Bridge Glossary

Baby

(1) (slang) (adjective) low. [Usage: "two baby hearts" = two hearts of insignificant rank.]

(2) (adjective) occurring one level lower than usual (e.g., Baby Blackwood: three notrump as an ace-asking bid).

Back

the side of a card that shows only the pack design.

Back in

bid or double after having previously passed.

Back preference

support for a suit first shown by partner after partner has shown support for a different suit. [Example: one club -- one spade -- two spades -- three clubs.]

Back score

a tally sheet indicating the scores of the individual players over a series of rubbers or other units of play.

Backward finesse

a finesse taken in a manner opposite to what would ordinarily be standard procedure. [Dummy has ace-jack-nine, declarer has king-three-deuce. Standard procedure would be to finesse the jack, hoping to find the queen onside; it would be a backward finesse to lead the jack, hoping to find the queen over the jack and then the ten onside.].

Backwash squeeze

a squeeze in which underruffing is one of the victim's fatal options.

-bagger

(slang) indicative of the length held, as in "five-bagger" (a five-card suit).

Bagel

(slang) a (duplicate-bridge) score of zero on a board. [possibly regional usage]

Balance

(1) (verb) take a balancing action.

(2) (noun) a balancing action.

Balanced distribution

4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 suit distribution.

Balanced hand

hand with relatively even suit distribution; hand with no void or singleton and at most one doubleton, thus: 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 suit distribution.

Balancing

entering or reentering the auction on the basis of values partner is presumed to hold from the relative weakness of the opponents' bidding.

Bar

action that (by partnership agreement) demands that partner pass.

Bare

(slang) unprotected; not accompanied by low cards. [bare king = singleton king; queen-jack bare = doubleton queen-jack].

Barometer

a tournament arrangement in which players learn the scores of some of the deals prior to the end of play.

Baron

(1) an early scientific British system;

(2) a club response to a notrump opening that institutes up-the-line bidding of four-card suits by both partners;

(3) a bid one step below five (or six) of the agreed suit, asking partner to bid six (or seven) with strong trumps;

(4) a response of two notrump to an opening suit one-bid to show a balanced hand with (originally) 16-18 points, or (more modernly) 16-17 points; sometimes played as 16-plus points with no upper limit.

Barrage

(noun) preempt.

Barred

(1) required to pass by law (as after the imposition of a penalty);

(2) constrained to pass by partnership agreement.

Bart

an artificial two-diamond rebid in the partnership bidding sequence one spade--one notrump (forcing or semiforcing)--two clubs--two diamonds.

Bash

(slang) name a contract without conducting a full investigation during the bidding.

Bath

(slang) large penalty.

Bath coup

a hold-up from ace-jack after LHO's lead from king-queen.

Beat

set; defeat (a contract).

Becker

a defense against notrump openings in which two clubs shows minors and two diamonds show majors.

Bed

[see: Go to bed with]

Beer card

the seven of diamonds.

Bell

(slang) echo; encouraging signal.

Below the line

points that count towards game; points scored for tricks bid and made.

Benjamin

a scheme for opening two-bids: majors: weak; diamonds: artificial (near) game-force; clubs: artificial--an Acol two-bid with long suit(s) as yet unspecified.

Bergen raises

a scheme of responses to major-suit openings (single raise = 6-9 points with three trumps; three clubs = 6-9 points with four trumps; three diamonds = 10-11 points with four trumps; double raise = 0-5 points with four trumps).

Bermuda Bowl

the trophy for the major world team championship; the most coveted trophy in international tournament bridge, comparable to the World Cup in soccer.

Better minor

an agreement to open the stronger minor with 4=3=3=3 or 3=4=3=3 distribution.

-best

having the indicated rank, as fourth-best (fourth highest in rank among the cards held).

Bid

a bet to take the specified number of tricks above six, in the specified strain; a number of tricks from one to seven combined with a strain (notrump, spades, hearts, diamonds or clubs).

