FUNDAMENTALS
and PROCEDURE
TABLE LAYOUT
At a table there are two pairs, labelled NORTH/SOUTH and
EAST/WEST.
The game is a partnership game, with North partnering South,
and East partnering West (these compass directions may change during the event,
but the partnerships are unchanged).
OBJECTIVES (simplified)
a) To establish a contract e.g. 2♥,
3NT etc.
b) Having established the contact, the declarer i.e. one of the pair who has
established the contract, attempts to ‘make’ the contract, and the opposing
pair (the defenders) attempt to defeat declarer’s contract.
SUITS
There are four suits:
Clubs (♣) known as a ‘MINOR SUIT’
Diamonds (♦) “
Hearts (♥) known
as a ‘MAJOR SUIT’
Spades (♠) “
There is also a ‘pseudo-suit’ NO-TRUMPS (NT)
These are ranked in the sequence (low to high): ♣, ♦, ♥, ♠, NT
AUCTION/BIDDING
Each player is dealt thirteen cards (nowadays, in most club duplicate tournaments the ‘boards have already been pre-dealt into a ‘board’ with four compartments – North, East, South, West).
During the auction, players assess their hand and BID, in an attempt to ‘buy’ the contract.
The BOARD on the table has the DEALER already pre-defined.
The DEALER starts the bidding process.
The process of BIDDING progresses in a clockwise direction.
At a player’s turn to bid he/she can make a bid, or alternatively decline to
bid (NO-BID, or PASS) (there is another option – DOUBLE – but this will be
explained in the appropriate Tutorial)
Any BID by a player must progress up the ‘bidding-ladder’ -
1♣, 1♦, 1♥, 1♠, 1NT, 2♣, 2♦ …….7♥, 7♠, 7NT)
A bid at the 1-level (e.g. 1♥) is attempt to make 7-Tricks during the play, with
that particular SUIT as TRUMPS, or if NO-TRUMPS (NT), there are no trumps
during the play.
…at the 2-level – 8Tricks, at the 3-level – 9 Tricks, …..at
the 7-Level – all 13 tricks.
(Also shown on the board – by a red stripe – , and of relevance to the bidding, is the vulnerability of the pair. This is significant in determining the ‘bonus points’ and also in the penalties if a contract fails. This is covered in more detail later).
When a BID is subsequently followed by three passes (or No-Bids), the last suit (or no-trumps) mentioned, becomes the CONTRACT suit/no-trumps, and the side who last made a bid becomes the declaring side.
The DECLARER is the first person who mentioned that suit for the declaring side (e.g.if South was the first player to mention spades (in the North/South partnership), and the final contract is 3♠, then South is the declarer..
HAND EVALUATION
Most players use the Milton Point Count to evaluate their hand. This is only a (strong) guideline, and with more experience many players deviate from this. The basis is:
Ace – 4 points
King – 3 points
Queen – 2 points
Jack – 1 point
When learning, these guidelines should be used in conjunction with the specific lesson
SYSTEM
There are numerous bidding systems available, but invariably players in the UK are taught ACOL. Moreover a common version of this is 5-Card Majors, Weak No-Trump, Weak 2’s.
The series of lessons will assume this approach.
PLAY
At the end of the AUCTION, the DECLARER attempts to make his contract. There are 13 TRICKS available (so if for example the declarer is in a contract of 4♥, he needs to make 7+3 = 10 tricks to fulfil his contract)
The PLAY is started by the player immediately to the left of DECLARER (one of the defenders), leading an initial card (in Club play, this card is usually initially led face-down to allow for any questions pertaining to the auction).
Following this initial lead, the next hand (the DUMMY) lays down all his cards in ‘suit columns’ (in a suit contract, it is customary to place the trump-suit on dummy’s right – as viewed from dummy).
In turn (clockwise), each player contributes a card to the trick, with declarer playing the cards from dummy as well as his own cards. When all four players have played to the trick, it is deemed to have been won by the player contributing the highest card to the trick, unless it has been trumped (in which case the highest trump played to the trick determines ownership). At the conclusion of each trick, the player who won the trick plays first to the next trick.
When playing a card to a trick, it must be of the same suit as the card initially led to that trick,
unless
- At the particular player’s turn to play a card, he doesn’t hold any cards of the suit, and then
o In a trump contract he may choose to ‘ruff (trump) the trick in an attempt to win it
o Otherwise he discards (a useless card in another suit).
SCORING (simplified)
At any particular level, from a scoring perspective, the importance of the suits is:
2. Majors (spades, hearts)
3. Minors (clubs, diamonds)
Declarer (and partner) get a ‘game’ bonus if he/she bids and makes:
3NT (i.e. 9 or more tricks)
4♥ or 4♠ (i.e. 10 or more tricks)
5♣ or 5♦ (i.e. 11 or
more tricks)
In addition, there are ‘slam’ bonuses for bidding and making:
6 ♣,♦,♥,♠,NT (i.e. 12 tricks) - small
slam
7 ♣,♦,♥,♠.NT
(i.e 13 tricks) – grand slam
Tony Haworth