What is Chicago (four-deal bridge)?
The standard game here is rubber bridge: the partnerships play deal after deal until one side has won two games, and that side wins the rubber. Nobody is vulnerable at the start, and a side becomes vulnerable once it has won a game. Chicago, also called four-deal bridge, keeps the auction and the play exactly as they are and changes only how long a match lasts and how it is scored.
A match of Chicago is always four deals, and each deal has its vulnerability set in advance. On the first deal neither side is vulnerable. On the second and third deals only the dealer's side is vulnerable. On the fourth deal both sides are. The board shows the deal number and who is vulnerable, and the score sheet lists each deal as it is played.
Trick points still go below the line, and part scores still add up from deal to deal until one side reaches 100 and makes a game. That game is paid for at once: 300 points, or 500 if the side was vulnerable on that deal. Both sides then start again from nothing towards the next game. A part score made on the fourth deal that does not complete a game earns a bonus of 100.
If all four players pass, the same player deals again and the passed-out deal does not count as one of the four. After the fourth deal the side with more points wins the match; equal totals are a draw.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Bridge | Chicago (four-deal bridge) |
|---|---|---|
| Length of a match | Standard BridgeA rubber: deals go on until one side has won two games. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)Exactly four deals, each player dealing once. |
| Vulnerability | Standard BridgeNobody is vulnerable at the start; a side becomes vulnerable once it wins a game. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)Fixed by the deal: on the first nobody, on the second and third only the dealer's side, on the fourth both sides. |
| A passed-out deal | Standard BridgeThe next player deals. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)The same player deals again, and the deal does not count as one of the four. |
| Bonus for a game | Standard BridgeNone for a single game. The side that wins the rubber scores 700, or 500 if the other side has also won a game. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)Every game scores 300 at once, or 500 if the side that made it is vulnerable on that deal. There is no rubber bonus. |
| Part scores | Standard BridgeTrick points below the line add up from deal to deal; when either side makes a game, both start again from nothing. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)The same: they carry over until a game is made, and then both sides start again. |
| Part score on the last deal | Standard BridgeNo bonus. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)A part score made on the fourth deal that does not complete a game earns a bonus of 100. |
| Who wins | Standard BridgeThe side that wins two games wins the rubber. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)After the fourth deal, the side with more points in total. Equal totals are a draw. |
| Players | Standard BridgeFour in two partnerships; with two players the table plays the two-handed draw version described at the end of this page. | Chicago (four-deal bridge)Exactly four. A table of two always plays the two-handed game, scored as a rubber. |
History
Chicago is a widely played form of rubber bridge. It takes its name from the Standard Club of Chicago, where it began, and is also known as four-deal bridge and short bridge. Four-Deal Bridge is its name in the official rules, and its fixed length of four deals has made it popular in some American clubs where rubber bridge used to be played.
Descriptions agree that the first deal is played with nobody vulnerable and the fourth with both sides vulnerable, but not on the two deals in between. Some make the dealer's side vulnerable on the second and third deals, and that is the schedule played here. Others make the side that did not deal vulnerable on those deals, and note that the original version of Chicago had them the other way round, as here.
Some descriptions also list an honour bonus for Chicago, which many tables leave out; honours are not scored here, the same as in the standard game. Chicago is also described with four to seven players taking turns at one table; here a match is played by the same four players.
Two players: with two seats the table plays a two-handed version of bridge instead. It follows the version known as Draw Bridge, one of several two-player adaptations known as Honeymoon Bridge. Each player gets 13 cards and the rest form a stock. Thirteen tricks are played first at no trumps, without having to follow suit; the winner of each takes the top card of the stock and the loser the next, unseen by the other player, and these tricks do not score. With 13 new cards each, the dealer opens the auction, which ends when a player passes after a bid. The other player leads, both hands are played without a dummy, and the deals are scored as a rubber.