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It often happens that when one pair is playing a small contract the opponents have an equal or even higher number of points: honours points are the same for everyone but distribution points vary according to the split of the suits: if I have a void in Hearts I would count three distribution points if I were playing a contract in Spades; but if my opponent wants to play a contract in Clubs he would count two points if, for example, he has a singleton Spade…

It is therefore fair that the opponents play the contract when they have a higher number of DH points. But how do you decide on this contract?

You need to know that contracts in Bridge are based on a system of an auction: i.e. when one side has proposed a contract, if the opponents wish to play instead, they must propose a higher contract (also called 'more expensive').

For this there are two methods:

Have you got a little idea on this subject?

Bravo if you thought of majors and minors which give different scores: to allow an auction Bridge gives a position to suits which is the following from lowest to highest:

It is vital to know this order by heart.

So if my opponents propose a contract of 2, I can bid a contract of 2 because this suit is in a higher position or, quite simply, more expensive.

Bidding in Bridge is exactly like going up a staircase whose steps are the four suits and the landing No-Trumps; when you arrive there you go up to the next level as this diagram shows:-

NT

NT

3rd Step

NT

2nd Step

1st Step

Like a normal auction the bids in Bridge can never go down (otherwise we'd never finish!): if my opponent is on the "Heart step" on the fourth landing (you already realise that he wanted to play 4) but I want to play in Diamonds, I must go to the fifth landing, i.e. bid 5.