ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Ward Trumbull

                                                                                                                   Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 1 of 19

 

+ (plus)

      For purposes of instructions, “+” is used to mean “Or More”.  E.g. an overcall

      should be in a suit with 5+ cards.

 

Above the Line

      See Rubber Bridge Scoring below.

 

ACBL

      ACBL stands for the AMERICAN CONTRACT BRIDGE LEAGUE which is

      headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.  It is basically an organization to promote

      duplicate bridge, but of course duplicate bridge players come from players who

      have been weaned on rubber bridge.

 

Ace from Ace/King

      For many years the standard lead from a suit headed by the ace and king was the

      king.  However, the standard lead today is the ace.

 

“Alert”

      This is a verbal announcement used in duplicate bridge to alert the opponents that

      your partner’s bid is invoking some type of bidding convention.  You should make

      the announcement immediately after partner’s bid.  Social bridge players should

      also alert their convention bids.  In our course the following convention bids should

     be alerted:

                        Transfer Bids

                        Ogust after a weak 2 bid

                        Jacoby Step Response after a strong 2 club bid

 

      Some such bids that are exempt from the alert are:

                        Stayman                                    Strong 2 clubs

                        Gerber and Blackwood              Weak 2 bids

                        Western Cue Bid

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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ARCH

      This a reminder acronym to help declarers learn to evaluate and play a hand.

 

              A - Analyze the opening lead

              R - Review the bidding

              C - Count your winning and losing tricks

              H - Determine HOW you’re going to play the hand

 

      See ACBL16 - ARCH - Declarer Checklist

 

Attitude

      This is the signaling technique used by defenders to indicate preference for or

      against a suit that partner leads.  In general, high cards mean “come on” and low

      cards indicate “stay away”.

 

Auction

      The process of the bidding sequence to determine which team will declare the hand

      (deal).  The auction ends when three players in a row PASS after the last non-pass

      bid.

 

Axioms and Rules

      Down thru the years many bidding and playing AXIOMS or RULES have evolved.

      Beginner bridge players should learn these saying, and then use them with

      discretion.  That is, they are only guides to better bridge but they are not cast in

      concrete.  Here are a few:

 

              1. Cover an honor with an honor

              2. Second hand low

              3. Third hand high

              4. The Rules of 11, 15 and 20

              5. If you want to see the queen, lead a jack.

              6. Fourth longest and strongest

              7. Eight ever - nine never

 

      See ACBL06 - Bridge by the Numbers for an explanation of some of these axioms

      and rules.

 

 

 

 

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Balanced Hand

      A hand with any of the following distributions:

 

              4-4-3-2                    4-3-3-3                   5-3-3-2

 

      Where the numbers represent no particular suit.  When a player typically opens the

      bidding with 1 or 2 notrump, they should have a balanced hand.  That is, no voids,

      no singletons and preferably no 5 card major suit.

 

Below the Line

      See Rubber Bridge Scoring below.

 

Bid

      1. Each player’s verbal response during the auction, starting clockwise with the

          dealer.  The only bidding options are:

                PASS

                A trick level and a suit                 (e.g., 2 diamonds)

                A trick level of notrump                (e.g., 3 notrump)

                Double

                Redouble

      2. It also is used to refer to the final contract.  E.g. “What’s the bid?”.

      3. For instruction purposes, the opening bid is called THE BID and the next bid

          by the same player is called THE REBID.

 

Book

      The first six tricks usually taken by the declarer.  Tricks after that are counted

      toward making his/her contract.  For example, if the contract is 3 hearts, the first

      six declarer tricks are BOOK, and the next 3 count toward the 3 hearts.  In fact

      many rubber bridge players squeeze the first six tricks into one pile, i.e., a book.

 

Convenient Minors

      This is part of the Five Card Majors bidding system/technique.  If you have an

      opening hand and no 5 card major suit, you open the bidding with 1 of a minor.

      Now you are not guaranteeing a 5 card minor suit.  That minor suit could have

      as few as 3 cards, and in a are case as few as 2 (heaven forbid).  When opening

      convenient minors, it is a good rule not to open 1 diamond unless you have 4+

      cards in the suit.

