Bridge Game
Bridge card game the most popular card game played in the world
|
Back | Home | Next |
Contract bridge glossary
The following terms are used in
Contract bridge,
Duplicate bridge, and
Auction bridge. Some of them are also used in
Whist, Bid whist, and other
trick-taking games.
Note: Except for ones indicated bold, all the links in this article
are internal, i.e. lead to other list entries rather than external articles
A
Autobridge, a help for learning
- ACBL
-
American Contract Bridge League
- Agreement
- An understanding between partners as to the meaning of a particular bid
or play. The set of all the agreements in a partnership forms the
Bidding system and the Signals.
- Alert
- An indication to the opponents that the partner's bid
is artificial (or that its meaning might be otherwise
unexpected). An alert is made by pronouncing "alert", displaying an
appropriate card from the bidding box, or sometimes by just knocking on the
table. Use of alert (alert procedure) is regulated by sponsoring
organizations.
- Artificial
- 1) A call or play that is not natural.
- 2) A bidding system that contains many such
calls.
- Autobridge
- A non-digital game for one person, designed to teach bridge (see image).
- Auction
- 1) see bidding.
- 2)
Auction bridge, an older form of bridge, now replaced by
Contract bridge.
B
- Balanced hand
- A hand is said to be balanced if it has a
distribution of 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 (Also defined as "no voids,
no singletons, and at most one doubleton"). Balanced hands are particularly
suitable for notrump contracts.
- Bid
- A declaration of both level and
denomination (suit or no trump) that generally
indicates the number of tricks the bidder believes their partnership can
win; certain bids can also be used as conventions.
- Bid out of turn
- A bid erroneously made when it was other player's turn to bid. Subject
to penalty.
- Bidding
- The first phase of the game, where players try to establish the final
contract by making subsequent bids.
-
Bidding system
- The complete set of agreements and
conventions assigned to every possible bid by a
partnership.
-
Board
- 1) a device that keeps each player's cards separate for
duplicate bridge.
- 2) see deal.
- Board-a-Match
- A form of scoring for team events, parallel to
matchpoint scoring in pair games, in which every deal
scores the same ? +1 for a win, 0 for a tie, and -1 for a loss. Now less
common than IMP/victory point
scoring.
- Book
- The basic six tricks that must be taken by the
declaring side. Since there is a total of 13 tricks,
these six tricks below the half are always assumed and are never taken into
account in scoring. Thus, a
contract on level 1 denotes taking at least (6+1)
tricks.
- Bonus
- In scoring, the additional points awarded for
making a contract, for making a doubled contract, or
for making doubled or redoubled overtricks. There are
different bonus amounts at the partscore,
Game, small slam, and
grand slam levels. Bonus amounts may depend on the
vulnerability, and whether or not the contract is doubled or redoubled.
Bonus amounts are different in rubber bridge and
duplicate. See
Bridge scoring for details.
- see also points for Honours.
- Break
- When the cards of a suit in the hands of the opponents are split evenly,
or nearly evenly, so that neither opponent has a particularly large or small
holding in that suit, then suit is said to break. The corollary is a "bad
break" when the suit does not split evenly. See also
distribution.
C
- Caddy
- A non-playing person designated to move boards between tables during a
tournament.
- Call
- Any bid, pass,
double, or redouble in the
bidding stage.
- Chicago
- A form of bridge in which a rubber is completed
every four deals, and the vulnerability is different
in each of those deals. The scoring and sequence of dealer and vulnerability
used in duplicate bridge are derived from those used
in Chicago bridge. Chicago is said to have been devised by commuters who
played bridge on daily train journeys, where the time available for play was
limited by the length of the trip.
- CHO
- Centre Hand Opponent; a slang term for the partner.
- Claim
- A statement by declarer about how the remaining unplayed tricks will be
won or lost. Normally the claiming player exposes their hand and describes
the sequence of play for the remaining tricks and their disposition. This is
usually done when the play of the rest of the hand is straightforward. See
also concession.
