Notrump in Bridge: Scoring, Bidding and How to Play NT

Notrump (NT) in bridge is a contract with no trump suit: every trick is won by the highest card of the suit led, and nobody can ruff. It is the highest-ranking strain in the auction, and 3NT, needing only nine tricks, is the most common game contract in the game.

Because nothing can be trumped, notrump play is a race. Declarer counts winners and sets up a long suit; the defenders try to set up their own long suit first. Who wins that race usually decides the hand.

In a suit contract, one suit is trumps: any trump beats any card of another suit. In a notrump contract there is no such suit. The rules of the play stay the same (you must follow suit, the winner of a trick leads to the next), but a player who cannot follow simply discards, and the discard can never win the trick.

Two things follow:

• Long suits are powerful. Once the opponents run out of a suit, your remaining small cards in it are winners. A suit like A K 7 5 3 opposite 8 4 2 can produce four tricks if the missing cards split 3-2.
• Stoppers matter. A stopper is a card or holding that stops the opponents from running a suit, such as an ace, K Q x, or K x when the suit is led up to the king. Without a stopper, the defenders may take five or six tricks in one suit before you get in.

They all mean the same thing. American books mostly write notrump as one word, British books often write no-trumps, and score sheets and bidding boxes use NT (sometimes N). Players say "one no-trump" or "one no" at the table. On BridgeDummy, and in this article, we use notrump in the text and NT in auctions.

At each level of the auction, the strains rank in this order, from lowest to highest:

♣ clubs, ♦ diamonds, ♥ hearts, ♠ spades, NT.

So 1NT outranks 1♠, and you need to go to the two level to bid any suit over 1NT. This ranking has a practical effect: a 1NT opening takes away all one-level bids from the opponents, which makes it hard to compete against.

The first trick above six in notrump is worth 40 points, and every trick after it is worth 30. That makes notrump the cheapest route to game:

These are duplicate scores: trick points plus 50 for a part score, or plus 300 (not vulnerable) or 500 (vulnerable) for a game, plus the slam bonus. Compare the games: 3NT needs 9 tricks, 4♥ or 4♠ needs 10, and 5♣ or 5♦ needs 11. At matchpoints, 3NT making ten tricks (430) also beats 4♠ making ten (420), which is why matchpoint players lean toward notrump. More detail in bridge scoring.

A simple order of preference, used in 2/1 Game Force, Standard American and Acol alike:

1. An eight-card major fit: play in the major. A trump suit usually earns one more trick than notrump, so 4♥ or 4♠ is better than 3NT even though it needs one more trick.
2. No major fit, and both hands are fairly balanced: play 3NT rather than five of a minor. Nine tricks are easier than eleven.
3. No major fit, but a big minor fit and a suit with no stopper: consider five of the minor, or a slam in the minor with extra strength.

As a rough guide, a combined 25 to 26 points with balanced hands is enough for 3NT. Around 33 is enough for 6NT and about 37 for 7NT, when both hands are balanced.

Before playing a card from dummy at trick one, go through these steps:

1. Count your sure winners: tricks you can take right now without losing the lead.
2. Find the extra tricks you need: usually from a long suit, from finesses, or from forcing out the opponents' high cards.
3. Look at the danger suit: the suit they led, and how many tricks they can take in it if they get in.
4. Plan your entries: make sure you can reach the hand with the long suit once it is set up.
5. Decide whether to hold up: if they led a long suit and you have only one stopper, refusing to win the first round or two can cut their communication.

The two key techniques are setting up a long suit (losing the lead early, while you still have stoppers) and the hold-up play. Both appear in the deal below. For a broader look at counting, see counting declarer's tricks from the defender's side.

South has 16 high card points and a balanced 3-3-5-2 hand, a normal 15-17 1NT opening. North has 10 points, enough for game, and four hearts, so North first bids 2♣ (Stayman) to look for a 4-4 heart fit. South's 2♦ says no four-card major, and North settles in 3NT. West leads the ♠K from K Q J 10 5.

Count the winners. You have one spade (the ace), three hearts (A, K, Q), no sure diamonds, and two clubs (A, K). That is six. Diamonds will give you four more once the ♦A is gone, so the hand has plenty of tricks. The only question is whether the defense can take five first.

Find the danger. West has led a long spade suit. If you win the ♠A at once and play diamonds, the defender with the ♦A (here East) returns a spade, and West takes four spade tricks. Four spades and the ♦A beat the contract.

Hold up. Play low from both hands on the first spade. Win the second round with the ♠A. Now East, who started with only two spades, has none left.

Set up the long suit. Lead the ♦Q. East wins the ♦A but cannot return a spade. Whatever East plays, you win and take the rest: four diamonds, the hearts and the clubs. You make eleven tricks, and the defense took only one spade and the ♦A.

The defenders also play for a long suit. Classic guidelines against notrump:

• Lead your side's longest suit, normally fourth highest from a suit headed by an honor (the 5 from K J 7 5 3), or top of a sequence (the K from K Q J 10 5).
• Partner's suit comes first if partner bid or overcalled.
• Keep communication: third hand plays high, and returns partner's suit when in.
• Count declarer's tricks. If declarer has nine tricks ready, a passive defense will not do: you need a fast switch.
• Watch the hold-up. If declarer ducks, think about whether to continue the suit or switch.

Choosing the opening lead against 3NT is one of the most valuable skills in bridge, and we cover it in what to lead against 3NT. BridgeDummy's lead puzzles put you on lead against notrump contracts, deal the hidden hands many times to fit the auction, and solve every lead double dummy so you see which lead beats the contract most often.

Balanced means 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or 5-3-3-2. Many players also open 1NT with a 5-4-2-2 hand or a five-card major, depending on partnership style.

You can see what 1NT means in every system. After 1NT, the usual tools are Stayman to find a 4-4 major fit and Jacoby transfers for a five-card major.

• Winning the first trick too fast. Before you take an ace at trick one, ask if a hold-up helps.
• Cashing winners first. Set up the long suit while you still have stoppers. Cashing aces early only sets up the defenders' winners.
• Forgetting entries. A long suit is worth nothing if you cannot reach it. Count entries before you start the suit.
• Choosing 3NT with a major fit. The ten-trick major game usually scores better.
• Playing 3NT with a suit wide open. If no hand has a stopper in one suit, the defenders may cash five tricks in it at once.

To check notrump play on your own deals, enter the hands in BridgeDummy's free double dummy analyzer: it shows how many tricks every contract makes and lets you play the hand card by card.