 

 

 

 

 

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Conventions

      As bridge has evolved over the years, bidding techniques have become more

      effective and of course more complicated.  When one of these bidding systems

      becomes popular with the masses, they become Bidding Conventions which are

      often named after the person who invented them or the international star who made

      them popular.  There are many bidding conventions today (possibly in the 100s).

      The course that we teach includes the following conventions:

 

              Blackwood              Jacoby Transfer                      Minor Suit Transfer

              Gerber                    Jacoby Step Response           Texas Transfer

              Stayman                  Ogust                                      Unusual Notrump

              Limit Raise              Key Card                                 Gambling Notrump

 

Coups

      These are elaborate declarer plays that are used to make difficult contracts easy.

      They have names such as Alcatraz, Bath Coup, Coup En Passant, Deschapelles

      Coup, Merrimack Coup, Morton’s Fork Coup, Pitt Coup, Robert Coup and Scissors

      Coup.

 

Cross Ruff

      This is a declarer technique to make a suit contract without pulling trump (or only

      one round of trump) and taking the remaining tricks by alternately ruffing in his/her

      hand and dummy’s hand.  The trick is to cash all outside aces and kings first.

 

Cue Bids

      This is where you bid the suit that the opponents have already bid.

             1. An immediate cue bid of the opening bid suit is a very strong takeout

                 double.

             2. It can also be used as an aid to reach a 3 notrump contract where you

                 have one stopper in the opponents suit, and you are asking partner to

                 bid 3 notrump if he/she too has a stopper.  This is known as the Western

                 Cue bid.

             3. There are other reasons for cue bidding that are used by advanced players.

 

Deal

      1. The act of passing out the cards to the players, 13 cards each.

      2. It is also used to refer to a player’s hand.

      3. It is also used to refer to the completed play of a contract.

 

 

 

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 Declarer

      The first person to bid the suit or notrump of the final contract.  Many times that

      player’s hand does not contain as many trump suit cards as there are in the

      dummy’s hand.  Also in notrump, often the hand with more High Card Points (HCP)

      is the dummy’s hand.

 

Discard

      To play a card from one suit when another suit is lead and you don’t have any

      cards in that suit.  Of course the play of a trump card would be a ruff and not a

      discard.

 

Double

      When bridge evolved from the card game of Whist, the concept of the DOUBLE

      was added.  By invoking a double in the bidding, the opponents can significantly

      increase their scoring points if they set the contract.  However, as bidding

      techniques have also evolved over the years, there are many more reasons to

      double during the bidding.  We teach at least 16 reasons to double.

      See ACBL02 - Doubles and ACBL02X - Doubles Index.

 

Doubleton

      When a hand has only two cards in a suit.

 

Drop Dead Bid

      This bid is a Standard American bid that most neophyte bridge players never heard

      of.  It is only applicable when your partner opens with a 1 notrump bid.  If you have

      a worthless land (0-7 HCP) and a 5+ card suit, you should bid it at the 2 level; and

      the notrump bidder must pass (i.e., DROP DEAD).

 

Duck

      To deliberately not take a trick to enhance subsequent play in that suit.  Typical of

      this technique is to hold up with an ace when the declarer is playing a long suit in

      dummy when there are no other side suit entries.  If you take the ace too soon, the

      declarer may still have another card in that suit.

 

Dummy

      1. This is the hand (13 cards) of the partner of the declarer.  After the opening

          lead, the dummy hand is displayed by suit (red/black/red/black) with

          higher ranking cards at the top.  If it is a suit contract, the trump suit cards

         are displayed at dummy’s right which is the declarer’s left.

     2. The partner of the declarer is also called the Dummy.

 

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Duplicate Board

      This is the holder used in Duplicate Bridge to pass the hands from table.  It also

      designates which player is the dealer and the vulnerability of both teams.

 

End Play

      The technique in which declarer (in the last few tricks) gives up the lead to an

       opponent which forces him/her to make a favorable lead into your hand or dummy.