- Communication
- 1) The process of (or the ability to) move the lead
between the two hands of a partnership, so as to lead
each trick from the more advantageous hand.
- 2)The means to convey a message to the partner in
bidding. The only legal means of communication is through bids
themselves, rather than using hesitation or mannerism.
- Competitive auction
- A bidding sequence which involves both partnerships.
- Concession
- An admission by a player that he must lose some or all of the remaining
tricks. (See claim.)
- Contract
- 1) The statement of the pair who has won the
bidding that they will take at least the given number
of tricks. The contract consists of two components:
the level, stating the number of tricks to be taken
(plus the book tricks), and the
denomination, denoting the trump suit (or its absence). The last
bid in the bidding phase denotes the final contract.
- 2) Short for
Contract Bridge as opposed to other forms of bridge, such as
Duplicate bridge or
Auction bridge.
- Control
- 1) In play, declarer's ability to limit the
number of tricks that opponents could cash (usually related with
trump contracts).
- 2) A feature of a hand which prevents the
opponents of taking any (or more than one) immediate
tricks in a suit. Aces are always "1st-round" controls and Kings are
"2nd-round" controls; in trump
contracts, voids are also 1st-round controls and
singletons 2nd-round ones.
-
Convention
- An agreement on the meaning of particular
(sequence of) bid(s) between two partners, where the
meaning of the bid(s) is not necessarily (and most often is not) related to
the length and strength of bid suits, that is, an agreement on an
artificial call or play.
- Convention card
- A form filled out by a partnership that shows all
the bidding and play conventions being used. Usually used during
tournaments.
- Cover card
- A card (honor or extra trump)
which is known to compensate one of partner's losers;
for example, a King in trumps is known to cover partner's trump loser.
-
Crossruff
- A playing technique in trump
contracts where extra tricks are gained by taking
ruffs in both hands alternately.
- Cuebid
- 1) A bid of the opponents' suit in a competitive
auction. Usually a conventional, forcing bid that shows strength or an
unusual hand.
- 2) A bid that shows control in a suit (usually
with an Ace or King, sometimes with a void) but does not indicate length or
strength in the suit otherwise. Partnership agreements
indicate when in an uncontested auction a bid is considered a cuebid.
Usually used in exploring for a slam contract, or for
showing stoppers needed for a notrump
game.
D
- Deal
- The set of particular 52 cards as dealt to each player, and the
collectivity of bidding and play
that occurred with it. Also called Board or Hand.
- Dealer
- The player who deals the cards and bids first. In
duplicate bridge, cards are not literally dealt in every play, but the
dealer is pre-defined for each board, and is marked
on the physical boards.
- Declarer
- The person who plays the hand in the partnership
that wins the contract; by the rules, the declarer is
the first player in the partnership who had called
the final denomination in the
bidding stage. The other partner becomes the dummy.
- Denomination
- Component of a bid and
contract denoting the trump
suit or notrump. Thus, there are five
denominations (see rank (2)).
- Defenders
- The pair who tries to defeat the
contract. The opponents of the declarer and the
dummy.
- Director
- Referee (in duplicate bridge). The director
enforces the rules, assigns penalties for violations, and oversees the
progress of the game. The director is also responsible for the final
scoring. At a tournament there may be several directors, reporting to a Head
Director.
- Discard
- To play a card that is neither of the suit led, nor trump (and therefore
has no chance to win the trick). Also, the card so played.
- Distribution
- 1) The number of cards in each suit in a player's
hand, usually expressed as a series of 4 numbers. A
distribution of 4 - 6 - 2 - 1 means 4 spades, 6 hearts, 2 diamonds, and 1
club. Sometimes also called a "Hand pattern".
- 2) The number of cards in one suit as distributed in four (or two)
hands, expressed as series of 4 (2) numbers.
- 3) The degree to which a player's hand consists of particularly long and
short suits.
