An introduction to Bridge

Bridge is played all over the country and tournaments continue to attract thousands of players who compete with each other to become Life Masters. It is estimated that several hundred thousand people play ‘kitchen bridge’ with more than 30,000 people playing competitively in clubs. 

Why is Bridge so popular?

Bridge is a partnership, trick-taking card game of skill – widely recognised as a ‘mind sport.’  It’s popular because all you need to play the game is a standard 52-card deck and four players in two partnerships. It is interesting, challenging – sometimes frustrating but great fun – and a fantastic way to meet new people.

Bridge has a long history and there are so many stories that it’s difficult to sift the truth from the tales. Some say that British soldiers invented Bridge whilst serving in the Crimean War, naming the game after the Galata Bridge. The Galata Bridge spans the Golden Horn, linking the old and new parts of European Istanbul and the soldiers would cross the bridge each day to go to a coffee house where they’d play cards.

Whether this is true or not, a game called Khedive - very similar to Bridge - appeared in Constantinople before 1870 and this resembled a card game played in Greece before that time. Khedive was renamed ‘Biritch’ – which, with an English pronunciation, sounds like ‘Bridge.’  This became popular on the French Riviera in the 1870s. In London, in 1887, a pamphlet describing ‘Biritch or Russian Whist’ was issued in London and the description of the game made it sound very similar to what we call Bridge Whist.

The origins of Duplicate Bridge are based on the emergence of Duplicate Whist in the game of Whist. Duplicate Bridge appears to be a variation of Contract Bridge where the same set of bridge deals – that is the distribution of the 52 cards between the four hands) are played by different competitor and the scoring is based on relative performance.

In this way, every hand, strong or weak, is played in competition with others playing identical cards – and the element of skill is heightened and the chance reduced. This is a contrast to Bridge played without duplication where each hand is freshly dealt and where scores may be more affected by chance in the short term.

Duplicate Bridge is played in three main forms:

• Rubber Bridge: the simplest form for four players and is often played ‘casually’ by friends.
• Chicago or Four-Deal Bridge:  most often used for small card parties in which several tables are used. Because Chicago Bridge only involves four deals, it allows each player to play with – and against – most of the other guests during the course of an evening.
• Tournament Duplicate Bridge: played in serious competitions and official tournaments. The aim of this is to eliminate as nearly as possible the element of chance.

It is possible to practise playing Bridge on your computer using specific software, or by downloading an app onto your smartphone or tablet.

Personal computers, laptops and tablets opened up new possibilities for both playing bridge as well as learning the game. Some internet sites have tournaments at which players can earn international master points.