       Example:

 

             Hearts are trump and the last 3 cards are:

 

                                                         H - 8

                                                         C - K 5

                           H - none                                              H - J

                           D - 8 6 4                                              D - none

                                                                                       C -A Q

                                                         H - none

                                                         D - 7

                                                         C - 8 5

 

             If declerer leads a club to the king, he will lose 3 tricks to west.    

             If declarer ruffs the diamond, in dummy, west is END PLAYED:

                     1. If he overruffs with the Jack, you’ll get the king of clubs.

                     2. If he doesn’t overruff, you get the diamond trick.

 

Establish a Card in a Suit

      This involves playing a suit until a lower card in that suit is good.  For example: You

      have A K Q 5 in a suit and the dummy has 6 7 8 in the suit.  You play the ace, king

      and queen.  If the suit breaks 3/3, your 5 is established.  A 3/3 break means LHO

      has 3 cards in the suit and RHO has the same.

 

Exposed Card

      Occasionally a player’s card drops out of his/her hand and is EXPOSED to the

      other players.  The rule is that that card must remain exposed and be played at

      the first opportunity.  Other exposed cards are:

 

            1. You accidentally play two cards instead of one.  One of them or both

                become exposed cards.

            2. You lead out of turn on opening lead when your partner is on lead.

            3. You lead out of turn after a trick, thinking you took the trick, which you didn’t.

 

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Face Card

      This is a generalization that refers to Jacks, Queens, Kings and sometimes Aces.

 

False Card

      The tendency when playing a hand is to play a small card to a trick when you

      don’t intend to take the trick.  However, you may play a higher card to mislead

      your opponents in the play of the hand.  FALSE CARDING is an indication that

      a player is advancing from a beginner to an intermediate player.

 

Final Bid

      This is the last level bid (3 clubs, 4 hearts, etc.) followed by three passes.

 

Finesse

      See ACBL14 - Finessing

 

Flat Hand

      This is a hand with 4-3-3-3 distribution.  If the final contract is in a suit, this hand

      has no ruffing value.

 

Forcing Bid

      This is a bid which partner must not pass (unless there is an intervening bid by the

      opponents).  Some typical forcing bids are:

 

                          Stayman              Takeout Doubles            Gerber/Blackwood

                          Transfers             Cue Bids                         Ogust

 

Game

      Game is 100 scoring points.  To bid game a pair must reach a contract of:

              3 notrump which is 100 points (40+30+30)

              4 of a major suit which is 120 points (30+30+30+30)

              5 of a minor suit which is 100 points (20+20+20+20+20)

      To bid and make game, a team’s score is increased by Game Bonus points.  Which

      can be 300, 500 or 700 depending on the team’s vulnerability and whether they’re

      playing rubber or duplicate bridge.

 

Go Down or Go Set

      The way you describe the result of a contract that a pair did not make.  You might

      say “They go down 2” which means 2 tricks.

 

 

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Good Cards

      These are cards that have been Established earlier in the play.  See

      ESTABLISHED above.

 

Go Up

      This means to play the higher of two cards in a suit when they are not touching.

      If you have A/K, K/Q or Q/J, they are touching honors and GO UP would not apply.

      However, with such as A/Q or K/J, to GO UP would be to play the higher of the two

      cards.

 

Hand

      1. The 13 cards dealt to a player.

      2. The completed play of a deal (e.g., “How did you do on that hand?).

 

Hand Hog

      This is a player who seems to bid so that he/she will play the hand.  These type

      players tend to ignore major fits and bid notrump instead.  Over the years my

      partners and opponents have used this loving term when talking about my game.

 

Hold Up Play

      See DUCK above.

 

Honors

      This is only applicable to Rubber Bridge.  From 10 thru ace are the HONORS.  In

      a suit contract, all 5 in the trump suit are worth 150 scoring points.  Any 4 of the 5

      is worth 100 points.  All four aces in a notrump contract is worth 150 points.

 

Interference bids

      These are bids that are made to give a little information to partner and a lot of

      trouble to the opponents.  A typical interference bid is an opening preemptive bid,

      including weak 2 bids.

 

Lead Directing Bids

      An overcall is a typical Lead Directing bid.  There are also a variety of doubles

      that are used to indicate the desired suit to be lead.  See ACBL02 - Doubles and

      ACBL02X - Doubles Index.