- Distribution point
- A measure of a hand's strength due to the length or shortness of suits.
- Double
- A call that increases
penalties for opponents' failing to make a contract,
but also increases the bonus for making it. A player
can only double a contract bid by the opposition. Often used as a
convention.
- Doubleton
- A suit containing exactly two cards (in a hand).
-
Duck
- A play technique where a player deliberately does
not immediately take a trick, but plays a small card
instead.
- Down
- See Set.
- Dummy
- 1) the partner of the declarer, whose hand is
placed on the table and played solely by the declarer; dummy has minimal
rights and must not interfere with further play of the hand (especially not
by suggesting play to the declarer).
- 2) the dummy's hand as exposed on the table.
-
Dummy reversal
- A playing technique in trump
contracts where extra tricks are gained by taking ruffs in the hand with
longer trumps.
-
Duplicate bridge
- A form of bridge where every deal is played at
several tables, by several pairs, unchanged, and the
scores are ultimately compared against each other. At
minimum, two tables (four pairs) are required for a
duplicate bridge match. The hands of each deal are
saved in metal or plastic containers called boards
that are passed between tables.
E
- EBL
-
European Bridge League, the official organising body of bridge in
Europe.
- EBU
-
English Bridge Union, the official organising body of bridge in
England.
- Endplay
- A play which forces a particular opponent to win a trick, so that that
opponent must later make a favorable lead. The player so forced to win is
said to be "endplayed".
-
Entry
- A card that allows a player to win in one hand after leading from the
other. Entries are vital to communication.
- Extra values
- Values (in form of high card points, shortage or
cover cards) which are "above" the ones that a player
has promised so far in the bidding.
F
- Face card
- An Ace, King, Queen, or Jack. (Also honor)
- False sacrifice
- see 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.
- Finesse
- A playing technique where extra tricks are gained by using favorable lie
of opponents' cards.
- Follow suit
- Every player is obliged to play the card of the same
suit as the one that was first led to the trick,
if in possession of one. Failure to follow suit constitutes a
revoke.
- Fit
- 1) A long suit (usually 8 cards or more) in two
combined hands, that can be used as trumps.
- 2) General term for two hands that are productive together (i.e. have at
least one 1 suit fit and no wasted values). Cf.
misfit.
- Forcing bid
- A bid that requires the bidder's partner to make another bid -- that is
the partner is not supposed to pass. Which bids are forcing is a matter of
agreement between partners.
G
- Game
- A contract worth 100 points (or more)
bid and made. The minimal games are 3NT, 4♥, 4♠ in
majors, and 5♣, 5♦ in minors.
The game can also be achieved by making a doubled or
redoubled contract, e.g. 2 spades doubled is
initially worth 2?(2?30) = 120 points. The pair bidding and making the game
is awarded a high bonus.
- Game try
- A bid of a side suit which
invites the partner to bid a game if he has extra
values as well as cover cards in that suit.
-
Goulash
- A style of dealing, usually in rubber and
chicago games, where the cards are not thoroughly
shuffled between deals and are dealt in groups. It results in "wild" card
distributions.
- Grand slam
- A contract to win all thirteen
tricks in the hand. Making a grand slam scores significant
bonus points.
H
- Hand
- 13 cards belonging to one player; sometimes also used as a synonym for
entire deal.
-
High card points (HCP)
- Method for evaluation of hand's strength, where every
face card is assigned a numeric value.
- Hono(u)r
- A face card (Ace, King, Queen or Jack); usually
also includes the ten.
- Hono(u)rs
- A rubber bridge scoring bonus.
If a player has 4 of the top 5 cards in the bid suit a bonus of 100 points
is scored. If declarer has all 5 of the top cards or all 4 Aces in a NT
contract then a bonus of 150 points is scored.
- Holding
- 1) The cards in a particular player's hand at a particular point in play
- often at the start of play.
- 2) The cards of a specific suit in a particular player's hand.
