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Standard 52-card deck, 4 players in fixed partnerships. Deal 13 cards each. Bidding determines the contract (number of tricks and trump suit or no-trump).

Scoring: Making contracts earns trick points. Game bonus (100+ trick points in one hand) is significant. Slam bonuses (12-13 tricks bid and made) are huge. Undertricks give defenders points.

Bidding: Starting with dealer, players bid combinations of level (1-7) and strain (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, no-trump). Each bid must be higher than the previous. Pass if you don't want to bid. Three consecutive passes after a bid ends the auction. The final bid becomes the contract. The declaring side must win that many tricks + 6 (a '3 hearts' contract requires 9 tricks with hearts as trump).

Bidding conventions (like Stayman, Blackwood) communicate hand strength and distribution. Point count: A=4, K=3, Q=2, J=1, plus adjustments for distribution. As declarer, make a plan before playing - count winners and losers.

Contract Bridge evolved from Whist and Auction Bridge in the 1920s, formalized by Harold Vanderbilt. It became a social phenomenon and remains a major competitive game, with world championships and millions of players worldwide.