 

 

 

 

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Lead To ......

      This is an axiom for defenders.  If you are in doubt about which suit to play (lead),  

      the axioms are:

 

                LHO - lead to strength in dummy.

                RHO - lead to weakness in dummy.

 

Level

      For purposes of instruction, the word LEVEL refers to the number of tricks (after

      book) required to make a contract.  In a 4 club contract, 4 is the level of the

      contract.

 

Left Hand Opponent (LHO)

      For purposes of instruction, the player to your immediate left is called your Left

      Hand Opponent.

 

Limit Raise

      When a player opens the bid in a suit and his/her partner later bids that suit,

      it is called a RAISE in that suit.  A raise from 1 heart to 2 hearts in called a

      minimum raise.  It indicates trump support and 6-9 HCP.  In some bidding systems

      (as taught in this class), an immediate raise to the 3 level (e.g., 1 spade and then

      3 spades) is called a LIMIT RAISE.  This indicates at least 3 card major suit support

      and 10-11 HCP.  It is an invitation to game if the opening bidder has more than the

      minimum HCP for the opening bid.

 

      NOTE: The text book definition for a limit raise is to have 4+ card support in a major

                  suit.  But we think it is such a good bid that we only require a minimum of

                  3 cards in a major suit.

      NOTE: A LIMIT RAISE in a minor suit requires at least 5 clubs or 4 diamonds.

                  See Convenient Minors above.

 

Major suits

      Hearts and spades

 

Master Points

      This is the unit which measures bridge achievement in tournament play (i.e.,

      Duplicate Bridge).  The points are awarded and recorded by the ACBL to its

      members.

 

 

 

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Minor suits

      Clubs and diamonds

 

MUD (Middle Up Down)

      This is an opening lead technique that is used for 3 card suits without an honor

    . The opening lead is the middle card, and then the higher card (UP) at the next  

      opportunity when that suit is lead.

      NOTE: This lead technique should be agreed upon by the partnership.

 

Negative Double

      A bidding technique/system to indicate length in the major suits after an intervening

      bid by the opponents.   See ACBL02 - Doubles and ACBL02X - Doubles Index.

 

“No Bid”

      Some players prefer to say “No Bid” instead of “PASS”.  This is not permitted in

      Duplicate Bridge.

 

North/South/East/West

      It is traditional in bridge to identify the four players by the four compass headings.

      North/South is one partnership, and East/West is the other.  This a functional

      designation when duplicate bridge is played.  The North/South players are

      stationary, and the East/West players move from table to table.

      Note: This is also the standard for all newspaper bridge columns.

 

Notrump

      There is no trump suit.  I.e., if the hand is played in notrump, the result of each trick

      is determined by high-card-wins in the suit that is lead.  To open the bidding with a

      1 or 2 notrump bid, the player typically should have a balanced hand with no voids,

      no singletons and preferably no 5 card major suit.

 

Opening Bid

      1. It is the first bid by the dealer, which of course could be PASS.

      2. It is also used to refer to the first non-PASS bid.  For example: the bidding goes

          PASS, PASS, 1 heart, PASS

          and then the next player asks “What was your opening bid partner?

      Example:

                                           N            S            E            W

                                           PASS     1 club     PASS     1 heart

                      One club is the opening bid and 1 heart is the response.

 

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      See ACBL01 - Opening Bids and Responses - 5 Card Majors and Convenient

                              Minors

 

Overcall

      The first non-pass bid by a partnership after the other pair has opened the bidding

       is called an overcall. If you overcall in a suit, you should have 5+ cards in that suit

      and some face card values.  An immediate overcall in notrump after an opening bid

      implies 15-18 High Card Points and at least 1 (preferably 2) stoppers in the

      opponents suit.  See ACBL10 - Overcalls, Takeout Doubles, Cue Bids, etc..

 

      NOTE: You do not OVERCALL if your partner opens the bidding.  Your bid is

                  called a RESPONSE.

 

Overruff

      This is the act of ruffing a trick after the opponents have ruffed that trick.