-
Holdup
- A type of ducking play used for the purpose of
cutting opponents' communication in the suit. In a holdup, a player delays
taking a trick until opponents' entries are reduced.
I
-
IMP
- International Match Points ? a method of overall scoring in
duplicate bridge where every result is subtracted
from a datum (average or median) score and converted to so-called
IMPs using a table defined by WBF.
- Individual
- A form of duplicate in which players compete as
individuals, not as partnerships or teams. Players change partners at each
round of play (typically two to four deals).
- Insult
- In rubber games the bonus
for making a doubled or redoubled contract is sometimes referred to as the
"insult" or as being "for the insult".
- Invitation
- A bid which requires the partner to bid on if he
has extra values.
- Irregularity
- In club or tournament duplicate play, any illegal
or suspect action. To avoid dispute, the director is
called to rule on the situation and assign the proper
penalty, if any.
J
- Jump shift
- A bid of a new suit at a level
higher than the lowest level at which that suit could be legally bid. For
example, 1♥-2♠ is a jump shift, while 1♠-2♥ is not. In older versions of
Standard American bidding a jump shift shows a strong hand, while in
newer versions and other systems it may show either a strong or a weak hand,
depending on partnership agreement and the bidding
sequence involved.
K
-
Knockout
- A tournament form, usually in team games where
only the winning team from each round advances. The losing team is removed
from play. In a
double knockout a team is removed from play only after losing two
matches.
- Kibitzer
- A person who watches a bridge match.
L
- Lead
- 1) Playing the first card to a trick, thus
dictating the suit which others must play if able
(see follow suit).
- 2) The card so led.
- 3) The hand which is next entitled to lead to a trick is said to be "on
lead" or to "have the lead", often shortened to simply "the lead".
- 4) See opening lead.
- Lead out of turn
- Playing a card when it was another player's turn to lead
- Level
- In bidding, the component of a
bid or contract (the other being
denomination) which indicates how many
odd tricks are to be made. Since six
book tricks are not taken into account, there is
total 13 (available tricks) ? 6 (book tricks) = 7
levels. Thus, e.g. contracts on level 4 indicate taking of 6+4 = 10 tricks.
- Light
- (Adj.) to enter the auction with sub-standard values (e.g. open light,
overcall light). This is usually a part of tactics or general style.
-
Lightner double
- A penalty double, usually in slam contract,
requesting the partner to choose an unusual opening lead.
- LHO
- Left-hand opponent
- Long suit
- A holding of 6 or more cards in one suit. Also
called long-suited.
- Loser
- a card which, presumably, has to be given up to the opponents rather
than to be won as a trick. See also cover card.
-
Losing trick count
- a method of hand evaluation based on counting losers
rather than high-card points .
M
-
Major suit
- hearts and spades; in contract bridge a trick with a major suit trumps
is scored as 30 points, and game requires a bid 4 odd tricks.
- Match
- 1) the encounter between two teams at two tables,
each team sitting North-South in one table and East-West at the other.
- 2) see round.
-
Matchpoints
- A type of overall scoring in duplicate bridge
where every board carries the same weight, the best pair on every board
receiving a top (100%) and the worst the bottom (0%
matchpoints). In matchpoint scoring only the number of pairs that a pair
beats or ties matter, not by how much other pairs may be beaten.
-
Minor suit
- clubs and diamonds; in contract bridge a trick with a minor suit trumps
is scored as 20 points, and game requires a bid of 5 odd tricks.
- Misfit
- Two hands that don't have a common long
suit (a fit), esp. when both
are unbalanced. For example, a red
two-suiter opposite a black two-suiter
constitutes a misfit.
N
- Natural
- A call or play that has an "obvious" meaning, particularly a suit bid
that suggests length or strength in the suit named, a no trump bid that
suggests a balanced hand, a double that suggests the ability to defeat the
contract, or a pass that suggest weakness. See Artificial.
