Talk:Contract bridge

new head

The top lines of wikis "contract bridge" in its actual form (10.05.2010) omit basic facts and elevate secondary details. But these lines should and can give a fundamental view of bridge. Apart from rules, the very essence of the competition must be cited. If bridge is explained to non players - and this is what Wiki should do - we must avoid to use bridge terms, unless we explain them. I have explained bridge to persons who never had a card in their hand. Here is the text:

"Quote"

Contract bridge (usually knwon simply as "bridge"), is a card game played with 52 cards (see box at right) . It is played by four players who form two partnerships; the partners ( N;E;S;W) sit opposite each other at a table. The game consists of dealing, the auction (bidding) and downplay of 13 tricks, after which the hand is scored; all this takes about ten minutes. All actions are done clockwise.

The bidding ends with a "contract", which is a declaration by one partnership that their side will win at least a stated number of tricks, with a specified suit as trump or without trumps. The declaring partnership will try to make the annouced tricks, and the opponents - the other partnership- will try to impede them. This way a real competiton is established. Downplay: 52 cards ( 4 x 13 ) are dealt to the four players. To the first trick each player places one card on the table, and the highest card wins. The winner is entitled to put the first card to the next trick. This downplay ends with trick # 13. The result is expressed in a score, a numerical value, which permits comparing to other scores.

The detailed rules of play for tournaments are many, but millions of players have no difficulty to have the basic rules in mind. The special rule that one player's hand (dummy) is displayed face up on the table is the necessary exception from the basic rule, that no player must know the content of the other hands: the table view enables the declarer to direct the game. Bridge has special methods of counting and uses words/expressions/denominations with different meaning to public use: in consequence persons not connected to bridge have dificulties to understand

Bridge players like to play many deals one after another. If a given deal is to be played by another for players - or again at a later time- , it must be conserved in containers(boards) at the end of the downplay. There are no proverbial "good or bad cards (fortuitousnes)" in bridge, if deals are played from both sides (NS and EW). Each new hand asks for solution of the problems of the actual deal. No deal is the same as the last deal; by dealing more than 6oo ooo ooo hands can be generated.

Bridge is played in private at home (one-table-competition), and a possible standard is 16 boards. ( old form : rubber) Players are free to use the rules set by the WBF and the usual boards and bidding boxes. There is no money involved.

Tournaments, where two or more tables play the same deal of cards, are organised by small clubs with a handful of tables, or more tables in big clubs, regional, national and international Organisations. They follow the rules of the World Bridge Federation. Membership in Clubs is mostly paid, at least a table fee is requested. In Tournaments duplicating of deals is necessary, if all participants are to play a deal at the same time (hence the name duplicate bridge). The winner of a competition is found by interpreting the score. Several methods are in use. I.E. the own score could be better, equal or inferior the the score of other contestants.:

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If we ask google for information about bridge, we will get millions of citations; many thousand books have been published on bridge, there are several monthly publications. Some people make their living from bridge. The number of organised players is more than 1.500 000, the number of non registered player is probably greater. To sum up: Bridge is a global universe, with leaders, heroes, fights, underlings, constitution, business, inventors, legislation, history and future, and more. Congratulations to Wiki, to give insight. HJPH Mai 2010 . —Preceding unsigned comment added by Paul Hauff (talk • contribs) 07:34, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

LAWS of rubber Bridge The Wikin text should read as follows:

"Rubber" is an old standard to play a limited number of deals, full in use up to1925 and part of the laws in use at that time. These included much discuted procedures to establish the score. Many terms with exiplit meaning created in these laws, i.e."game" are still in use today.

The concept of "rubber" is simple: a defined number of deals (manche/section/inning) is played. If you (and your partner) win, then a second manche starts under more difficult conditions to win . If you win again, rubber ends. If you dont, a third manche is started. Rubber is won by the players having to manches won.

A manche is won, if 100 trick-scores are made within the downplay of one or more deals. Players have to keep account of theses values. They must be aware that each score is a composite of trick-values and premium scores. And they must know the basic concept of scoring: you win, when the contract is fullfilled. Else you loose by undertricks. A partnership must have made six tricks (the book) before trick number seven counts as won.

