These terms are used in
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
, using
duplicate
Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to:
Biology and genetics
* Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation
* Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome
* Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...
or
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
scoring. Some of them are also used in
whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play.
History
Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...
,
bid whist, the obsolete game
auction bridge
The card game auction bridge was the third step in the evolution of the general game of bridge. It was developed from bridge whist in 1904, possibly by 1900. Auction bridge was the precursor to contract bridge. Its predecessors were whist and brid ...
, and other
trick-taking game
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...
s. This glossary supplements the
Glossary of card game terms
The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge, Hearts, Poker or Rummy), ...
.
: ''In the following entries,''
boldface links ''are external to the glossary and''
plain links ''reference other glossary entries.''
0–9
;
3014 or 3014 RKCB: A mnemonic for the original (Roman) response structure to the
Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "3 or 0" and "1 or 4", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has three or zero
keycards and the next step (5) shows one or four.
;
1430 or 1430 RKCB: A mnemonic for a variant response structure to the
Roman Key Card Blackwood convention. It represents "1 or 4" and "3 or 0", meaning that the lowest step response (5) to the 4NT key card asking bid shows responder has one or four
keycards and the next step (5) shows three or zero.
;1RF:
One round force.
;2-under preempts: A 2 or 3-level conventional opening bid made two steps below the opener's suit: for example, 2 to show a weak two bid in spades or 3 to show a three-level preempt in hearts. If 2 is a strong, artificial force, 2 is natural.
;4SF:
Fourth suit forcing.
;8421: Counting points by way of ''8421'' means counting an ace for 8 points, a king for 4, a queen for 2, and a jack for 1 point. For example, when a bid is interpreted as ''"5- 8421 HCP in S"'', this means the bidder is expected to have 5 or fewer points in spades, counting an ace as 8 points, etc.
A
![Rubber Bridge Scoring Blank Version 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Rubber_Bridge_Scoring_Blank_Version_2.svg)
;
Above the line: In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, the location on the scorepad above the main horizontal line where extra points are entered; extra points are those awarded for holding honor cards in trumps, for bonuses for scoring game, small slam, grand slam or winning a rubber, for overtricks on the declaring side and for undertricks on the defending side and for fulfilling doubled or redoubled contracts. Points awarded for contract odd tricks bid and made are entered
below the line. See
Bridge scoring.
;
ACBL:
American Contract Bridge League
The American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) is a governing body for contract bridge in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Bermuda. It is the largest such organization in North America having the stated mission ''"to promote, grow and sustain th ...
, the
sport governing body for bridge in North America – defined as Bermuda, Canada, Mexico, and the United States – and the
sponsoring organization of
North American Bridge Championships
North American Bridge Championships (NABC) are three annual bridge tournaments sponsored by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). The "Spring", "Summer", and "Fall" NABCs are usually scheduled in March, July, and November for about eleven da ...
(NABC). Its members are players, grouped in regional districts and local units for some purposes. Contrast
USBF
The United States Bridge Federation (USBF) is the national federation for contract bridge in the United States and a non-profit organization formed by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and the American Bridge Association (ABA) in 2001 to h ...
.
;
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
: An
approach–forcing,
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
bidding system, based on a weak NT and 4-card majors, popular in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
;
Active:
# An approach to defending a hand that emphasizes quickly setting up winners and taking tricks. Contrast
Passive
Passive may refer to:
* Passive voice, a grammatical voice common in many languages, see also Pseudopassive
* Passive language, a language from which an interpreter works
* Passivity (behavior), the condition of submitting to the influence of o ...
.
# An approach to competitive bidding that emphasizes frequent interference with opponents' bidding sequences.
;
Adjusted score: In
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, a score awarded by the
Director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
(when empowered by the
Laws
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
) in order to redress damage to a non-offending side and to take away any advantage gained by an offending side through an
infraction. It may be "assigned" (weighted to reflect the probabilities of a number of potential results) or "artificial" (otherwise). The scores awarded to the two sides need not balance.
;
Advance cue bid: The
cue bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
of a first round
control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
that occurs before a partnership has agreed on a
strain
Strain may refer to:
Science and technology
* Strain (biology), variants of plants, viruses or bacteria; or an inbred animal used for experimental purposes
* Strain (chemistry), a chemical stress of a molecule
* Strain (injury), an injury to a mu ...
.
;Advance sacrifice: A
sacrifice bid made before the opponents have had an opportunity to determine their optimum contract. For example: 1 - (1) - Dbl - (5).
;
Advancer:
Overcaller's partner, especially one who bids following the overcall.
;
Adverse vulnerability: Vulnerable against non-vulnerable opponents. Also called "unfavorable vulnerability".
;
Aggregate scoring: Deciding the outcome of a contest by totaling the raw points gained or lost on each deal. Also called "total point scoring".
;
Agree: For a partnership to come to a decision, explicitly, conventionally or by implication, on the
denomination in which to play a hand.
;
Agreement: An understanding between partners as to the meaning of a particular call or defensive play. There are two types of call agreements: (1) when the call is
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
, the agreement is said to be a
treatment, and (2) when the call is
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
, the agreement is said to be a
convention.
;Air, as "on air"
:
: (Slang) To win a trick with a high card while capturing only small cards, commonly said of a defensive play. In the example at right, when South leads the 8, West must take the A on air, or risk making no heart tricks. Nevertheless, best defense on a given hand may call either for ducking the winner or for playing it on air.
;
Alcatraz coup: Declarer's intentional and unethical attempt to locate a finessable card by revoking. If the play is unintentional, it is nevertheless subject to
score adjustment.
;
Alert: A method of informing the opponents that partner's
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
carries a meaning they might not expect.
Sponsoring organizations set rules on which calls must be alerted and how; any method of alerting may be authorized, such as saying "Alert", displaying an Alert card from a bidding box, or knocking on the table. Regardless whether a call is alerted, either opponent may ask its meaning, either at his/her turn or after the end of the auction. The player who made the call may contribute to its explanation only after the auction and only if he/she is declarer or dummy. Slightly different rules apply when
screens
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which m ...
are in use.
;
Announcement: A method of promptly informing the opponents that partner's
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
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
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
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.
;
Antipositional: A call is antipositional if it tends to make the "wrong" partner the declarer. If
West
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
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.
;
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
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
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
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
which by
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
carries a coded meaning not necessarily related to the call's (or to the prior call's) denomination.
# A
bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
that contains many such calls.
;
Asking bid
In contract bridge, an asking bid is a convention used to seek a slam accurately. There are two types - colour asking bids and notrump asking bids. Constructed by bridge pioneer Ely Culbertson in the 1940s, they have been superseded by other met ...
: A bid that, by prior agreement, requests information about a feature of partner's hand: for example, number of
control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
s, suit length, or control of a particular suit.
;
Attacking lead: A lead that instigates an
active
Active may refer to:
Music
* ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea
* Active Records, a record label
Ships
* ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name
* HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...
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
In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, defender encourages or discourages the continuation of the suit.
;
Auction
# See
bidding
Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something.
Bidding can be performed ...
.
#
Auction bridge
The card game auction bridge was the third step in the evolution of the general game of bridge. It was developed from bridge whist in 1904, possibly by 1900. Auction bridge was the precursor to contract bridge. Its predecessors were whist and brid ...
, an earlier form of bridge, differing from today's
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
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
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
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
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* 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".
;
Automatic squeeze: A
squeeze position that succeeds against either opponent. Compare with
Positional squeeze.
;
Average
# In
matchpoint scoring, one-half the matchpoints available on a given deal.
# 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
The ''Laws of Duplicate Bridge'' (also known as the ''Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge'' and the ''Laws of Contract Bridge'') is the official rule book of duplicate bridge promulgated by the World Bridge Federation (WBF). The first ''Laws of Du ...
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.
# In IMP
(Butler) pairs, "average" refers to the "datum" used in scoring.
;
Avoidance play In contract bridge, avoidance play is a play technique whereby declarer prevents a particular defender from winning the trick, so as to eschew a dangerous lead from that hand. The dangerous hand is usually the one who is able to finesse through decl ...
: 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.
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.
;
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.
;
Balanced distribution
# Narrowly, 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 balanced hand or balanced distribution in card games is a hand with an even distribution of suits. In the game of contract bridge, it denotes a hand of thirteen cards which contains no singleton or void and at most one . Three hand patterns are ...
: A hand with ''balanced distribution'' in the narrow or wide sense just above. On the first round of bidding,
natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
notrump bids generally denote balanced hands.
;
BAM:
Board-a-match, one method of scoring a
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
session or tournament.
;
Bar: To prevent a player from making a
bid, either by a
penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
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.
;
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
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
.
;
Beer card: The 7.
;
Below the line: In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, 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.
;
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.
;
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
zone
Zone or The Zone may refer to:
Places Climate and altitude zones
* Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span
* Frigid zone, ...
s.
;
Bid:
# A specification of both
level and
denomination or
strain
Strain may refer to:
Science and technology
* Strain (biology), variants of plants, viruses or bacteria; or an inbred animal used for experimental purposes
* Strain (chemistry), a chemical stress of a molecule
* Strain (injury), an injury to a mu ...
, such as ''three notrump'' or ''four hearts''. While any legal bid constitutes a potential
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
, 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
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
.
;
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
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
, when players jointly determine the final
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
. 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.
;
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
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded ...
.
;
Bidding system: The complete set of
agreements and understandings assigned to
calls and sequences of calls used by a
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
, including a full description of the meaning of each
treatment and
convention.
;
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.
;
BIT: Break in tempo. See
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
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 IMPS or Imps may refer to:
* ''Imps*'', a comedy film released in 2009
* OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service
* Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite, an April Fools' Day RFC
* The Oxford Imps, an improvisational comedy troupe
* Insensitive muni ...
to earn the maximum possible number (or difference) of
victory points
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
.
;
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
Entry may refer to:
*Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
*Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games
*Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets
*Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...
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.
;
Board:
# One particular allocation of 52 cards to the four players including the
bidding, the
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
of the cards and the
scoring
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
based on those cards. Also called
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
or
hand.
# A
device that keeps each player's cards separate for
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
.
# 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
Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
. 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
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
scoring, or IMPs
victory points
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
in a
Swiss teams tournament.
;
Body: Intermediate cards such as the 9, 8 and 7, that contribute to a suit's trick-taking potential.
;
Bonus: In bridge
scoring
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
, beyond points for bid
trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s taken, which are awarded for making a
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
, the additional points awarded for making a doubled contract, or for making doubled or redoubled
overtrick
Overtrick was a champion U.S. standardbred racehorse who was memorable for his breaking of many existing world records and his classic duels with champion pacer Meadow Skipper.
Overtrick raced against crack pacers Meadow Skipper and Country D ...
s. There are different bonus amounts at the
partscore,
game,
small slam, and
grand slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
levels. The size of most bonuses depends on the
vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."
A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...
. Bonus amounts are different in
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
and
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
. See
Bridge scoring.
;
Book
# (Noun) The basic six
trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s 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
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
. Thus, a
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
at the 1-
level commits
declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
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
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play.
History
Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...
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.
# (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
0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usual ...
).
;
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.
;
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.
# (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
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
'' is the oldest continuously published periodical concerning contract bridge, and the game's most prestigious technical journal.
;
Broken sequence: A sequence of
honor
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
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
Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy.
Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to:
Technology
* Idle (engine), engine running without load
** Idle speed
* Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode
** Synchronous ...
.
# A busy defense is an alternative term for an
active
Active may refer to:
Music
* ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea
* Active Records, a record label
Ships
* ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name
* HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...
defense.
;
Butler, or Butler scoring: A method of scoring in
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
pairs
Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
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 IMPS or Imps may refer to:
* ''Imps*'', a comedy film released in 2009
* OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service
* Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite, an April Fools' Day RFC
* The Oxford Imps, an improvisational comedy troupe
* Insensitive muni ...
. Sometimes, the median is used instead of the mean.
;
Bye
# A 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".
C
;
Caddy: An assistant to the
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
, or Head Director, primarily responsible for moving boards between tables and collecting
score slips.
;
Calcutta
#
Cross-IMP scoring.
# A tournament in which bettors bid on participating pairs or
team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
s. 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
Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to:
Places
* Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland
* Pass, Poland, a village in Poland
* Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits
* Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...
,
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
, or
redouble in the
bidding stage.
;
Canapé
A canapé () is a type of hors d'oeuvre, a small, prepared, and often decorative food, consisting of a small piece of bread (sometimes toasted) wrapped or topped with some savoury food, held in the fingers and often eaten in one bite.
Name
T ...
: 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.
;
Captain
# In 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.
# 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
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
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.
: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.
;
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
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, 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
Stayman is a bidding convention in the card game contract bridge. It is used by a partnership to find a 4-4 or 5-3 trump fit in a suit after making a one (1NT) opening bid and it has been adapted for use after a 2NT opening, a 1NT overcall, an ...
: A common conventional agreement following a 1NT rebid, searching for an unbid major suit or a preference to responder's major.
;
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
: A variant of rubber bridge in which a
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
consists of four deals with
vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."
A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...
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
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
, 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.
;
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.
;
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
face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
d or open).
;
Closed room: In a
team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
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
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
that a player cannot fail to make, even against the best defense, is ''cold''.
;
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
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid ...
is usually more "values first".
;
Combination
#
Suit combination
In the card game contract bridge, a suit combination is a specific subset of the cards of one suit held respectively in declarer's and dummy's hands at the onset of play. While the ranks of the remaining cards held by the defenders can be deduce ...
.
# A combination finesse is one of several tactics in play of the cards that includes multiple
finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
s 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.
;
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
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
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.
# 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.
;
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
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
competition held at a single location and usually involving both
pairs
Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
and
teams events, typically lasting one or two days but sometimes as many as ten. The more usual North American term is
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
.
;
Constructive
# Bidding that is aimed at reaching a side's optimum contract, as distinct from calls intended to interfere with the opponents' bidding.
# Constructive raise: by partnership agreement, a single raise of a major suit opening that shows more strength than usual.
;
Contract
# The statement of the
pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
who has won the
bidding, that they will take at least the stated number of
trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s. The contract consists of two components: the
level, stating the number of tricks to be taken (in addition to the ''
book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
'' 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.
# Short for
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
in contrast to
auction bridge
The card game auction bridge was the third step in the evolution of the general game of bridge. It was developed from bridge whist in 1904, possibly by 1900. Auction bridge was the precursor to contract bridge. Its predecessors were whist and brid ...
(auction) and other card games in the family.
;
Control
# A feature of a
hand which prevents the defenders from taking sufficient immediate
trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s 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
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
s,
void
Void may refer to:
Science, engineering, and technology
* Void (astronomy), the spaces between galaxy filaments that contain no galaxies
* Void (composites), a pore that remains unoccupied in a composite material
* Void, synonym for vacuum, a ...
s are also considered first-round controls and
singleton
Singleton may refer to:
Sciences, technology Mathematics
* Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element
* Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing
* Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...
s second-round controls. See also
Stopper.
# (Said of trump contracts) Declarer's ability to manage the
trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
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
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
of a particular suit. Often a
cue bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
, but not all
cue bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
s are control-bids.
;
Convenient club: See
Short club.
;
Convention
# An
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
between partners on an artificial meaning of a
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
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
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
; see, for example,
Slam-seeking conventions Slam-seeking conventions are codified artificial bids used in the card game contract bridge. Bidding and making a small slam (12 tricks) or grand slam (13 tricks) yields high bonuses ranging from 500 to 1500 points. However, the risk is also high a ...
.
# An agreement that a particular defensive play has a special meaning. Compare with
Treatment.
;
Convention card: A form filled out by a
partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
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
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid ...
is to ''convert'' it to a
penalty double.
# In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, 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
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
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.
;
Coup
# Any extremely skillful play.
# Any of several specific play techniques, such as the
Scissors coup,
Trump coup
The trump coup is a contract bridge coup used when the hand on lead (typically the dummy) has no trumps remaining, while the next hand in rotation has only trumps, including a high one that would have been onside for a direct finesse if a trump ...
,
Devil's coup or
Vienna coup.
;''
Coup en passant
Coup en passant is a type of coup in contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with part ...
'': The lead of a
side suit in which both
second and
third hands are
void
Void may refer to:
Science, engineering, and technology
* Void (astronomy), the spaces between galaxy filaments that contain no galaxies
* Void (composites), a pore that remains unoccupied in a composite material
* Void, synonym for vacuum, a ...
, second hand holding a high
trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
, in such a way that third hand cannot be prevented from taking a trick with a low trump. It is a form of
elopement
Elopement is a term that is used in reference to a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, usually involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting ma ...
.
;Coup without a name: See
Scissors coup. "Coup without a name" is an earlier term for the coup, conferred by
Ely Culbertson
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
.
;
Cover card: A card (
honor
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
or extra
trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
) 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".
;
Crash
# (Usually written CRASH or CRaSh) Acronym for Color, RAnk and SHape; a
convention showing a 2-suited hand, as an
overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
at first opportunity after an opponent's strong
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
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.
# (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.
;
Cross: To enter the opposite hand. Normally used of dummy or declarer's hand: "He crossed to dummy in diamonds."
;
Crossruff
In trick-taking games, to ruff means to play a trump card to a trick (other than when trumps were led). According to the rules of most games, a player must have no cards left in the suit led in order to ruff. Since the other players are constraine ...
: A playing technique in trump contracts, where extra tricks are gained by
ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
ing in both hands alternately.
;
Cross-IMP scoring: A form of
IMP scoring
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
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
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...
score). Also known as ''X-Imps'' or ''
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
''.
;
Cuebid, cue bid, or cue-bid
# A 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.
# A bid that shows a
control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
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
agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
s indicate when in an uncontested auction a bid is considered a cuebid. Usually used in exploring for a
slam
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
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
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
, 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 In the partnership card game contract bridge, the Blackwood convention is a bidding convention developed by Easley Blackwood in 1933 and still widely used in the modern game. Its purpose is to enable the partnership to explore its possession of ac ...
.
;
Culbertson system: The earliest dominant
bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
, 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
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
trick table to evaluate hand strength.
;The
curse of Scotland: The 9. The origin of the term is uncertain.
;
Cut in and cut out: In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, it is customary on completion of a
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
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.
;Cutthroat bridge: A form of three-handed bridge.
D
;DAB: An abbreviation of
directional asking bid.
;
Danger hand
#An opponent who, if he obtains the lead, can damage declarer's prospects.