- Negative double
- A conventional call used by responder in a
competitive auction to denote support for the unbid suits, and a lack of
cards in the suit doubled. It often but not always indicates a relatively
weak hand.
- No trump
- When a hand is played without a trump suit, or a proposal to play
without trumps
- Non-vulnerable
- The state of vulnerability where both
bonuses and penalties are
lower; in other words, less is at stake for a pair which is non-vulnerable.
O
- Odd trick
- The number of tricks above 6 (the book) that are
to be taken in the contract. See also level.
- Opener
- The player who makes the opening bid.
- Opening bid
- The first bid (i.e. non-pass) in the
auction.
- Opening lead
- The first card led by
defenders in the play stage. Unlike other leads,
the dummy is not uncovered yet at the time of lead,
so the opening lead is made "blindly", and often has a crucial impact to the
outcome of the deal.
- Opening leader
- The defender who makes the opening lead. It is
always the declarer's LHO
- Overbid
- 1) A bid overstating one's strength.
- 2) Ending up in a too high, usually unmakeable,
contract.
- Overcall
- A bid made by the opposing partnership (the side
that does not include the opener) in a
competitive auction. Generally, it shows a 5 card
suit and could show less strength than is needed to make an opening bid. The
term is particularly used for the first such bid in an auction.
- Overruff
- To ruff with a higher trump than was previously
played in the same trick.
- Overtrick
- Every trick taken by the declaring side over the number of tricks
required by their bid contract.
P
- Pair
- Two players who play together.
- Pairs game or Pairs event
- A form of duplicate bridge in which each pair or
partnership competes separately, as opposed to team
and individual events. Pair events are normally
scored by Matchpoints.
- Partnership
- 1) see pair
- 2) A pair who play together for an extended period.
- Partscore or Partial Contract
- A contract below the level that earns a game
bonus.
- Pass
- A call indicating that player declines to
bid for that turn. The bidding
ends after three successive passes. A hand is called "passed out" if the
bidding sequence begins with four consecutive passes.
- Penalty
- 1) A score subtracted (added to the opposing
side) for the failure to fulfill the contract.
- 2) A penalty to a pair or team
assigned by director, for disobeying game rules (infraction)
(e.g. a revoke). It can be expressed in terms of
tricks, matchpoints or
IMPs, or imposed by barring certain actions to the
offender or the offending player's partner.
- Phantom sacrifice or False sacrifice
- when a player makes a sacrifice bid against a
contract that the opponents could not, or were very unlikely to have made,
thus converting a probable positive score into a certain negative score.
- Play
- The second stage of a deal, when cards are
played. In the play, the declarer tries to take at
least as many tricks as his or her side promised by
the level of the contract,
while defenders try to prevent this (that is, to
set the contract) or failing that, to limit the
number of overtricks the declarer takes.
-
Point count
- A numeric value placed on the strength of a hand,
used as a guideline in bidding.
- Preempt
- A bid whose primary function is to take up
bidding space from the opponents.
-
Principle of restricted choice
- It is physically impossible to explain this principal to a
non-mathematician who does not play Bridge.
-
Psychic bid
- A call that "grossly misstates high card strength
or distribution". Psychic bids (often called simply "psyches") are legal
except when they are made by agreement (and such agreement is not
presented to the opponents by means of an alert), and
so are less likely to confuse the bidder's partner than the opponents.
Q
-
Quick tricks
- A method of hand evaluation.
R
- Raise
- A bid of partner's suit at a higher
level. For example, 1♠-2♠ is called a single raise;
1♠-3♠ is called a double raise.
- Rank
- 1) The strength of an individual card; Aces have the highest rank,
followed by K, Q, J, 10,... down to deuce (2)
- 2) The order of denominations in the bidding.
Notrump is highest-ranked denomination, followed by spades (♠), hearts (♥),
diamonds (♦) and clubs. (♣)
- Redouble
- A call that essentially doubles the penalties and
bonuses of a previous double;
a player can only redouble a contract bid by their side which has been
doubled by the opposition.
