes the proposed trump suit or notrump. Thus, there are five denominations – notrump, spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The Laws of Contract Bridge (American edition) and Laws of Duplicate Bridge use the term denomination exclusively but "the modern term is strain" according to the sixth edition of The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | DEPO Acronym for Double Even, Pass Odd. Conventional method for bidding over interference with Blackwood.
Deschapelles coup On defense, the lead of an unsupported honor in order to create an entry to partner's hand.
Deuce The lowest spot card, the 2. In signaling, it is the only unambiguous card.
Develop To establish tricks in a suit, usually by forcing out the opponents' stoppers.
Devil's coup In the endgame, the play of a side suit through a defender to create an over ruff and a subsequent trump finesse.
D–I (Abbreviation of Declarative-Interrogative.) 4NT as a general slam try that asks partner to show features. D–I is incorporated in several bidding systems, including Neapolitan, Blue Team Club and Kaplan–Sheinwold. Players distinguish the D–I and Blackwood uses of 4NT by context.
Direction A player's position at the bridge table (North, East, South or West).
Direct position Usually said of a bid that is made immediately following RHO's bid. Contrast Balance (verb), on balancing action in balancing position.
Directional asking bid Often abbreviated as DAB. A cuebid of opponent's suit below 3NT, showing a partial stop in that suit and requesting partner to bid notrump with a holding such as Qx or Jxx. Common in the UK, less so elsewhere. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Director Also tournament director (TD). The referee (in duplicate bridge). The director enforces the rules, assigns penalties for violations, and oversees the progress of the game. The director may also be responsible for the final scoring. In a large tournament there may be several directors reporting to a Head Director. In ACBL-sponsored events, a director's ruling as to bridge fact may be appealed; a ruling as to discipline, so as to maintain an orderly event, may not. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Discard(Verb) To play a card that is neither of the suit led, nor trump, and that therefore cannot win the trick.
(Noun) The card so played.Discouraging card A carding signal that discourages partner from leading a particular suit. Contrast Come-on.
Discovery play A play, either by declarer or by the defense, intended to obtain information about the location of other cards.
Distribution (Suit distribution) Of one suit on a deal, the numbers of cards or lengths in the four hands. Sometimes the length of a suit in one or two hands is known or presumed and its "distribution" covers only three or two hands, as "opposing distribution" said of the other pair from the perspective of one pair or player. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | (Hand distribution, also shape or pattern) Of one 13-card hand on a deal, the numbers of cards or lengths in the four suits. Sometimes the length of one or two suits is known or presumed and "distribution" covers only three or two suits, as "distribution in the minors" said of one hand whose major-suit distribution is known.General. The degree to which four suits in one hand, one suit in four hands, or all of the hands and suits are dealt in long and short holdings. Long and short holdings constitute "lots of distribution" and three-card holdings in particular constitute "no distribution". |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Specific. Either way, four whole numbers that sum to 13 are commonly used to denote a distribution briefly, such as 4333 or 4–3–3–3 for a hand comprising one four-card suit and three three-card suits; or for a suit with one four-card holding and three three-card holdings in the four hands. Also 22 or 2–2 for the opposing distribution of spades when one pair holds nine of them; or for one hand's distribution in the minors when it holds nine in the Majors. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Fully specified. Conventionally neither 4333 nor 4–3–3–3 indicates which is the four-card suit in a hand while 4=3=3=3 means four spades, represented first, and three each in hearts, diamonds, and clubs. Thus 4=6=2=1 means 4 spades, 6 hearts, 2 diamonds, and 1 club.Distribution points A measure of one hand's strength due to the length or shortness of suits. See Hand evaluation. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | DONT Acronym for Disturb Opponents Notrump. A conventional defense to notrump opening bids.
DOPE Acronym for Double Odd, Pass Even. A conventional method for bidding over interference with Blackwood. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | DOPI A proxi-acronym for Double, O (the letter O standing for zero or none), Pass and I (the capital i standing for the numeral 1 or one). A conventional method for bidding over interference with Blackwood. Pronounced "dopey." Double A call that increases penalties if the opponents fail to make their contract, but consequently also increases the bonuses if they make it. A player can double only a contract bid by the opposition. Referred to as penalty double. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | A call having various alternative conventional meanings depending upon the bidding context. See Informatory double, Takeout double, Negative double, Lead-directing double, Responsive double and Support double.Double dummy (Adjective or adverb.) Said of a play or line of play that seems to be made with knowledge of all four hands, as if there were at least two dummies visible. Contrast Single dummy. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | When said of the defenders jointly, "double dummy defense" suggests that that pair knows all four hands and agrees on both goals and tactics such as falsecards, as if the cards were visible and they discussed those points.
