A contract in bridge is the final bid of the auction: a promise by one side to win a certain number of tricks with a named suit as trumps, or in notrump. The number in the bid plus six is the number of tricks declarer must win, so a contract of 4♥ needs 10 tricks with hearts as trumps.
In lesson 5 you learned to count your points. This lesson shows how the bidding turns those points into a contract, how the auction ends, and why some contracts score far more than others.
What Does a Bid Promise?
Every bid has two parts: a level from 1 to 7 and a denomination, which is one of the four suits or notrump (NT).
The level counts tricks above six. The first six tricks are called book, and a bid promises book plus the level:
| Bid | Tricks to win |
|---|---|
| 1 of anything | 7 |
| 2 | 8 |
| 3 | 9 |
| 4 | 10 |
| 5 | 11 |
| 6 | 12 |
| 7 | 13, all of them |
Even the lowest bid, 1♣, promises more than half the tricks. That is why you need real strength to start the bidding.
Bids have to go up. The denominations rank from low to high: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, notrump. Each new bid must be higher than the last one, either at a higher level, or at the same level in a higher denomination. After 1♥ you may bid 1♠ or 1NT, but 1♦ now needs a level more: 2♦. Clubs and diamonds are the minor suits; hearts and spades are the major suits.
You do not have to bid. On your turn you may make a bid, pass, or (when the opponents bid last) double, which mainly raises the stakes. Doubles have many other uses that you will meet in lesson 23.
How Does the Auction End?
The dealer calls first, then each player in turn, clockwise. The auction ends when a bid (or a double or redouble after it) is followed by three passes in a row. The last bid is the contract, and the player on that side who first named its denomination becomes declarer (lesson 4).
If all four players pass at the start, nobody bids and the deal is passed out. The cards are thrown in with no score, and the next deal begins.
Rule of ThumbThe auction ends after three passes in a row following a bid. The last bid becomes the contract. Four passes at the start mean the deal is passed out.
Part Score, Game and Slam
Every trick above book that you bid and make earns trick points:
- Clubs and diamonds: 20 per trick.
- Hearts and spades: 30 per trick.
- Notrump: 40 for the first trick, 30 for each one after.
A contract worth 100 trick points or more is a game, and earns a big bonus. The cheapest games are 3NT (40 + 30 + 30), 4♥ or 4♠ (4 x 30) and 5♣ or 5♦ (5 x 20). Anything lower is a part score. Bidding 12 tricks is a small slam, and bidding all 13 is a grand slam, each with its own extra bonus.
Bonuses depend on vulnerability, a status printed on each board in a club game. A vulnerable side scores more when it makes a game and loses more when it fails. Here are the scores in duplicate for some common contracts that make exactly:
| Contract | Not vulnerable | Vulnerable |
|---|---|---|
| 1NT | 90 | 90 |
| 2♠ | 110 | 110 |
| 3♥ | 140 | 140 |
| 3NT | 400 | 600 |
| 4♠ | 420 | 620 |
| 5♦ | 400 | 600 |
| 6♠ | 980 | 1430 |
| 7NT | 1520 | 2220 |
Look at the jump from 140 to 420. That gap is why bidding a game when you have the points, and stopping in a part score when you do not, is the biggest decision of most deals. When a contract fails, the defenders score for each undertrick: 50 a trick not vulnerable and 100 vulnerable, more if doubled. The scoring chart has every number.
Watch It in a Deal
South opens 1 heart, West overcalls 1 spade, North raises, East raises, and South competes to 3 hearts.
The full deal. South plays 3 hearts and needs nine tricks.
Follow the auction one call at a time. South deals and opens 1♥ with 14 points and five hearts. West bids 1♠, a higher denomination at the same level, so it is legal. North raises to 2♥ with four hearts and 6 points. East supports spades with 2♠. South bids 3♥, and the next three players pass. The auction is over.
The contract is 3♥, and South is declarer because South named hearts first. South needs 6 + 3 = 9 tricks with hearts as trumps. West, on declarer's left, makes the opening lead.
With best play South loses four tricks and makes exactly nine: +140 for North-South. If South had passed over 2♠, East-West would have played there, and on these cards they too can win nine tricks. Both sides had a good reason to compete. Part-score battles like this one are a big part of real bridge.
The Habit to Keep
When the auction ends, say the contract to yourself in full before the opening lead: "3♥ by South, nine tricks needed." It sounds obvious, but players who skip this step often play for the wrong number of tricks, or forget which suit is trumps. Then, if you are declarer, you count how to get there. That is the next lesson.
To check what any result is worth, try BridgeDummy's free bridge score calculator. It gives the made and down score for every contract, level and vulnerability, doubled or not, with every bonus included.
Practice: The Contract
North opens 1 diamond and rebids 1NT; South raises to 3NT.
What is the contract, who is declarer, and how many tricks are needed?
The last bid was 2♥. Which of these bids is legal?
Next Lesson
Previous: Lesson 5: Counting Points. Next: Lesson 7: Counting Your Winners, the first step of every declarer plan.