#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.
;
Dead
#A 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.
;
Deal
#One particular allocation of 52 cards to the four players including the
bidding, the
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
of the cards and the
scoring
Score or scorer may refer to:
*Test score, the result of an exam or test
Business
* Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio
* Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company
* Score Media, a former Canadian m ...
based on those cards. Also called
board or
hand.
#(Verb) To allocate the 52 cards to the four players or hands, 13 each.
;
Dealer: The player who makes the first
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
in the auction. In some versions of the game, this player also deals the cards. In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, the first dealer is usually decided by a cut for the highest card. In
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, cards are dealt only at the start of the session and the deal is preserved during the session by the use of
boards
Board or Boards may refer to:
Flat surface
* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat
** Plank (wood)
** Cutting board
** Sounding board, of a musical instrument
* Cardboard (paper product)
* Paperboard
* Fiberboard
** Hardboard, a t ...
. The "dealer" who will make the first call is identified by a mark on the physical board, commonly the word "dealer".
;
Deck: The 52
cards used in
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
.
;
Declaration: The
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
in which a hand is played.
;Declarative–Interrogative:
D–I.
;
Declarer: Of the partnership that makes the final bid in the
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
, declarer is the partner who first names the
denomination or
strain
Strain may refer to:
Science and technology
* Strain (biology), variants of plants, viruses or bacteria; or an inbred animal used for experimental purposes
* Strain (chemistry), a chemical stress of a molecule
* Strain (injury), an injury to a mu ...
of the final bid, thus the strain of the
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
. 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.
;
Deep finesse:
# A
finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
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
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
from taking the number of tricks called for by his
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
. Also,
set
Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to:
Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics
*Set (mathematics), a collection of elements
*Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively
Electro ...
.
;
Defence:
Declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
's opponents or their line of play.
;
Defenders: The
pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
that tries to defeat the
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
.
;Defensive bidding
#A bid or sequence of bids designed to hinder the opponents' bidding, including
sacrifices.
#All bidding by the partnership which does not
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
, which necessarily begins with a
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
or
overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
(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.
;
Denomination (or strain): Component of a
bid that denotes the proposed
trump suit
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
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
The ''Laws of Duplicate Bridge'' (also known as the ''Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge'' and the ''Laws of Contract Bridge'') is the official rule book of duplicate bridge promulgated by the World Bridge Federation (WBF). The first ''Laws of Du ...
use the term ''denomination'' exclusively but "the modern term is strain" according to the sixth edition of ''
The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge
''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League ...
''.
;
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
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
's bid. Contrast
Balance
Balance or balancing may refer to:
Common meanings
* Balance (ability) in biomechanics
* Balance (accounting)
* Balance or weighing scale
* Balance as in equality or equilibrium
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...
(verb), on balancing action in balancing position.
;
Directional asking bid:
Often abbreviated as DAB. A
cuebid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
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.
;
Director: Also
tournament director (TD). The
referee (in
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
). 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.
;
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
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* 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.
:#(''Hand distribution'', also ''shape'' or ''pattern'') Of one 13-card hand on a
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* 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
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
t in long and short holdings. Long and short holdings constitute "lots of distribution" and three-card holdings in particular constitute "no distribution".
:: 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.
:: 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
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
.
;
DONT
Don't, Dont, or DONT may refer to:
Films
* ''Don't'' (1925 film), a 1925 silent comedy film
* ''Don't'' (1974 film), a 1974 film about the monarch butterfly
* ''Don't'', a fake trailer from the film ''Grindhouse'' (2007)
Songs
* "Don't" (Bill ...
: 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.
;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
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
that increases
penalties if the opponents fail to make their
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
, but consequently also increases the
bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
es if they make it. A player can double only a contract bid by the opposition. Referred to as penalty double.
#A call having various alternative
conventional meanings depending upon the bidding context. See
Informatory double,
Takeout double
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid ...
,
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.
: When said of the
defenders
Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to:
*Defense (military)
*Defense (sports)
**Defender (association football)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary
* ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...
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
A double-elimination tournament is a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament's championship upon having lost ''two'' games or matches. It stands in contrast to a single-elimina ...
, 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.
;
Down
#A 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
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
technique in which a player does not immediately play a card that might take a
trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
, but plays a small card instead.
;
Dummy
#The partner of the
declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
. 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
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
s 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.
;
Duplicate bridge: A form of bridge where every
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
is played at several
table
Table may refer to:
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (landform), a flat area of land
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns
* Table (database), how the table data ...
s, by several pairs, and their
scores on each deal are subsequently compared. A minimum of two tables (four
pairs
Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
) 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
Board or Boards may refer to:
Flat surface
* Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat
** Plank (wood)
** Cutting board
** Sounding board, of a musical instrument
* Cardboard (paper product)
* Paperboard
* Fiberboard
** Hardboard, a t ...
that are passed between tables.
;
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.
;
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.
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
4711 is a traditional German Eau de Cologne by Mäurer & Wirtz. Because it has been produced in Cologne since at least 1799, it is allowed to use the geographical indication ''Original Eau de Cologne''. The brand has been expanded to various oth ...
.
;
EBL:
European Bridge League
The European Bridge League is a confederation of National Bridge Federations (NBFs) that organize the card game of contract bridge in European nations. In turn the EBL organizes bridge competition at the European level. It is a member of the Europ ...
, the
sport governing body for contract bridge in Europe, and the
sponsoring organisation for many bridge competitions there.
;
EBU:
English Bridge Union
The English Bridge Union or EBU is a player-funded organisation that promotes and organises the card game of duplicate bridge in England. It is based at offices in Aylesbury. The EBU is a member of the European Bridge League and thus affiliate ...
, 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.
;Eight ever, nine never: A
bridge maxim that advises players when to
finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
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.
;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
An endplay (also ''throw-in''), in bridge and similar games, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks. Most commonly the losing play either constitutes a fr ...
. The classic (but not the only) example is to leave an endplayed defender with the choice of conceding a
ruff and discard
In trick-taking games, to ruff means to play a trump (cards), trump card to a trick (other than when trumps were led). According to the rules of most games, a player must have no cards left in the suit led in order to ruff. Since the other players ...
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
Coup en passant is a type of coup in contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with part ...
is an example of an elopement.
;
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''.
;
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.
;
Endplay
An endplay (also ''throw-in''), in bridge and similar games, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks. Most commonly the losing play either constitutes a fr ...
: 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."
;
Enter
# To win a trick in the opposite hand, thereby giving it the right to lead to the next trick.
# To make the first
call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
for a partnership after the opponents have bid.
# To join a bridge competition.
;
Entry
Entry may refer to:
*Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States
*Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games
*Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets
*Entry (film), ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian ...
# A card that allows a particular hand to win a trick that partner or an opponent has led to. Entries are vital to
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
.
# 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.
;
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.
;
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.
;
Even
# A 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
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
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.
;: Values (in the form of
High card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
, shortage or
cover cards), which are in addition to the values that a player has promised so far in the
bidding.
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
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
.
;
Factoring: The adjustment of matchpoint scores to correct for dissimilar conditions. For example, a game played with a
Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
movement might have an extra N–S pair, causing a
bye round for N–S. The
top
A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect.
Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...
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.
;
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 bid
In the card game "contract bridge", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at ...
s 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
Body may refer to:
In science
* Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space
* Body (biology), the physical material of an organism
* Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
.
;
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.
;
Fit
# A 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
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
.
# 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.
;Flat
# Flat 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
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
that results in scores across the
field
Field may refer to:
Expanses of open ground
* Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes
* Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport
* Battlefield
* Lawn, an area of mowed grass
* Meadow, a grass ...
that are identical, or nearly so.
;
Float
# To 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
In trick-taking card games, a revoke (or renege, or ) is a violation of the rules regarding the play of tricks serious enough to render the round invalid. A revoke is a violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, and is cons ...
.
;
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
Reverse or reversing may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Reverse'' (Eldritch album), 2001
* ''Reverse'' (2009 film), a Polish comedy-drama film
* ''Reverse'' (2019 film), an Iranian crime-drama film
* ''Reverse'' (Morandi album), 2005
* ''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.
:See also
Game force,
Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a ne ...
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
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
.
;
Forcing pass
# A 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.
;
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
Five-card majors is a contract bridge bidding treatment common to many modern bidding systems. Its basic tenet is that an opening bid of one-of-a-major in first and second position guarantees at least five cards in that major. This method has beco ...
. The four-card major agreement was standard during the first four decades of
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
, but has since given way to five-card majors in most "standard" systems such as
2/1 game forcing and
Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'G ...
. It is used in
Acol
Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...
, the
Blue Team Club
Blue Club is a bridge bidding system, developed mainly by Benito Garozzo. It was used by the famous Blue Team and became very popular in the 1960s. It has gained a strong following ever since.
The main features are:
* Strong club system: 1 open ...
and
EHAA.
;
Four-deal bridge: See
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
.
;
Fourth
# A player needed to complete a table, usually said of
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
.
# 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.
# An agreement that the partnership's bid of the fourth suit, in addition to its forcing nature, is possibly
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
.
;
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.
;
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
In the card game "contract bridge", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at ...
.
;
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
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
has overcalled. Compare with
Negative free bid
Negative free bid is a contract bridge treatment whereby a free bid by responder over an opponent's overcall shows a long suit in a weak hand and is not forcing. This is in contrast with standard treatment, where a free bid can show unlimited val ...
.
;
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
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
the defense's lead to freeze the suit. See example at right.
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.
;
Game:
# A
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
,
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
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
. See
bridge scoring.
# In
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, a score of 100 or more points
below the line, achieved either by making a game contract or by
converting
Converting companies are companies that specialize in modifying or combining raw materials such as polyesters, adhesives, silicone, adhesive tapes, foams, plastics, felts, rubbers, liners and metals, as well as other materials, to create new pro ...
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.
:See also
Forcing bid
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
,
Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a ne ...
and
One round force.
;
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.
;
Golden fit: A combined partnership holding of at least eight cards in a suit. In the UK, simply known as a
fit.
:See also
Moysian fit
;
Good: Said of a card or cards that have been
established.
;
Goren system, or Goren: A bidding system dominant in the United States from the 1940s through the 1960s, based on the
Culbertson system. The principal difference between the two systems was in
hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
: Culbertson used
honor tricks to assess a hand's strength whereas Goren used
high card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
and
distribution points.
;
Goulash
Goulash ( hu, gulyás) is a soup or stew of meat and vegetables seasoned with paprika and other spices. Originating in Hungary, goulash is a common meal predominantly eaten in Central Europe but also in other parts of Europe. It is one of the n ...
: A style of dealing, usually in
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
games, where the cards are not thoroughly shuffled between deals and are dealt in groups. It results in "wild" card
distributions.
;
Grand coup: A
trump coup
The trump coup is a contract bridge coup used when the hand on lead (typically the dummy) has no trumps remaining, while the next hand in rotation has only trumps, including a high one that would have been onside for a direct finesse if a trump ...
in which the cards ruffed in the long trump hand are already winners.
;
Grand slam: See
slam
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
.
;
Green: (Slang, mainly British) Non-vulnerable. From the colour of the paint on a duplicate board. Also: "green all" and "both green", neither side vulnerable; and "at green" or "green against
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
", non-vulnerable against vulnerable.
;
Grand slam force (GSF): A method of determining whether the partnership holds the top trump honors when the bid of a grand slam is a possibility. In its original form, the GSF was initiated with a bid of 5NT, asking partner to bid a grand slam with two of the top three honors in the trump suit. Depending on the prior bidding, other bids are often used in place of 5NT, and there is a variety of schemes for responding to the GSF. See
Josephine.
:See also
Forcing bid
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
,
Game force and
One round force.
;
Grosvenor gambit: A play that creates no direct advantage and might lose. Its principal features are that an opponent will not suspect that such an inept play has been made, and that once the opponent realizes what has occurred, he will be frustrated and angry (and therefore less effective) during subsequent hands. The ploy was first described in a satiric story by Frederick B. Turner in the June 1973 issue of ''
The Bridge World
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
''.
;
Guard: A holding that prevents an opponent from taking a trick or tricks. See
stopper,
guard squeeze.
H
;
Hand
# The 13 cards held by one player on a
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
.
# A
deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
or
board.
# Ordinally, a player counting in rotation from
dealer
Dealer may refer to:
Film and TV
* ''Dealers'' (film), a 1989 British film
* ''Dealers'' (TV series), a reality television series where five art and antique dealers bid on items
* ''The Dealer'' (film), filmed in 2008 and released in 2010
* ...
or ''first hand''. For example, "Third hand bid 1."
;Hand pattern: See
distribution.
;
Hand record: A document that lists the cards in each hand of every board played in a duplicate bridge session. Often, hand records also list contracts each partnership can make with double dummy declarer play and double dummy defense.
;
Help suit game try: The bid of a side suit after a single raise, used to help partner evaluate game prospects when opener's hand is roughly a trick stronger than a minimum opening. For example, after 1 - 2, opener might rebid 3 with a side club suit or a strong club
fragment. The bid tells partner where high cards will be most helpful, and requests partner to take positive action, such a direct jump to game, with strength in that suit. Otherwise, the bid requests partner to sign off (in this example, by bidding 3). See
short-suit game try and
game try.
;
Herbert negative: Use of the cheapest bid (sometimes only the cheapest suit bid) as an
artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
negative response to (for example) forcing 2-bids, strong artificial 2, or
takeout doubles. It was advocated by
Walter Herbert.
;
Hesitation: A brief pause before a bid or play, considered somewhat shorter than a
Huddle
In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation ...
.
;
High–low signal: See
Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
.
;
High card
# An
honor card.
# The highest-ranking card in a suit at any point during the play.
;
High card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
(HCP): A measure or estimate of the strength of cards in the play of a deal. Routinely the high card points of all 13 cards in one player's hand are counted in sum, as a measure of playing strength of the entire hand, or one component of such a measure. Every
honor card is assigned a numeric value. See
Hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
.
;
Hold
# To keep declarer to a particular number of tricks, usually the number required to make the contract.
# To have in one's hand a particular card or set of cards.
# (Of a card) To win a trick although a higher card is outstanding.
;
Hold up
# (Verb) To defer taking a winning card until an advantageous point in the hand, usually in reference to tricks that the opponents have led to. There are various purposes for holding up a winner, but it is frequently done to force the opponents to use their entries too soon.
# (Noun) The act of holding up a winner.
;
Holding
# The cards in a player's hand at a particular point in the play (often, at the start of the play).
# The cards in a specific suit in a player's hand.
;
Honor/honour, or honor/honour card: An ace, king, queen, jack or ten.
;
Honors/honours, or honor/honour bonus: At
rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
and
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, a scoring
bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
. The bonus is 100 points for one hand holding four of the five trump suit honors. The bonus is 150 points for all five trump suit honors, or all four aces in a notrump contract.
;
Honor/honour tricks: A method of
hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
used in the
Culbertson system, which assigns point values to
honor
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
s and combinations of honors. AK is two honor tricks, AQ is 1 honor tricks, A or KQ is 1 honor trick, and Kx is honor trick. Similar in concept to
quick tricks in the play of the hand.
;
Hook: (Slang)
Finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
(noun or verb).
;
House player: An employee of a bridge club who is available as a
fourth.
;
Howell movement: A pairs tournament
movement where each pair typically plays against all or most of the other pairs, and there is a single set of winners. Most of the pairs will move to a different seating position (usually at a different table) at the end of each round.
;
Huddle
# (Noun) A pause prior to a bid or play of longer than usual duration.
# (Verb) To take that lengthy pause.
;HUM: Acronym or initialism for Highly Unusual Methods.
I
;
Idle: (Said of a card) Available as a discard; not required for purposes such as guarding the opponents' suit or interfering with their communications.
;
IMP
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
: Acronym for
International Match Point.
;
Impropriety: A breach of ethical conduct or etiquette; an action that violates the
proprieties.
;
IMPs: The form of duplicate bridge that uses
International Match Points as a scoring method, as distinct from a tournament scored using
matchpoints (MPs).
;
In back of:
:A card or holding that is ''to the left of'', or ''behind'', or ''over'' another. To say that the A is ''in back of'' the K is to say that the ace is to the left of the king, or behind it, or over it; so, the A is in a position to directly capture the K.
;
Individual: A form of
duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, scored at matchpoints, in which each player is paired with a different partner on each round.
;
Informatory double: A
double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
that is intended to convey information rather than to exact a penalty from the opponents. Such doubles include the
takeout double
In the card game contract bridge, a takeout double is a low-level conventional call of "Double" over an opponent's bid as a request for partner to bid his best of the unbid suits. The most common takeout double is after an opponent's opening bid ...
, the
negative double, the
support double, the
responsive double and the
lead-directing double, although the latter is intended to convey information ''and'' to penalize.
;
Laws of Bridge or of a lawful regulation made under them.
;In front of:
:A card or holding that is ''to the right of'' or ''under'' another. To say that the A is ''in front of'' the K is to say that the ace is to the right of the king, or under it, and normally cannot capture the K if it is guarded.
;Insufficient bid: A bid that is not higher than the immediately preceding bid, and is therefore illegal.
;Insult: (Slang) The bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
for making a doubled or redoubled contract is sometimes referred to as the "insult" or as being "for the insult".
;Insurance bid: A bid, usually a sacrifice bid, intended to keep the opponents from playing their presumed or inferred optimum contract
Optimum contract and par contract are two closely related (and sometimes confused) bridge scoring terms in the card game contract bridge.
Optimum contract
The optimum contract is the one that offers the best chance of gaining the most scoring poin ...
. The bidder hopes that insurance premium – the penalty due to the sacrifice bid – will be less than the damage from allowing the opponents to make their contract.
;Interference: A call, such as an overcall or an initial preempt
Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A ...
, that is intended to make it more difficult for the opponents to bid to their best contract.
;Intermediate: 1) Nines, eights and sevens are sometimes termed "intermediate cards." See body
Body may refer to:
In science
* Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space
* Body (biology), the physical material of an organism
* Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
.
:2) A jump overcall that by agreement may be made with a hand of opening bid strength and a long suit is termed an "intermediate jump overcall."
:3) An opening two-bid that by agreement may be made with values just short of those required for a game-forcing opening bid is termed an "intermediate two-bid."
