Vu-Bridge Starter kit Minibridge in 11 Chapters

Transcription

1 This is a guide for teachers and learners to Minibridge from the very basics of the game. Vu-Bridge Starter kit Minibridge in 11 Chapters Paul Bowyer

2 Introduction. Minibridge as a game was invented in the early 1990s by the Dutch bridge federation as a method of introducing the game of bridge in an easy way. Other bridge federations (notably the English Bridge Union) have adopted these ideas with thanks. Before we start with Minibridge, though, we really ought to look at the two ideas that underpin all games based on whist, that is: tricks and trumps. Tricks and trumps The ranking of the cards in each of the four suits ([, ], {, }) is the same: The two is the lowest card, then the 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King, Ace. All games in the whist family (and that includes bridge and Minibridge) use the principle of tricks and trumps. A trick. A trick is a collection of cards containing one card from each player, usually played into the centre. Tricks are always played clockwise. Except when a trump has been played, a trick is won by the highest card belonging to the suit that was led that is, to the same suit as the first card played in that trick. In all cases in all whist-based game the primary rule for all players is to follow suit ie play a card of the suit led. Here we see a typical trick. One of the four players has led a card let us say the player sitting with the [8. The next three players have, in turn, followed suit with the [J, the [K and the [6. The highest card here is the [K so that player wins the trick the four cards are gathered in and given to that player. In a partnership game the trick may be kept by either partner. Here we see another example of a trick. This time a Club was led the }3. The next two players followed suit but the last player had no Clubs left. When a player cannot follow suit he may play any card. However, here the trick is won by the player who contributed the }10. The fact that the [Q is the highest ranked card in this example trick is irrelevant. A trick is won by the highest card belonging to the suit that was led The player who wins a trick leads to the next one. Minibridge lesson notes Page 1

3 A trump is any card belonging to the trump suit. Trumps and the trumps suit. The trump suit is determined before each hand is played and may be any of the four suits. How a trump suit is determined is a topic for another time and place each card game may have its own way of setting trumps. You will see how trumps are determined in Minibridge later. A trump card beats any card belonging to the suit led. You may only play a trump if you are unable to follow suit. If two (or more) players are unable to follow suit one might overtrump the other. The highest ranked card in the whole pack is the Ace of trumps. Here, Clubs are trumps. The [8 has been led and doubtless the player with the [K expected to win the trick. However, the last player to play has no Spades in his hand and was able to play a trump card. All trumps outrank all plain cards (nontrumps) so in this instance the }3 wins the trick. In the example to the right it is Spades that are trumps. The }3 has been lead and the next player, able to follow suit, has played the }10. The third player has no Clubs and has tried to win the trick by trumping it (also known as ruffing it) with the [4. However, the last player to play also has no Clubs and he has played a higher trump than the [4 in this case the [Q. The trick is won, therefore, by the [Q. Note that it is perfectly fair (indeed, sensible) to lead trumps if you so wish. Minibridge lesson notes Page 2

4 The game of Minibridge. 1. Introduction to Minibridge. Minibridge and Contract Bridge are partnership games for four players, based on the game of whist. That means that they are games of tricks and trumps, with play proceeding clockwise around the table. Some deals, however, can be played without any trump suit, in what is called No-trumps. The four players are called North, East, South and West so that North-South are partners against East- West. The table is represented as a diagram in the following way: W N S A full pack of 52 cards is dealt out so that each player receives a hand of 13 cards. Players should sort their hands out into suits to make things easier for themselves (although the rules don t say that you have to!) In all bridge books (and newspaper articles) hands are represented in diagrams similar to the following: E [ A 9 5 ] K Q 9 { K J 10 } A Q 9 5 Note that the order of the suits is always shown as above: Clubs are lowest, then Diamonds, then Hearts and the top suit is Spades. (If it s helpful to you then the order is alphabetical going upwards ). A full deal might look something like this: [ A 9 5 ] K Q 5 { K J 10 } A Q 9 5 [ Q N [ J 8 7 ] ] J { A { } 8 4 S } K 6 [ K 3 2 ] A 7 { Q 7 6 } J After sorting their hands out into suits all players assess their hands according to the following formula: Every Ace 4 Points Every King 3 Points Every Queen 2 Points Every Jack 1 Point The North hand above, for example, comes to 19 points: [ A points ] K Q 9 5 points { K J 10 4 points } A Q points Total: 19 points In the full deal shown above the distribution of points is as follows: Note, in passing, that there are 10 points in each suit and 40 points in the whole pack. Minibridge lesson notes Page 3

