So why am I writing about bridge in what is usually a travel blog. Hear me out. I was percolating on a topic for this post; and my mind kept returning to a cruise that hubby and I took several years ago. It was a transatlantic cruise from Southampton to New York … no stops … many days at sea.
That particular cruise had a couple of Bridge Experts offering free classes to both beginner bridge players and intermediate bridge players. Hubby and I took both … interestingly enough, we found the intermediate class was too advanced for us (probably still is), and the beginner class wasn’t advanced enough. We were in the sweet spot in the middle. We learned alot though, gained alot of confidence and were treated very kindly by our fellow bridgemates.
That ends the travel connection.
Bridge is the best card game in the world.
I can hear you gasping … no, really it is. I will endeavor to change your mind below. I’ll also let you know that I’ve yet to change anyone’s mind about this; but I hold out hope that one day I will.
I’m going to describe the bidding in quite simple terms, so if you’re already a bridge player, I hope I don’t make you cringe.
There are two quite distinct components to the game of bridge; the bidding and the playing. To me, it’s the bidding that makes bridge the best game in the world. The actual game play is much like any other card game, especially those games that have a trump suit and in which one takes tricks based on who has the best card.
It takes four people to play a game of bridge: two teams of two players each. Teammates sit opposite each other (not surprisingly). Think of the bidding as though you and your partner are sending coded messages to each other to try to determine a) do you have good cards? b) what suit do you like best?
You take turns sending your coded message; and when you decide your hand isn’t good enough, you pass, and don’t bid; leaving it to the other players to continue or pass. The last team bidding determines not only the trump suit, but also the minimum number of tricks that they will take.
The beauty of the bidding is this: if you’re new to bridge, you can adopt (along with your partner) a relatively simple bidding strategy. As you get better, and if you want to, you can add complexity to your bidding; at your own pace. Someone who is brand new at bridge can play a game with an expert (now, they’re likely to lose … but sometimes it just comes down to the cards).
There are established bidding conventions in bridge; what I mean by this is the coded messages that you’re sending you’re partner will likely mean the same thing as the coded messages sent by the any other team. Where you’re using a different convention than your opponents, they can ask you what it means. This really is an oversimplification, as there are myriad different conventions; it’s just important that the four of you at the table have an understanding of your coded messages.
There are volumes of books written explaining the multitude of bridge conventions.
I could play bridge until I’m 80 and my bidding game could evolve and improve constantly throughout the years. I will never know every convention that there is; and that is what I love about it. I will always be able to challenge myself to learn new ways of bidding; and I love that! I can’t think of any other card game with the potential to evolve and change the way bridge will.
Feel free to argue with me; if you don’t mind being wrong 😉