"More difficult conditions to win" are based on the fact that "scoring" includes values for not fulfilling a contract. The standard "rubber" introduces higher losses for the second manche to the winner of the first manche in case of undertricks. In general, the double value is applied. This procedure was baptised as " beeing in danger" resp. vulnerability. To a certain extent, this concept diminuishes the effect of good or bad cards (fortuitousness).

If we regard "bridge" as a system, "being in danger/vulnerability" introduces a new factor to be considered for every action in bidding and downplay. If you are "vulnerable" you will not try risky actions and play safe. "Vulnerable" was kept in use when the new "laws of contract bridge" ( the LAW ) were shaped in 1925. It was incorporated in the boards, each board prescribing one of the four possibilities of vulnerability.

The use of the procedure rubber became rather obsolete for two reasons: players could go to clubs and play without fortuitousnes, because boards were either played from both sides (team of four), or the "Mitchel" movement cared for identical conditions if the movement had more than six tables. The procedures of Rubber were substituted by "movements", indicating number of deals, opponents and more. The second reason is of technical nature. Up to 1925 bridge was played with two decks of cards, and the rules of scoring rested in the mind of the players. Now, in private play at home, boards were used and score was taken from the backside of the bidding box-cards.

In private play, the basic ideas of the "law of contract bridge" were followed and adapted to local needs, and this form was baptised "chikago". Trick-score is substituted by the score as laid down in the law. This type of game is subject to "good and bad cards". In the process of shaping the LAW, Jean Besse (1914-1994) a former member of the Laws comission, recommended playing from both sides. ( Bridge Bulletin ACBL Dec.1999), thus eliminating fortuitousness. This idea was proposed anew by the ACBL ( fun with one table): Besse bridge. Today, ( 2005) if two pairs want to compete in private, they play a minimum of eight boards from both sides. The summed up scores give a clear winner, and there are no good or bad cards. This form of play is facilitated by the fact, that bridge became a silent game by the use of bidding boxes and boards.

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Commentary to the actual version:

There are only three lines with negative content in the actual form (5/2010) of contribution. But rubber bridge was the "state of the art" of playing bridge before 1925 and the rubber laws were the predecessor of the "laws of contract bridge" in use today. In consequence, Rubber played an important role in shaping the LAW. Playing rubber did not disappear abruptly. 1959, a leading figure in international bridge, Alfred Sheinwolds , shows in his book the rubber scoring table only ( ISBN 0-671-47214-3; 5 weeks to winning bridge). 2002, the author of these lines was convited to play rubber by a local pair, when he visited Cornwall, GBR. In 2010, Amber Macleod reports to have duplicate played in Hampstaed (London) - ACBL Bridge Bulletin Mai 2010, pg.6. --Paul Hauff (talk) 13:06, 16 May 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff (talk) 13:06, 16 May 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff

I too have always felt that the main entry was not of sufficient quality - see my third indented comments above in section 2 of the discussion page; no one has advanced the debate until your above entry. The key point I wish to restate is that the main article should briefly and generically describe contract bridge and hand off the details to other main articles. Below is some alternative wording I have developed which, like yours, is ready for further debate and refinement. I offer it not as a substitute for the current or your version but as another perspective.

Quote

Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game played by four players in two competing partnerships using a standard deck of 52 playing cards with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. For purposes of scoring and reference, each player is identified by one of the points of the compass and thus North and South play against East and West. The game consists of several hands (or deals) each progressing through four phases - dealing the cards, the auction (also referred to as bidding), playing the hand and scoring the results. Dealing the cards and scoring the results are procedural activities leaving the auction and playing the hand as the two actively competitive phases of the game.

Cards are dealt so that each player receives thirteen cards. The auction starts with the dealer and rotates around the table clockwise with each player making a call , the purpose being to determine which partnership will contract to take the most number of tricks given a particular trump suit or notrump (known as the strain or denomination). The player who, during the auction, first stated the strain ultimately becoming trumps or notrumps is referred to as the declarer. The rules of play are similar to other trick-taking games with the additional feature that the hand of declarer's partner is displayed face up on the table after the opening lead has been made by the member of the defending partnership to the left of declarer; the displayed hand is referred to as the dummy and is played by declarer. After all thirteen tricks have been played, the hand's score is determined by comparing the actual number of tricks taken by the declaring partnership with that proposed in the contract and awarding points accordingly. Individual scores of several hands are accumulated to determine the overall game score.