Double dummy problem A bridge problem presented for entertainment or teaching, in which the solver is presented with all four hands and is asked to determine the course of play that will achieve or defeat a particular contract.
Double-elimination tournament, or double elimination Double knockout.
Double finesse A finesse for two missing cards.
Double into game To double a part score such that, if the contract is fulfilled, the total of the doubled trick scores will exceed 100 points.
Double knockout A form of knockout competition in which teams are eliminated after losing two matches rather than after losing one. Commonly, teams with no losses face each other (undefeated teams) and teams with one loss face each other (one-loser teams), insofar as possible.
Double negative An agreement regarding a second negative bid by a player who has already made one. Normally used regarding sequences that follow strong, forcing opening bids.
Double raise A raise of two levels, such as 1♠ – 3♠.
Double squeeze A squeeze in which each opponent must guard a different suit, and both opponents must guard a third suit.
Doubleton A holding of exactly two cards in a suit.
DownA contract that is defeated is said to be down.
(Followed by a number) The number of tricks by which a contract fails: for example, "Down two."Down the line To bid the higher of two adjacent suits before the lower. For example, of two five-card majors, the spade suit is normally bid before the heart suit. Contrast Up the line.
Draw To extract, usually trumps. To remove the opponents' trump cards is to "draw trumps." Drive out To force a stopper from an opponent's hand, usually by repeatedly leading the suit.
Drop(Verb) To fall under a higher card: "The ♠Q dropped under the ♠K." (Noun) That occurrence itself: "He played for the drop instead of finessing."Duck A play technique in which a player does not immediately play a card that might take a trick, but plays a small card instead.
DummyThe partner of the declarer. Dummy's cards are placed face up on the table and played by the declarer. Dummy has few rights and may not participate in choices concerning the play of the hand.
The dummy's hand as exposed on the table.Dummy play The play of the hand by declarer. The apparent contradiction is due to the fact that declarer plays both declarer's cards and the dummy's.
Dummy reversal A playing technique in trump contracts that gains extra tricks by ruffing in the hand that began with the longer trumps so that that hand ends up with shorter trumps.
Dump To lose a match deliberately, usually so as to assist another team or pair in the event. A subject of considerable controversy in the 1990s and beyond. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Duplicate bridge A form of bridge where every deal is played at several tables, by several pairs, and their scores on each deal are subsequently compared. A minimum of two tables (four pairs) are required for a duplicate bridge event. Each entry might be a pair, or a team consisting of two or more pairs; the type of scoring varies accordingly. The hands of each deal are kept in metal or plastic containers called boards that are passed between tables. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Duplication of values Possession of values in the same suit in both partners' hands so arranged that they do not pull their full weight. (1) High card values in one hand and a singleton or void in the other; e.g. ♠KJ9 facing a void is much less useful than ♠KJ9 facing ♠Q4. (2) High cards in short suits in both hands, e.g. ♠AJ facing ♠KQ. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | D | Dustbin Notrump A bidding response of 1NT to an opening bid that doesn't show a balanced hand but a weak hand (6–9 HCP), no support for partner and no higher ranking 4+ card suit to bid. So the hand could be unbalanced. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Eastern Scientific A bidding style that developed in the Eastern United States, particularly the New York region. It is characterized by five-card majors with a forcing one "notrump" response and limit raises, strong notrump with Jacoby transfers, and strong (but not game forcing) two-over-one responses.
Eau de cologne (Slang, chiefly British) A hand with 7–4–1–1 distribution, from the cologne brand 4711.
EBL European Bridge League, the sport governing body for contract bridge in Europe, and the sponsoring organisation for many bridge competitions there.
EBU English Bridge Union, the official organising body of bridge in England.
Echo The play of first the higher, then the lower of two cards of the same suit on separate tricks to encourage or, by prior agreement, to discourage (see upside-down signals) partner's continuation of a suit; or to signal possession of (normally) an even number of cards in the suit at the time the higher card is played.