5 If North had been the dealer then that player would have been the first to announce his hand by saying, I have 19 points. Then East, the next player around the table clockwise, would say, I have 5 points, then South would say, I have 10 points and finally West would say, I have 6 points. At this point everyone should use some mental arithmetic to check that the four numbers add up to 40. If they don t try counting the points again! The partnership with the most points gains control of the hand and has the privilege of playing the hand. (If each partnership has 20 points the deal is a wash-out and the cards are re-dealt). In the example on the previous page the partnership with the greater number of points is clearly North- South. The player from the stronger partnership with the better hand becomes the declarer and his partner becomes the dummy. (If both players of the stronger partnership have the same number of points the first person to state his points becomes declarer.) In the previous example declarer is North. The partner of declarer (in this instance, South) displays his hand face upwards on the table as dummy. Dummy s role is to be little more than a robot, following his partner s instructions. At this stage we will have all hands played without a trump suit (known, logically enough, as Notrumps). Later on this will change. Here, South arranges his hand on the table in columns so it looks a little like this: Although the example above has the suits arranged in the sequence Spades, Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds, (black-red-black-red) there is, in fact, no rule that says you have to display the suits in any particular order. The actual obligations are to place the dummy hand face upwards in columns and to order each suit from the highest at the top down to the lowest at the bottom. After the dummy has been displayed the player to declarer s left has to make the opening lead. In this example that player is East. He places a card (his choice) on the table face up and the game commences. The object is for each side to win as many tricks as possible. Declarer is in total charge of his side s 26 cards; dummy takes no further part in the game, other than doing what he is told. Dummy s cards are nominated by declarer and dummy can do nothing except play the card that his partner tells him to. Declarer can use a form of shorthand such as small to mean play the lowest card in that suit, please partner and similar circumlocutions. As in all types of whist-based games, play is clockwise. The hand that won the last trick leads to the next trick. If dummy won the trick, dummy has to lead to the next trick although, naturally, it is declarer who has to make the choice of which card to lead. Players make a record of how many tricks are won by each side. The total number of tricks won must, of course, total 13. So, as an example, if North-South end up with nine tricks, East-West must have made four tricks. Eight deals follow, all played in No-trumps. Minibridge lesson notes Page 4

6 Hands for 1: Introduction to Minibridge (No-trumps). Hand 1 [ Q J 6 2 ] { 10 3 } Q J 10 3 [ A K 3 N [ ] Q 4 2 ] A K 3 { { A K Q J } A S } [ ] J { } K 7 Hand 2 [ 7 2 ] { K J 9 } A Q 10 8 [ K Q J 10 6 N [ ] A 5 3 ] K Q 2 { { } 4 S } [ A 5 3 ] J 9 7 { A Q 10 } K J East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy. South leads the ]J (top of a sequence) and East has to make as many tricks as he can. It should be possible to make ten tricks, which can be cashed immediately. These ten tricks are (in some convenient order): two Spades, three Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club. As a point of technique, declarer should cash his tricks in one suit before switching to another and not butterfly by switching from one suit to another at random. When you have decided which suit to play on stick to it! Hand 3 Dealer South [ ] A K Q { Q J 4 } K Q 4 [ A K Q J 8 N [ 5 ] 2 ] J { { 6 5 } S } [ ] { A K 9 3 } A J North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. With 17 points it is North who becomes declarer and South who puts his hand down as dummy. The deal is played in No-trumps with East to lead. Now, it is normal for East (who is blind, remember) to lead the ]J (top of a sequence) hoping that West has some Hearts and that East-West will make tricks there. No such luck and North will take advantage of his luck by making three Hearts, four Diamonds (if he plays the suit to best advantage) and three Clubs for a total of ten tricks. If only you d have led a Spade, says West, sorrowfully. True, but East didn t know North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. With 15 points it is South who becomes declarer and North who puts his hand down as dummy. West leads the [K and South has to make at least seven tricks. That should be simple enough a task as there are four Clubs, three Diamonds and a Spade for a total of eight tricks. Note that there are only three Diamond tricks despite North-South holding all of the {A K Q J 10 9 between them (and, in the same vein, only four Club tricks despite North-South holding all of the }A K Q J between them). C est la vie. Hand 4 Dealer West [ ] 10 8 { } K Q J 9 6 [ 6 2 N [ A ] K 3 2 ] A Q 4 { A K Q J 8 { } A 8 5 S } [ K Q J 10 ] J { 9 5 } East-West just have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. North leads the }K (top of a sequence) against West and that player has to make at least seven tricks. There are nine easy ones (a Spade, three Hearts, four Diamonds and a Club) and West should take a tenth one as well. After he has played off his four top Diamonds he should note that no one has any Diamonds left making his {8 the boss Diamond. When he leads that it makes the tenth trick, of course Minibridge lesson notes Page 5

7 Hands for 1: Introduction to Minibridge (No-trumps). Hand 5 [ Q J 10 9 ] K J 5 { 4 2 } [ A 4 3 N [ 8 7 ] ] { A K 5 { Q J } A K Q S } J 9 7 [ K ] A Q 2 { } Hand 6 [ ] A K Q J { 9 6 } [ K Q J 10 N [ 9 7 ] 10 3 ] { { J 3 } A Q 7 S } K [ A 3 2 ] 9 4 { A K Q 10 8 } J East-West have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. North leads the [Q and West s task is to make at least seven tricks. In fact he can make nine tricks as long as he plays the Diamonds correctly. This entails playing the {A and {K first and then following by playing the {5 to dummy s remaining {Q J 10. What happens if he neglects to do this but plays the Diamonds in a different order? The answer is that there will be Diamond winners in the dummy but declarer will be unable to lead them. This is an important point, followed up in a later section. Hand 7 Dealer South [ ] J { 3 } J 10 [ Q 2 N [ A K 3 ] A K 4 ] Q 5 { { } S } A K 4 3 [ J 10 9 ] { A K Q J } Q East-West hold the majority of the points and East has a better hand than West. East, therefore, becomes declarer, and West becomes the dummy. South leads off the top Diamonds and takes the first four Diamond tricks before switching to the [J (it being normal to lead the top card when holding a sequence). East has to make seven of the remaining nine tricks in point of fact, he should make eight (three Heart tricks, three Spade tricks and two Club tricks). Care must be taken not to crash the Heart or Spade honours the right play is to win the [Q before playing the [A K and then to play the ]Q before playing the ]A K North-South hold the majority of the high cards and South has the highest number of points. South therefore becomes the declarer and North becomes the dummy. West leads the [K (top of a sequence) and South has to make at least seven tricks. There are four Hearts to cash, three Diamonds and a Spade so that task is easy but South can make ten tricks with good play. Firstly, if he cashes the Hearts first he must not throw away his {10 8. Secondly, having made tricks with the {A K Q, he should note that the {10 8 are the boss Diamonds and can be cashed for two further tricks. Hand 8 Dealer West [ A K Q 7 ] A 5 3 { A 6 5 } [ J 10 9 N [ ] J ] K Q { 2 { K Q J 10 9 } K Q 10 9 S } J 5 3 [ ] { } A North-South have the majority of the points and North has the better hand of his partnership. North therefore becomes declarer and South becomes the dummy. North has to make seven tricks after East has led the {K (top of a sequence). This isn t easy although six tricks are simple (there are three Spades and three Aces to make as easy tricks). What North has to realise is that the [7 is worth a trick after the [A K Q have all gone. Declarer has to note that none of West, South nor East has a Spade left after three rounds of the suit so the [7 is the highest Spade in town. Keeping track of suits is crucial in this game. Minibridge lesson notes Page 6