;International Match Point (IMP):
:1) (Noun) A method of scoring, usually in a teams match, that compares the score achieved on a board with that obtained by one's teammates on the same board, and converts the difference between these scores to IMPs using a scale defined by WBF. The IMP scale's effect is to reduce the weighting of large differences, thus making it less likely that the outcome of an entire match will depend on one or a small number of boards. For example a difference of 30 (one overtrick) is worth 1 IMP, but a difference of 680 (say 1100 at one table and 420 at the other table) is worth only 12 IMPs.
:2) (Verb) To perform the IMP score conversion.
;Intervenor: The first player on the other side to make a call other than pass when one side has opened the bidding.
; Intra-finesse: A technique that involves successive finesses against both opponents.
; Inverted minors: An agreement that treats the single raise of a minor suit as strong, and a double raise as preemptive.
;Invitation: A bid which invites the partner to bid on to game or slam if he has extra values. It is a non-forcing bid by definition. Compare semi-forcing bid.
;IPBM: ''International Popular Bridge Monthly'', a British bridge magazine.
;Iron Duke, Not through the: A hackneyed phrase that describes the play of a high card by a player whose high card holding is led through; or, that player's statement.
;Irregularity: A breach of procedure, as described in the Laws
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...
and Proprieties, in bidding or play. If one is available, a director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
should be called to the table to make a ruling.
;Isolate: (Said of a menace card) To isolate a menace in squeeze play is to arrange that only one opponent can guard one of declarer's threat suits. The play is conceptually similar to transferring a control.
J
;Jacoby transfer
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the just above that bid by r ...
, or Jacoby, or "transfers": A bidding convention initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that requests opener rebid in the suit ranked just above that bid by responder, i.e. a response in diamonds requests a rebid in hearts and a response in hearts requests a rebid in spades; other responses may carry other meanings; designed to make the stronger hand declarer.
;Jacoby 2NT
Jacoby 2NT (Swedish: ''Stenberg 2NT'') is a bridge convention in which a bid of 2NT over partner's opening bid of one heart (1) or one spade (1) shows a hand with both
* opening strength or better - normally at least 12 HCP or a hand meeting the " ...
: By agreement, a forcing raise of a major suit opening bid, used in conjunction with limit jump raises. Opener is requested to rebid in a suit where he holds a singleton so that responder can better evaluate the fit.
;Jam the bidding: (Slang) To preempt
Preempt (also spelled "pre-empt") is a bid in contract bridge whose primary objectives are (1) to thwart opponents' ability to bid to their best contract, with some safety, and (2) to fully describe one's hand to one's partner in a single bid. A ...
.
;Jettison: The discard of an honor, often by a defender, and usually to unblock a suit.
;Josephine: Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a ne ...
, an alternative term popular in Europe. The convention was developed by Ely Culbertson
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
, and popularized in a late 1930s article by Josephine Culbertson in ''The Bridge World
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
''
; Journalist leads: Opening lead convention, mainly against notrump contracts, designed to show both what the leader has, and to request specific partner actions in return.
;Jump:
#(Noun) A jump bid.
#(Verb) To make a jump bid.
;Jump bid: A bid made at a level higher than the lowest level at which that suit could be legally bid.
;Jump overcall: An overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
made at higher than the minimally legal level: for example, 1 - (2). In the 1930s, jump overcalls were treated as strong bids. They are now more frequently treated as weak, preemptive bids.
;Jump preference: A preference to partner's first-bid suit, made at a level higher than the minimally legal level. In the following sequence, 3 is a jump preference: 1 - 1; 2 - 3. For many years, the jump preference was treated as invitational except in support of opener's ''minor'', when it was treated as forcing. As of 2001, however, most experts treat all three-level jump preference bids as invitational following opener's one-level new-suit rebid: e.g., 1 - 1; 1 - 3
;Jump raise: A raise of partner's suit one level higher than the minimum legal raise. For example, 1 - 3 or 1 - 1; 3
;Jump rebid: A rebid of one's original suit, one level higher than necessary, usually showing a six-card suit: for example, 1 - 1; 3. The range of strength shown by a jump rebid is a matter of partnership agreement: some treat it as a one-round force, others (particularly if playing Kaplan–Sheinwold
The Kaplan–Sheinwold (or "K-S") bidding system was developed and popularized by Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold during their partnership, which flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. K-S is one of many natural systems. The system was defini ...
and the rebid suit is a minor) play it as only a little weaker than a game-forcing opening bid.
;Jump shift: A jump bid of a new suit.
:1) As a rebid by opener
Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to:
* ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm
* Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game
* Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland
* Bottle opene ...
(e.g. 1 – 1; 3) or responder (e.g. 1 – 1; 1NT – 3), it indicates extra strength
:2) As direct response (e.g. 1 – 2): usually, a very strong hand. However, another treatment ( weak jump shifts, requiring prior partnership agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
) uses the bid preemptively to show a weak hand and a long suit.
;Junior: A player under the age of 26. Various national, regional, and world competitions use this designation.
K
;Kaplan–Sheinwold
The Kaplan–Sheinwold (or "K-S") bidding system was developed and popularized by Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold during their partnership, which flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. K-S is one of many natural systems. The system was defini ...
(K–S): A bidding system that uses five card majors and the weak notrump.
;Keycard Blackwood, or Key Card Blackwood (KCB): A variant of the Blackwood convention In the partnership card game contract bridge, the Blackwood convention is a bidding convention developed by Easley Blackwood in 1933 and still widely used in the modern game. Its purpose is to enable the partnership to explore its possession of ac ...
in which five ''keycards'' are counted, four aces plus the king of the apparent trump suit, rather than four aces alone. Commonly there is a follow-up to ask about the queen of trump ("Queen ask"), effectively the sixth keycard.
;Kibitzer
Kibitzer is a Yiddish term for a spectator, usually one who offers (often unwanted) advice or commentary. The term can be applied to any activity, but is most commonly used to describe spectators in games such as contract bridge, chess and Schafk ...
: A spectator who attends a game in person.
;Kickback: An ace-asking or keycard-asking convention initiated by the first step above four of the apparent trump suit rather than uniformly by 4NT. Thus Kickback saves space when the trump suit is not spades. See Useful Space Principle
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded ...
and Blackwood: Asking bids other than 4NT.
;Kiss of death: At pairs, plus or minus 200. A score of minus 200, down two undoubled and vulnerable, or down one doubled and vulnerable, is a likely bottom
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant
* Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM
* Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...
against a part score by the opponents. A score of plus 200 from making five-odd of a major after stopping in a partial, is a likely bottom against the game contracts bid by other pairs holding the same cards.
;Knockout (KO), or Knockout Teams: A single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
for teams-of-four. Routinely each round pairs all of the competing teams in head-to-head matches—win or lose; no draw or tie. Winners advance to the next round and losers are eliminated. The size of the field, or initial number of competing teams, must be a power of two. Only then, the format generates for each round an even number of teams, which enables a complete set of head-to-head matches.
:Minor variants of great practical importance handle fields of any size by incorporating byes In cricket, a bye is a type of extra. It is a run scored by the batting team when the ball has not been hit by the batter and the ball has not hit the batter's body.
Scoring byes
Usually, if the ball passes the batter without being deflected, th ...
(definition 1) or matches with more than two teams (stipulated to have more than one winner, more than one winner, or both).
:Two major variants are double knockout, in which teams are eliminated after losing two matches, and repechage
Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...
, in which one-match losers drop into a secondary event from which some number of top performers return to the primary event.
; Knockout squeeze: A type of squeeze that operates in part against the defender's trump holding, when the defender threatens to win a plain suit trick and then lead a trump, thus reducing declarer's ruffing tricks. It is usual to call this play a ''knockout squeeze'' when the squeezed defender is second to play to the trick, and to call it a ''backwash squeeze'' when the squeezed defender is fourth to play.
;Kock–Werner Redouble: A rescue mechanism employed when partner's bid is doubled for penalties. Invented by Rudolf Kock and Einar Werner of Sweden. See also SOS Redouble.
L
; Last Train: A conventional bid that is one step above the current bid and one step below game in a trump suit. It is a mild slam try and conveys no information about the suit bid. After 1 - 3; 4, 4 is Last Train, invites slam, and does ''not'' necessarily show a diamond control.
;Late play: A board that is played after the remainder of the event has finished, usually because of slow play or an irregularity.
;Law of Total Tricks
In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks (abbreviated here as LoTT) is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law (because counterexamples are easy to find) but a method of hand evalua ...
(LTT), or "The Law"
: A guideline stating that the total number of cards held by both sides in their longest trump fits equals the total number of tricks available to both sides in their best trump contracts. See Hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
.
:The Law is sometimes interpreted to mean that one side can profitably contract for a number of tricks equal to its own combined trump length; for example, compete to 3 with a nine-card spade fit.
; Laws of Contract Bridge and Laws of Duplicate Bridge
The ''Laws of Duplicate Bridge'' (also known as the ''Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge'' and the ''Laws of Contract Bridge'') is the official rule book of duplicate bridge promulgated by the World Bridge Federation (WBF). The first ''Laws of Du ...
: The definitions, procedures and remedies that define how rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
and duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
are played. The Laws include the Proprieties, which discuss the game's customs and etiquette — often far more important than procedural matters. The Laws apply worldwide. Individual sponsoring organizations, such as the ACBL and the EBL, establish their own regulations for play, which may amplify the Laws but may not conflict with them.
:One important difference between the laws of rubber bridge (contract) and duplicate bridge is that rubber players are expected to deal with irregularities themselves while duplicate players are expected to call the director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
.
;Laydown: A contract that can be made on any rational line of play.
;Lead: 1) The first card played to a trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
, which dictates the suit that others must play if able to do so (see follow suit
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...
).
:2) The hand that is entitled to lead to the next trick is said to be "on lead" or to "have the lead."
:3) See opening lead.
;Lead-directing double: A double by the partner of the prospective opening leader that requests the lead of a particular suit. Experienced partnerships usually agree on a set of suit priorities, such as opening leader's bid suit, doubler's bid suit, dummy's first bid suit, or a suit that dummy has just bid conventionally.
;Lead out of turn: Playing a card when it was another player's turn to lead. Subject to penalty.
;Lead through strength: A maxim
Maxim or Maksim may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine
** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition
** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition
*Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
that advises a defender to lead a suit in which LHO has high card strength, forcing declarer to play high or low before third hand plays. The corollary is that a defender is advised to lead ''up to weakness'' in the fourth hand.
;Leap: To make a jump bid.
; Leaping Michaels: A conventional overcall in 4 or 4 made in defense to opposing 2-level or 3-level preemptive openings. Leaping Michaels shows a strong two-suited hand (5-5 or longer) that is less suitable for a takeout double and is game forcing. Described as an overcall by some of a weak two-bid of a major, others expand its application to all weak preempts at the 2 or 3-level in both the majors and minors.
;Leave in: To pass, often used of passing when partner's double was followed by a pass.
;Lebensohl (Leb): Responder's bid of 2NT as a puppet to 3 in preparation for a sign-off. Normally used after an overcall of partner's 1NT opening, or after a double of partner's weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
. Also used after opponents weak two bid and partner's balancing take-out double.
;Leg: (Slang) game. Normally used in reference to rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
. "A leg up" means being vulnerable vs. non-vulnerable opponents. "Cut off their leg" means becoming vulnerable vs. opponents who are already vulnerable.
;Length: The number of cards held in a suit.
;Let through: (Slang) To allow a contract to make by misdefense.
;Level: 1) The number of trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s that (when added to the book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
of six tricks) a bid or contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
states will be taken. For example, a bid at the four level contracts to take (6 + 4) = 10 tricks.
:2) The property of a contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
that states whether it is at the part-score, game or slam
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
level.
;Lever: (Slang, verb) To double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
. (In Britain at least, a penalty double: Leave 'er in. The past participle "levered" means, doubled for penalties.)
;LHO:Left-hand opponent
;Light: (Adv.) To enter the auction with relatively low values (for example, to "open light" or "overcall light"). To do so can be either a matter of tactics or of general style.
; Lightner double: A penalty double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
, usually of a slam
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
contract, that requests partner to choose an unusual suit for the opening lead. This criterion tends to regard as typical (and thus to exclude) a trump lead, the lead of defenders' bid suit, and the lead of an unbid suit.
;Limit: In the bidding, to define a hand's strength with some degree of precision.
;Limit Bid: A bid which establishes narrow limits on both the high card strength and distribution of the bidder's hand. In many bidding systems the following bid types are limit bids: (1) Natural notrump bids indicating balanced hands within a narrow high card strength range; (2) raises of partner's suit indicating a minimum number of cards in the raised suit, a narrow high card strength range, and likely ruffing values; or (3) rebids of one's own suit indicating a minimum suit length, an unbalanced hand, and a narrow high card strength range.
;Limit jump raise: An invitational jump raise of a major suit, such as 1 - 3. Limit jump raises usually guarantee at least an 8-card fit in partner's major suit and around 10-11 HCP or the distributional equivalent.
;Limit raise: Any call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
which invites partner to bid game in a suit partner has bid, previously. A limit raise promises trump support and hand strength about a king less than a minimum strength game force.
;Line: 1) (with "the"): A line on a bridge scorepad that separates points for tricks that count toward game (see Below the line) from those that do not (see Above the line).
:2) On a given hand, the play strategy that is adopted by declarer or by the defenders.
:3) Bidding: See Up the line and Down the line.
;Lock: 1) (Noun) A contract that is certain to succeed.
:2) (Verb) To force a particular hand onto lead such that it cannot relinquish the lead unscathed.
;LOL: Little Old Lady (pronounced El-Oh-El). A facetious reference to a seemingly weak player.
;Long cards: Cards of the same suit, remaining in one hand, after all the other cards in that suit have been played from the other hands.
;Long hand: In a partnership, the hand with the longer trumps.
;Long suit: 1) In a hand, the suit with the greatest number of cards. Seldom used of a suit with fewer than five cards.
:2) Any suit of unusual length.
:3) Any suit of at least four cards. A four-card suit is likely to be called long when in context concerning a hand that is known to hold another suit, or even two, expected to be at least as long.
;Long suit game try: Following a major suit raise to the two level, the long suit game try names a suit with at least four cards, so that partner's cover card is useful regardless of length in the suit. A double fit is not unlikely and, if a major suit, that is a potential alternative trump suit.
: 2) Alternative term for a help suit game try. In some usage the " help suit game try" is barely distinguishable from the long, in some barely distinguishable from the weak.
;Loser: A card which apparently cannot take a trick.
; Loser on loser: A card play tactic that attempts to create an advantage by playing two losers, often of different suits, on the same trick. Loser-on-loser play has many applications, including the creation of a ruffing
In trick-taking games, to ruff means to play a trump card to a trick (other than when trumps were led). According to the rules of most games, a player must have no cards left in the suit led in order to ruff. Since the other players are constraine ...
position for declarer, the avoidance of overruffs by the defense, and interference with the opponents' communications
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
.
;LROB: Limit Raise Or Better. Example: "1H-2NT = Heart-support, LROB."
; Losing trick count (LTC): A method of hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
based on counting losers.
;Love: No score. "Love all" means that neither side is vulnerable.
;Low: (Adjective) A card that is not expected to take a trick.
;Low–high signal: On defense, to play a higher card, having already played a lower one, so as to convey information to partner. Contrast Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
, or high–low signal.
;Lucas twos: A synonym or close variant of the Muiderberg convention Muiderberg is a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level preemptive opening based on a two-suiter with precisely a five-card major and a minor suit (four-card or longer). In Muiderberg the 2 opening denotes five hearts and an u ...
, a weak two-bid showing 5 cards in a major and at least four cards in another suit.
M
;MacGuffin: A defensive card that, if retained, is a liability on one line of play, but that, if played, will be missed on another line of play. The term may be derived from the filmic plot device of the same name.
;Major penalty card: A card that is exposed by a defender prematurely and through intentional play; or, an honor card that is exposed prematurely even if accidentally. A major penalty card remains face up on the table to be played at the first legal opportunity, including as a discard. Contrast Minor penalty card.
;Major suit In the card game contract bridge, the major suits are spades () and hearts (). The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and scoring as they outrank the minor suits while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major ...
: The heart suit and the spade suit are major suits, often referred to simply as ''the majors''. Declarer scores 30 points for each trick taken in an undoubled contract with a major suit as trump. Because game requires at least 100 points for tricks bid and made, both 4 and 4 (or 2 doubled and 2 doubled) constitute game contracts. Contrast Minor suits.
;Major tenace: The highest and the third highest remaining cards in a suit, held in the same hand. For example, the AQ before spades have been played. Tenaces define the structure of finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
s. See minor tenace.
;Make: (Verb) To take at least as many tricks as a contract calls for. Frequently used in the past tense of the verb, i.e. ''Made''.
;Mama–Papa: (Adjective) An unsophisticated game, approach to bidding, or line of play.
;Marionette Bid: (Noun) A type of relay bid
In contract bridge, a relay bid is a conventional bid that usually has little or no descriptive meaning but asks partner to describe some feature of his hand. A relay is often the cheapest bid available but need not be. Stayman and Blackwood ...
in which the cheapest response is expected nearly all the time, thus similar but not identical to a puppet bid. Name derives from "a puppet with strings."
;Marked: To be known to hold a particular card: "He was ''marked'' with the Q."
; Marked finesse: A finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
for a card that evidently lies with a particular opponent.
;Master: The highest card of a suit that is yet to be played.
;Masterpoints: Units awarded, usually by national organisations, for successful performance in a bridge tournament.
;Match: A series of hands played by two teams in knockout events. One pair from each team sits North-South at one table and the other pair sits East-West at the other table.
; Matchpoints: A type of scoring in duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
. A pair's score on a given board is one matchpoint for every pair they outscored and one-half matchpoint for every pair they tied. (Outside the US these awards are often doubled, so as to avoid the award of fractional matchpoints.) See comparative scoring.
;Matrix: The layout of the cards that play pivotal roles in certain endplays, most typically squeezes.
;Maxims: A maxim of bridge is a brief expression of a general principle of the game. Most Bridge maxims have some validity but none are true in all circumstances.
;Maximal overcall double: By prior agreement, a game-invitational double of an overcall that leaves no room for a bid, when a bid would invite game. For example, after 1 - (2) - 2 - (3) there is no room below 3 for a game invitation (and a bid of 3 itself would be taken as merely competitive), so a double is used as a game invitation.
;McKenney: See Suit preference signal.
;Menace: A card that requires an opponent to retain a higher card in the same suit, as a guard. The term is typically used of squeeze play.
