Andrew Robson - The Times Beginner’s Guide to Bridge

must know

The best way to learn to play bridge is to set realistic goals, reinforce your knowledge and slowly build your skills. Most important of all is to enjoy playing.

A trick-taking game, bridge evolved from whist, which has been played for centuries. The first book devoted to whist, Edmond Hoyle’s Short Treatise , appeared in 1742 and became a bestseller.

No one knows the roots of the name ‘bridge’. It may have evolved from ‘biritch’, the name of a Russian game with similar rules, or possibly the Turkish term ‘bir uc’, meaning ‘one-three’ – as in one exposed hand and three concealed ones.

In 1903 British civil servants in India developed the practice of bidding for the privilege of naming the trump suit, thus introducing ‘Auction bridge’. ‘Contract bridge’, the universally played modern form, was only formally invented in 1925: not in a seedy back room, but on an American cruise ship under the guidance of Harold Vanderbilt. US marketer Ely Culbertson soon popularized the game, and by 1930 it was the society activity on both sides of the Atlantic. Since those first heady days, bridge has made front-page news – when a famous British pair, Reese and Schapiro, were accused of cheating in 1965. It has attracted film stars – Omar Sharif played at the top level – and featured in many books, perhaps the most famous of all being Ian Fleming’s Moonraker . Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are keen bridge players, and if they give just a small fraction of their wealth back to the game, we can look forward to a very bright future, especially as bridge is now more widely accessible than ever – via the internet.

Useful tip

Bridge is a ceaselessly fascinating and stimulating game. Start playing by partnering someone more experienced than you, who can help you get the most out of your play.

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