Bridge lessons · Lesson 6 of 26
The Contract
Updated 16 October 2026
Before anyone plays a card, the four players hold an auction. The side that bids highest chooses the trump suit, or notrump, and promises to take six tricks plus the level of its final bid. So 1♥ promises seven tricks with hearts as trumps and 3NT nine without trumps. High enough contracts count as a game and earn a large bonus, which is why players look hard for one.
What does a bid promise?
A bid has two parts, a level from 1 to 7 and a strain. The strain is one of the four suits, which then becomes trumps, or notrump, which means the hand is played with no trumps at all. The level counts tricks above six. Those first six tricks are called the book, and every bid assumes them. At the top of the scale, 7NT promises all thirteen.
The strains have a fixed rank. From the bottom up they run clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades and notrump. Clubs and diamonds are the minor suits, hearts and spades the major suits. Each new bid must be higher than the last one, either at a higher level or at the same level in a higher strain. After 1♥, a player may bid 1♠ or 1NT, but to name diamonds they have to go up to 2♦.
How does the auction end?
The dealer speaks first and the turn goes round to the left. On your turn you can make a bid or use one of three other calls.
- Pass means you have nothing to say this time. It does not stop you bidding on a later turn.
- Double can only follow a bid by the opponents. If that bid ends the auction, its score goes up, for making it and for going down.
- Redouble can only follow the opponents' double, and raises the stakes once more.
Once a bid has been made, the auction ends when three players in a row pass. The last bid is the final contract. If all four players pass at the start, nobody plays the deal and the cards are dealt again.
The side that won the contract now has to choose who plays it. Declarer is the player on that side who first named the strain of the contract, even if partner made the final bid. Declarer's partner becomes dummy, as you saw in Declarer and Dummy.
Part score, game and slam
You score for the tricks you bid and make. Extra tricks, called overtricks, count only a little. The big scores come from contracts that earn a bonus. A contract worth 100 trick points or more is a game, and it carries a large bonus. Anything lower is a part score, with a small bonus of its own.
| Contract | Tricks needed | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 3NT | 9 | Game |
| 4♥ or 4♠ | 10 | Game |
| 5♣ or 5♦ | 11 | Game |
| Any six | 12 | Small slam |
| Any seven | 13 | Grand slam |
| Anything lower than game | 7 to 10 | Part score |
Each trick bid in clubs or diamonds is worth 20 points, each one in hearts or spades 30, and notrump 40 for the first trick and 30 for the rest. That is why game in a minor needs eleven tricks while 3NT needs only nine. It is also why players look hard for a major suit or notrump before they settle in a minor.
In round numbers, a part score made is worth 70 to 140 points. A game is worth about 400, a small slam about 1,000 and a grand slam about 1,500. If you go down, the opponents score 50 points for every trick you are short, and more if they doubled. The bridge scoring guide has the full table, and the scoring calculator works out any result for you.
Every deal also says which side is vulnerable. A vulnerable side wins bigger bonuses and pays bigger penalties. Game is worth about 600 instead of 400, a small slam about 1,400, and each undertrick costs 100 instead of 50. In duplicate the vulnerability is printed on each board, so you can see it before the bidding starts.
Watch it in a deal
Follow one auction from the first bid to the score. You are South.
South deals and opens 1♠, which on its own would promise seven tricks with spades as trumps. North has four spades and 8 points and raises to 2♠. South has 19 points and bids the game, 4♠, and three passes end the auction. South named spades first, so South is declarer and must take ten tricks.
The habit to keep
Whenever you hear a bid, turn it into tricks by adding six, and keep in mind which strain it names. When your side has the values for game, bid it, because the bonus for 3NT, four of a major or five of a minor is worth far more than any overtricks in a part score. The next lesson starts the play: counting the tricks you can take as soon as dummy appears.
For every number in the score, see bridge scoring. For the rules of the auction in full, see bridge rules.
Practice: the contract
Eight quick questions on what you just read.