While the game involves skill and chance, it has many variants and event types designed to emphasize skill, vary the method of scoring, set limits on the nature of the bidding systems which may be used, limit the duration of play, have larger team composition, provide country representation in international play and to group players of similar interests, skill levels, age or gender, or combinations thereof. The most common game variants are rubber bridge and duplicate bridge. In rubber bridge, two partnerships particpate in the game at one table and the objective is to score the most number of points in the play of several hands. In duplicate bridge, there are more tables and partnerships and the hands are dealt and played in such a manner that each partnership plays the same set of hands and with the scoring based upon relative performance. Competitions in duplicate bridge range from small clubs with a handful of tables, to large tournaments such as the World Bridge Championships where hundreds of tables play the same hands. The game variant and associated method of scoring has sigificant influence on bidding and card play strategies.

Unquote

I had not finished editing my 'generic' version, especially the references which are sadly lacking in the existing article. At this stage though, I would be glad to colaborate on a strategy and implementation for improving the existing article using all of our ideas. --Newwhist (talk) 14:28, 16 May 2010 (UTC)

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I appreciate the latest contribution, but it i simply to long and to much detail. After reading the content of the " contract bridge" I must confess : it is a wild mixture of facts of different level of importance and origin. It is of no use to anybody, whether for beginners, advanced or top players and especially for persons unfamiliar to bridge. It should be replaced by short analytical contributions. One more point: bridge is in constant progress. I takes much time and much love to this game to contribute. It could be done step by step. I decided to post a bew version to " rubber bridge. 92.226.132.169 (talk) 08:17, 19 May 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff 19.5.2010

Commentary to the last version (11.05.2010)

There are only three lines with negative content . But rubber bridge was the "state of the art" of playing bridge before 1925 and the rubber laws were the predecessor of the "laws of contract bridge" in use today. In consequence, Rubber played an important role in shaping the LAW. Playing rubber did not disappear abruptly. 1959, a leading figure in international bridge, Alfred Sheinwolds , shows in his book the rubber scoring table only ( ISBN 0-671-47214-3; 5 weeks to winning bridge). 2002, the author of these lines was convited to play rubber by a local pair, when he visited Cornwall, GBR. In 2010, Amber Macleod reports to have duplicate played in Hampstaed (London) - ACBL Bridge Bulletin Mai 2010, pg.6. Paul Hauff (talk) 08:51, 19 May 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff

Laws of duplicate contract bridge

New text proposed

Any cardplay needs rules for the player to agree upon. For bridgeplayers worlwide, a set of rules called "Laws of duplicate contract bridge" is a kind of "magna carta " which settles the basic rules. " The laws have surrounded a concept that produces one of the world's most fascinating activities with equity-preserving adjustments, and their global standardisation has made bridge truly universal. ( The BRIDGE WORLD, Oct.1998, Editorial)"

The actual rules ( 5/2010) are promulgated by the WBF, World Bridge Federation, as "International Code of Laws of Duplicate Bridge 2007 (LAW)", available under www.worldbridge.org/departments/laws. There are 93 sub-laws.

O r i g i n : the laws were shaped, designed and tested by Harold S. Vanderbilt in 1925, based on the existing rules.

U t i l i t y: The knowledge of the laws is "condition sine qua non " for any organiser of tournaments and top players. Many procedures can be learned by doing (playing) and are sufficient for ordinary play.

P r o f i t a b i l i t y : These laws are base to have a satisfactory social life for earning reputation ( e.g. for those who collect "points" of medal-character), for earning a living ( as teacher, effecting bridge cruises, etc. ) for exercing power ( e.g. directing a club, as TD, ) for play, the most fascinating activity in card games.