8 2. Playing with a trump suit. 1 was about playing hands without a trump suit. This section is about playing with a trump suit. Let s look at an example hand to see the process in action. North is the dealer and the cards are dealt as follows: Dealer [ A 10 4 ] J { K Q J 7 } J 3 [ J N [ K Q 7 ] K 10 4 ] A Q { 10 { } A K S } Q [ ] { A } 10 4 North (the dealer) starts off in the usual way by announcing his hand, I have 12 points and then each player in turn (going clockwise) announces his hand in a similar way. You should see that the points in this deal are distributed like this: Here, on this particular deal East-West have more points than North-South (24 points to 16). So, East- West is the partnership that plays the hand and can nominate the trump suit. As East has more points than West it is East who becomes declarer and West who becomes the dummy. Dummy, as in the play in No-trumps, must arrange his hand neatly, face upwards on the table. In this case West arranges his hand in columns to look a little like this: Again, as in 1, there is no statutory order in which the suits must be displayed. Here West has chosen to order his cards Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs when he exposes them but there is no rule that says he has to do it in precisely this way. Declarer (East, remember), after looking at both his own hand and dummy, nominates trumps. In the deal above declarer wants Clubs to be the trump suit as the East-West hands have nine Clubs between them. East does this by saying I nominate Clubs or Clubs are trumps. Note that No-trumps is a poor place to play as North-South might be able to take a lot of Diamonds with East powerless to stop them. Once trumps have been nominated the dummy (West) places the entire trump suit (in this case, Clubs) to his right declarer s left so that dummy now looks something like this (see top of next page): Minibridge lesson notes Page 7

9 South, the player to declarer s left, now chooses a card to lead and play commences. On this deal you should note that North-South could only take one trick in Diamonds if they were to lead a second round of the suit dummy would trump (or ruff) it. A trump suit is useful on those hands where declarer and dummy have a lot of trumps between them and there are singletons and voids about. In general, a trump suit is chosen when a partnership has at least eight cards between them of a suit as this gives the opponents only five cards in the trump suit. If a partnership has only seven trumps between the two hands then the opponents have six trumps and the play of the cards can become very tricky. The rule therefore is to choose long suits as your trump suit, with length triumphing over strength. As an example of this have a look at this deal, with only the North-South cards shown: [ ] J 10 9 { } K Q J W N S Minibridge lesson notes Page 8 E [ 10 8 ] A K Q { J } A 4 2 Here, North-South have 21 points to their opponents 19 and South is declarer. What suit would you like to be trumps? Firstly, note that playing the hand in No-trumps is very dodgy. East-West could take a number of tricks in Spades (how many tricks we can t tell) and at least two tricks in Diamonds. So South should choose a trump suit. You might think Hearts (or even Clubs) is best but in point of fact that is an illusion. Without doubt the right trump suit is Diamonds where North-South have nine cards. On some layouts North-South might only lose two Diamond tricks (can you see how that might happen?) although they may well lose all of the {A K Q. They will also lose the [A K but no more tricks in Spades. That makes five losers in all (and eight tricks gathered in). Now, if Hearts or Clubs were trumps then the opponents would have more trumps than the declaring side and East-West will, for sure, score at least one trick with their extra trump. So, to repeat, the rule is length before strength. The eight hands that follow are all played in a trump suit. Declarer just has to choose the best trump suit on each deal.