 

Overtake

      This is the act of a defensive player to take a trick (with a higher card or ruff) that

      has already been won by his/her partner.  Sometimes this is a brilliant strategy, and

      most often it’s a blunder.

 

Pair

      See PARTNERS.

 

Partial Score

      This a the trick score for any bid that’s made below the game level.

 

Partners

      The players sitting opposite each other at the bridge table.  Thus each table has

      two partners.  They are also called a PAIR or a TEAM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Points

           Combine Points

                     The sum of High Card Points (HCP) and Distribution Points in a hand.

 

           Distribution Points

                     The technique to upgrade the value of a player’s hand (13 cards) after a

                      trump suit has been agreed upon between the partnership.

                            A void in a suit is 3 points.

                            A singleton in a suit is 2 points.

                            A doubleton in a suit is 1 point.

 

           High Card Points (HCP)

                     The technique used to initially evaluate a player’s hand (13 cards)

                            Aces are 4 HCP.

                            Kings are 3 HCP.

                            Queens are 2 HCP.

                            Jacks are 1 HCP.

 

              Scoring Points

                     These are the points that a pair get after a hand (deal) is completed.

                     If the declarer makes the contract, that pair get the points.  If the declarer

                     fails to make the contract, the opponents get the points.  This is known as

                     “Going Set”.

 

Preemptive Bids

      Bridge is a game of bidding, especially when your team has the High Card Points

      (HCP).  When you don’t, it sometimes pays to make interference bids to stifle the

      opponent’s bidding.  A very popular bid is the PREEMPTIVE BID.  In this case you

      do not have an opening hand point count (HCP), but you do have a long suit; so

      you bid that suit at a higher level.  Example:

 

            With a 7 card suit open the bidding at the 3 level or skip to the 3 level if the

                          opponents open the bidding.

            With an 8 card suit open or skip to the 4 level.

            With a 9 card minor suit open or skip to the 5 level.

            For the options on 6 card suits see ACBL03 - Weak 2 Bids and the OGUST

                          Convention.

 

 

 

 

 

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Psyche

      This is a bidding technique more typical to Duplicate Bridge than to Rubber Bridge.

      With a PSYCHE BID, a player bids a suit that he has weakness in (3-or-less-cards)

      in an attempt to disturb the opponents bidding.  The partner of the psycher does not

      know that the bid is a PSYCHE.  It gets great results and disastrous results if that

      suit turns out to be partner’s strong suit, and you can’t shut up him/her in the

      bidding.

 

Rebid

      For purposes of instruction, this is the second bid of the opening bidder after his

      partner’s first bid, which is called the RESPONSE.

 

Redouble

      If the opponents double a bid by your team, they are saying they intend to set that

      contract and thus get additional points for doing so.  If you think it is a bad double,

      and that you can’t fail to make the bid, you may REDOUBLE, which will quadruple

      the trick score you would have gotten by making the contract.  Beware that if you

      still go set, the opponents will score twice as many points as they would from just

      the double.

      See ACBL02 - Doubles and the ACBL02X - Doubles Index.

 

Response

      For purposes of instruction, this is the first bid of the partner of the opening bidder.

      Of course, it could be PASS.

      See ACBL01 - Opening Bids and Responses - 5 Card Majors and Convenient

                              Minors

      Example:

                                           N            E            S            W

                                           PASS     1 club     PASS     1 heart

 

                      One club is the opening bid and 1 heart is the response.

 

Right Hand Opponent (RHO)

      For purposes of instruction, the player to your immediate right is called your RIGHT

      HAND OPPONENT.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rubber Bridge

      This is the social form of bridge normally played in someone’s home.  You usually

      play one-or-more rubbers during an evening.  The object of a RUBBER is to win

      two-out-of-three games before your opponents do.