C h a r a c t e r : The word "Law" implies, that everybody is forced to follow these rules. This has indeed be a constant problem, only in 2007 by law 80, these rules became a kind of constitution, WBF, Zonal Authoritys and National Bridge Organisations were declared as " Regulating Authority". National, regional units as well as clubs declare out of own independence that the will be subject of a given understanding, in this case the "Law of duplicate contract bridge". There are no treatys based on national law ( example of "globalisation"). There are repeated attempts to negate the leadership of the WBF ( see previous text.)

I n c o m p l e t e : like nearly all "constitutions", the LAW does not regulate necessary details. In consequence, National Organisations produced the necessary bylaws, often created by national "Laws and Ethics" Committees, e.g the Orange book in GBR. Groups were organised to discuss problems of correct interpretation, e.g the DOUBL mailing list ( international discussion). The WBF recognises the need for repairs by maintaining a "WBF Law Committee" . It works on a continous basis and is interpreting the laws as required.

I m p r o v e m e n t s : The LAW is a tool to have organised competitions, this activity could be considered of profession of its own. Procedures and adequate standards are needed. Due to Vanderbilt were the systematic concept of scoring, the introduction of boards; the standard for bidding; the institution of a TD Tournament Director and more. Missing were "movements", a set of instructions to fix where, when, against whom and how often to play. The includsion of contradictionary elements for giving information had negative effects: tournaments were won by contesting incorrect information, judged by a "court" established under national rules. At no time in the history has been an systematic effort by bridge bodys to eliminate weak elements of the LAW which are reponsible for - compared to world figures - the number of new players is little. Carmakers strip down their products each year to parts to find improvements. - - - - - - - - - - - - Paul Hauff (talk) 08:57, 21 May 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff Game Play is a header for dealing/auction/play/scoring and needs no own text.The actual content has to reappaer in these for sections. But an introduction is needed. Paul Hauff (talk) 12:01, 3 June 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff Dealing and auction need more information 78.51.73.254 (talk) 08:27, 7 June 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff

Reversion

I have reverted the changes to section 1 made by Paul Hauff, and rewritten the lead section and section 2 based on his versions of these but improving the style, correcting factual inaccuracies and removing inappropriate material. The previous version of section 1 was a good exposition of the game and did not need to be rewritten. Ehrenkater (talk) 17:11, 9 June 2010 (UTC)

There may be some useful information somewhere in Paul Hauff's contribution, but the vast majority of it is unencyclopaedic, or duplicates material which is already in the article or in one of the other articles on contract bridge. The whole of it is written in such bad English as to be difficult to follow. Ehrenkater (talk) 15:32, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

Commentary to Reversion

Ehrenkater decided to delete Paul Hauff contribution to Wiki "contract bridge" page. Hauffs text was written with the intention to attract new players to this game. You can read this text under www.bridgeassistant.net /Miscell and form you own opinion to the content. You, dear reader, are free to copy and use this text to get new players. Paul Hauff (talk) 08:15, 17 June 2010 (UTC) Paul Hauff 17 June 2010

Popularity

Bridge is by far the most popular card game in the over 65 demographic, but the lowest in the 16-35 age group.

What does "but the lowest in the 16-35 age group" mean? That doesn't make any sense. I can't check the reference as I don't have it but I'd also imagine relative popularity varies per country... Cambion (talk) 00:20, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

I doubt its the lowest of all card games, but it is substantially lower than the 65+ group. My guess is that the data is North American centric, and might be different for China and other parts of the world. Hardyplants (talk) 08:32, 4 August 2010 (UTC)

Neutral?

Is the article neutral? Because to me it sounds like it is trying to persuade you to play bridge. --Michaelzeng7 (talk) 00:55, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Persuasion not intended. Please cite specific instances which do not comply with NPOV. Newwhist (talk) 21:42, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Olov Hanner (Olof Hanner)

I wikified this reference for the article on Hanner's coauthor Hans Radstrom:

Hallén, Hans-Olof; Hanner, Olof; Jannersten, Per. Bridge movements: A fair approach (English translation by Barry Rigal of Swedish original ed.). ISBN 91-85024-86-4. , ISBN 9789185024865

Maybe it is of use to this article, or to some of you?

 Kiefer.Wolfowitz 16:29, 12 December 2011 (UTC)