10 Hand 1 Hands for 2: Introduction to Minibridge (Trumps). [ A K Q ] A K 5 { } 7 [ 6 N [ 4 2 ] ] 9 4 { K Q J 6 5 { 9 7 } 6 2 S } A K Q J [ J ] Q J 10 { A 10 8 } Hand 2 [ ] 7 6 { } J 4 [ N [ A K Q ] A K Q J 10 9 ] { A 5 { K Q J } 8 3 S } [ J ] 8 3 { 10 8 } A K Q North-South hold the majority of the high cards and North has the highest number of points. North therefore becomes the declarer and South becomes the dummy. After a look at dummy (a glance should be enough!) North should select Spades as trumps as North- South have ten (very good) cards there. East leads the }A and North has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, North should emerge with ten tricks, leaving East-West with just three. What would happen in No-trumps? The answer is that East could take (cash) the first seven tricks in Clubs, meaning that North would be unable to make more than six. Hand 3 Dealer South [ A 8 4 ] K { J 7 } K [ Q J 10 2 N [ K 5 3 ] ] Q J 7 4 { A K Q 8 { } 4 2 S } 6 [ ] A 5 { 10 6 } A Q J North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. Note that North and South have the same number of points but as South was the first player to announce his points (as dealer) it is South who becomes the declarer and North who has to be dummy. After a look at the exposed dummy hand South has an easy time in selecting Clubs as the trump suit as North-South have ten cards there. West should lead the {A and South has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens South should make nine tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? East-West would cash the first five Diamonds, leaving eight to South East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West puts down his hand as dummy. When West s hand is put face upwards on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit for the partnership in Hearts, even though declarer doesn t have much in that suit himself. After East nominates Hearts as trumps South leads the }A. East should be able to make eleven tricks with North- South managing just two. What would happen in Notrumps? South would cash the first five Club tricks, leaving East to mop up the remaining eight tricks. Hand 4 Dealer West [ A K Q J 6 5 ] { 4 } [ N [ ] A 5 2 ] K 6 4 { A K Q 10 8 { J } A 4 S } 10 3 [ 9 ] Q J 9 3 { 3 2 } K Q J East-West just have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. When East s hand is displayed for all to see it is clear to West that his side s best trump suit is Diamonds. After West has nominated Diamonds as trumps North will lead the [A and declarer has to make as many tricks as he can. West should manage eight tricks, leaving North-South with five. What would happen in No-trumps? North would cash the first six Spade tricks, leaving West to make the last seven tricks when he finally gained the lead. Minibridge lesson notes Page 9

11 Hand 5 [ ] { A K Q } 7 3 Hands for 2: Introduction to Minibridge (Trumps). [ K Q J 8 2 N [ A 7 ] 9 8 ] 4 { { } J 9 8 S } Q [ ] A K Q J 6 { J 7 2 } A K Hand 6 [ Q 10 6 ] { 10 3 } A [ A K 3 N [ ] Q J 2 ] A K 3 { { A K Q J 6 5 } K 6 4 S } 3 [ J ] { 7 } Q J North-South hold the majority of the high cards and South has the highest number of points. South therefore becomes the declarer and North becomes the dummy. After a look at dummy South should select Hearts as trumps as North-South have ten good cards there. West should lead the [K (top of a sequence) and South has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, South can make ten tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? East-West can take the first five Spade tricks although this involves an overtaking play in Spades. Basically East has to put his [A on his partner s [K and play another Spade back. Hand 7 Dealer South [ K Q J 9 7 ] K 9 4 { K J 9 } 7 3 [ A N [ ] J ] { A 7 5 { Q 6 3 } K Q S } J [ ] A Q 8 { } A North-South hold the majority of the points and North has a better hand than South. North, therefore becomes declarer, a disappointment to West who has the best hand at the table. With a sight of the dummy North can see that the best trump suit is Spades (because it is the longest suit that North-South hold between them). Declarer should make around nine tricks after East leads the }J (top of a sequence). What would happen in Notrumps? This would be tit-for-tat. East would lead a Club, forcing North to use up dummy s }A. North would have to play a Spade to force the [A (tit-fortat) and now East-West would have their Club tricks East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy. When West s hand is put on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit (actually, a tencard fit) for the partnership. Accordingly East chooses to play the hand in Diamonds. South leads the }Q (top of a sequence) and East has to make as many tricks as he can. It is possible to make eleven tricks. What would happen in No-trumps? The }Q lead traps dummy s }K and North-South can take the first five Club tricks. There is nothing declarer can do about this as the }A sits over the }K. Hand 8 Dealer West [ Q J 10 ] 8 3 { 9 7 } A K Q [ A 4 N [ K 5 ] A K Q ] J { A 6 5 { K } J 7 S } [ ] 4 { Q J 10 4 } East-West have the majority of the points and West has the better hand of his partnership. Therefore West becomes declarer and East s fate is to become the dummy. With a sight of his partner s hand West has to decide which suit to make trumps. With ten Hearts between the two hands it is an easy decision to make that suit trumps. Declarer may well be able to make as many as ten tricks after North leads the }A. What would happen in No-trumps? North has a fine six-card suit and East-West have no stopper there (a term meaning that North can run off six uninterrupted tricks in his long suit). West will have the last seven. Minibridge lesson notes Page 10

12 3. Mixed No-trumps and trumps. In this final section we look at deals where declarer has a choice of whether to play in a trump suit or in No-trumps. What would sway declarer s choice of strain? Let s have a look at a typical deal, but only the North-South cards. [ Q 7 5 ] A K 4 { } A 3 2 W Dummy Declarer [ A K J 8 ] Q 8 5 { A 9 3 } If you were South (declarer) what strain would you nominate? Spades? Hearts? Diamonds? Clubs? Notrumps? And why? The answer is: declarer should nominate No-trumps. Firstly, note, that North-South have no eight-card (or longer) fit in any trump suit that argues against making any suit trumps. Secondly, note that the North-South hands are balanced. This is a common term used in Minibridge (and bridge) and it denotes a hand without a long suit and without any singletons or any voids. If you would like to be technical here then it is usually applied to hands with a suit pattern of or Here, both North and South have shapes. Balanced hands usually play better in No-trumps than with a trump suit. Finally, note that North-South have stoppers in all suits. This means that the opponents cannot lead a suit and run off tricks there. Essentially, North-South control all four suits. If you can count your tricks in advance maybe you can see that South can make nine tricks on this deal; he has four Spade tricks, three Heart tricks and two Aces. Now, by contrast, have a look at this hand: [ 5 ] K { A Q 9 5 } W Dummy Declarer E E [ ] A Q J 10 3 { K J } J 4 Here, South should nominate Hearts as trumps. Why? Well, neither North nor South is balanced (if we are being technical, South has a shape and North has a shape), North-South do have a nine-card fit in a suit (Hearts) and North-South do not have stoppers in either Clubs or Spades (meaning that East-West could take an unknown number of Club and Spade tricks before South gets a look in). Here, a trump suit controls the hand. If East-West decide to lead Spades then North (dummy) can trump the second round, allowing East-West only one trick in Spades. If East-West lead Clubs South can trump the third round, allowing the opponents only two tricks in Clubs. The eight hands that follow are mixed. Declarer has to decide whether to nominate a trump suit or Notrumps. Minibridge lesson notes Page 11

