Contract bridge (card game)
Contract bridge is a strategic card game played by four players in two partnerships. Originating from the sixteenth-century British game of whist, bridge involves dealing all fifty-two cards, with each player receiving thirteen. The game comprises three main phases: the auction, the play of the hand, and defense. During the auction, players bid in clockwise order to establish a contract, which specifies the number of tricks one partnership aims to take with a designated trump suit or with no trump at all. The winning bidder, known as the declarer, plays both their hand and their partner's exposed hand (the dummy) to achieve the declared contract, while the opposing partnership works to thwart their efforts.
The game's popularity surged in the 20th century, significantly influenced by figures like Ely Culbertson and Charles Goren, who contributed to its promotion and understanding through publications and public demonstrations. The American Contract Bridge League, established in 1937, plays a crucial role in governing the game, organizing tournaments, and promoting bridge as a competitive and social activity. Contract bridge not only serves as a pastime but also fosters communication and teamwork between partners, making it a cherished game among enthusiasts worldwide.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Contract bridge (card game)
Card game for foursomes
Contract bridge became popular almost immediately after Harold S. Vanderbilt invented it on November 1, 1925.
Derived from whist, a British pastime created in the sixteenth century, contract bridge is a communication game between two sets of partners. After all fifty-two cards are dealt, thirteen to each player, each deal consists of three aspects: the auction, the play of the hand, and defense. Starting with the dealer, players bid in clockwise rotation to name the contract, the number of tricks to be taken in a specified trump suit or in no trump. There are thirteen tricks in the deck, four cards each. The winner of the auction, the declarer, plays both his or her own hand, which remains concealed, and his or her partner’s hand, which is exposed as dummy, to try to make the contract. The other partnership defends, trying to prevent the declarer from succeeding.
The rapid proliferation of bridge resulted mainly from the work of Ely Culbertson, a flamboyant publicist who founded The Bridge World, the major magazine of bridge, in 1929, and Charles Goren, a lawyer who became a full-time bridge writer, player, and bidding theorist in 1936. While Goren’s fame rested on his consummate expertise at the bridge table and his readable, intelligent books, Culbertson’s came from his showmanship. Culbertson arranged, promoted, and participated in several famous demonstrations and contests, including the Culbertson-Sidney Lenz match, known as the “bridge battle of the century,” from December, 1931, to January, 1932, and the Culbertson-P. Hal Sims match in March and April, 1935.
Impact
Bridge fascinated millions of Americans throughout the 1930’s. Mothers taught it to their children as a key to social success. On March 6, 1931, Myrtle Bennett was acquitted of murdering her husband in a fit of passion after he, as her bridge partner, failed to make his contract. The American Contract Bridge League was founded in 1937, as the merger of the American Bridge League and the United States Bridge Association, to govern the game, codify its rules, register its life masters, and organize national championships and other tournaments.
Bibliography
Balfour, Sandy. Vulnerable in Hearts: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Contract Bridge. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge. 6th ed. Memphis, Tenn.: American Contract Bridge League, 2001.
Truscott, Alan, and Dorothy Truscott. The New York Times Bridge Book. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.