; Merrimac coup: The deliberate sacrifice of a high card to remove a vital entry to an opponent's hand, usually the dummy. Named for a ship sunk during the Spanish–American War, to block the entrance to a harbor. Sometimes confused with, and spelled as, the Merrimack, the American Civil War ship that fought the ''Monitor''. See Deschapelles coup.
; Michaels cue bid: By prior agreement, an immediate cue bid
In contract bridge, a cue bid (also, cuebid or cue-bid) is either a bid of the opponents' suit, or "slam seeking": a slam-investigating bid made during an auction's later rounds that shows control of a suit.
Traditionally a cue bid is "slam seeki ...
in the suit of an opponent's opening bid, such as 1 - (2), for two-suited takeout. The cue bid of a minor suit shows length in both major suits. The cue bid of a major suit typically shows length in the other major suit and in an unspecified minor suit.
; MiniBridge: A simplified form of contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
designed to expose newcomers to declarer and defensive playing techniques without the burden of learning a detailed bridge bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
.
;Minor penalty card: A card below the rank of an honor card that is exposed by a defender prematurely but accidentally, via mishap. A minor penalty card remains face up on the table until played. The minor penalty card must be played before any other card below honor rank in the same suit; however, an honor in the same suit may be played before the minor penalty card is played. Contrast Major penalty card.
;Minor suit In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). They are given that name because contracts made in those suits score less (20 per contracted trick) than contracts made in the major suits (30 per contracted trick), and they rank lo ...
: The club suit and the diamond suit are minor suits. Declarer scores 20 points for each trick taken in an undoubled contract with a minor suit as trump. Because game requires at least 100 points for tricks bid and made, both 5 and 5 (or 3 doubled and 3 doubled) constitute game contracts. Contrast Major suits.
;Minor tenace: The second-highest and the fourth-highest (or lower) remaining cards in a suit, held in the same hand. For example, the KJ before spades have been played. See major tenace.
;Mirror: Identical hand distributions: "North and South had mirror distributions."
;Misbid: A bid that fails to describe the hand properly. Often a misdescription of a hand's shape
A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type.
A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie ...
, as distinct from an overbid
The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge, Hearts, Poker or Rummy), ...
or underbid.
;Misfit: Two partnership hands, neither of which can support the other's long suit. For example, a red Two-suiter opposite a black Two-suiter constitutes a misfit.
;Mitchell movement: A pairs tournament movement in which the pairs sitting in one direction (usually North-South) stay in the same seats throughout, but after each round the pairs sitting in the other direction (usually East-West) move to the next higher numbered table, and the boards are moved to the next lower numbered table. Unless an arrow switch is performed, the effect is to create two events, a "North-South" contest and an "East-West" contest, with separate winning pairs, though a single winner can still be determined by comparing percentage results.
;Mixed: 1) Of an event: contested by pairs or teams in which every pair comprises one male and one female player.
:2) In the auction: A mixed raise is, by agreement, a jump cue bid of opener's suit in support of partner's overcall. It tends to show four card support for partner's suit and the strength of a good single raise. In 1 - (1) - 1 - (3), 3 is a ''mixed'' raise.
; Morton's fork coup: A play that forces the defense to choose between taking a high card that will establish extra winners for declarer, and ducking the trick, after which the high card cannot be cashed.
; Movement: In a tournament, the scheme for the progression of players and boards from table to table, arranged so that a pair does not play the same boards twice, or meet the same opponents twice etc. The most common movements for pairs tournaments are Howell
Howell may refer to:
Places
In the United Kingdom
*Howell, Lincolnshire, England
In the United States
*Howell, Georgia
* Howell, Evansville, a neighborhood of Evansville, Indiana
*Howell, Michigan
* Howell, Missouri
*Howell, Utah
* Howell C ...
and Mitchell
Mitchell may refer to:
People
*Mitchell (surname)
*Mitchell (given name)
Places Australia
* Mitchell, Australian Capital Territory, a light-industrial estate
* Mitchell, New South Wales, a suburb of Bathurst
* Mitchell, Northern Territo ...
.
;Moysian fit: A 4–3 trump fit, or a contract with such a trump fit. Named after ''The Bridge World
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
'' editor Alphonse "Sonny" Moyse Jr, who wrote and published a variety of articles that promoted the virtues of such fits or contracts, some bidding styles designed to locate them, and some techniques for playing them well.
;MUD: Acronym of "Middle, Up, Down", a lead convention which describes the sequence in which cards from a holding of three low ones (all less in rank than the 10) are played.
;Muiderberg convention Muiderberg is a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level preemptive opening based on a two-suiter with precisely a five-card major and a minor suit (four-card or longer). In Muiderberg the 2 opening denotes five hearts and an u ...
: A weak two-bid showing five cards in a major and at least four cards in another suit.
; Multi: An ambiguous opening bid of 2 that promises one of several different types of hand. Originally entitled "multicoloured 2 Diamonds".
N
;Natural: A call which indicates either: (1) a willingness to play the contract named, (2) a suit bid suggesting length or strength in that suit, (3) a notrump bid that suggests a balanced hand, (4) a double that suggests the ability to defeat the opponent's contract, (5) a redouble to suggest that the contract can be made in the face of a double by opponents, or (6) a pass that suggests weakness, satisfaction with the last bid made or no desire to make a further call. Contrast Artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
.
;NBB: Nederlandse Bridge Bond (Dutch Bridge League).
; Negative double: A conventional call used by responder in a competitive auction to denote possession of at least one unbid suit.
;Negative free bid
Negative free bid is a contract bridge treatment whereby a free bid by responder over an opponent's overcall shows a long suit in a weak hand and is not forcing. This is in contrast with standard treatment, where a free bid can show unlimited val ...
: Responder's suit bid following an opening bid and an overcall. Nonforcing by prior agreement.
;Negative inference: An inference based on something that did not happen. For example, if a defender does not overruff, declarer might conclude that he ''could not'' overruff. Or if declarer does not ruff a loser in dummy, a defender might conclude that declarer does not have a loser in that suit.
;Negative response: A bid that shows insufficient values for a stronger response. For example, a 2 response to a forcing 2 opening bid is often negative, as is a 1 response to a Precision
Precision, precise or precisely may refer to:
Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general)
* Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter
* Significant figures, the number of digit ...
1.
;Negative slam double: In a competitive auction, the double of a voluntarily bid slam to show ''no'' defensive tricks, and therefore to suggest a sacrifice.
;Neuberg formula In duplicate bridge pairs tournaments, the Neuberg formula is a method of adjusting match point
''Match Point'' is a 2005 psychological thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, E ...
: In duplicate pairs tournaments, a method of fairly adjusting match point scores when not all boards have been played the same number of times. It gives equal weight to each board by calculating the expected number of match points that would have been earned if the board had been played the full number of times.
;New minor forcing: By agreement, after 1m - 1M; 1NT, a bid of two of the unbid minor as artificial and forcing, often requesting three card support for responder's bid major or four cards in the unbid major. Sometimes called PLOB.
;New suit: A suit that has not yet been bid.
;NMF: New minor forcing New Minor Forcing (NMF), is a contract bridge bidding convention used to find a 5-3 or 4-4 major suit fit after a specific sequence of bids in which opener has rebid one notrump. The convention is triggered by responder at his second turn by an arti ...
.
;No bid: An alternative to "pass". Used in the United Kingdom, where "pass" might be mis-heard as "hearts." Regarded as improper in the US.
;Nonadverse suit, or non-adverse suit: A suit which has not yet been bid by either opponent.
;Nonforcing bid, or non-forcing bid: A bid which partner may pass. See also Forcing bid
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
, Invitation, Sign-off.
;Nonvulnerable, or non-vulnerable:
: Not vulnerable.
;None vulnerable: In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, the state of the score in which neither pair has made a game. In duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, the vulnerability condition under which neither pair is designated as vulnerable for the board in play. Also, "neither side vulnerable."
; Norman four notrump Norman four notrump (also Norman) is a slam bidding convention in the partnership card game contract bridge designed to help the partnership choose among the five-, six-, and seven-levels for the final contract. Norman four notrump is an altern ...
: A slam-seeking convention
;North–South: One of the partnerships designated on duplicate boards.
;Not vulnerable: The state of vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."
A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...
in which both bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
es and penalties are smaller. Therefore, less is at stake for a non-vulnerable pair investigating game or slam, or that is contesting the part score, than for a vulnerable pair. Also, "non-vulnerable."
;Notrump, or no trump (NT): A contract, or a bid that names a contract without a trump suit. Notrump is the highest-ranking strain
Strain may refer to:
Science and technology
* Strain (biology), variants of plants, viruses or bacteria; or an inbred animal used for experimental purposes
* Strain (chemistry), a chemical stress of a molecule
* Strain (injury), an injury to a mu ...
. WikiProject Contract bridge deprecates the two-word "no trump", however "no trump" is the usual spelling in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and in those European countries which have adopted this English term.
;Notrump distribution, no trump distribution, or NT distribution: Balance
Balance or balancing may refer to:
Common meanings
* Balance (ability) in biomechanics
* Balance (accounting)
* Balance or weighing scale
* Balance as in equality or equilibrium
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...
d distribution. WikiProject Contract bridge deprecates the two-word "No Trump".
;NPC, or npc: Non-playing captain.
;Nuisance bid: An interference bid whose principal aim is not to preempt or to compete for the contract, but nevertheless to upset the smooth flow of the opponents' bidding sequence.
;Number, as "go for a number": A very large penalty: "He went for a number." Often, "telephone number", alluding to the size of that number if regarded as a quantity. (Dating back to the 1930s when UK telephone numbers were only four figures, plus an exchange name!) See also
O
;Obligatory: 1) Of a finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
: A duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
, made in the hope that a high card will fall. For example, declarer holds K432 opposite dummy's Q765. The 2 is led to the Q, which wins. Declarer now leads dummy's 5 and RHO follows with the J. Declarer ducks, hoping that LHO must now play the A. The play is ''obligatory'' because given the first heart trick, no other play can yield three tricks.
:2) Of a falsecard: A falsecard that, like an obligatory finesse, cannot lose and might gain. An example is the play of the card that one is known to hold (for example, the play of a queen after it has been successfully finessed).
;Odd: Specifying a level. To make 4 is to make four-odd.
;Odd–even discards: A defensive carding scheme under which the play of an odd-numbered card is encouraging and that of an even-numbered card is discouraging. The rank of the card may be used to show suit preference.
;Odd tricks: The number of tricks above six (the book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physi ...
) that are taken by declarer.
;Off: 1) (Slang) Down, or set. "We're off two" means "We have made two fewer tricks than our contract."
:2) (Slang) offside.
;Offense-to-defense ratio (ODR): High ODR means a hand has characteristics more suited to winning the final contract, while Low ODR means it has characteristics more suited to defending against opponents' contract. ODR is not based on a mathematical formula, but refers to a player's judgement/perception of the hand.
;Off shape, offshape, or off-shape: Having a distribution that does not quite conform to that suggested by a bid, such as an opening bid of 1NT with 2=2=6=3 shape, or a weak-two bid with a seven card suit.
;Off the top: Said of some number of tricks that can be lost or won without gaining or losing the lead. "There were eleven tricks off the top in spades", to mean that declarer could take eleven tricks without interruption; or, "We're down off the top", to mean that the defenders can take at least four immediate tricks against 4.
;Offside: Unfavorably located, from the point of view of the player taking a finesse. If East holds the K and North the AQ, from South's point of view the K is offside. Contrast Onside.
;Olympiad: A world bridge championship held every four years under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation.
;On: 1) Makeable. A contract that can be made is said to be ''on''.
:2) Onside.
:3) (Suffix) In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, preceded by a number that indicates progress toward game. If one has 40 points Below the line, one has 40-on.
;One club system: A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
that uses a bid of 1 as artificial and forcing, but not necessarily strong.
;One over one, or one-over-one (1/1): To an opening one-bid, any one- level response in a suit; that is, one of a higher suit in response to opening one of a lower suit. Contrast Two over one.
;One round force: A bid that requests partner to ensure that the bidding continue for at least one more round. If partner's RHO
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
bids, partner may pass, but is otherwise expected to bid.
:See also Forcing bid
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
, Game force and Grand slam force The Grand Slam Force is a bidding convention in contract bridge that was developed by Ely Culbertson in 1936. It is intended to be used in cases where the combined hands of a partnership are so strong that a slam (winning at least 12 tricks) is a ne ...
.
;One-suiter: A hand with only one long suit, normally refers to a hand with a six card or longer suit.
;Onside: Favorably located, from the point of view of the player taking a finesse. If West holds the K and North the AQ, then from South's point of view the K is onside. Contrast Offside.
;Open: 1) In the auction: To start the bidding by making the first call other than Pass.
:2) Of a room used at a team event: allowing spectators. Normally at least one of two rooms is ''closed'' to spectators.
:3) Of an event: not restricting entries in some way that is implicit. So participation in an ''open event'' is unrestricted in at least one respect:
::a) not by invitation only (''invitational'' event)
::b) not by qualification in a preceding event or ''qualifier''
::c) not by representation of geographic zones, nations, cities, clubs, etc; nor by requirement that pair or team members share geographic residence, club membership, etc (''national'' event, etc)
::d) not by age, sex, or playing record (''seniors'', ''Masters'', etc).
:''Open'' is generally ambiguous but it does have the last sense (d) in the names of WBF world championship events, where the relevant ''Categories'' are Youth (with subcategories), Seniors, Women, and Open. For the WBF, ''transnational'' means open in sense (c).
;Opener: The player who makes the opening bid.
;Opener's rebid: Opener's second bid.
;Opening bid: The first bid in the auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
.
; Opening lead: The first card led by defenders. The dummy is not face
The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may aff ...
d until after the opening lead, which makes the choice of opening lead more difficult than other leads. The opening lead can determine the outcome of the deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
.
;Opening leader: The declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
's LHO, who always makes the opening lead.
;Opponent: A member of the other partnership or team.
;Optimum contract
Optimum contract and par contract are two closely related (and sometimes confused) bridge scoring terms in the card game contract bridge.
Optimum contract
The optimum contract is the one that offers the best chance of gaining the most scoring poin ...
: In unopposed bidding, the contract that cannot be improved upon by further bidding, nor could have been improved upon by taking a different line in earlier bidding. The contract is regarded as optimum because it offers the maximum score while minimizing the risk of failure.
;Our hand: (Informal) A hand on which "our" side can take more tricks than their side.
;Out-of-the-blue cue bid: See Advance cue bid.
;Over: See In back of.
;Overbid: 1) (Noun) A bid that overstates a hand's strength.
:2) (Verb) To bid voluntarily to a contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
that the partnership cannot make.
:3) (Verb) To bid too high, irrespective of the result.
:4) (Noun) (obsolete) In old texts, may refer to an overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
.
;Overboard: (Slang) Having overbid.
; Overcall: The first bid made by one of opener
Opener, Open'er or Openers may refer to:
* ''Opener'' (album), an album by 8mm
* Opener (baseball), a baseball strategy to use a relief pitcher to start a game
* Open'er Festival, a contemporary music festival held in Gdynia, Poland
* Bottle opene ...
's opponents unless they intervene first by a double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
.
;Overcaller: The player making an overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
; may also be referred to as the intervenor
In law, intervention is a procedure to allow a nonparty, called intervenor (also spelled intervener) to join ongoing litigation, either as a matter of right or at the discretion of the court, without the permission of the original litigants. The ...
. Contrast Advancer.
;Overruff: To ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
with a higher trump following a prior ruff on the same trick.
;Overtake: To play a card higher than the winning card played by partner, unnecessary to win the trick but necessary to gain the lead.
;Overtrick: A trick taken by declarer beyond the number of tricks required by the contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
.
P
;Pack: Deck of cards.
;Pair: Two players playing bridge together as partners. Partnership.
;Pairs: A form of duplicate
Duplication, duplicate, and duplicator may refer to:
Biology and genetics
* Gene duplication, a process which can result in free mutation
* Chromosomal duplication, which can cause Bloom and Rett syndrome
* Polyploidy, a phenomenon also known ...
bridge in which each pair competes separately, as distinct from team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
and individual events. Pairs events are normally scored by matchpoints.
;Palooka: (Slang) Someone who plays bridge worse than others in their usual level of play
;Panama: A defence to a Strong Club whereby two-level bids show the suit bid or the other 3 suits.
;Par, or par score: On a given deal, the score that results from best bidding and best play by both sides. See optimum contract and par contract.
;Par contest: A competition that uses composed deals, designed to test each pair's bidding and its card play. After the bidding, pairs are instructed to play (or defend) a specified contract. Results are compared not with other tables but with the predetermined par result.
; Par contract: That contract which results from optimal bidding by ''both'' sides, and which neither side could improve by further bidding.
;Pard: (Slang) Partner.
;Part score, or part-score: 1) A trick score less than 100, obtained by making a contract.
:2) The contract that results in that trick score.
:3) In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, a total of fewer than 100 points below the line.
;Partial: A part score.
;Partial elimination: An endplay
An endplay (also ''throw-in''), in bridge and similar games, is a tactical play where a defender is put on lead at a strategic moment, and then has to make a play that loses one or more tricks. Most commonly the losing play either constitutes a fr ...
in which declarer is unable to remove all possible safe defensive exit cards, and must hope that the remaining cards are so distributed that the defense cannot get off lead safely.
;Partner: The other member of the partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
.
;Partnership: 1) See pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
.
:2) Two partners who play together for an extended period.
:3) The complete set of agreements entered into by a pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
.
;Partnership bidding: Sequences in which the opponents do not compete.
;Partnership desk: A service, provided by some tournaments, that locates a partner for a player who does not yet have one.
;Partnership understanding, or partnership agreement: An agreement between partner
Partner, Partners, The Partner, or, The Partners may refer to:
Books
* ''The Partner'' (Grisham novel), by John Grisham, 1997
* ''The Partner'' (Jenaro Prieto novel), 1928
* ''The Partners'' (book), a 1983 book by James B. Stewart
* ''Partner'' (m ...
s, reached prior to the beginning of play, concerning the meaning of a call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
or of carding.
;Pass: 1) A call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
indicating that the player does not wish to change the contract named by the preceding bid, double or redouble. To pass transfers the right to make the next call to passer's LHO, unless it is the third consecutive pass, which ends the bidding (but see Passed out). See also No bid Multisourcing is the concept of working with multiple suppliers who are also competitors. Large-scale buyers, such as the U.S. federal government, may want to feel assured that there is more than one supplier for an item.