13 Hands for 3: Introduction to Minibridge (mixed trumps and No-trumps). Hand 1 [ K Q J ] A K Q { } 2 [ 3 2 N [ 4 ] J ] { K Q { J 2 } J S } A K Q 7 6 [ A ] { A 5 3 } 8 3 Hand 2 [ ] 5 4 { A Q 9 8 } [ J N [ A K Q ] A Q ] K J { None { J } J 5 4 S } [ 5 4 ] { K } A K Q North-South hold the majority of the high cards and North has the highest number of points. North therefore becomes the declarer and South becomes the dummy. After a look at dummy North should select Spades as trumps as North-South have a ten-card fit there. East should lead the }A and North has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, North should emerge with ten tricks, leaving East-West with just three. Note that North must lead off some trumps as his first play otherwise East-West may make a cheap trick with the [2 by trumping a Heart. No-trumps would allow East-West to take the first five tricks. Hand 3 Dealer South [ K J 2 ] J { A 6 } Q [ N [ 10 3 ] A Q ] K { J { } A J 4 S } K 7 3 [ A Q 7 4 ] { K Q 3 } North-South hold the majority of the high cards so they become the partnership that plays the hand. However, North and South have the same number of points. Because South was the first player to announce his points (as he is dealer) it is South who becomes the declarer and North who has to put up with being the dummy. After a look at the exposed dummy hand South has an awkward decision but should select No-trumps as the North-South hands are balanced (there is no good trump suit). This type of deal can be difficult but declarer does have three Diamonds and four Spades to make so he should record at least seven tricks East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer and West puts down his hand as dummy. When West s hand is put face upwards on the table East can see that there is a very good trump suit for the partnership in Hearts, even though declarer doesn t have much in that suit himself. After East nominates Hearts as trumps South leads the }A. East should be able to make ten tricks, although South will have the first three. Again (as in Hand 1), East should take care to play off some Hearts to get rid of North-South s trumps as early as he can. Hand 4 Dealer West [ K Q J 9 ] J { 6 3 } J 10 9 [ 6 3 N [ 8 5 ] K Q 9 ] A 8 4 { A J { K Q 10 4 } A K 4 S } [ A ] { 8 2 } Q East-West just have the majority of the points with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. When East s hand is displayed for all to see it is clear to West that his side s best trump suit is Diamonds. After West has nominated Diamonds as trumps North will lead the [K (top of a sequence) and declarer has to make as many tricks as he can. Declarer should manage ten tricks, leaving North- South with three. North-South should be able to take two tricks in Spades immediately and, eventually, a trick in Clubs. Minibridge lesson notes Page 12

14 Hands for 3: Introduction to Minibridge (mixed trumps and No-trumps). Hand 5 [ A 6 5 ] K Q 2 { Q J 5 } J [ K Q J N [ ] ] 8 6 { 8 4 { } A K Q 6 S } [ ] A J 5 4 { A K 6 2 } 3 2 Hand 6 [ J ] K Q J 10 9 { None } 5 [ 4 3 N [ A K Q 2 ] 7 3 ] A { { A K Q } K Q J 10 3 S } A 2 [ None ] 8 4 { J } North-South hold the majority of the points and North has a better hand than South. North, therefore becomes declarer, a disappointment to West who has the best hand at the table. With a sight of his partner s hand North has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. East leads the [10 and North should make nine tricks via a Spade, four Hearts and four Diamonds. Care has to be taken to play off the ]K Q as the first play in Hearts and the {Q J as the first play in Diamonds. Otherwise the suits may get tangled and declarer may end up in the wrong hand at the wrong time. Hand 7 Dealer South [ ] Q 9 4 { K Q 4 3 } [ A K Q 10 N [ ] ] 3 { { J } J 8 3 S } K Q 9 [ J ] A K J { A 5 } A North-South hold the majority of the high cards and South has the highest number of points. South therefore becomes the declarer and North becomes the dummy. After a look at dummy South should select Hearts as trumps as North-South have nine cards there. West leads the [A (top of a sequence) and South has to see how many tricks he can make. As it happens, South can make ten tricks allowing East-West three. South s tricks are made up from six Hearts, three Diamonds and a Club. It is important (in principle, anyway) to play off some Hearts first (to draw trumps) before playing the {A and then the {K Q East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table, a massive 26 points. East therefore becomes declarer and West becomes the dummy. With a sight of his partner s hand East has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. South leads the {J and East should make twelve tricks, provided that he plays off the }A before playing the rest of the Clubs. This way the makes three Spades, a Heart, three Diamonds and five Clubs. If he plays the Clubs in any other way the then some high Clubs will be stranded in the dummy Hand 8 Dealer West [ K Q J 10 4 ] A { } [ A 6 5 N [ ] J ] 10 8 { A 5 4 { K Q J 9 } A 4 2 S } K Q J 10 [ 8 2 ] K Q { 8 7 } East-West have the majority of the points and West has the better hand of his partnership. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. With a sight of his partner s hand West has to decide what strain to play in. With no decent trump suit (no eight-card fit) the right answer is No-trumps. North leads the [K and West should make nine tricks. He must be careful to release the Aces of Clubs and Diamonds early enough if he holds them back he may end up in the wrong hand at the wrong time. With correct play West makes a Spade, four Diamonds and four Clubs for nine in all. Minibridge lesson notes Page 13