EHAA Every Hand An Adventure, a bidding style that emphasizes very weak notrump opening bids (often 10–12 HCP), four-card majors, and undisciplined weak-two bids. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Eight ever, nine never A bridge maxim that advises players when to finesse for a missing queen. With eight cards in the suit, always ("ever") finesse; but with nine cards, never finesse, rather play for the queen to drop under the play of the ace and king. Experienced players often ignore this advice in favor of considerations such as the danger hand, combination play, and the known or inferred distribution of other suits. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | EKB Exclusion Keycard Blackwood, a variant of Roman Keycard Blackwood. EKB uses a suit bid rather than a notrump bid to show a void in that suit and to exclude the named suit ace from the count of keycards.
Elimination The removal, by playing a suit or suits, of safe exit cards from defenders' hands, normally in preparation for an endplay. The classic (but not the only) example is to leave an endplayed defender with the choice of conceding a ruff and discard or giving declarer a free finesse.
Elope, elopement To win a trick by ruffing with a trump lower in rank than an opponent's trump. The coup en passant is an example of an elopement. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Encrypted An agreement that the meaning of bids or card signals may change as more information about a deal becomes available. For example, when declarer shows out of a suit, the defenders can tell whether the rank of West's lowest remaining card in the suit is even or odd (and declarer probably does not have that information). The defenders might have agreed that if West's lowest remaining card is even, normal attitude signals will be in effect, but if it is odd, upside-down signals will be used. In such a case, the defenders' agreement is encrypted. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Ending The layout of the cards when just a few tricks remain to be played. In a "four-card ending", each player has four cards left. Such positions can be of special interest because squeezes and other endplays tend to occur near the end of the play. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Endplay A play which forces a particular opponent to win a trick, so that that opponent must then make a favorable lead. That player is said to be "endplayed". Normally, the player who is endplayed is a defender. Although the word implies that the play occurs toward the end of a hand, it often occurs earlier, and in exceptional cases the opening leader can be said to be "endplayed at trick one." EnterTo win a trick in the opposite hand, thereby giving it the right to lead to the next trick. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | To make the first call for a partnership after the opponents have bid.
To join a bridge competition.EntryA card that allows a particular hand to win a trick that partner or an opponent has led to. Entries are vital to communication.
A seating assignment in a bridge competition. Entries designate the participants' initial table number, direction at that table, and (if applicable) section.Entry-shifting squeeze A squeeze in which the declarer decides whether to overtake the squeeze card or to let it hold the trick, depending on the play of the intervening opponent.
Entry squeeze A squeeze that puts pressure on a holding that interferes with declarer's entries. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Equal level conversion (ELC) An agreement concerning rebids after take-out doubles. Traditionally, the bid of a new suit by the player who has made a take-out double is considered forcing. Under the equal level conversion agreement, the bid of a new suit by the doubler is not forcing if it is at the same level as advancer's bid. So, equal level conversion means that in the sequence 1♠ – (Dbl) – P – (2♦); P – (2♥), 2♥ is considered non-forcing. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | E | Equals Cards in one hand that are adjacent in rank and thus have equal trick-taking power.
Escape suit A long suit to which a bidder can escape if necessary or desirable. The bidder of a comic notrump might run to his long suit if doubled.
Establish To make winners of the remaining cards in a suit by playing or forcing out higher cards.
EvenA split with the same number of cards in each hand. A 2–2 split is an even split.
Of the number of cards in a suit found in a hand: two cards, four cards, and so on.Event A duplicate bridge contest.
Exclusion bid A bid, such as 2♦ in the Roman Club system, that shows length in all suits except the one named.
Exclusion Blackwood An agreement that responder to a Blackwood bid will show the number of aces held outside a particular suit.
Exit card A card that is used to put a different hand on lead, normally to avoid making a self-destructive lead in another suit.
Expert Someone who plays bridge better than others in their usual level of play.
Exposed card A card whose suit and rank become known through an irregularity. An exposed card may be subject to penalty.
Extra values Values (in the form of High card points, shortage or cover cards), which are in addition to the values that a player has promised so far in the bidding. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | F1 Forcing one round. See One round force.
Face(Noun) The front of a card; the side that displays its suit and rank.
(Verb) To turn a card so that its face is visible to other players.Face card A king, queen, or jack. Contrast Honor. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Factoring The adjustment of matchpoint scores to correct for dissimilar conditions. For example, a game played with a Mitchell movement might have an extra N–S pair, causing a bye round for N–S. The top is therefore lower for N–S pairs than for E–W pairs, and the N-S scores are multiplied by a fraction (or "factor") to make them commensurate with the E–W scores. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Fall To be captured by a higher card. See drop.