It has been described as ...
.
:2) To play, from third hand, a lower card than the one led to the trick. If declarer leads the J, LHO plays a small heart, and declarer plays the 2 from dummy's AQ2, declarer has ''passed'' the J.
;Pass and pull: To make a forcing pass and on the next round remove partner's double by bidding.
;Passed hand: A player who passed instead of opening the bidding. The inference is that a passed hand does not hold the values required to open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
the bidding (unless playing a strong pass bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
).
;Passed out:
:1) A deal is passed out if the auction begins with four consecutive passes. There is no contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
, no play of the hand, and (at rubber bridge) no score. The players proceed to the next deal.
:2) A bid, double, or redouble (an action) is passed out if it is followed by three passes, which end the auction. The last action identifies the contract and the play follows.
;Passive defense: An approach to defending a hand that emphasizes waiting for tricks that declarer must eventually lose, getting off lead safely, and avoiding plays that will set up tricks for declarer. Often indicated when neither declarer nor dummy has a running side suit or when the declaring side may have over-reached in the bidding. Contrast Active
Active may refer to:
Music
* ''Active'' (album), a 1992 album by Casiopea
* Active Records, a record label
Ships
* ''Active'' (ship), several commercial ships by that name
* HMS ''Active'', the name of various ships of the British Royal ...
.
;Pass-or-correct: A bid made in response to partner's ambiguous call. For example, South opens with 1 and West bids 2, by prior agreement showing hearts and a minor. North passes and East bids 3, expecting West to pass if he holds clubs and to correct to diamonds otherwise.
;Pass out: 1) To make the third of three consecutive passes following a bid, double or redouble.
:2) To make the fourth of four consecutive passes. Thus, a bid cannot have been made and the table progresses to the next deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
.
:3) (Adjective) The seat where a pass would end the auction.
;Pattern: See distribution.
;Pearson points: High card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
plus number of spades held. See Hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
.
;Penalty: 1) A score awarded to the defense when declarer's contract goes down. The size of the penalty depends on the number of tricks that declarer was set, the vulnerability
Vulnerability refers to "the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally."
A window of vulnerability (WOV) is a time frame within which defensive measures are diminished, com ...
, and whether the contract was doubled, or redoubled. See Score.
:2) A remedy assigned by a director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
to redress damage done by an infraction. The penalty for a minor, procedural infraction might be some number of trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s, matchpoints or IMPs IMPS or Imps may refer to:
* ''Imps*'', a comedy film released in 2009
* OMA Instant Messaging and Presence Service
* Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite, an April Fools' Day RFC
* The Oxford Imps, an improvisational comedy troupe
* Insensitive muni ...
, or disallowing a particular bid or play. A more serious violation of the game's Proprieties may be imposed by barring the offender from an event, a portion of an event, or from organized bridge.
;Penalty card: A card, incorrectly exposed by the defense, whose subsequent proper play is governed by certain rules. See major penalty card and minor penalty card.
;Penalty double: See double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
;Penalty pass: The pass of an informatory double, to convert
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
it to a penalty double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
.
;Percentage: In matchpoint scoring, refers to the number of matchpoints actually scored by a pair on a board, session, or event, as a percentage of the maximum number available.
;Percentage play: A play that is chosen because the mathematics of suit distribution suggests that it is more likely to succeed than an alternative line. Usually said of play in a single suit rather than the hand as a whole.
;Personal score: A record of the board number, opposing pair number, contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
, declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
, tricks taken, and raw score kept by each player for the boards played by the partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
in a single session. The ''personal score'' often appears on the back of the convention card.
;Peter: (Slang; chiefly British) See Echo
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...
. The term is said to derive from the Blue Peter, a nautical signal.
;Phantom pair: In a pairs movement, if there is an odd number of pairs, then in each round one pair will have to sit out. The missing pair that they would have played is known as the phantom pair.
;Phantom sacrifice: A sacrifice bid against a contract that the opponents would not have made. Also, ''False sacrifice'' or ''Phantom save''.
;Phoney club: A type of 1 Club opening bid which shows opening values but does not guarantee clubs, denies a five card major (and often 5 diamonds as well) and may have as little as one club (on a 4441 shape hand). Usually played as forcing for one round. A variant of a short club.
;Pianola: (Slang) A hand that is so easy it plays itself. "Pianola" is a trademarked brand of player piano
A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...
(a piano that plays automatically).
;Pick up: 1) (Verb) To run a suit without losing a trick in it.
:2) (Adjective) Said of a partner who completes a pair, or of a pair that completes a team, just prior to the start of an event.
;Pick-up slip: A type of score slip on which the result of a deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
is recorded for the purpose of comparative scoring. Used in certain event formats, it is picked up after each round by the director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
or his caddy. Also referred to as a pick-up card.[Manley et al (2011), p. 193.] Contrast Traveller.
; Pin: The lead of a high card from one hand to capture a singleton of lower rank in an opponent's hand.
;Pip: 1) A spot
Spot or SPOT may refer to:
Places
* Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States
* The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia
* South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse
People
* Spot (prod ...
card.
:2) A suit symbol (, , , ) on a card.
;Pitch: To discard.
;Pivot: 1) (Adjective) Of the suit that both defenders must guard in a double squeeze.
:2) (Verb) In party bridge, to change partners while remaining at the same table.
:3a) (Verb) In duplicate bridge, to play one round in a given direction, and the next round in the opposite direction at the same table
:3b) (Noun) In duplicate bridge, a ''pivot table'' is a table where each pair will perform a pivot. This can only happen in a Howell movement, or another similar movement, where players move between East-West and North-South during the course of the game.
;Plafond: A French, whist-like card game whose scoring foreshadowed that used in contract bridge.
;Plain suit: A suit that is not trump; a side suit.
;Play: 1) (Noun) The stage of a deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
when players attempt to take tricks. The declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
tries to take at least as many trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s as the contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
calls for, and the defenders
Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to:
*Defense (military)
*Defense (sports)
**Defender (association football)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary
* ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...
try to prevent that outcome.
:2) (Verb) To contribute a card to a trick, either by displaying its face (as in duplicate bridge) or by placing it face up on the table (as in rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
).
;Play for: To assume that the opponents have a particular distribution or holding, and to plan and conduct the play on that basis.
;Playable: 1) (Of a contract) A rational, if not necessarily optimal, choice of strain and level.
:2) (Of an agreement) Leading to an acceptable result, if not in the best fashion.
;Playing tricks: Cards, such as long cards, that will take tricks (usually, for declarer), and that therefore contribute to a hand's strength.
;PLOB: Acronym or initialism for Petty Little Odious Bid, another name for New Minor Forcing New Minor Forcing (NMF), is a contract bridge bidding convention used to find a 5-3 or 4-4 major suit fit after a specific sequence of bids in which opener has rebid one notrump. The convention is triggered by responder at his second turn by an arti ...
. The name is derived from a diatribe by ''The Bridge World
''The Bridge World'' (TBW), the oldest continuously published magazine about contract bridge, was founded in 1929 by Ely Culbertson. It has since been regarded as the game's principal journal, publicizing technical advances in bidding and the pla ...
'' editor Alphonse "Sonny" Moyse Jr in the magazine's Master Solver's Club feature, which called the convention an "odious, meaningless, ''petty'' little bid".
;Pocket: One of four slots in a duplicate board that hold the cards between plays.
;PODI: A proxi-acronym for Pass=0, Double=1. Method for countering interference over Blackwood. Pronounced "podey".
;Point: 1) A scoring unit: e.g., a trick taken by declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
in a minor suit contract scores 20 points.
:2) A metric used in hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
, to quantify its strength in high cards and distribution.
:3) A metric, such as masterpoints, used in rating players.
;Point-a-board: Another name for board-a-match.
;Point count: A method of hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
which assigns a numeric value to a hand's high cards and distributional features, used as a guideline in bidding.
;Point count trap: A hand whose intrinsic trick-taking potential is less than a conventional point count would indicate.
;Pointed suit: Spades or diamonds. The term refers to the shape at the tops of the suit symbols. Contrast Rounded suit.
;Portland Club: A bridge club in London which published the first version of the Laws of contract bridge. The club remains part of the ongoing process of revising the laws, along with the ACBL and the EBL, because of the vesting of the copyright.
;Position: (Noun) Seat at the table: North, South, East, West; or first, second, third, fourth.
;Positional squeeze: A squeeze that can succeed against only a specific opponent, because at least one threat
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...
must lie over its guard
Guard or guards may refer to:
Professional occupations
* Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault
* Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street
* Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning
* Prison ...
. Compare with Automatic squeeze.
;Positive response: A bid that announces the possession of at least minimum values. Often said of a response to a forcing opening bid. Contrast Negative response.
;Post mortem: (Slang) A discussion of a hand, and the nature of the result, after the play has concluded.
;Powerhouse: An unusually strong hand.
;Prealert: An alert which'' must'' be made at the'' beginning'' of the round'' before play begins'' on the first board. Different national governing organizations may establish different requirements for'' prealerts.'' Examples of methods for which the ACBL requires a'' prealert'' include the following:
* An agreement to lead the small card from "xx" on opening lead
* An agreement (canapé) to bid the shorter of two suits before the longer suit with a two-suited hand
* An agreement to use any bidding convention that entitles the opponents to consult a written defense during the auction
;Precision, or Precision Club: A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
that combines the features of Kaplan–Sheinwold
The Kaplan–Sheinwold (or "K-S") bidding system was developed and popularized by Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold during their partnership, which flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. K-S is one of many natural systems. The system was defini ...
with a strong, artificial 1 opening bid.
; Preempt, preemptive bid, or preemptive raise: 1) A bid (or raise) predicated on length of a suit rather than overall strength, primary function of which is to interfere with the opponents' bidding by taking away bidding space they need to exchange information.
:2) (Noun) A bid that has a preemptive effect, regardless of its intent.
;Preference: A call that returns the bidding to partner's first-bid suit; for example, in 1 - 1; 2 - 2, 2 is a preference. A simple, non-jump preference shows neither strength nor support for the suit; it is simply a return to partner's presumably longer suit.
;Prepared bid: A bid which differs from usual partnership practice that is chosen to avoid a later bidding problem. For example, playing five-card majors and holding a minimal strength opening hand, a strong four-card spade suit may be opened in preference to a weak five-card heart suit. See also prepared opening bid.
;Prepared club: See short club.
;Present count: A carding agreement under which a count signal shows the number of cards currently held. In a count-giving situation, a defender might first play the 3 from 753, and the 7 as his second play. Also, "current count."
; Principle of restricted choice: A guideline to the play of the hand, concerning the probability of the location of key cards in the unseen hands. In particular it states that if a defender plays one of two adjacent missing cards (e.g. QJ) then that defender is less likely also to hold the other missing card.
;Progression: The movement of players and deals between rounds in an event.
; Progressive squeeze: A squeeze in three suits that, when it matures, results in a new squeezed position in two suits.
;Promote: 1) In the play, to cause a card to become a winner.
:2) In the bidding, to assign a higher value to a card, or to the hand as a whole, as a result of earlier calls made by partner or by the opponents.
;Proprieties: A section of the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge that describes, in general terms, proper conduct as to the exchange of information concerning a hand, as to attitude and etiquette, as to partnership agreements, and as to spectators' conduct.
;Protect: See balance
Balance or balancing may refer to:
Common meanings
* Balance (ability) in biomechanics
* Balance (accounting)
* Balance or weighing scale
* Balance as in equality or equilibrium
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...
. (In the UK, protect is the more usual term.)
;Protest: See appeal. (In the UK, appeal is the more usual term.)
; Pseudo squeeze: A position that, to a defender, appears to be a true squeezed position, but is not. Declarer hopes that the defender will misplay as a result. The literature often gives as an example a position in which declarer has a void in dummy's apparent suit of entry.
; Psych, psyche, psychic, or psychic bid: A call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
that grossly misstates high card strength or distribution, made so as to deceive the opponents. The Laws specify that psychic bids themselves are legal. It is, however, a violation to infer and fail to disclose that partner has psyched, when the inference is based on partnership agreement or experience. Sponsoring organizations regulate the use of certain psychic bids.
;Psychic control: A bid that, by partnership agreement, announces that the player's previous bid was a psychic.
;Pull: 1) To remove the opponents' trumps.
:2) To remove partner's double.
;Pump: (slang) To force out an opponent's trump, usually by means of a forcing defense.
;Puppet: An artificial
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity.
Connotations
Artificiality ...
bid that simply requests partner to make a specified cheap reply – commonly the cheapest sufficient bid, or next step.
; Puppet Stayman: A version of Stayman employed after an opening bid of 1NT or 2NT which could include a five-card major.
;Push: 1) (Verb) To force the opponents to make any subsequent call at a level higher than they have as yet.
:2) (Noun) A tied board in a pairs or team duplicate event.
Q
;Quack: A portmanteau of ''qu''een and j''ack''. Used in situations where it does not matter whether the queen or the jack is held or played, as well as to emphasize that it does not matter. See Principle of restricted choice.
;Qualifying: (Adjective) A session or sessions preliminary to the final of an event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
.
;Quantitative: 1) Of a bid: A call based, usually, on high card points
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
, rather than a feature such as fit or shortness. A raise from 1NT to 3NT based on a 4-3-3-3 hand with 10 HCP is a quantitative raise.
:2) Of scoring: The method of scoring used in rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
or in IMP
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
events. The metric used is the number of points earned on each deal, perhaps adjusted by the IMP scale and victory points
In tabletop games and video games, game mechanics are the rules or ludemes that govern and guide the player's actions, as well as the game's response to them. A rule is an instruction on how to play, a ludeme is an element of play like the L-sha ...
. In contrast, comparative scoring is based on the number of pairs that have been out-scored.
;Queen ask, or queen-ask: In Key Card Blackwood, the cheapest bid over the response to 4NT, to ask responder for the trump queen.
; Quick tricks: In card play, top ranking holdings able to win tricks immediately. Similar in concept to honor tricks in the evaluation of hand strength.
;Quitted trick: A trick whose cards have all been turned face down (duplicate bridge) or gathered in front of the trick's winner (rubber bridge). In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, a player may inspect a quitted trick if his side has not yet led to the next trick. In duplicate bridge, a player may inspect a quitted trick only if told to do so by a director.
;Quotient: Points won divided by the sum of points won and points lost, occasionally used to break a tie.
R
;Rainbow: A movement used in individual events.
;Rainbow trick: A trick consisting of all four suits, typically involving low cards.
;Raise: A bid of partner's suit at a higher level. A raise shows a fit for partner's suit. 1?–2? is a single raise; 1?–3? is a double raise.
;Rank:
#The position of an individual card relative to others: Aces have the highest rank, followed by K, Q, J, 10, ... 2.
#The order of denominations in the bidding. Notrump is highest-ranked denomination, followed by spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. A higher-ranked suit may be bid at the same level as a lower-ranked suit; the reverse is not true.
;Rebid:
#The second or a subsequent bid by the same player.
#A bid by the same player in a suit he has already bid.
;Rebiddable suit: A suit with sufficient length and strength, according to partnership agreements, to be rebid in certain defined circumstances.
;Recap: (Abbreviation of "recapitulation") A summary of results in a bridge tournament.
;Recorder: A member of a bridge organization whose responsibility it is to maintain a record of reports of possible violations of the Proprieties.
;Rectify the count: To lose some number of tricks in preparation for a squeeze. Losing the tricks "tightens up" the end position, removing idle
Idle generally refers to idleness, a lack of motion or energy.
Idle or ''idling'', may also refer to:
Technology
* Idle (engine), engine running without load
** Idle speed
* Idle (CPU), CPU non-utilisation or low-priority mode
** Synchronous ...
cards from the defenders' hands before they can be used as safe discards in the squeezed position.
;Red: (Slang) Vulnerable. From the color of the paint on a duplicate board. Also: "Red vs. red" to mean both sides vulnerable, and "red vs. white" to mean vulnerable vs. not. (In British slang, those last two expressions are rarely used. The more usual ones are: "(at) game all", "both red" or "(at) red all"; and "at unfavourable", "at red", "red against green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
" or "red against not".)
;Redeal: In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, the prescribed remedy for a faulty deal. In duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, redeals are not used except in special cases and under a director's supervision.
;Redouble: A call that doubles the penalties and bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
es that apply to a previous double
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
. Used conventionally, a redouble may also convey additional information.
;Re-entry: A card that enables a hand to gain the lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
on a later trick, after that hand has already gained the lead with a different entry card.
;Refuse: (Verb). Of a trick, to duck
Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
.
;Reject: To fail to comply with a bid that has made a request, such as an invitation or a transfer
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
.
;Relay bid
In contract bridge, a relay bid is a conventional bid that usually has little or no descriptive meaning but asks partner to describe some feature of his hand. A relay is often the cheapest bid available but need not be. Stayman and Blackwood ...
, or relay: An artificial bid that requests partner to further describe his hand. The relay is usually the lowest available bid, so as to leave as much room for description as possible.
;Relay system: A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
that consists of many relay bid
In contract bridge, a relay bid is a conventional bid that usually has little or no descriptive meaning but asks partner to describe some feature of his hand. A relay is often the cheapest bid available but need not be. Stayman and Blackwood ...
sequences.
;Relever or re-lever: (Slang) Redouble; by extension from lever
A lever is a simple machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or '' fulcrum''. A lever is a rigid body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the locations of fulcrum, load and effort, the lever is d ...
.
;Remove: To bid on over an undesired contract, especially a doubled contract.
;Renege: Informal term for Revoke
In trick-taking card games, a revoke (or renege, or ) is a violation of the rules regarding the play of tricks serious enough to render the round invalid. A revoke is a violation ranked in seriousness somewhat below overt cheating, and is cons ...
; associated with other games such as whist
Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play.
History
Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...
.
;Reopen: See balance
Balance or balancing may refer to:
Common meanings
* Balance (ability) in biomechanics
* Balance (accounting)
* Balance or weighing scale
* Balance as in equality or equilibrium
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Balance'' (1983 film), a Bulgaria ...
.
;''Repechage'': A form of knockout competition in which winners advance and losers drop into a secondary event from which some number of top performers return to the primary event.
;Rescue: To remove from a contract that partner has bid and which, often, has been doubled.
;Responder: Opening bidder's partner.