15 4: Basic scoring. So far, scoring has been either non-existent or very simple (just a note of how many tricks each side has scored). In this section we are going to see how basic scoring is done. (Yes, it does get more complicated). This is shown in the table below and, naturally enough, links with the game of bridge itself. The basic principle of scoring is that declarer s partnership score points for every trick they take above six (think of that as being more than half of thirteen, which is the total number of tricks available on any deal). Making six tricks or fewer is bad news for declarer making seven tricks or more is good. The points scored vary depending on the trump suit (or No-trumps). The table below shows the relative worth of the suits and No-trumps. No-trumps NT 40 points for seven tricks then an extra 30 points for every trick above seven. Spades Hearts Diamonds Clubs [ ] } 30 points for every trick taken above six. { } } 20 points for every trick taken above six. Some simple examples follow, firstly the trick scores: 1. Declarer sets Hearts as trumps and makes eight tricks. What does he score? The answer is: 60 points that is If Diamonds were trumps and declarer made ten tricks he would score 80 points. (That is 4 20). 3. If there were no trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would score 70 points. (That is ). 4. If Spades were trumps and declarer made twelve tricks he would score 180 points. (That is 6 30) To make things slightly more difficult there are bonuses available to declarer. That is: for making more than six tricks declarer is always awarded an extra 50 points. The examples above, therefore, need to be modified as below: 1. If Hearts were trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would actually score 110 points. (That is ) 2. If Diamonds were trumps and declarer made ten tricks he would actually score 130 points. (That is ) 3. If there were No-trumps and declarer made eight tricks he would actually score 120 points. (That is ( ) + 50) 4. If Spades were trumps and declarer made twelve tricks he would actually score 230 points. (That is ) In each case declarer s opponents score nothing. It is helpful to be declarer as his partnership (usually) scores points. However, should declarer fail to make seven tricks he will be penalised, as described in the following paragraph. Failure by declarer to make at least seven tricks will concede a penalty of 50 points per trick short. Thus, if declarer makes six tricks he will lose 50 points, if he makes five tricks he will lose 100 points and so on. These penalty scores do not depend on what suit is trumps. Minibridge lesson notes Page 14

16 Thus, for example, if declarer nominates Spades as trumps and makes five tricks his opponents would score 100 points (2 50) for two tricks short of seven. It wouldn t matter if Clubs had been trumps, it is still a penalty of 100 points. Declarer s side would score nothing. Given that the declarer and dummy have more high cards than the opponents and have the privilege of selecting the trump suit, failure to make more than half the number of available tricks should not happen often! The table below acts as a ready-reckoner for all possible outcomes. Can you see how all the scores are calculated? Remember, in all occasions where seven or more tricks are taken there is a bonus of 50 points as well as a trick score. Number of tricks taken NT [ ] { } Naturally enough, these scores link in with the game of bridge itself so are useful to remember. In the eight hands that follow you should try to calculate the score on each of the deals. Minibridge lesson notes Page 15

17 Hand 1 [ 8 ] { K Q 10 6 } [ Q N [ A K J ] K Q J ] A 5 4 { { A 4 2 } S } 9 [ 7 3 ] { J 9 7 } A K Q J 2 Hands for 4: Basic scoring. Hand 2 [ A K Q ] 5 { } K [ N [ ] A K 6 ] Q J { Q J 3 { A K 9 } Q J 4 S } 8 [ J 9 4 ] { } A East-West have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East therefore becomes declarer, West becomes the dummy. When West s hand is displayed it should be clear to East that his side s best trump suit is Spades as there is a ten-card fit there. After declarer has nominated Spades as trumps South should lead the }A and declarer has to make as many tricks as he can. East should actually manage to make ten tricks, (six Spades, three Hearts and a Diamond) leaving North-South with just three. The score to East-West is therefore 170 points ( ). North-South score nothing. Hand 3 Dealer South [ ] A K J { A 6 } [ N [ A K Q J ] ] { { K Q J 4 } 6 2 S } 5 3 [ ] Q 9 6 { } A K Q J Now North-South hold the balance of the high cards despite East having the best hand at the table. As North and South hold equally strong hands it is the player who announces his points first that becomes declarer. In this case that player is South (who, as dealer, was first to speak) leaving North as dummy. After a look at the exposed dummy South should select Clubs as trumps as North-South have nine cards there. West may as well select the {10 as the opening lead (top of a sequence). South should emerge with nine tricks, leaving East-West with four. North-South score 110 points ( ), East- West get nothing East-West again have the majority of the points with West holding the strongest hand. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. When East s hand appears for inspection it should be obvious to West that his side s best trump suit is Hearts, where his side have a nine-card fit. After Hearts become trumps North will lead the [A and declarer has to rake in some tricks. Declarer will lose the first three tricks with the }A to lose as well but should still manage nine tricks, leaving North-South with four. If this is indeed the case the score is 140 points to East-West ( ). North-South score nothing. Hand 4 Dealer West [ A K Q ] { A K Q } A 5 3 [ J N [ 8 ] 8 6 ] A K Q J 10 { J { 5 2 } J 6 S } Q [ ] 5 3 { } K North-South hold the majority of the high cards as North has a magnificent hand. North therefore becomes the declarer, South exposing a poor hand as dummy. North should reflect that his partnership has no good trump suit to play in (the best fit is just seven cards) This is the time to play in No-trumps so that is what North should nominate. East will lead the ]A and can take the first five tricks in that suit. That, however, is the end of the party with North-South able to take the last eight (three Spades, three Diamonds and two Clubs). The score is North-South +120 points ( ), with East-West getting nothing. Minibridge lesson notes Page 16