- Relay
- A bid requesting that the relay bidder's partner make a specific
agreed-upon bid.
- Revoke
- Failing to follow suit (as required) when a
player is able to do so.
- RHO
- Right-hand opponent
- Round
- 1) In bidding, the sequence of four consecutive
bids, usually starting from the
dealer.
- 2) In duplicate bridge, a set of (usually 2-4) boards
which one pair plays against another in
pairs games.
- Rubber
- 1) In Rubber bridge, the set of deals ending when one pair first wins
two games (there is an extra score for winning the
rubber)
- 2) the act of so winning the second game, also called "making the
rubber".
-
Rubber bridge
- A form of bridge scoring used in "home parties" and by four players
playing only amongst themselves (as opposed to duplicate
bridge). There is commonly a
wager
on the result, which is not usual in duplicate.
-
Ruff
- The play of a trump when another suit is
led. A ruff is allowed only when the player cannot
follow suit (of course, only in
trump contracts.)
-
Ruff and discard (Also ruff and sluff/slough)
- A play in which a player leads a suit in which both opponents are void,
so that one can ruff while the other
discards (or sluffs). Forcing a Ruff-and-Sluff is one
purpose of an endplay.
S
-
Sacrifice
- (Usually deliberate) bidding of a contract known
to be unmakeable, with the intent that the cost of
penalty (even if doubled) will be smaller than
the value of opponent's score.
-
Safety play
- A play whereby the declarer maximizes the chances for fulfilling the
contract (or achieving a certain score) by avoiding a play which might
achieve slightly higher score, but at a greater risk if the arrangement of
the cards is unfavorable.
-
Score
- The numerical value assigned to one pair or
another as the outcome of each deal. The score is
awarded to the pair who successfully fulfilled a contract,
or to their opponents if the contract was not made (see
penalty). If the contract is made, the score is calculated by summing up
points for bid tricks, bonuses, and points for
overtricks. Otherwise, it is calculated by summing up
penalties for undertricks
(which significantly increase if the contract was doubled
or redoubled). The other pair, actually, receives a
"minus score" ? that is, their score is the negative of their opponents'
score.
- Set
- 1) to defeat a contract.
- 2) the number of tricks by which a contract is defeated ("a two-trick
set").
-
Signal
- 1) a special system of agreed meanings to cards played by
defenders in order to communicate their holdings to
each other.
- 2) A particular play with such a meaning.
- Singleton
- A holding of exactly one card in a suit.
- Slam
- Bidding for and taking twelve tricks is a "small
slam" -- that is, any bid of 6. Bidding for and taking all thirteen -- thus
any bid of 7 is a "grand slam"
-
Squeeze
- A playing technique whereby the defender(s) are forced to
discard a vital card.
- Slough
- See Discard. Pronounced 'sluff'.
- Stopper
- A high card (normally, an honor) whose primary
function is to prevent the opponents from running a suit in a
notrump contract. (See also
control).
- Strain
- See Denomination.
- Strong Two bid
- An agreement whereby an opening bid of two of a suit indicates a strong
hand and a strong holding in that suit.
-
Suit
- a sign on the cards indicating the "class" which the cards belongs to.
There are four suits: spades (♠), hearts (♥), diamonds (♦) and clubs. (♣).
In bridge, suits are ranked, but only for
bidding and scoring purposes. (See also
denomination, major suit, and
minor suit).
- Swing
- A (huge) difference in compared scores on a
board from two tables in
team match.
-
Swiss teams
- A team tournament in which teams play other teams
with a similar previous record of wins and losses. It typically consists of
a series of relatively short (6 to 8 board) matches.
- System
- see Bidding system.