False preference A return to partner's first-bid suit despite a longer holding in the second suit. Usually intended to give partner an opportunity for another bid.
False sacrifice Phantom sacrifice.
Falsecard A card played with the intention of deceiving an opponent as to one's true holding. Also, the act of making such a play.
Fast arrival A style of bidding under which the fewer bids used to reach a contract (usually said of game contracts), the weaker the bidder's hand. Fast arrival holds that 1♠ – 2♦; 2♠ – 4♠ is weaker than 1♠ – 2♦; 2♠ – 3♣; 3NT – 4♠. Contrast Slow arrival.
Fast rubber A rubber completed in two games. See slow rubber.
Feature An honor or shortness in a suit. Conventional bids such as splinter bids or D-I are intended to show or elicit features.
Fert (Slang) Short for "fertilizer", a very weak opening bid. A systemic treatment in strong pass systems.
FG an abbreviation for forcing to game; see Game force Field All the players in a bridge event, as in "with the field" to refer to an action that most players will take, and "against the field" for an unusual action.
Field a psych Deciding correctly that partner has psyched in the absence of a call that reveals the psych. Sometimes used when that decision is made on the basis of unauthorized information or an undisclosed partnership understanding.
Fillers Mid-rank cards that strengthen a suit. See body.
Final contract The last bid made on a hand.
Finesse An attempt to gain power for lower-ranking cards by taking advantage of the favorable position of higher-ranking cards held by the opposition.
FitA partnership's combined holding of many cards in a suit (usually 8 cards or more in the two combined hands) that might be used as trumps.
Two hands that are productive together (i.e., that have at least one fitting suit and few wasted values). Compare with Misfit.See also Moysian fit and Golden fit.
Fit bid A bid in a suit that shows length and strength in the bid suit plus a fit for partner's suit. Jump shifts in competition are often defined as fit-bids. See also Fragment bid and Mixed (definition 2).
Five-card majors An agreement that an opening bid in spades or hearts promises at least five cards in the suit. The alternative agreement is four-card majors.
Fix(Noun) An undeservedly poor result, usually caused by an opponent's error or eccentric play that happens to turn out well.
(Verb) To be the victim of a fix: "We were fixed on Board 8."Flag-flying An obsolete term for making a preemptive bid.
Flannery A conventional opening bid of two diamonds (some prefer two hearts instead) to show 11–15 HCP with 5 hearts and 4 spades.
FlatFlat hand: A hand that lacks distributional features such as a singleton, a void, or a very long suit. Often, 4–3–3–3 distribution.
Flat board: A deal in duplicate bridge that results in scores across the field that are identical, or nearly so.FloatTo be followed by two or three passes. For example, West's spade bid "floated around" to South in 1♠ – (P) – P.
To fail to cover the card led, usually by two consecutive hands. "South floated the ♠Q to East."Flower movement An adaptation of the Howell movement in which the players, rather than the boards, progress regularly from table to table. Also known as "Endless Howell".
Follow suit, sometimes simply "follow" To play a card of the same suit as the one that was first led to the trick. Failure to follow suit when one can do so constitutes a revoke. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Force to To bid with the intention of causing the bidding to proceed to a particular level. For example: "In this auction, 2♣ forced to game", or "My reverse forced to the three-level." Forcing bid A bid that, by partnership understanding, requires the bidder's partner to make another bid. A forcing bid is not necessarily a strong bid. It is legal to pass partner's forcing bid, and players occasionally do so if they believe it advantageous on a given hand, but it is damaging to partnership confidence. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | See also Game force, Grand slam force and One round force.
Forcing defense The lead and subsequent continuation of a suit that the defenders believe declarer will have to ruff in the long trump hand. The strategy is to shorten declarer's trump holding so as to leave the defenders in control of the hand. See Tap.
Forcing notrump An agreement that a 1NT response to a 1♥ or 1♠ opening is a forcing bid.
Forcing passA pass in a competitive auction that requires partner either to make another bid or to double or redouble the opponents' current call. Experienced partnerships often have agreements about the meaning of bidding immediately in contrast to making a forcing pass and then bidding over partner's double (pass and pull).
An initial pass when playing a strong pass system.Forcing take-out Obsolete name for a strong jump shift by responder.
Fork A tenace.
