How the cards are played
The auction sets the stage for the play. The player who gets to play the hand, the declarer, is the one who first mentioned the strain in which the contract is to be played. Declarer's partner is called dummy. The opposing pair are the defenders.
The defender on declarer's left makes the opening lead by laying a card face downward on the table to commence the play. Once this lead has been accepted by opening leader’s partner (who may first wish to ask some questions about the bidding) it is turned up. Only then are dummy's cards placed face upwards on the table in four columns facing declarer, with any trumps on dummy's right.
Declarer should observe proper etiquette by thanking dummy before planning the play.
Declarer controls two hands by calling for a card from dummy each round (played by dummy) as well as playing a card from hand. Whoever wins the trick leads first to the next trick. Should the card called from dummy win the trick, the next trick must be commenced from dummy.
Board 1 Dlr: N Nil Vul
The contract you are asked to play is 3NT by North, a game contract - 9 tricks required.
NORTH
♠ A62
♥ AKQJ
♦ 962
♣ 754
WEST EAST
♠ K743 ♠ QJT9
♥ 873 ♥ T54
♦ T54 ♦ 873
♣ QJT ♣ K62
SOUTH
♠ 85
♥ 962
♦ AKQJ
♣ A983
East leads ♠Q (described as top of a sequence and promising, against a notrump contract, the jack and ten as well). South and West follow suit with ♠5 and ♠3. North wins with ♠A. Looking at her own hand and dummy, North counts 10 sure tricks and takes them at once.
North now plays 4 rounds of hearts. East, South and West follow for 3 rounds but on the fourth round they must each discard by playing a useless card from any other suit they choose. East and West each discard a low diamond and declarer discards a small spade from dummy.
Declarer can now cross to dummy's high diamonds and win 4 diamonds and ♣A before East‑West win the last 3 tricks. North-South thus win the first ten tricks, making 4NT. Contract made with one extra trick, called an overtrick.
The score is 4x30 + 10 + 300 = 430.
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Having now read the rudiments of bridge, you will be in a position to start playing the game - with some friends, family, colleagues etc. For the more competitive amongst the readers, there will probably be a bridge club at your university, CBD or local suburb. Failing this there are now numerous opportunities to play bridge online on a platform called RealBridge, where you actually see your partner and opponents. There is also a site called Bridge Base Online (BBO), which is an easy online starting point. More details can be found in the "Useful Links" in the sidebar of the Home Page of this blog, or Just send me your enquiry via the Contact form and I will try to point you in the right direction.
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The story continues in the next post - Number 1(e). I welcome any comments you may have. You can do this via the "Post a Comment" feature at the bottom of each post, or the Contact Form in the right sidebar.
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Reminder - If you have already been exposed to bridge, and would like to move at a more accelerated pace, you may wish to inspect the complementary website
https://bridgeforbeginners18.blogspot.com/
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