;Response: A bid by responder immediately following an opening bid and RHO
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
's call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
.
;Responsive double: A double that follows LHO's opening bid, partner's takeout double and RHO
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
's raise of opener's suit, to show moderate values and no clear opinion as to the best strain.
;Result merchant: (Slang) One who evaluates bids and plays according to their outcome, rather than to their intrinsic merit. Also, "Result player" and "Second guesser".
;Retain the lead: Maintain the right to lead to the next trick by leading and winning the current trick.
;Return: To lead back, usually the suit that partner led.
; Reverse: A bidding sequence in which a single player, on consecutive calls, bids two different suits, and bids the two suits in the reverse order to that expected by the basic bidding system. The specific definition of a reverse therefore depends on the bidding system (see main article). The reverse is designed to show additional strength without the need to make a jump bid. Because the reverse takes up bidding space, the reverse bidder is usually expected to hold a stronger than average hand, usually more than 16 HCP.
; Revoke: Failure to follow suit
A trick-taking game is a card or tile-based game in which play of a '' hand'' centers on a series of finite rounds or units of play, called ''tricks'', which are each evaluated to determine a winner or ''taker'' of that trick. The object of such ...
as required when a player is able to do so.
;Rewind: (Slang) To redouble.
;RHO: Right-hand opponent.
;Rise, as "rise with": To play a high card in the hope of taking a trick: "Rise with the ace." Also, "go up with"
;RKCB: Roman Key Card Blackwood, a slam bidding convention.
;Robert coup
''Right Through the Pack: A Bridge Fantasy'' is a 1947 book about the game of contract bridge by Robert Darvas and Norman de Villiers Hart. It includes 52 deals in which each of the 52 cards of the pack plays a significant role, described by an ...
: A rare end position which combines elements of ruff and discard
In trick-taking games, to ruff means to play a trump (cards), trump card to a trick (other than when trumps were led). According to the rules of most games, a player must have no cards left in the suit led in order to ruff. Since the other players ...
, trump shortening, and endplaying to force an opponent to concede a trump trick
;Roman: Descriptive of bids and carding agreements used or originated in the Roman system:
#Roman 2 and 2: Three-suiters.
# Roman Blackwood, Gerber and Roman Key Card Blackwood (RKCB): Step responses to the ace-asking bid that entail mild ambiguity.
#Roman jump overcall
In contract bridge, an overcall is a bid made after an opening bid has been made by an opponent; the term refers only to the first such bid. A ''direct'' overcall is such a bid made by the player seated immediately to the left of the opener, i.e ...
: Two-suiter.
#Roman asking bid: A request that partner bid his number of controls wholesale
Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...
, via step responses.
#Roman discards: odd-even discards.
#Roman leads: Rusinow leads.
;RONF: Acronym for "Raise (is the) Only Non-Force". A treatment used for responding to preempts, usually weak two bid
The weak two bid is a common used in the game of contract bridge, where an opening bid of two diamonds, hearts or spades signifies a weak hand, typically containing a long suit. It may be deployed within any system structure that offers a forcing ...
s. All bids except the single raise are forcing.
;Rosenblum Cup: The award for winning the world knockout team championship that is held in even numbered years other than leap years. (The Bermuda Bowl is contested in odd numbered years and the World Team Olympiad in leap years.)
;Rotation: The progression of the bidding and play in a clockwise direction around the table.
;Roth–Stone: A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
popular in the U.S. during the 1960s. It features sound opening bids, five-card majors and negative doubles. It is the principal foundation for 2/1 Game Forcing.
;Round:
#In the bidding, a sequence of four consecutive call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
s.
#In duplicate bridge, a set of boards leading to another round (e.g., the semi-final round), or a set of boards that two pairs
Concentration, also known as Memory, Shinkei-suijaku (Japanese meaning "nervous breakdown"), Matching Pairs, Match Match, Match Up, Pelmanism, Pexeso or simply Pairs, is a card game in which all of the cards are laid face down on a surface and tw ...
play against one another.
#Of a control, the round on which the control can stop the opponents from winning a trick. An ace, for example, is a first round control; the king is a second round control.
;Rounded suit: Hearts or clubs. The term refers to the shape at the tops of the suit symbols. Contrast Pointed suit.
; Round-robin tournament, or round-robin: An event format in which each team eventually opposes each other team.
;Rubber: In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, the set of successive deals that ends when one of the pairs wins two games.
;Rubber bonus: A bonus awarded to the pair winning the rubber: 500 points if the losers are vulnerable, 700 if they are not.
; Rubber bridge: The original form of contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
, a contest with four players in two opposing pairs (as distinct from duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, which requires a minimum of eight players).
;Rubens advances: Transfer advances of overcalls. See Useful Space Principle
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded ...
.
;Ruff: To play a trump
Trump most commonly refers to:
* Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021)
* Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank
Trump may also refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* Donald J. T ...
on a trick when a plain suit was led.
;Ruff and discard
In trick-taking games, to ruff means to play a trump (cards), trump card to a trick (other than when trumps were led). According to the rules of most games, a player must have no cards left in the suit led in order to ruff. Since the other players ...
: The lead of a suit in which both opponents are void, so that one opponent can ruff
Ruff may refer to:
Places
*Ruff, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community
*Ruff, Washington, United States, an unincorporated community
Other uses
*Ruff (bird) (''Calidris pugnax'' or ''Philomachus pugnax''), a bird in the wader fami ...
while the other discards (or ''sluffs''). A ruff and discard is usually damaging to the side that leads to the trick. Also, ''ruff and sluff'' or ''ruff and slough''.
;Ruff out: To establish a suit by ruffing one or more of its low cards.
;Rule of Eight:
#Devised by Ely Culbertson
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
. "The total of defensive honor-tricks that will be won at any bid (trump or no-trump) after each deal is about 8 out of the 13 tricks."
#A way to decide whether to overcall an opponent's 1NT opening. Length in long suits, the losing trick count and HCP are combined.
#Devised by David Burn from experience of playing with and of captaining teams of junior players. (1) Subtract the number of aces held by opponents from eight. (2) Don't play at that level.
;Rule of Eighteen: Regulation by the World Bridge Federation stipulating that an opening bid is acceptable if the sum of the number of cards in the two longest suits plus the number of HCP is at least 18.
;Rule of Eleven: A calculation that can be used when it is assumed that opening leader has led the fourth highest card in a suit. By subtracting the pips on the card led from 11, the result is the number of cards in the other three hands that are higher than the one led. Third hand, for example, can then make inferences about declarer's holding in the suit by examining his own and dummy's holdings; likewise, declarer can make inferences about right-hand-opponent's holding in the suit. (The rule can be modified to subtract from 12 if the lead is thought to be third best, and from 10 if the lead is thought to be fifth best.)
;Rule of Fifteen: Guideline for opening light in fourth seat: open if your high card points plus your number of spades is 15 or more. Also known as the Cansino Count.
;Rule of Five: When the bidding has reached the 5-level in a competitive auction, tend to defend rather than bid on. In other words, in competitive auctions, ''5-level contracts belong to the enemy''. See also Law of Total Tricks
In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks (abbreviated here as LoTT) is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law (because counterexamples are easy to find) but a method of hand evalua ...
;Rule of Four: Avoid giving support for partner's 5-card suit if a superior 4-4 fit might be available.
;Rule of Seven: When declarer's only high card in the suit led by the opponents is the ace, count the number of cards in that suit held by declarer and dummy, subtract from seven and duck that many times.
;Rule of Three: On a competitive part score deal, with the points roughly equal between your side and theirs, once the bidding has reached the 3-level, tend to defend rather than bid on (unless your side has 9 trumps). See also Law of Total Tricks
In contract bridge, the Law of total tricks (abbreviated here as LoTT) is a guideline used to help determine how high to bid in a competitive auction. It is not really a law (because counterexamples are easy to find) but a method of hand evalua ...
;Rule of Twenty: A widely used guideline of the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC) bidding system which states that a hand may open bidding "normally" (that is, by bidding one of a suit) if the sum obtained by adding the combined length of its longest two suits to its high card points is twenty or more, but that weaker hands must either open with a preemptive bid or pass
Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to:
Places
* Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland
* Pass, Poland, a village in Poland
* Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see List of straits
* Mountain pass, a lower place in a moun ...
. See also Zar points evaluation method.
;Rule of Two: When missing two non-touching honors, it is normally superior to finesse first for their ''lower'' honor. In the following two example hands, three tricks or the maximum possible are needed. In the first hand, finesse the 10, not the Q. Similarly in the second, lead the 2 and when West follows with the 9, it is best to finesse the 10. When one of the missing honors is the 10 the rule will not apply, as one does not normally finesse for a 10 on the first round.
;Rule of Two and Three: A bidding guide suggested by Ely Culbertson
Elie Almon Culbertson (July 22, 1891 – December 27, 1955), known as Ely Culbertson, was an American contract bridge entrepreneur and personality dominant during the 1930s. He played a major role in the popularization of the new game and was wide ...
, which counsels preemptors to be within two tricks of their contract if vulnerable, and within three if not. Few players now follow the Rule of Two and Three.
;Ruling: A finding and decision by a tournament director or appeals committee.
;Run: To play the winners in a suit.
; Rusinow leads: An agreement to lead the second highest of touching honors.
S
;Sac: (Slang) Sacrifice. Also, "sack."
; Sacrifice:
#(Noun) A contract that was deliberately bid in the expectation of going down, in the hope of a penalty
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
A p ...
smaller than the opponents' expected score from making a contract they had bid.
#(Verb) To bid to such a contract.
;Safety level: A level at which the partnership can normally assume, on the basis of the previous bidding, that its contract will succeed. It is the point below which the partnership prefers to explore even higher contracts. Also, "security level."
; Safety play: A play that maximizes the chances for fulfilling the contract (or for achieving a certain score) by avoiding a play which might result in a higher score. Contrast Percentage play
Percentage play in contract bridge is a play influenced by mathematical factors when more than one reasonable line of play is available. It is a generic name for plays in which declarer maximizes the chances for obtaining a certain number of trick ...
, the best play in a ''suit'', whereas a safety play is the best line for the ''contract''.
;Sandbag: (Slang) To bid weakly or pass with good values, in the hope that the opponents will get overboard.
;Sandwich: An overcall made after an opening bid and response by the opponents. The overcall is "sandwiched" between two hands that have each shown strength.
;Save: (Slang) Sacrifice.
;SAYC: Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'G ...
Yellow Card, a particular bidding system or the completed ACBL convention card that represents it.
;Scientific: A style of bidding that attempts to narrowly limit the strength of a partnership's hands, so as to make its bidding more accurate.
; Scissors coup: A loser-on-loser play meant to break the opponents' communications. Formerly known as 'Coup without a name'.
;Score, or bridge scoring: 1) The numeric result of a deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
, session or event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
.
:2) (Verb) Of a card, to win a trick: "The Q scored."
;Score slip: A paper form used to record the result of each deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
in a duplicate bridge event when electronic scoring devices are not available. Depending upon the event format, the score slip may be either a pick-up slip or a traveller.
;Scramble: 1) To bid to a safer contract.
:2) To score small trumps by ruffing, rather than as long cards. Often used of the play of a contract based on a Moysian fit.
; Screen: A device which divides the table diagonally, visually separating partners from each other. Used in higher-level competition to reduce the possibility of unauthorized information.
;Screenmates: Opponents who sit on the same side of the screen
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
.
;Seat: Position relative to the dealer: for example, dealer's LHO is said to be in ''second seat''.
;Second guesser: See result merchant.
;Second hand: The player to the left of the player who has led to a trick.
;Second hand low: A precept that advises second hand
Used goods mean any item of personal property offered for sale not as new, including metals in any form except coins that are legal tender, but excluding books, magazines, and postage stamps.
Risks
Furniture, in particular bedding or upholstere ...
to play a low card on RHO
Rho (uppercase Ρ, lowercase ρ or ; el, ρο or el, ρω, label=none) is the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 100. It is derived from Phoenician letter res . Its uppercase form uses the sa ...
's lead. See also Third hand high.
;Section: A group of contestants in an event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
.
;Seed: A ranking assigned to a contestant of relatively high rank.
;See-saw squeeze: See Entry-shifting squeeze.
;Semi-balanced hand: A hand with 5-4-2-2 or 6-3-2-2 distribution.
;Semi-forcing bid: A bid which is conditionally forcing: one which requests partner to rebid ''unless'' his hand is minimal or sub-minimal for his previous bidding. Compare invitation.
;Sequence: 1) The auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
, or call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
s made in the auction.
:2) Two or more cards adjacent in rank.
;Session: A period of play during which those entered in an event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
play designated boards against designated opponents.
;Set: 1) To defeat a contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
.
:2) The number of tricks by which a contract is defeated ("a two-trick set").
;Set game: In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, an agreement that partners will not change at the end of each rubber.
;Set up: Establish.
;SF: Semi-forcing.
;Shaded: (Of a call) A call that is not quite warranted by the strength of the hand making it.
;Shape: The distribution of suits in a hand.
;Shift: 1) (Verb) To lead a suit other than the one already played.
:2) (Noun) In the bidding, a change of suit, usually said of a jump bid (see jump shift).
; Shoot: To try for an unusually good result by adopting an abnormal line of play, typically at matchpoint scoring. Declarer hopes that the cards are distributed in such a way that a superior line of play will fail.
;Short club: The natural opening bid of 1 when the suit contains three cards or less. Usually employed by players using the five-card majors
Five-card majors is a contract bridge bidding treatment common to many modern bidding systems. Its basic tenet is that an opening bid of one-of-a-major in first and second position guarantees at least five cards in that major. This method has beco ...
treatment for opening bids when holding a hand with opening values but lacking a five-card major. When the hand contains two clubs and three diamonds, an opening diamond bid is preferred. Also, "short diamond." These bids may also be called "prepared minors" - "prepared club" and "prepared diamond", or " better minor" bids. The EBU "Orange Book" recommends the term "prepared club" for bids that show a minimum of three cards, and "short club" where it may only be two cards or less.
;Short suit: 1) In a 13-card hand, a singleton or void suit.
: 2) In a hand, that suit with the fewest cards.
;Short suit game try: By agreement, a bid of a ''short'' side suit after a single raise, hoping to reach game. For example, after 1 - 2, opener might rebid 3 with a singleton or void in clubs. The bid tells partner where high cards will be least useful, indicating duplication of values. It requests partner to take positive action with high-card strength outside that suit. Otherwise, the bid requests partner to sign off (in this example, by bidding 3). See help-suit game try and game try.
;Short-suit points: In hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
, points counted for singleton
Singleton may refer to:
Sciences, technology Mathematics
* Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element
* Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing
* Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...
s and void
Void may refer to:
Science, engineering, and technology
* Void (astronomy), the spaces between galaxy filaments that contain no galaxies
* Void (composites), a pore that remains unoccupied in a composite material
* Void, synonym for vacuum, a ...
s.
;Show out: Fail to follow suit.
;Shuffle: To mix the cards. Shuffling seldom results in random distributions: in the long run, the cards so mixed rarely match the mathematical expectancies.
;Side: Partnership
A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...
.
;Side game: A secondary event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
played simultaneously with the main event.
;Side suit: A suit that is not trump; plain suit. A side suit may nevertheless have significant length: see Two-suiter.
; Signals: The conventional meanings assigned to plays made by the defenders
Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to:
*Defense (military)
*Defense (sports)
**Defender (association football)
Arts and entertainment Film and television
* ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary
* ''The Defender'' (1994 f ...
in order to exchange information. Also, carding.
;Signoff bid: 1) A bid that requests that partner pass.
:2) A call that denies extra values, one that normally results in a pass by partner. Compare non-forcing bid, forcing bid
In the card game contract bridge, a forcing bid is any that obliges the partner to bid over an intermediate opposing pass. Owing to the partnership's bidding system or a bridge convention, partner must "keep the bidding open", i.e. not pass, there ...
.
;Sign off: To make a signoff bid.
;Silent bidder: A sheet, typically of card or plastic, placed in the center of the table during the bidding period, and marked with numeral, suit and other symbols such that a player can indicate a call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
by tapping on them with a finger, writing implement, or the like. Largely superseded by bidding boxes.
;Simple squeeze: A squeeze against one opponent, in two suits, with the count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
(definition 3).
;Single dummy: The normal manner of play, with certain knowledge only of one's own cards and dummy's, and without verbal communication between partners. Contrast Double dummy.
;Singleton: A holding of exactly one card in a suit.
;Sit-out: A round in a movement during which a pair is idle. That pair is said to "sit out" that round.
;Skip: An irregular feature of a Mitchell movement: typically a move by the East–West pairs of 2 tables up instead of the usual 1, to avoid them playing the same boards twice.
;Skip bid warning, or skip-bid warning: A warning to LHO that one is about to make a jump bid that could cause a revealing hesitation or huddle
In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation ...
; used only when bidding screen
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
s are not in place. The warning is made in one of two ways:
: 1) When bidding boxes are in use, the red Stop card is placed on the table followed by a bid card; LHO is expected to wait 10 seconds before taking action;
: 2) When bidding boxes are not in use, the jump bidder announces "I am about to make a skip bid, please wait." and then bids. LHO waits 10 seconds.
;Slam: 1) small slam (or simply, slam): a contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
to win at least twelve trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s.
:2) grand slam: a contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
to win all thirteen trick
Trick(s) may refer to:
People
* Trick McSorley (1852–1936), American professional baseball player
* Armon Trick (born 1978), retired German international rugby union player
* David Trick (born 1955), former Ontario civil servant and univers ...
s.
:Bidding and making a slam or grand slam scores significant bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
points.
;Slam try: A bid that invites partner to bid a slam.
;Slot: (Slang) The location of a card that is onside. "In the slot" means "Finessable."
;Slough: Discard. Pronounced and sometimes spelled "sluff".
;Slow: Cards that require establishment
Establishment may refer to:
* The Establishment, a dominant group or elite that controls a polity or an organization
* The Establishment (club), a 1960s club in London, England
* The Establishment (Pakistan), political terminology for the military ...
before they can be cashed.
;Slow arrival: A style of bidding that uses a jump to a contract (to which the previous bidding has already forced the partnership) to show a specific holding. Contrast Fast arrival.
;Slow rubber: A rubber completed in three games. See fast rubber.
;Sluff: See discard. Neo-orthography for ''slough'', as used in ''ruff and sluff''.