18 Hand 5 [ A K J ] A K Q J { 6 2 } 6 [ N [ 8 4 ] ] { Q 10 4 { K J 9 } K J 3 S } Q [ Q 10 ] 5 { A } A Hands for 4: Basic scoring. Hand 6 [ ] K { 6 5 } [ J 10 7 N [ K Q 9 ] Q J 10 9 ] 6 4 { K J { A Q 10 7 } 8 S } [ A ] A 8 2 { 9 4 } A K Q J North-South hold the majority of the high cards as North has a strong hand. North therefore becomes the declarer, South displaying his hand as dummy. North should see that his side has very useful Spades (there is an eight-card fit there) and nominate those as trumps. With lots of top cards in the outside suits North can easily make twelve tricks with Spades as trumps. (There are six Spade tricks, four Hearts and two Aces to take). East-West can do nothing on any lead East is going to lead the ]10 in fact, which does no damage to North at all. The score is North-South +230 points ( ), with East-West getting nothing. Hand 7 Dealer South [ J ] 10 { 8 7 } K J [ A 5 3 N [ K 4 2 ] A K ] Q J { K 9 6 { A 5 3 } 4 2 S } 9 3 [ Q 8 ] 8 7 { Q J } A Q East-West have the majority of the points this time with West holding the best hand at the table. West therefore becomes declarer and East becomes the dummy. With ten cards in the suit between the two hands it should be clear to West that his side s best trump suit is Hearts. With no Club stopper No-trumps is very dodgy indeed. After declarer has nominated Hearts North will lead the [J and declarer has to make as many tricks as he can, which in this case is probably nine (five Hearts, two Spades and two Diamonds). The score to East-West is therefore 140 points ( ). North-South score nothing North-South again hold the majority of the high cards but this time only just (21 points to 19). South has the strong hand and therefore becomes declarer, North being the dummy. North-South s best trump suit is Clubs (an eight-card fit) and South should duly nominate them as such. West leads the ]Q (top of a sequence) in the hope of setting up some tricks there. Declarer must lose a fair few tricks on this hand and will doubtless be happy to emerge with seven tricks. (At the very least, South should make four Clubs, the [A and the ]A K). The score for this is: North-South gain 70 points ( ), East-West get nothing. Hand 8 Dealer West [ K J 9 ] J { 4 2 } [ N [ A 6 2 ] K Q 2 ] A 4 3 { J 10 9 { A K Q } S } 7 [ Q ] { 5 3 } A K Q J East-West again have the majority of the points with East holding the best hand at the table. East becomes declarer and West displays the dummy. Here Diamonds are the best trump suit with a ninecard fit and East should choose them as such. South will lead a top Club and East will almost certainly end up with ten tricks (consisting of six Diamond tricks, three Heart tricks and the [A). The score to East- West is therefore 130 points ( ). North- South score nothing. As it happens East-West could have made nine tricks in No-trumps as North-South could only take four Club tricks. However, East can t know that; East-West have no Club stopper. Minibridge lesson notes Page 17

19 5. Developing tricks. General Approach: Almost all deals played in any forms of bridge contain top tricks that can be cashed immediately and suits that must be developed into tricks. Most times in declarer play there is a need to develop tricks before cashing winners. Here is a hand where declarer (South) can see ten top tricks having nominated Hearts as trumps. West leads the }K (top of a sequence): [ Q 3 ] { } A 4 2 [ Dummy [ A J ] 5 3 ] 2 { { } K Q J 10 Declarer } [ K 4 ] A K Q J 10 { A K Q J } 7 3 In this example South can win the }A in the dummy and can cash his winners. After the }A declarer has five Heart tricks and four Diamond tricks. That gives South ten tricks in all. Can he do better? Well, yes he can make eleven tricks by making a trick in Spades. Best play is to do this early. If he waits to the very end he may not make a Spade trick at all. In fact, the best play of the whole hand is to win the }A, play some Hearts (but not all, just enough to ensure that East-West have none left) and then play a Spade to knock out the [A. There are two ways that declarer might choose to do this he might lead the [K (and contribute dummy s [3) or he might lead the [4 and play dummy s [Q. Either way, when East takes his [A the other Spade honour (the [Q or the [K) is now the top Spade and is a winner. As far as declarer is concerned the [K and [Q are equals on this deal. Either may be used to knock out the [A, leaving the other honour as the boss card in Spades. Can you see why it would be poor play to cash all five Hearts beore leading a Spade? This theme (that of knocking out high cards, is very important and forms the basis of most hands at Minibridge (and whist, and bridge). Note that West on the last hand also did some knocking out the opening lead of the }K knocked out declarer s }A. This, in turn, set up the }Q (or the }J or the }10) as winners in the suit. On this deal the Club sequence }K Q J 10 were all equals. West could equally well have led the }K, the }Q, the }J or the }10 as his opening shot. It is customary, however, to lead the top card from a sequence so that your partner knows what is going on. Put yourself at the helm in the next deal by sitting in the South seat as declarer. Spades are trumps, West leads the }K. How would you play the hand? [ ] { } 5 3 Dummy }K Declarer [ A K Q J 10 ] K Q J { K Q J } A 6 Minibridge lesson notes Page 18