Fouled board A board whose cards are not distributed as they were when first played, due to returning the cards to their slots erroneously. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Four-card majors An agreement that an opening bid of 1♥ or 1♠ promises at least four cards in the suit bid. The usual alternative is five-card majors. The four-card major agreement was standard during the first four decades of contract bridge, but has since given way to five-card majors in most "standard" systems such as 2/1 game forcing and Standard American. It is used in Acol, the Blue Team Club and EHAA. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Four-deal bridge See Chicago.
FourthA player needed to complete a table, usually said of rubber bridge.
Of four-card suit length: for example, Q987 is referred to as "queen fourth" or "queen-fourth".Fourth hand The fourth player with an opportunity to bid, or to play to a trick.
Fourth suit forcing (FSF, or 4SF)The initial use of a bid of the fourth suit as forcing to some level. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | An agreement that the partnership's bid of the fourth suit, in addition to its forcing nature, is possibly artificial.Fragment A holding of three or even two cards in a suit, thus not long enough to suggest as a trump suit. A partnership may treat the bid of a fragment as a means of implying shortness in another suit (see fragment bid). A fragment may also be bid after the single raise of a major as a help suit game try. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Fragment bid A second-round jump bid (usually a double jump) that by agreement shows a fit with partner's last-bid suit and shortness in another suit. Under this agreement, in 1♣ – 1♥; 3♠ the bid of 3♠ is a fragment bid, showing a fit for hearts and a singleton or void in diamonds. The suit of the fragment bid is often three cards long. Compare with Splinter bid. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Freak, or freak hand A hand with a very long suit or suits. Most would regard a hand with two six card suits as a freak.
Free bid A bid that is made when a pass would still allow partner to make a bid. Normally used of a bid that is made after partner has opened the bidding and RHO has overcalled. Compare with Negative free bid. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | F | Free finesse A position in which a player leads up to an opponent's tenace, solving that opponent's possible guess. The term is normally used when the player is forced to make that lead.Frozen A frozen suit is one that neither side can play without damage to its own holding in the suit. Declarer can sometimes duck the defense's lead to freeze the suit. See example at right. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | G | Gambling 3NT An opening bid of 3NT. The bidder hopes to make the contract by means of a long minor suit rather than by a preponderance of high cards. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | G | Game A contract, bid and made, worth 100 points or more. The undoubled game contracts are 3NT (40 for the first trick + 30 each for the second and third); 4♥ and 4♠ in the majors (4 tricks × 30 points per trick); 5♣ and 5♦ in the minors (5 tricks × 20 points per trick). Game can also be made via a doubled or redoubled contract: e.g., 2♠ doubled is worth 2 × (2 tricks × 30 points per trick) = 120 points. The pair bidding and making the game is awarded a bonus. See bridge scoring. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | G | In rubber bridge and Chicago, a score of 100 or more points below the line, achieved either by making a game contract or by converting a part score.Game force (GF or FG) A bid that asks partner not to pass before the partnership's bidding has reached game (or the opponents have been doubled at a level high enough to compensate). Some treatments relax the requirement: for example, the agreement that in the sequence 1M – 2m, the 2m response is a game force unless the suit is rebid. So, in 1♠ – 2♦; 2♥ – 3♦, 3♦ would cancel the game-forcing message of the 2♦ bid. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | G | See also Forcing bid, Grand slam force and One round force. |
Glossary of contract bridge terms | G | Game try A bid that invites partner to bid game in a particular suit, made when a fit in that suit is known more than one level below game. Routinely the occasion a single raise from one to two of a major, as both 1S – 2S and 1C – 1S – 2S (opponents silent). In those two auctions all five bids from 2N to 3S are potentially game tries. What does it mean to bid one side suit rather than another? A short suit game try shows singleton or void in the suit bid, which implies significant duplication of values if partner holds the K or Q (the A or J, less so, and three small shows there is no duplication). A help suit game try shows at least three cards, generally with at least two losers. In 1984, the Encyclopedia referred to the entry "weak suit game try" and gave three small cards for example. It also referred "game try" to the entry "trial bid" with example holdings xxx, Axx, KTxx, and Jxxx in the side suit; shortness is a good holding and so is a good suit. Such a suit is likely to be a good one for the defenders to attack. A long suit game try shows a suit of at least four cards, so that a double fit is not unlikely; if a major suit, that is a potential alternative trump suit. Anyway, it shows that a cover card is useful regardless of length, and other cards are likely to help. |