If you have never played bridge at all, you can easily learn the absolute basics in just a few short online lessons.
There is a series of 12 short lessons that will get you started over at http://bridge-lessons.blogspot.co.uk
Lesson one gives you a few fundamentals – how many players you need, how many cards to use.
Lesson two is a quick look through some of the most commonly used jargon. Every hobby has its own jargon and bridge is no exception. Once you’ve been playing for a few weeks, or attended classes for a few weeks, you forget you are using jargon and the new terms become part of your vocabulary.
Lesson three tells you how to decide if you have a good enough hand to open the bidding. It is essential to know this as you might be the first person to bid, or the players before you might have passed.
Lesson four explains what the term “contract” means and looks briefly at some of the different contracts that might be reached.
Lesson five looks at the fundamentals of playing the cards – working clockwise around the table and making sure to follow suit if you can.
Lesson six looks at one of the most easily remembered opening bids – One No Trump (1NT). There are several different bridge bidding systems, but the two most commonly used are Acol bridge and American standard bridge. It is easy to decide which of these two systems you are playing if you know the requirement for an opening bid of 1NT. In Acol bridge your hand should have a value of 12 -14 points and be balanced. In American standard bridge your hand should have a value of 15 – 1 7 points.
Lesson seven takes a look at some other opening bids if your hand isn’t suitable for opening with 1NT.
Lesson eight and nine look at two commonly used Rules – the rule of 20 and the rule of 15. Bridge players seem to love numbers and several Rules are named for the number of points required to invoke them.
Lesson 10 looks at how you should respond to a bid of 1NT if your partner opened the bidding with that bid.
Lesson 11 looks at how you should respond to an opening bid that isn’t 1NT.
Finally, lesson 12 looks at the all important scoring. Bridge players are nothing if not competitive. They like to know who has won, by how much and how often.
So – if you are an absolute beginner who has never played cards at all, head over to http://bridge-lessons.blogspot.co.uk
If you feel you are up to speed with the basics and would like to learn more, head over to No Fear Bridge and sign up for your two week trial membership. (No credit card or other financial details required for the trial)