;Smack: (Slang) Same meaning as crack.
;Small slam: A contract for six odd tricks.
; Smith signal: The Smith signal (also known as Smith echo or Smith peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
) is an attitude carding signal in contract bridge showing additional values (or lack thereof) in the first suit led by the defence, while the signal itself is given in the first suit played by declarer.
;Smolen: After opener has denied a four-card major in a Stayman sequence, responder's jump to 3M to show four cards in the bid major and five cards in the other major.
; Smother play: An endplay that captures an opponent's guarded trump by means of an overruff, when that card cannot be finessed in the normal fashion.
;Soft values: Lower honors, as distinct from aces and kings.
;Solid: A suit strong enough to run without interruption, or (in the bidding) that requires no fit with partner.
;Sort: To arrange one's cards by suit, and by rank within suit.
;SOS redouble: A conventional redouble that asks partner for rescue
Rescue comprises responsive operations that usually involve the saving of life, or the urgent treatment of injuries after an accident or a dangerous situation.
Tools used might include search and rescue dogs, mounted search and rescue ...
from a doubled contract. Its name comes from the Morse code distress signal SOS.
;Sound: A hand that is relatively strong for a call that is contemplated or that has been made.
;South African Texas: A variant of Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
in which 4 and 4 are used as transfers to 4 and 4 respectively.
;Splinter: A singleton or void in a suit other than the trump suit. A hand with both good support for partner's trumps and a splinter can be very powerful offensively—offering control of the splinter suit (by ruffing the first or second trick) and extra trump winners (by ruffing subsequent rounds). When declarer holds either no top honors or the ace and low cards opposite a splinter in the dummy, the combined hands may win several more tricks than the partnership might have expected without awareness of the powerful fit.
;Splinter bid
In the card game "contract bridge", a splinter bid is a convention whereby a double jump response in a side-suit indicates excellent support (at least four cards), a singleton or void in that side-suit (but preferably not the ace or king), and at ...
: An unusual jump bid that by agreement shows a fit for partner's last-bid suit and a singleton or void in the bid suit. For example, a partnership could treat 4 in response to an opening bid of 1 as a splinter bid, showing a good hand with spade support and a singleton or void club. Compare with Fragment bid.
;Split: 1) (Noun) The distribution in the opponents' hands of the cards in a suit.
:2) (Verb) To play one of two touching honors when the lead comes through them.
;Split menace: A menace in squeeze play which depends on values in both declarer's hand and dummy.
;Split tenace: A position where the high cards of a tenace are in opposite hands, e.g. Ax opposite Qx; usually relevant only when a lead by an opponent with the missing honor card (here, the K) would be damaging to his side.
;: 1) The organization that puts on a tournament, such as the WBF, the ACBL or the EBU, a regional association, or a club.
:2) One who hires partners or teammates to compete in an event
Event may refer to:
Gatherings of people
* Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion
* Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest
* Event management, the organization of e ...
.
;Spot card: A card that ranks below the 10.
;Spread: (Slang) Laydown Laydown delivery is a mode of delivery found in some nuclear gravity bombs: the bomb's descent to the target is slowed by parachute so that it lands on the ground without detonating. The bomb then detonates by timer some time later. Laydown deliver ...
.
;SPS: A Suit Preference Signal, a card played by a defender to show interest in or an entry in a side suit.
; Squeeze: A playing technique that forces the defender to discard a vital card, usually an apparent stopper.
;Squeeze card: A card whose lead forces one or both defenders to discard their guard in a suit.
;Stack: A distribution of cards in defenders' hands that might make the play difficult for declarer. The defenders' trumps, for example, could be said to be ''stacked'' if they divide 5-0.
;Standard American
Standard American is a bidding system for the game of bridge widely used in North America and elsewhere. Owing to the popularization of the game by Charles Goren in the 1940s and 1950s, its early versions were sometimes referred to simply as 'G ...
or Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC): A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
thought to conform to agreements that an unfamiliar partnership in America would use.
;Stationary: Not called to change seats during the movement being used.
; Stayman convention: A conventional bid of 2 that calls for a 1NT opening bidder to bid a four-card major, if one is held, and (usually) 2 otherwise. Many continuations have been devised.
;Steal: To gain an advantage, usually through deception. The theft may be material (e.g., a trick or a contract) or non-material (e.g., a tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
). Despite the term ''steal'', deception is entirely legal if it does not involve unauthorized information or concealment of information to which the opponents are entitled.
;Step: In the bidding, the space between one bid and the next highest. See Useful Space Principle
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded ...
.
;Step bid: A bid that conveys information on the basis of the number of steps it uses.
; Stolen bid: A bid that has no correlation to the bidder's hand, aiming to disturb conventions.
; Stepping-stone squeeze: A squeeze that forces a defender either to be thrown in to act as a stepping-stone to a stranded dummy, or to allow declarer to establish a suit.
;Sticks and wheels: (Slang, chiefly British) An 1100-point penalty. Compare "go for a number".
;Stiff: (Slang, adjective and noun) A singleton.
;Stop: An instruction given to opponents when you make a jump bid, or skip bid. LHO is expected to wait around 10 seconds before calling, so as to avoid communicating information to partner as to how easy his call is to make. See skip-bid warning.
;Stopper: A high card (normally, an honor
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
) whose primary function is to prevent the opponents from running a suit in a notrump contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
. See also Control
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controllin ...
.
;Strain: See denomination.
;Strip: 1) To remove safe cards of exit from an opponent's hand.
:2) To prepare for a ruff-and-sluff by removing all cards of a suit (or suits) in a partnership's hands.
;Strip squeeze: A squeeze without the count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
in which one threat is against a safe exit card.
;Striped-tail ape double: A double of a laydown contract made in hope of dissuading the opponents from successfully bidding to a higher, more rewarding contract. The doubler must be prepared to run (like the cowardly ape) to an escape suit if the opponents redouble.
; Strong club system: A set of conventions that uses an opening bid of 1 as an artificial, forcing opening that promises a strong hand.
;Strong notrump: An opening notrump that shows a balanced hand and 15-17 or 16-18 HCP. Contrast Weak notrump. A partnership's choice between the use of a strong notrump or a weak notrump has extensive implications for its entire bidding system.
;Strong pass system: A bidding system that mandates a pass by first (or second) hand to show what other systems would regard as an opening bid. A corollary is that if the next hand also passes, third (or fourth) hand must bid to keep the deal from being passed out.
;Strong two bid, strong two-bid, or Strong Two: An agreement to use an opening bid of two of a suit so as to indicate a strong hand and a strong holding in the bid suit.
;Stub: (Slang) Part-score.
;Sucker double: (Slang) An ill-advised penalty double, such as one based on HCP when the bidding warns of freak
A freak is a person who is physically deformed or transformed due to an extraordinary medical condition or body modification. This definition was first attested with this meaning in the 1880s as a shorter form of the phrase " freak of nature ...
distributions.
; Suit: A ranked division of the deck of cards into (in descending rank order) spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The suit ranking has a profound effect on the bidding and scoring, but none at all on the play. See also Denomination, Major suit In the card game contract bridge, the major suits are spades () and hearts (). The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and scoring as they outrank the minor suits while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major ...
, and Minor suit In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). They are given that name because contracts made in those suits score less (20 per contracted trick) than contracts made in the major suits (30 per contracted trick), and they rank lo ...
).
;Suit preference signal: A defensive carding method that signals a preference, or the lack thereof, for a suit other than the suit used for the signal.
;Superaccept: A strongly encouraging response to a transfer
Transfer may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Transfer'' (2010 film), a German science-fiction movie directed by Damir Lukacevic and starring Zana Marjanović
* ''Transfer'' (1966 film), a short film
* ''Transfer'' (journal), in management studies
...
, such as a jump completion (e.g., 1NT - 2; 3). Many partnerships use a conventional superacceptance such as 1NT - 2; 2, one step above responder's major, to save room for game or slam exploration, and in conformance with the Useful Space Principle
The Useful Space Principle, or ''USP'', in the game of contract bridge was first articulated in a series of six articles in '' The Bridge World'', published from November 1980 through April 1981. (The International Bridge Press Association awarded ...
.
;Support: A fit with partner's suit.
; Support double: A double of an overcall that shows a fit for partner's suit, usually distinguished from a direct raise by the length of the suit in responder's hand.
;Sure trick: A trick that in the absence of some irregularity a player must win, such as the ace of trumps. Extended by George Coffin to refer to guaranteed lines of play.
;Surrogate signals: A count or preference signal made in a different suit, usually the suit which declarer is running, to inform partner in beforehand about a critical decision he will have to make later during the play of the hand.
;Swindle: A deceptive bid or play.
;SWINE: A proxi-acronym for Sebesfi Woods 1NT Escape.
;Swing: A difference in scores between two table
Table may refer to:
* Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs
* Table (landform), a flat area of land
* Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns
* Table (database), how the table data ...
s on a board in a team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
match.
;Swinging: An aggressive playing style, usually adopted by a pair or team who is behind with some chance to catch the leaders "with a little luck."'' Swinging'' players will make plays slightly against the odds that will offer large gains if they succeed. For example, a swinging pair might bid a 60% grand slam on a hand where a small slam should be the normal contract. They might also make close doubles of normal contracts that might go down.
;Swish: (Slang) Three consecutive passes, ending the auction. "3 - swish" means 3 passed out.
;Swiss, or Swiss Teams: A Swiss-system tournament
A Swiss-system tournament is a non-eliminating tournament format that features a fixed number of rounds of competition, but considerably fewer than for a round-robin tournament; thus each competitor (team or individual) does not play all the other ...
for teams-of-four. Every team plays a series of match
A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...
es with a series of opponents whose records or standings are as similar as possible when they face each other, without scheduling repeat matches. Typically these are relatively numerous, relatively short matches. For example, of 54 to 56 boards in one day's play: 6, 7, 8, or 9 matches of 9, 8, 7, or 6 boards respectively.
;Switch: To lead a different suit.
;System: see bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
.
T
;Table: 1) (Noun) A grouping of four players at a bridge tournament.
:2) (Verb) To put down one's cards face up.
:3) See dummy (2).
;Table card: A large printed card placed on a table in a bridge tournament. The card contains instructions for the players, including players' designations and board numbers. Also, "Guide card."
;Table presence: Awareness of opponents' behavior and mannerisms, leading to inferences regarding their holdings and problems on a deal. It is improper to take action on inferences made on the basis of ''partner's'' behavior. Also, "Table feel."
;Table talk: 1) Improper communication between partners, effected by words, gestures, or facial expressions.
:2) Extraneous discussion during the play, discouraged as a distraction or possible source of unauthorized information.
; Takeout double: A conventional call used in a competitive auction to indicate support for the unbid suits in a hand of opening strength, and to request that partner bid. The classic, ideal pattern is 4-4-4-1, with the shortness in the suit doubled. There are many informatory doubles that anticipate a bid from partner, but "takeout double" typically refers to the double immediately over opening bidder.
;Tank: (Slang) Huddle
In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation ...
.
;Tap: (Verb and noun) Slang. To adopt a line of defense that is intended to force declarer to ruff in the long hand
Cursive (also known as script, among other names) is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionalit ...
. Also, the line of defense itself: "To get the tap going." See Forcing defense.
; Team: 1) (Adjective) (also Teams or Teams-of-four) A form of duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
played by eight people at two tables. The North–South pair at one table and East–West pair at the other table are teammates. Every deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
is played at both tables ("duplicate") and scored by comparing the two raw scores — usually on the IMP
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
or board-a-match scale. Matches are commonly played in sets of 6 to 20 deals, with scoring required and player substitutions permitted between sets.
: 2) (Noun) A group of four or more players who compete together in a teams event. For each deal, four team members are active at two tables. Player substitution occurs between matches or, in many longer matches, between sets of 6 to 20 deals. Most teams events permit four to six players on a team.
;Teammate: A member of the same team. Commonly said of any teammate other than one's partner.
; Teams: (Adjective) See team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
(1)
; Tempo: 1) Having the timing advantage in the play of the cards by possessing the lead and thereby being able to initiate (or continue) one's line of play before the declarer/opponents can establish his/theirs.
:2) The speed at which a player executes a call or play. Some players attempt to intimidate less experienced opponents by playing their cards very quickly. A ''break'' in tempo often indicates that a player has an unexpected problem in bidding or play.
;Temporizing bid: Waiting bid.
;Tenace: A broken sequence of (often) honor cards, such as A Q or K J. Declarer may lead toward his or dummy's tenace, preparing to finesse for a missing card. A defender may lead through declarer's or dummy's tenace to help his partner score cards behind the tenace.
;Texas transfer Texas transfer, or simply Texas, is a bidding convention in contract bridge designed to get the partnership to game in a major suit opposite a one notrump or two notrump opening, thus making the opener declarer and keeping the stronger hand hidden f ...
, or Texas: A convention whereby a bid of 4 or 4 in response to a notrump bid requests partner to transfer to 4 or 4 respectively.
;Their hand: (Slang) A hand on which the opponents have the preponderance of strength.
;Thin: (Slang) 1) A bid or contract based on less strength than normally recommended.
:2) (Of a hand) Lacking body
Body may refer to:
In science
* Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space
* Body (biology), the physical material of an organism
* Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of anima ...
.
;Third-and-fifth: An opening lead convention that calls for the lead of the third-best card in a suit of up to four card length, and the fifth-best in a longer suit.
;Third from even, low from odd: An opening lead convention that calls for the lead of the third-best card from a suit with an even number of cards, and the lowest card from a suit with an odd number of cards.
;Third hand: The player who makes the third call
Call or Calls may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Games
* Call, a type of betting in poker
* Call, in the game of contract bridge, a bid, pass, double, or redouble in the bidding stage
Music and dance
* Call (band), from Lahore, Paki ...
, or who is the third to play to a trick.
;Third hand high: A precept that advises the #T, third hand to play a high card on partner's lead. See also #secondhandlow, Second hand low.
;Third Way: A term for a bidding system combining #5majors, 5-card majors and a #weakno, weak no-trump, such as the Kaplan–Sheinwold
The Kaplan–Sheinwold (or "K-S") bidding system was developed and popularized by Edgar Kaplan and Alfred Sheinwold during their partnership, which flourished during the 1950s and 1960s. K-S is one of many natural systems. The system was defini ...
system.
;Threat: In squeeze play, a #menace, menace.
;Three suiter: A hand with length in three suits, thus shortness in the fourth. Distributions such as 4-4-4-1, 5-4-4-0 and 5-4-3-1 are often termed "three-suiters."
;Throw: To discard.
;Throw-in: See #endplay, Endplay.
;Tight: (Slang) An honor card or honor sequence unaccompanied by low cards: "He had the KQ tight."
;Timing: A player's agenda for tasks in the play of the hand: for example, ruff losers and then draw trumps; or, draw trumps and then run the side suit.
;Top: Playing matchpoints, the highest score achieved on a board.
;Top of nothing: The lead of a high spot
Spot or SPOT may refer to:
Places
* Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States
* The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia
* South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse
People
* Spot (prod ...
card from a suit that contains no honor
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
card.
;Top trick: A card that can take a trick on a given hand. See #W, Winner.
;Total tricks: The sum of the number of tricks that each partnership can take, with its longest combined suit as trump. See #L, Law of Total tricks.
;Touching: Adjacent. Both cards and suits may be touching. In the holding KQ5, the king and queen are touching. In deciding whether to respond #upontheline, Up the line, a player notes that hearts and spades are touching suits.
;Tournament: An organized duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
competition.
;Trance: (Slang) Huddle
In sport, a huddle is the action of a team gathering together, usually in a tight circle, to strategize, motivate or celebrate. It is a popular strategy for keeping opponents insulated from sensitive information, and acts as a form of insulation ...
.
;Transfer:A bid that conventionally shows length in a suit other than the one bid, or requests partner to make a bid in a particular suit, or both. The suit in question is usually the suit immediately above the one bid. Examples: Jacoby transfer
The Jacoby transfer, or simply transfers, in the card game contract bridge, is a convention in most bridge bidding systems initiated by responder following partner's notrump opening bid that forces opener to rebid in the just above that bid by r ...
s (often just called "transfers") and Texas transfer Texas transfer, or simply Texas, is a bidding convention in contract bridge designed to get the partnership to game in a major suit opposite a one notrump or two notrump opening, thus making the opener declarer and keeping the stronger hand hidden f ...
s ("Texas"). Also, see #controltransfer, transfer a control.
;Transferable values: Cards, such as aces and kings, that are valuable either in declarer's hands or in defenders'.
;Transfer a control: In squeeze play, to shift the responsibility of controlling, or ''guarding'', a menace from one opponent to the other. This is usually accomplished by playing through one opponent in a way that forces him to cover the lead, leaving the other opponent with the remaining control. The purpose is to arrange that one opponent has to guard more menaces than he can successfully manage.
;Transnational: 1) A pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
or team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
whose members differ in "nationality". Typically they are members of different national bridge federations, thus registered players.
: 2) An event (tournament) that permits transnational pairs or teams to enter. A transnational event is ''open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
'' in sense (c).
;Trap pass: See #sandbag, Sandbag.
;Traveller: A type of score slip on which the result of a deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
is recorded for the purpose of comparative scoring. Used in certain event formats, it is folded, placed into the Board (bridge), board and 'travels' with it to the next table. May also be referred to as a travelling slip or travelling score sheet.[ Contrast #pickupslip, Pick-up slip.
;Tray: See #board, Board.
;Treatment: A ]natural
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...
bid that: (1) either shows a willingness to play in the denomination named, or promises or requests values in that denomination, and (2) by partnership agreement Agreement may refer to:
Agreements between people and organizations
* Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law
* Trade agreement, between countries
* Consensus, a decision-making process
* Contract, enforceable in a court of law
** Meeting o ...
gives or requests additional information on which action could be based. If the treatment is an unusual one, it requires announcement to the opponents even though it is natural. For example, a partnership that plays Flannery usually agrees that a 1 response to a 1 opening bid shows five spades. So the 1 response to 1, while natural, is a treatment because by agreement it shows at least a five card suit. Compare with #convention, Convention, in the auction a call that gives or requests information not necessarily related to the denomination named.
;Trebleton: A #tripleton, tripleton.
;Trial bid: See game try.
;Trial: A (usually, high-level) tournament whose winners proceed to a subsequent event of even greater import.
;Trick-taking game, Trick: A set of four cards played by each player in turn, during the play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
of a hand.
