# Simplifying bridge **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [May 14, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465 "2010-05-14T19:52:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/21 "2010-05-18T12:48:10Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Depending on what time you play, I might be available, at least on an irregular basis. > > I’ve never played bridge on-line; in fact I’ve played only a few times in the last 20 years. I was an ACBL Life Master during the Jurassic Era, but have forgotten almost as much about bridge as I ever knew. :mad: (I suppose I still _am_ a _Life_ Master, by definition!) Replace ACBL with EBU (English Bridge Union), and this is me. I’ll give it a shot. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/22 "2010-05-18T16:17:01Z")
I think the hard part about explaining bridge to a beginner is answering the ought-to-be-simple-but-isn’t question, “what is the object of the game?” Quite frankly, in teaching the game to beginners, you have to simply skip over that part, and have them agree to take it on faith that there are important levels of contracts (game, slam) that you want to bid if you can possibly make, but that the in-between stuff doesn’t matter much. (E.g. if you can make 3NT, it’s essential that you don’t just bid 2NT, but if you can make 4NT, only bidding 3NT is perfectly fine.) Only when the newbie is used to the bidding and play do you get into scoring with them. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/23 "2010-05-18T16:27:58Z")
Another thing in Duplicate Bridge is that you have to be very competitive in the bidding. As they say, if you don’t go down sometimes, you aren’t bidding strongly enough – and if your opponents aren’t sometimes making doubled contracts, then you aren’t doubling enough. Of course, this is in a game where you are better off going down 3 tricks doubled and not vulnerable (500 points) rather than letting the other side bid and make a vulnerable game (600 or 620 points). I’ve been playing bridge on and off for about 40 years, and have belonger to the ACBL for a bit more than a year now – with about 90 “master points” so far. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/24 "2010-05-18T16:56:15Z")
I started playing bridge about 20 years ago, but the seriousness has been off and on. (I have maybe 10 masters points). Back in university, my friend and I, beat the Canadian champions, during a duplicate tourney, albeit it was due to a crazy distribution and a mistake on their part. I would be interested in playing a regular match if there is one being organized. As to the OP, all the previous posters make good points. Although, the secret to bridge is in the bidding since the game play is pretty straight forward. The convention that you and partner use is the key as it can communicate your hand and between the two of you, you can decide on the best fit for a contract. You can communicate high card points, distribution, strong or weak suits, etc… The best players are efficient at communicating the most information while preserving bidding room before settling on a contract. On the other hand, your bidding also tips your hand to the oponents, sometimes you may want to stay quiet, double, or cause some interference.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/25 "2010-05-19T18:43:49Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I think the hard part about explaining bridge to a beginner is answering the ought-to-be-simple-but-isn’t question, “what is the object of the game?” Actually, that’s the easy part: The object is to end the game with more points than your opponents. This is true for both contract and duplicate bridge, although what passes for “points” differs. What’s difficult is explaining how one goes about getting (or not losing) points; how one uses bidding conventions to arrive at the contract that will enable maximum points; and how does one play the hand to get the best chance of making or exceeding the bid (or causing opponents to fall short of their bid). ---
**Author:** ![fubbleskag](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465/26 "2010-05-20T00:25:15Z")
sorry for the extended hijack - dopers wishing to play bridge online regularly, please see new thread: > **[SDMB Bridge League - who/when/where/what](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=563842)** > > I rudely hijacked this thread (sorry dougie\_monty) to see if there was any interest among dopers in getting together for a regularly occurring bridge game. It looks like there should be enough of us interested to get at least one table together,... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simplifying-bridge/539465.md?page=1)