Bridge guides and conventions
These guides start at the beginning, with what a bid means and what a card does. They use worked hands, and each convention comes with the problem it was invented to solve.
You can try any of it right away. A practice table seats you with three robots, so you can start a deal whenever you like. Every board you play is saved, and you can replay it trick by trick afterwards. More about free bridge online here.
Learning bridge
Start here if bridge is new, or if it's the words at the table you're stuck on.
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How to play bridge
A beginner's guide to contract bridge: the deal, the auction, declarer and dummy, the play of the tricks, and how the score is kept.
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Minibridge
Minibridge is a simplified form of bridge with no auction. This page covers how the declarer and contract are chosen, and when to move on to full bridge.
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Valuing a bridge hand
How to value a bridge hand: high card points, length and shortage, and how the auction and a trump fit change what your cards are worth.
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Bridge scoring
Bridge scoring explained, with trick points, the game and slam bonuses, undertrick penalties, and the difference between IMPs and matchpoints.
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A glossary of bridge terms
A glossary of bridge terms for new players, from ruff, finesse and vulnerable to squeeze and LHO, each defined in a sentence and shown in context.
Bidding and conventions
Most hands are won or lost in the auction. Ranges and rules first, then the conventions worth agreeing with partner.
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A bridge bidding cheat sheet
Opening bids, responses, rebids and common conventions on one page, with the point counts and ranges for Standard American five-card majors.
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Bridge conventions, and which ones are worth learning first
A convention gives a bid an agreed artificial meaning. This guide lists the bridge conventions to learn first, in order, and how many a pair should play.
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Stayman
The Stayman convention finds a 4-4 major fit after partner opens 1NT. This guide covers when to bid 2♣, opener's answers, and when not to use it.
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Jacoby transfers
Jacoby transfers after 1NT: 2♦ shows hearts and 2♥ shows spades, so the strong hand declares. Covers responder's rebids, super-accepts and minor transfers.
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Takeout doubles
A takeout double of a low-level suit bid asks partner to name a suit. Here is what it promises, how partner must answer, and when to overcall instead.
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Negative doubles
A negative double is responder's double of an overcall, used for takeout. This page covers what it shows, how high to play it, and opener's rebid.
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Michaels and the unusual notrump
Michaels cue bids and the unusual 2NT both show a two-suited hand over an opponent's opening. Covers which suits each shows, point ranges and responses.
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Cappelletti
Cappelletti (also called Hamilton) is a defence to an opponent's 1NT opening. The overcalls and what each shows, partner's replies, and Landy and DONT compared.
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Lebensohl
Lebensohl is used when an opponent overcalls partner's 1NT: 2NT asks opener to bid 3♣. Covers the weak and game-forcing routes and the stopper agreements.
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Preempts
Preemptive bidding means opening at the three level or higher on a weak hand with a long suit. When to preempt, the rule of 2 and 3, and partner's responses.
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Weak two bids
A weak two opening shows a six-card suit and about 5–10 points. This page covers what it promises, which hands should not open it, and the 2NT ask.
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Jacoby 2NT
Jacoby 2NT is a game-forcing raise of partner's major with four-card support. Covers when to bid it, opener's shortage-showing rebids, and slam bidding.
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Splinter bids
A splinter bid is a double jump in a new suit showing a game-forcing raise and a singleton or void there. When to splinter and how opener judges slam.
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Bergen raises
Bergen raises use 3♣ and 3♦ to show four-card support for partner's major and a point range. The four responses, Reverse Bergen, and what the system costs.
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Drury
The Drury convention is a 2♣ response by a passed hand that shows a limit raise of partner's major. Covers opener's rebids and Reverse and two-way Drury.
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Reverses
A reverse is opener's rebid in a higher-ranking new suit at the two level, showing about 17 or more points. How to recognise one, and responder's options.
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New minor forcing
New minor forcing is responder's bid of the unbid minor after opener's 1NT rebid, asking about three-card major support. Opener's answers and follow-ups.
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Fourth suit forcing
Fourth suit forcing makes the fourth suit artificial once three suits are bid. What it asks, opener's answers, and how it differs from new minor forcing.
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Blackwood, and Roman Key Card
Blackwood uses 4NT to ask partner for aces before a slam. This page covers the responses, Roman Key Card 1430 and 0314, Gerber, and when not to ask.
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Two over one game forcing
In two over one game forcing, a two-level new-suit response to a major opening forces to game. Covers the forcing 1NT and how these auctions develop.
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Acol
Acol is the British bidding system, with four-card majors and a 12–14 notrump. How it differs from Standard American, and how the rebids change.
Playing the cards
The other half of bridge: declarer play and defence. No amount of bidding theory will rescue you here.
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Planning the play
How declarer plans the play before trick one: counting winners in notrump, counting losers in a suit contract, and finding the extra tricks you need.
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The finesse
A finesse tries to win a trick with a lower honour when a higher one is missing. How it works, the common types, and when another line is better.
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Opening leads
Opening leads in bridge against notrump and suit contracts: which suit to lead, which card to choose from common holdings, and what partner can learn.
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Defensive signals
Defensive signals in bridge: attitude, count and suit preference. What each signal shows, upside-down carding, and how to tell which one partner gave.
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Counting the hand
Counting the hand means tracking each opponent's length in a suit. How to start with one suit, using the auction, opening lead and discards.
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Endplays
An endplay forces an opponent to lead into your tenace or give a ruff and discard. How elimination and throw-in work, and when to look for one.
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Defensive card play
The working rules of defence: second hand low, third hand high, covering an honour with an honour, and discarding, with the positions where each is wrong.
Where to play
Finding a game, practising alone, what the online formats give you, and what a club night is like.
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Four-handed bridge, and playing all four hands yourself
Bridge needs four players. This page explains single and double dummy play, playing all four hands yourself, and practising alone against robots.
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Just Play Bridge
Just Play Bridge is BBO's free solo format: you play one seat and robots play three. How it works, its scoring, and the fact that deals are not saved.
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What BBO is
BBO is Bridge Base Online, the largest online bridge site. What the name means, what the GIB robots are, and other sites where people play bridge online.
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Your first bridge club
What to expect at your first duplicate bridge club: how a session runs, what new players worry about, basic etiquette, and how to find a club near you.
How to use these
If you have never played, start with how to play bridge and keep the glossary open beside it. A lot of what feels hard at first is just vocabulary. If you can already play a hand but the auction still feels like guesswork, go to the bidding cheat sheet and get your opening bids and rebids sound before you add conventions.
Then add conventions one at a time. Each one gives up the natural meaning of a bid. Learn one, play fifty hands with it, and add the next once the first comes without thinking.