OPENING BASICS:

Bid denominations are ranked low to high, with the suits in alphabetical order. The denominations are then divided into three categories:

Part Scores, Games, and Slams:

Scoring:

Here is a look at the basic values of each contract:

C D H S NT
1 20 20 30 30 40
2 40 40 60 60 70
3 60 60 90 90 100
4 80 80 120 120 130
5 100 100 150 150 160
6 120 120 180 180 190
7 140 140 210 210 220

Part-scores are in cyan; games are in blue; small slams are in red; grand slams are in yellow.

Scoring systems:

Most casual bridge games in which players bother keeping score are based on Rubber scoring—the first partnership that wins two games wins a rubber and earns a bonus of either 500 or 700 points, depending on whether or not opponents have won a game. Part scores, discounting overtricks, add up to games. When a partnership wins a game, part scores for both partnerships start over at 0, though the points are not lost.

Tournaments and clubs use duplicate scoring. In duplicate, many people will play the same hands, and the results of each partnership will be compared to other partnerships who played the same hands while sitting in the same directions (East-West partnerships will have their scores compared to the scores of other East-West partnerships, for instance). After that, one of two calculations will take place using the net score (when your opponents score points, your net score will be negative):

  • In single-partnership events, each partnership will score one match point for every partnership that earned a lower net score, half a match point for each partnership that earned the same net score, and nothing for each partnership that earned a higher net score. These match points get added up in the end, and the partnership with the highest total wins.
  • In team games, the East-West partnership of team A will play against the North-South partnership of team B, and the North-South partnership of team A will face off against the East-West partnership of team B at a different table. When they finish a set of hands, they will switch hands with the other table. After all partnerships have played all of the hands, their scores will be compared to determine which team did better. Teams earn or lose points based on how much better or worse they did than their opponents on each hand, and then all of the points get added up to determine which team won.

    • Opponents who have won a game are said to be vulnerable. While this may seem a strange term in light of the fact that they can win bonuses with a second game, it applies not to what they can win but what they can lose. Vulnerable game and slam contracts are worth more than non-vulnerable ones, but failing to make vulnerable contracts, regardless of their level, is more costly than failing to make their non-vulnerable counterparts.

    Scoring in duplicate bridge:

    Successful part score contracts are worth the specified amount from the table above plus 50 points (thus a successful 2H contract making 8 tricks is worth 110 points, regardless of vulnerability).

    Game contracts are worth the specified value plus a 300-point (non-vulnerable) or 500-point (vulnerable) bonus (thus a vulnerable 4S contract making 10 tricks is worth 620 points).

    Small slams are worth the specified value plus an 800-point (non-vulnerable) or 1000-point (vulnerable) bonus (thus a non-vulnerable 6C contract making 12 tricks is worth 920 points).

    Grand slams are worth the specified value plus a 1300-point (non-vulnerable) or 2000-point (vulnerable) bonus (thus a vulnerable 7NT contract making 13 tricks is worth 2220 points).

    Regardless of the contract, overtricks are each worth the base value of tricks for that suit (20 points in Minors and 30 points in Majors or NT). Of course, all of these figures are based upon the contract's being undoubled (the figures can get much larger in doubled and redoubled contracts—a 1NTXX in which declarer takes every trick is worth 3160 points, the highest score declarer can earn).

    Undertricks:

    If declarer fails to make a contract, the tricks he is "down" are known as undertricks. Undoubled contracts result in linear values (50 or 100 points per trick, depending upon vulnerability); however, doubled and redoubled contracts that go down are not calculated on a purely linear per-trick basis.

    Pass X XX
    Undertricks Non-Vul Vul Non-Vul Vul Non-Vul Vul
    1 50 100 100 200 200 400
    2 100 200 300 500 600 1000
    3 150 300 500 800 1000 1600
    4 200 400 800 1100 1600 2200
    5 250 500 1100 1400 2200 2800
    6 300 600 1400 1700 2800 3400
    7 350 700 1700 2000 3400 4000
    8 400 800 2000 2300 4000 4600
    9 450 900 2300 2600 4600 5200
    10 500 1000 2600 2900 5200 5800
    11 550 1100 2900 3200 5800 6400
    12 600 1200 3200 3500 6400 7000
    13 650 1300 3500 3800 7000 7600

    Note that the difference between non-vulnerable and vulnerable contracts is, after a brief time, one trick (down 4 doubled non-vulnerable is the same as down 3 doubled vulnerable, for instance).

    Why learn all of these silly details about scoring? Because if you know what each contract is potentially worth to you and to your opponents, you can decide if there is a reason to bid or pass under certain circumstances—in short, you can figure out when to break the rules of bidding. Keep it in the back of your mind while reading this next section.