T
♠ |
5 |
♥ |
AJT83 |
♦ |
KJ542 |
♣ |
T9 |
N
S |
♠ |
KQJ8742 |
♥ |
- |
♦ |
Q76 |
♣ |
Q84 |
In the above layout, North's hand is a
two-suiter with a singleton spade and a
doubleton club, while his
partner holds a long suit in spades and a
void in hearts. The two hands have a
fit in diamonds.
|
- Table
- 1) A table where bridge is played;
- 2) see dummy
- 3) the number of groups of four players in play at a bridge event is
described as the number of tables.
- Table talk
- 1) Illegally conveyed information between partners, for example by means
of talking, gestures, or facial expressions.
- 2) Extraneous discussion during play, discouraged because it might
convey information or distract a player
-
Takeout double
- A conventional call used in a competitive auction
to indicate support for the unbid suits and a hand of opening strength or
more. It usually implies shortness in the suit doubled. This is usually a
forcing call and asks the doubler's partner to bid a suit.
-
Team
- A group of 4-6 players (but only 4 playing simultaneously, as 2 pairs
against 2 pairs of another team) who compete as an entity in certain forms
of
duplicate bridge.
- Throw-in
- see Endplay.
- Transfer
- A type bid that directs partner to make another bid in a series, usually
as part of a convention. Also spoken as a call as in
'transfer' as an alternative to saying 'alert'.
- Treatment
- The specific meaning of a natural call or play
according to a partnership agreement.
- Trials
- A form of pairs duplicate game, usually of high
competition level, played as
round-robin tournament with small number of pairs (typically 16)
playing relatively long matches (typically 16-32 boards). Usually scored in
IMPs with conversion to Victory
points.
-
Trick
- A set of 4 cards played by each player in turn, during
play stage.
-
Trumps
- A suit, determined by the declaring side during
bidding, which if played, wins a trick regardless of rank
of other played cards.
- Two
suiter
- A hand containing two long suits (see diagram), usually each containing
4 or more cards, with at least 10 cards between the two suits.
U
- Unbalanced
- Any hand that is not balanced,
but particularly hands with relatively extreme
distribution.
- Underbid
- A bid whereby the bidder has understated the
value of his cards, by an error or by taking a "pessimistic view", or
because the only other choice is an overbid (which may indicate a flaw in
the bidding system in use).
- Undertrick
- Every trick that the declarer
ended up short of making the contracted
level at the end of the play.
V
- Victory points (VP)
- The points which represent the total score of a single
match in duplicate team games
and trials. The most common scale is
WBF 25:5 scale, where 15:15 presents a tie, 25:5 an
absolute win and 25:0 the most extreme result. (The scale depends on
IMP difference achieved and number of boards played.)
- Void
- A holding of zero cards in a particular suit (in
a hand).
- Vulnerability
- The state assigned to each pair in advance (in
duplicate bridge, vulnerability is indicated on
boards, in rubber bridge, it
is determined in other ways). Vulnerability affects the scoring, i.e. both
size of bonuses for making
contracts and penalties. In
duplicate bridge, boards are designed so that
every pair is vulnerable on approximately 50%, and non-vulnerable on other
50% of deals. Vulnerability affects bidding tactics,
as the ratios between potential scores available for
both pairs change.
- Vulnerable
- The state of vulnerability where both
bonuses and penalties are
higher; in other words, more is at stake for a pair which is vulnerable. In
rubber bridge a pair is vulnerable when they have won one game towards a
rubber.
W
- Wasted value
- A honor or other hand feature which does not
present an asset in two combined hands. For example,
a doubleton queen opposite honorless length, KJ
opposite a singleton, or two singletons in the same
suit.
-
Weak two bid
- An opening bid of two of a suit indicating a weak hand, but a long suit.
This is a form of preempt.
- WBF
-
World Bridge Federation, the worldwide governing body of the game.
Y
- Yarborough
- A hand with all cards less than 10, ie. only 2-9. A very bad hand.
External links
Home | Games Classification | Contract Bridge | Playing card | Hand Evaluation | Bidding Systems | Bridge Conventions | Bridge Techniques | Principle of restricted choice | Contract bridge glossary | License
Bridge card game the most popular card game played in the world.