20 South should make ten tricks. He has five top tricks in Spades, and one top trick in Clubs. As well as that he can set up two tricks in Hearts and two tricks in Diamonds by knocking out the Ace of each red suit. As on the last hand it is best to do this early. Can you see why? Let s go through the play. South should win the }A, play off sufficient trumps so that East-West have no more and then turn his attention to a red suit (it doesn t matter which say Hearts). South can lead any of his Hearts (they are all equals) to force the ]A. That sets up two Heart winners in declarer s hand. If the opponents take a Club trick they may play back a Heart. South wins that and switches his attention to Diamonds, leading any of his equal cards. That forces the {A, setting up two Diamond winners. You will note that declarer is always in control. Whatever East-West do declarer can regain the lead fairly quickly had he played off all of his trump winners then that would not be the case. It is worth noting that it is possible to count losers. Here, South must lose the ]A, the {A and a Club trick. That means declarer has three losers (and, therefore, you might expect ten winners). Try this one, where the relevant high cards are split between declarer and dummy. South is declarer with Spades as trumps. West leads the {K. 1) How many top tricks are there? 2) What suits should South set up? 3) How many losers does declarer have? 4) How many tricks should declarer make? [ Q J ] K 4 2 { } Q 3 Dummy {K Declarer [ A K ] Q J 3 { A 5 2 } K 6 Let s answer these questions in turn. 1) There are six top tricks. Five in Spades (even though the top Spades are in different hands) and the {A. 2) Declarer should knock out the ]A and the }A to set up two tricks in Hearts and one in Clubs. 3) Declarer should lose the ]A, two Diamond tricks (as the {A has been knocked out at trick one) and the }A. 4) Declarer has four losers and nine winners (five Spades, two Hearts, two Diamonds and a Club). The Heart winners and the Club winner are slow tricks. The eight hands that follow in this section require declarer to set up suits by driving out (or knocking out) the opponents high cards. Minibridge lesson notes Page 19

21 Hand 1 [ K J 8 ] Q J { A K 9 } 10 4 [ A 9 5 N [ ] 3 2 ] 5 4 { J { } S } A K Q 3 [ Q 3 2 ] A K 9 6 { Q 7 4 } J 8 2 Hands for 5: Developing tricks. Hand 2 [ A K Q J ] { } [ 5 4 N [ ] A K J 9 8 ] Q 10 7 { K 7 6 { Q J 8 } K Q 3 S } J 6 4 [ ] 6 4 { A } A North becomes declarer and should choose Hearts as trumps as his side has nine of them. East will lead the }A (top of a sequence) and declarer must count his tricks. North can see eight top tricks (five Heart tricks and three Diamond tricks) and two Spade tricks after the [A has been knocked out. So when declarer gains the lead he should play a Heart or two and then play on Spades. As the [K, the [Q and the [J are all equals it doesn t matter whether declarer leads the [K or the [J or leads his low Spade and plays dummy s [Q. Whichever way he does it there will be two Spade tricks set up for declarer. Ten tricks in Hearts scores 170 points. Hand 3 Dealer South [ K J 3 ] Q 9 2 { } Q 10 2 [ A N [ ] ] A { K Q J 9 { } 4 3 S } A 8 [ Q 10 5 ] K J 7 { A } K J South is declarer and should choose Clubs to be trumps. West leads the {K (top of a sequence). South has three Aces to knock out one of them being the Ace of trumps. After winning the Diamond lead with the {A declarer should play on trumps, driving out the }A. After that declarer should plays some more Clubs (to extract East-West s trumps) before doing the same thing in Spades and Hearts, losing tricks to the Aces but setting up winners in the process. In fact, the three Aces are all that South should lose, eventually making ten tricks (two Spades, two Hearts, a Diamond and five Clubs) for a score of 130 points West becomes declarer and should nominate Hearts. Declarer has five top tricks in the form of five Heart winners. Other tricks will have to be set up in Clubs and Diamonds (you can t develop a Spade trick). West s plan should be to knock out the two Aces in Clubs and Diamonds. Let s say North leads three rounds of Spades. West can ruff the last one and may choose to play a Heart or two. After that he should lead either Diamonds or Clubs, using one of the King, Queen or Jack to knock out the Ace. By repeating the process in the other suit declarer can set up two Diamond tricks and two Club tricks to go with five Heart tricks. Nine tricks makes 140. Hand 4 Dealer West [ A ] A J { 8 } K Q J [ K Q 8 N [ J 10 9 ] Q 4 ] K 6 { K J { A Q } S } A 4 3 [ ] { 9 5 } East will play this hand as declarer and it is fairly obvious to make Diamonds trumps. South (what a foul hand!) will lead the }10 and declarer can take stock. As well as the six top tricks (five Diamonds and a Club) there are slow tricks available in Spades and Hearts. After the [A has been knocked out there are two Spade tricks and after the ]A has been similarly driven out there is one trick in that suit. Declarer should win, therefore, nine tricks (two Spades, a Heart, five Diamonds and a Club), losing two Club tricks and two Aces. That will record a score of 110 points to East-West. Minibridge lesson notes Page 20