;Trick score: The score earned by contracting for and taking tricks. Trick scores count toward making a game.
;Triple squeeze: A squeeze that is so-named because it consists of three #simplesqueeze, simple squeezes against the same opponent. A Progressive squeeze is regarded as a triple squeeze (because it is initiated by one), but not all triple squeezes are progressive.
;Tripleton: A holding of three cards in a suit.
;Trump: 1) (Noun) A card in the trump suit
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
whose trick-taking power is greater than any plain suit card.
:2) (Verb) To play a trump after a plain suit has been led; see #ruff, Ruff.
;Trump control: The ability, from a combination of the holding in trumps with play technique, to prevent the opponents from taking too many tricks in a plain suit.
;Trump echo: An #echo, echo in the trump suit
A trump is a playing card which is elevated above its usual rank in trick-taking games. Typically, an entire suit is nominated as a ''trump suit''; these cards then outrank all cards of plain (non-trump) suits. In other contexts, the terms ''tru ...
, long used to alert partner to the possibility of a defensive ruff, and in the early 21st century to give partner the count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
.
;Trump promotion: The advancement of a trump to the status of a #winner, winner by creating a position in which an opponent must suffer an #uppercut, uppercut, or an immediate adverse #overruff, overruff, or choose to ruff with a higher trump that makes a later winner of an opponent's trump by force of cards.
;Trump squeeze: A squeeze that forces an opponent to weaken his holding in one of the threat
A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for co ...
suits enough that the suit can later be #ruff, ruffed out.
;Trump suit, or simply "trumps": By way of the auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
, declarer and declarer's partner select the trump suit on the basis of their combined length and strength in the suit: the greater length to ruff more losers in the #plainsuit, plain suits, and the greater strength to better control the play of the trump suit itself. Information about trump suits generally in other card games can be found Suit (cards)#Trumps, here.
;Two club system, or Two clubs system: A bidding system
A bidding system in contract bridge is the set of Glossary of contract bridge terms#agreement, agreements and understandings assigned to Glossary of contract bridge terms#call, calls and sequences of calls used by a Glossary of contract bridge te ...
that uses an opening bid of 2 as an artificial #game, game force.
;Two over one, Two-over-one, or 2-over-1 (2/1):
:#a bidding sequence in which after a one-level opening bid, there is a non-jump response at the two-level.
:#a bidding system based upon the concept that after a one-level opening bid, a non-jump response by an unpassed hand at the two-level is forcing to game.
:Contrast #oneoverone, One over one.
;Two suiter, Two-suiter: A hand containing two long suits, usually each containing 4 or more cards, with at least 10 cards between the two suits.
;Two-way checkback: An inquiry made after opener rebids 1NT. 2 is a puppet to 2 (forces a response of 2 by the 1NT rebidder) which says nothing about responder's strain. It is just a forcing bid to show an invitational hand. On the other hand, a rebid of 2 after a 1NT rebid is an artificial game force.
;Drury convention, Two-way Drury: An inquiry about the third (or sometimes fourth) position opener's strength in a major suit. 2 shows 3-card support, while an inquiry made with 2 shows four cards in opener's suit.
;Two-way finesse: A finesse
In contract bridge and similar games, a finesse is a type of card play technique which will enable a player to win an additional trick or tricks should there be a favorable position of one or more cards in the hands of the opponents.
The player a ...
that could be taken through either opponent.
;Two-way Stayman: Over an opening bid of 1NT, the use of 2 as non-forcing Stayman convention, Stayman and 2 as a #gameforce, game-forcing major suit inquiry.
U
;UI: #unauth, Unauthorized information.
;Unauthorized information: Information obtained from partner that one is not permitted to act on: for example, the manner in which partner plays a particular card, or the tone of voice when making a bid.
;Unbalanced distribution: 1) Broadly, any distribution of a hand or suit other than 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2.
: 2) ''Unbalanced'' is commonly used in a narrow sense that excludes semi-balanced, 5-4-2-2 and 6-3-2-2. Narrowly, ''unbalanced distribution'' implies a void, singleton, or 7-card suit.
;Unbalanced hand: A 13-card hand with unbalanced distribution in the broad or narrow sense just above.
;Unbid suit: A suit that has neither been bid nor indirectly shown.
;Unblock: To play a card whose rank interferes with the use of cards in the opposite hand. Opposite dummy's KQJ, declarer's singleton ace #blocked, blocks the suit, and so is played to unblock. There are other situations that require unblocking, such as the #V, Vienna coup.
;Under: See #infrontof, In front of.
;Underbid: 1) (Verb) To bid less aggressively, or to a lower contract, than most would with the same cards.
: 2) (Noun) A bid that most would regard as weaker than warranted by the strength of the hand.
;Underlead: To lead a low card when holding the top card or cards in a suit. The underlead is standard in defense of notrump contracts (so as to preserve communications
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
between defenders' hands), but unusual against suit contracts.
;Underruff: To play a trump lower than one already played on the lead of a plain suit. Usually this is undesirable but is sometimes necessary to adjust the number of trumps held while preparing a trump coup, or while preparing to defend certain squeezed positions.
;Undertrick: A trick that declarer
Card players are those participating in a card game. Various names are given to card players based on their role or position.
Position
Games of Anglo-American origin
In games of Anglo-American origin played in English-speaking countries, ...
does not win, causing the contract to go down. Multiple undertricks occur: for example, two undertricks could result in 4 down two.
;Unfinished rubber: A rubber that the players agree not to finish. In rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
scoring, a 300-point bonus is given to a vulnerable side, and a 100-point bonus to a side with a part score - note this differs from the 50 points for a part score in duplicate bridge.
;Unguard: To discard lower cards that help prevent a higher card from being captured by an opponent.
;Unlimited bid: See #wideranging, wide-ranging bid.
;UPH: Unpassed hand.
;Unplayable: 1) (Of a contract) Unable to be played so as to bring about a favorable outcome.
:2) (Of an agreement) Inevitably bringing about undesirable bidding sequences or contracts.
;Unusual notrump, Unusual notrump: An artificial jump overcall in notrump that shows a Two-suiter, usually bid to suggest a sacrifice. As originally played, 1M - (2NT) showed a hand weak in high cards with, probably, 5-5 in the minor suits.
;Unusual over unusual (OUO), or Unusual vs. unusual, Unusual vs. unusual: A conventional method of conveying information after the opponents have deployed the #unusualno, unusual notrump convention or a #michaels, Michaels Cue Bid, also called Unusual vs. unusual, Unusual vs. Unusual.
;UOU: Acronym or initialism for #unusualoverunusual, Unusual over unusual
;Up the line: To bid the lower of two adjacent suits before the higher. For example, of two four card majors, the heart suit is normally bid before the spade suit in response to an opening bid of 1 or 1.
;Uppercut: To ruff in the expectation of being #overruff, overruffed, when the overruff will cause a trump in partner's hand to become a #W, winner.
;Upside-down signals: An agreement that when following suit to partner's lead, a low card encourages a continuation and a high card discourages. This is "upside-down", or the reverse of traditional practice.
;USBC: United States Bridge Championships, competitions #sponsor, sponsored by the USBF
The United States Bridge Federation (USBF) is the national federation for contract bridge in the United States and a non-profit organization formed by the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) and the American Bridge Association (ABA) in 2001 to h ...
in which entries compete to represent the United States in world tournaments. The USBC are #teams, teams-of-four tournaments that determine "USA" open, women, and senior teams. Sometimes the USBC winner and runner-up both qualify, as teams "USA1" and "USA2".
;USBF: United States Bridge Federation, the association charged with national representation of the United States in international competition. Contrast ACBL.
;Useful space principle, Useful space principle: A guide to developing bidding conventions and treatments that directs developers' attention to the allocation of bidding space.
V
;VCB: Variable Cue Bidding. Agreements used in the Ultimate Club to request and show controls.
;Vanderbilt Club: A bidding system devised by Harold S. Vanderbilt and published by him in 1929, the first strong club system.
;Variable notrump: The use of a weak notrump when not vulnerable and a #strongno, strong notrump when vulnerable.
;Victory points (VP): A conversion scale used in team
A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...
contests and based on total IMP
IMP or imp may refer to:
* Imp, a fantasy creature
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power''
* Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony''
* Imp, a character in the '' Cl ...
differences, so as to reduce the effect of very large #S, swings.
; Vienna coup: The unblock of a winner opposite a threat prior to reaching a position that effects a squeeze.
; Vienna System:A bidding system devised by Austrian player Paul Stern in the 1930s, in which an opening bid of 1NT is artificial and shows a strong hand.
;View: An assumption about how the cards lie on a particular deal: "Sorry, partner, I took a view."
;Void: No cards in a given suit.
;Voidwood: See #exclusion, Exclusion Blackwood.
;Vugraph, or viewgraph: A method of visually displaying tournament bridge deals to spectators, by optical or electronic means.
;Vulnerability: The scoring condition of each pair
Pair or PAIR or Pairing may refer to:
Government and politics
* Pair (parliamentary convention), matching of members unable to attend, so as not to change the voting margin
* ''Pair'', a member of the Prussian House of Lords
* ''Pair'', the Frenc ...
in advance of a deal. In duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
and Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, vulnerability is pre-determined for each board or deal; in rubber bridge
Rubber bridge is a form of contract bridge played by two competing pairs using a particular method of scoring. A rubber is completed when one pair becomes first to win two ''games'', each ''game'' presenting a score of 100 or more contract points; ...
, it is determined by the number of games completed in the rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, an ...
. Vulnerability affects both the size of bonus
Bonus commonly means:
* Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy
* Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive
Bonus may also refer to:
Plac ...
es for making contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...
s and penalties for failing to make them.
;Vulnerable: 1) (Duplicate bridge) A designation, shown on each board, that indicates whether larger bonuses and penalties apply to one, both or neither pair on that deal
A deal, or deals may refer to:
Places United States
* Deal, New Jersey, a borough
* Deal, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* Deal Lake, New Jersey
Elsewhere
* Deal Island (Tasmania), Australia
* Deal, Kent, a town in England
* Deal, ...
.
:2) (#rubberbridge, Rubber bridge) Having won one game.
W
;Waiting bid: A bid that enables the bidder to obtain more information before making a commitment. For example, some players use 2 over a 2 forcing opening bid as a waiting bid rather than as a negative response.
;Waive: To condone an irregularity. In duplicate bridge
Duplicate bridge is a variation of contract bridge where the same set of bridge deals (i.e. the distribution of the 52 cards among the four hands) are played by different competitors, and scoring is based on relative performance. In this way, eve ...
, a waiver is an improper action.
;Wash: (Slang) #push, Push.
;Wasted values: #dupvals, Duplicated values.
;WBF: World Bridge Federation.
;Weak jump overcall: A #J, jump overcall used to preempt the bidding.
;Weak jump shift: A jump shift used to preempt the bidding.
;Weak notrump: A 1NT opening bid on a balanced hand with, usually, 12-14 HCP. The bid has mild preemptive value; contrast #strongno, Strong notrump. To show a strong notrump, the weak notrump user opens with a suit and rebids in notrump.
;Weak suit game try: Following a major suit raise to the two level, the weak suit game try names a suit with at least three cards and at least two losers where partner's short suit is likely to be useful, as will a strong suit. Three small cards is ideal.
: 2) Alternative term for a help suit game try. In some usage the " help suit game try" is barely distinguishable from the long, in some barely distinguishable from the weak.
;Weak two bid, Weak two bid, weak two-bid, or Weak Two: An opening bid of two of a suit to indicate a relatively weak hand with a long suit.
;Whist, Whist: A trick-taking card game and predecessor to contract bridge.
;Wholesale: A count or total that obscures cards' identities. A bid of 5 in response to Blackwood shows two aces wholesale, without announcing which aces they are.
;Wide open: (Said of a suit) Without a stopper.
;Wide-ranging bid: A bid made within a wide range of strengths and shapes, the opposite of a #limit, limit bid. An example from Acol is an opening bid of one of a suit which may be made with anything from 10 HCP (plus some shape) to 22 HCP (with a shape unsuitable for a 2 bid, such as 4-4-4-1). Such bids are limited only by the failure of the bidder to make a stronger or weaker bid; thus an Acol opening bid of one of a suit is limited by the fact that the opener failed to pass, to make a 2 level opening bid, or to make a pre-emptive opening bid.
;Winkle squeeze, Winkle: A squeeze without the count
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
that forces the defender to choose between a throw-in and an unblock, each of which is a losing option.
;Winner: A card that can take a trick on a given hand.
;Wire: (Slang) Improper knowledge of a deal, prior to playing it.
;World Bridge Federation, World Bridge Federation (WBF): The world sport governing body for bridge. Its members are more than 120 national bridge federations that are grouped in eight geographic zone
Zone or The Zone may refer to:
Places Climate and altitude zones
* Death zone (originally the lethal zone), altitudes above a certain point where the amount of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span
* Frigid zone, ...
s for some purposes. It #sponsor, sponsors competitions including but not limited to world championships, which exclusively convey the title "world champion".
;WBU: Welsh Bridge Union.
;Wolff signoff: After a jump rebid of 2NT by opener, responder's bid of 3 as a puppet to 3, after which responder can sign off with a weak hand.
;Woo twos: A synonym or close variant of the Muiderberg convention Muiderberg is a bidding convention in the card game bridge. It is a two-level preemptive opening based on a two-suiter with precisely a five-card major and a minor suit (four-card or longer). In Muiderberg the 2 opening denotes five hearts and an u ...
, a weak two-bid showing 5 cards in a major and at least four cards in another suit.
;Work count, or Work points: The assignment of the numbers 4, 3, 2 and 1 as points to represent aces, kings, queens and jacks in the process of hand evaluation
In contract bridge, various bidding systems have been devised to enable partners to describe their hands to each other so that they may reach the optimum contract. Key to this process is that players evaluate and re-evaluate the trick-taking pot ...
. Named for Milton Work.
;Working card: A card that is useful to a partnership, given the mesh of the cards in the two hands.
;Wrongside: (Verb) To place the contract in the less favorable hand for the partnership. See #antipositional, Antipositional.
X
;x: (lowercase) Any small card, of no trick-taking significance.
;X: (uppercase) #double, Double, in print or manuscript representation of the auction (where alternatives are "D", "Dbl", etc.) or the final contract. Used in bidding boxes, #privatescore, private scores, and occasionally elsewhere.
;XX: (uppercase) Redouble, in print or manuscript representation of the auction (where alternatives are "R", "Rdbl", etc.) or the final contract. Used in bidding boxes, #privatescore, private scores, and occasionally elsewhere.
;X-IMPs: #ximp, Cross-IMPs.
;XYZ: A convention used in an uncontested auction where 3 suits are bid at the one level. Thereafter a 2 is a puppet to 2, showing a weak or an invitational hand. A 2 bid is #Game force, game forcing. A 3 shows a weak hand.
;XY Notrump convention, XY Notrump: A convention to be used after a sequence like 1X - 1Y - 1NT. Thereafter a 2 is a puppet to 2, showing a weak or an invitational hand. A 2 bid is #Game force, game forcing. Also called ''XY Checkback''.
;XYZ Notrump: A convention to be used after a sequence like 1X - 1Y - (1Z) - 1NT, or 1X - (1Z) - 1Y - 1NT, where 1Z is an opponent's bid. Thereafter a 2 is a puppet to 2, showing a weak or an invitational hand. A 2 bid is #Game force, game forcing. Also called ''XYZ Checkback''.
Y
;Yarborough: Originally, a hand with no card higher than a nine. The British Charles Anderson-Pelham, 2nd Earl of Yarborough, Earl of Yarborough, during the 19th century, would offer a wager of £1,000 to £1 against picking up such a hand at whist. (The actual odds against such a hand are approximately 1,827 to 1.) In common usage, it may refer to a very weak hand.
Z
;z: see #zoom, Zoom.
;Zar points: An evaluation method to determine if a hand should be opened. It asks to open whenever you have 26 or more ''Zars'', determined by adding the number of cards in the 2 longest suits, plus high card points, plus number of #control, controls (A=2, K=1), plus the difference between the longest and the shortest suit. An additional point is added for the suit if it has 4+ cards. The unsupported honors are diminished 1 point in value. 52 Zar points should produce a NT or major suit game.
;Zero: The lowest score obtained on a deal in a pairs game. Also, bottom
Bottom may refer to:
Anatomy and sex
* Bottom (BDSM), the partner in a BDSM who takes the passive, receiving, or obedient role, to that of the top or dominant
* Bottom (sex), a term used by gay couples and BDSM
* Buttocks or bottom, part of th ...
.
;Zia play: A specific type of falsecard which creates a losing option to declarer.
;Zone: One of eight geographic zones in which #WBF, World Bridge Federation member "nations" are grouped for some purposes. The WBF was founded August 1958 by delegates from Europe, North America, and South America, which are now Zones 1 to 3. World championship teams-of-four competition has been organized ''zonally'' even longer: the Bermuda Bowl was contested in one long match between representatives of Europe and North America from 1951 (the second rendition) to 1957; in a three-team #round-robin, round robin including the champion of South America for 1958. From 2005 to present, there are 22 teams in zonally organized world championship tournaments. See Senior Bowl: Senior Bowl (bridge)#Structure, Structure and Senior Bowl (bridge)#Zones and nations, Zones and nations.
: Zonal organizations mediate between the world and national levels in some respects. In Zone 1 for instance, the #EBL, European Bridge League is the zonal organization. Its members are the national bridge federations of 46 countries from Albania to Wales, and geographically from Iceland to Israel."Member Federations"
. European Bridge League (eurobridge.org). Retrieved 2015-01-24. In Zone 2, on the other hand, bridge players are members of the #ACBL, American Contract Bridge League.
;Zoom (z): In a #Relaysystem, relay system, the facility to joining into the next level of answers without needing to hear a new relay from partner. Usually, after servant has the highest possible answer for the level s/he is answering, s/he can jump into the next level assuming the captain made a virtual new relay, saving bidding space.
See also
References
Bibliography
* 277 pages.
*
*
*
Further reading
* 477 pages.
* ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge
''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'' (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League ...
'' (seven editions, 1964 to 2011).
* 192 pages.
* 252 pages.
* 223 pages.
* 32 pages.
External links
The Bridge World Official Bridge Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glossary Of Contract Bridge Terms
Contract bridge, *Glossary
Glossaries of card games, Contract bridge
Glossaries of sports, Contract bridge