 

Rubber Bridge Scoring

      The scoring sheet for Rubber Bridge looks like this:

 

                                            WE   |    THEY

                                                     |

                                                     |

                                                     |

                                         -----------------------

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      Above the Line

            The following partnership scores are recorded above the dividing line:

                   1. Honors points

                   2. Game and slam bonus points

                   3. Overtrick points

                   4. Setting trick points                 (where the other team went set)

                   5. Partial score bonus points     (only if the rubber was not completed)

 

      Below the Line

            The only points scored below the line are the points for the tricks that were bid

            and made.  If that entry and/or the sum of multiple partial score entries totals

            100 or more points, a line is drawn horizontally below that entry to signify that

            a game has been made, and that team is now vulnerable.

 

Refuse a Trick

      See Hold Up Play above.

 

Ruff

      When a player takes a trick in a suit contract with a trump suit card when another

      suit has been lead, it is called a RUFF (or trumped trick).  Note that in this case

      ruffing is the player’s option.  It is not mandatory.  This is not the case in card

      games such as Pinochle.

 

 

     ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 15 of 19

 

Ruff and Sluff

      This situation refers to a declarer’s option in a suit contract when the opponents

      lead a suit in which both the dummy’s hand and the declarer’s hand are void.

      The declarer has the option to ruff with a trump card in one hand and sluff a

      side suit card in the other.

      NOTE: Good defenders should avoid leading a suit which offers the declarer a

                  ruff-and-sluff.

 

Rules

      See Axioms and Rules above.

 

Save

      See Sacrifice Bid below.

 

 

 

Sacrifice Bid

      A concept unique to bridge is the ability to TAKE A SAVE.  That means that your

      pair bids a contract higher than the opponents previous bid that you truly don’t

      think you can make.  But you expect to lose less points than if the opponents took

      the bid.  Example:

 

              The opponents are bidding hearts and your pair is bidding spades.  They bid

               4 hearts, which you think they can make for 420 points.  But you think your

               team can go set only one trick at four spades, which is 50 points for the

               opponents.  If they double you, a 1 trick set becomes 100 points.

 

Short Club Bid

      Originally this was a 1 club opening bid when a partnership was playing Convenient

      Minors.  However, it has evolved into a forcing bid which partner should not pass.

 

Short Suit

      A suit in which a player has a singleton or doubleton.  It normally does not refer to

      a void in a suit.

 

Side Suit

      In a suit contract, the other three suits are called SIDE SUITS.

 

 

 

     ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 16 of 19

Singleton

      When a hand has only one card in a suit.

 

Slams

          Small Slam

                    Any 6 level contract, either in a suit or in notrump.  The declarer must take

                    12 tricks. The bonus points are 500 non-vulnerable and 750 vulnerable.

 

         Grand Slam

                    Any 7 level contract, either in a suit or in notrump.  The declarer must take

                    13 tricks. The bonus points are 1000 non-vulnerable and 1500 vulnerable.

 

Sluff

      If a player cannot follow suit (doesn’t have any cards in the suit that is lead), he/she

      may discard a card from another suit.  This is a SLUFF.  Note that in a suit contract

      you do not sluff a trump suit card because that trump card would take the trick,

      which would be a RUFF.

Social Bridge

      This is another name for rubber bridge because it is frequently played socially in

       someone’s home.

 

Squeeze

      This is a declarer play technique in which the declarer runs (plays off) one or two

      long suits, thus giving the defenders discard problems.

 

Stiff

      This is a suit in which a card is a singleton.  More specifically, it refers to honors.

      That is,  a “STIFF” honor (ace, king. queen or jack).

 

Stopper

      This expression usually applies to notrump bids and notrump contracts.  It means

      that you have a face card in a suit that could or will win a trick in that suit.  Often it

      refers to a suit that the other team has bid.  Typical STOPPERS are:

 

              An ace in the suit                      Queen x x in a suit

              King x in a suit                          Jack x x x in a suit

 

      NOTE: You DO NOT have to have STOPPERS in all suits to open or overcall a

                  notrump bid.

 

 

     ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 17 of 19

 

Suit Preference

      When partner bids two suits and you choose one of them, this is called Suit   

      Preference.  Typically when two suits are offered, the higher ranking suit is bid first.

      Example:

                       Partner opens 1 heart, you respond 1 notrump and then partner bids two

                       diamonds.  You are being ask to choose between these two suits.  If you

                       pass, you chose diamonds.  If your support for hearts is better (e.g., you

                       have 2 hearts and 2 diamonds), take partner back to 2 hearts.

