Chicago Bridge

SUIT RANKING: Spades (Highest), Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs.

GAME TYPE: Trick-Taking

FOR: Teens and Adults

WELCOME TO CHICAGO BRIDGE

Chicago Bridge is a special version of Contract Bridge that is also referred to as Four Deal Bridge. Just like the name suggests, there are four deals in this game. This sets it apart from other bridge variations, like Rubber Bridge, where the rubber can go on indefinitely.

This version of Bridge is known for being more predictable compared to other versions, which may be the reason for its popularity in American bridge clubs where Rubber Bridge used to dominate.

Chicago Bridge is a special version of the card game Bridge that requires exactly four players. In this game, teamwork is key, as each player aligns with a cardinal direction: North, East, South, or West. The players sitting opposite each other are teammates.

To start, each player is dealt 13 cards from a standard deck of 52 cards. The dealer begins by giving cards to the left, ensuring a fair deal. It’s important for players to organize their cards by suit and rank. The suits are spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, and clubs (lowest). The ranks follow the sequence A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

It’s worth noting that while suit ranking matters during the bidding phase, where players propose the number of tricks they can win, all suits are equal during gameplay.

Now that we understand the deal, let’s dive into how to play Chicago Bridge!

When you play the game, the goal is to win by making winning tricks. It’s all about playing the right card at the right time. Every player has 13 cards, and there are 13 tricks in each round. The trick is won by the player who plays the highest card, taking into account the suit and rank. So, you want to play the highest card you have that matches the suit of the lead card.

Let’s say the lead player plays a heart card. If you have a heart card in your hand, you must play one. But if you don’t have any heart cards, don’t worry! You can play any other suit. It’s all about using strategy and making the most of the cards in your hand. Good luck!

When it comes to winning tricks in a card game, here’s another strategy to consider: using a trump suit. A trump suit is a special suit that has the power to beat any other suit played in the game. It’s like having a secret weapon up your sleeve! Let me explain how it works.

Imagine you’re playing a game where clubs are the trump suit. You and your fellow players start by placing down your cards. Let’s say three players play hearts, and one player plays a club. In this scenario, the player who played the club would win the trick. Why? Because the trump suit trumps all the other suits. It’s the boss of the card game!

Now, here’s the cool part. If more than one player plays a trump suit, the winning trick is determined by the player with the highest rank. It’s like a battle among the trump suit players, and only the strongest rank can claim victory. It adds an extra level of excitement and competition to the game!

So, if you’re looking for a way to amp up your card game skills, consider mastering the use of trump suits. They can be a game changer, giving you the upper hand and helping you win those tricky tricks. Don’t underestimate the power of a well-played trump card!

When you play a game of bridge, the goal is to be the first team or pair to reach a score of 100 points or more from successful contracts. To keep track of the score, you can use a piece of paper that is divided into two columns: one for ‘WE’ and one for ‘THEY.’ Draw a horizontal line in the middle of the page.

THE BIDDING

When playing a card game called Dealer, I need to make a decision right at the beginning – whether to bid or pass. The bid I make consists of two parts: the number of tricks I believe I can win and the type of suit I want to use as the trump. Let’s say I bid “2 Spades,” which means I’m confident I can win a total of 8 tricks, with Spades as the trump suit. This is because the first 6 tricks are automatically included in the bid, so I’m adding 2 more. On the other hand, if I bid “4 Hearts,” it means I think I can win 10 tricks (6+4) with Hearts as the trump suit. And if I bid “3 No Trumps,” it means I’m confident I can win 9 tricks (6+3) without any trump suit at all.

Once I’ve made my bid or decided to pass, the person sitting to my left gets their turn to bid or pass, and so on. This continues until there are three consecutive passes after a bid. At that point, the hand will be played using the last-mentioned suit as the contract, or if there were three passes without any bids, the hand will be played with No Trumps as the contract.

Hey there! Let’s talk about how bidding works in this game. Two pairs will be sitting at a table, competing to win the contract. The person who makes the highest bid will get the contract. For example, let’s say player one bids 2 spades, player two bids 3 hearts, and player three bids 4 spades. After that, three players pass. Player three wins the contract with their highest bid of 4 spades. This bid determines the number of tricks the partnership needs to win. In this case, player three needs to win 10 tricks out of the total 13, with spades being the trump card.

VULNERABILITIES

Hand 1: North is the dealer, and neither side is vulnerable.

Hand 2: East is the dealer, and North-South is vulnerable.

Hand 3: South is the dealer, and East-West is vulnerable.

Hand 4: West is the dealer, and both sides are vulnerable.

If all four players pass, the cards are reshuffled and dealt again by the same dealer. When a team is vulnerable, they get a bonus of 500 points, whereas when they are not vulnerable, the bonus is 300 points. The scores carry on to the next deals until one team wins.