                       Note: This does not imply heart support (3+ cards).  It is a preference.

 

Suits

 

      Clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.

 

 

Support (or Trump Support)

      The objective in bidding is for a partnership to find an 8 card suit (preferably a

      major suit) between their two hands.  Thus TRUMP SUPPORT means adding

      the number of cards in your hand to the number of cards in partner’s hand to see

      if there are 8+ cards in the suit.  Example:

 

              1. Playing 5 card majors, your partner opens 1 heart.  You need 3+ hearts to

                  have trump support.

              2. Playing convenient minors, your partner opens 1 diamond, which by

                  agreement should always be at least a 4 card suit.  You need 4+ diamonds

                  to have trump support.

              3. Playing convenient minors, your partner opens 1 club, which could be as

                  few as 3 cards (or even 2, heaven forbid).  You need 5 clubs to have trump

                 support.

              4. Partner makes an opening weak 2 bid, which indicates a 6 card suit.  You

                  need only 2 cards in that suit to have trump support.

 

      Trump support also applies when partner makes an overcall, which should be 5+

      cards in that suit.  You need 3+ cards to support.

 

Team

      See PARTNERS.

 

 

 

 

     ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 18 of 19

 

“Transfer”

      This is a verbal announcement required in duplicate bridge to alert the other team

      when partner makes a transfer bid in response to your notrump bid.  It is

      immediately after the transfer bid is made.  Social bridge players should do

      likewise.

 

Transfer Bids

      Transfer bids are only applicable when a partnership opens or overcalls a notrump

      bid.  If the partner has a long suit, it is preferable to have the notrump bidder play

      the hand in that suit.  To do this you must bid the suit immediately below your long

      suit to TRANSFER partner to that suit.  The notrump bidder immediately should say

      “ALERT” to let the opponents know that your bid was a transfer bid.  Then when it

      is his/her turn to bid, he/she must bid that suit.  There are three transfer

      conventions:

 

            Jacoby Transfer              Minor Suit Transfer             Texas Transfer

 

      See ACBL04 - Notrump Bidding with/without Conventions

Trick

      When each player plays a card after an initial card has been lead.  Each trick will

      be won by one or the other team.  The player winning the trick, leads to the next

      trick.  The exception, of course, is the opening lead made by the declarer’s Left

      Hand Opponent (LHO).

 

Trump

      This is the act of taking a trick in a suit contract by playing a trump card when

      another suit has been lead.

 

Trump Suit

      At the end of a bidding auction, there are only three possible outcomes:

              1. The hand is passed out.

              2. The final contract is in notrump.

              3. The final contract is in a suit named by the declarer.  That suit becomes the

                  TRUMP SUIT for the play of that deal.

 

Trump Support

      See SUPPORT above.

 

 

 

 

     ACBL17 – General: Bridge to English Translation     Mar 10, 2003

                                                                                                                   Page 19 of 19

 

Uppercut

      This is a defensive play in which one defender’s ruff promotes a trick for partner in

      the trump suit.  Example:

 

              Hearts are trump and partner and declarer will ruff your club lead.  You hold

              Q x in hearts and partner holds J x.  If partner ruff with the “x” card,

             declarer can overruff and pull trump with the Ace and King.  However, if

              partner ruffs with the Jack, the declarer is UPPERCUT.  That is, he could

              overruff with the King but could not capture your Queen of hearts.

 

Void

 

      When a hand has no cards in a suit.

 

Vulnerable

      In social bridge, at the start of each rubber, neither team has of course made a

      game score.  However, whenever during the rubber either pair scores 100

      points in one deal or multiple deals, they become VULNERABLE.  The Bonus

      Game Points for that game are 300 points.  If they make a second game in that

      rubber, the Bonus Game Points are 500 points.    (an over simplification).  Prior

      to scoring that first game, the pair is considered NON-VULNERABLE.

 

      In duplicate bridge the cards are stored in a holder and passed from table to

      table.  That holder has designations as to whom is the dealer and the

      vulnerability of each team.