Biddable suit

a suit long or strong enough to be indicated in a given bidding situation.

Bidder

(1) player who makes a bid;

(2) (slang) someone who is usually aggressive during the auction.

Bidding

auction; the phase of bridge in which the players bid for the right to name the final contract.

Bidding boxes

physical devices that enable silent auctions.

Bidding space

the number of steps available in an auction.

Bidding system

a collection of partnership understandings about the meanings of calls.

Biff

(slang) (verb) trump.

Big cassino (also Big casino)

the ten of diamonds.

Big club

a strength-showing artificial one-club opening.

Black suits

spades and clubs.

Blackwood convention

a conventional method through which one partner can ask about the number of partner's aces by bidding four notrump.

Blank

(1) void; a holding of no cards in a suit;

(2) (slang) (noun) bare; unaccompanied by protecting cards;

(3) (slang) (verb) leave unaccompanied by low cards through discarding.

Blind lead

(1) the opening lead; a lead made without benefit of seeing the dummy;

(2) an opening lead made with only weak clues from the bidding.

Blitz

(slang) (verb) defeat severely;

(slang) (noun) a big win;

(slang) (noun) a win that obtains the maximum possible score.

Blizzard

a very weak hand; a hand with no useful cards whatever.

Block

(verb) prevent the running of a suit by denying the hand long in the suit an entry therein.

Blockbuster

(slang) a very powerful hand; powerhouse.

Blocked

(adjective) (of a suit) unable to be run without use of an entry in another suit. [In a particular suit, dummy has queen-jack-ten-nine; declarer has ace-king. The suit is blocked.].

Blocking

causing a suit to be blocked.

Blue club

Blue team club.

Blue Team club

a big-club system made popular by the highly successful Italian Blue Team.

Bluhmer

a call, often a jump bid, that encourages high-level action (usually a slam-try) by denying values opposite partner's short suit

Board

(1) (slang) the dummy; dummy's cards, as spread on the table;

(2) in duplicate bridge: a holder, usually of metal or plastic, used to preserve the cards as originally dealt;

(3) (slang) a deal.

Board-a-match

a scoring system for team play in which each deal accounts for one point (a team scores 1 point if it gets a higher score, 1/2 point if it gets an equal score, 0 if it gets a lower score).

Body

strong intermediate cards (such as 10's and 9's).

Book

(1) (noun) the first six tricks taken by declarer.

(2) (noun) tricks (possibly zero) taken by the defense leaving it one short of defeating the contract.

(3) (adjective) in accordance with the common wisdom or the usual procedure.

Book player

(slang) someone who seldom departs from established procedures or requirements; a straightforward player.

Boost

(1) (slang) raise;

(2) (slang) bid in the bope of pushing the opponents to a higher contract.

Bottom

in matchpoint scoring, the lowest score on one deal.

Bracket

a grouping of entries in a knockout tournament that will (eventually) produce one survivor.

Bracketed

(adjective for a knockout event) broken up, usually by the entrants' rating categories, such that each segment will produce its own winner.

Break

(1) (noun) the division of the adversely held cards in a suit; [A three-two break = finding one opponent with three of the missing five cards and the other with two.].

(2) (verb) defeat (a contract);

(3) (verb) make the first lead in (a suit).

Bridge

a card game for four players, acting in two partnerships, in which bets are made on the number of tricks each side will win during the play of the cards; contract bridge.

Bridge-O-Rama

an early method of displaying bridge to an audience, now generally replaced by vu-graph.

Bridge World Standard

a consensus bidding system based on the preferences of North American experts

Bring in

(slang) fulfill (a contract); play (a suit) without loss, or without adverse circumstance, or to win a particular number of tricks.

Broken sequence

an interrupted run of cards, such as K-J-10.

Broken suit

a suit lacking cards in sequence, especially honor cards.

Brozel

a defense against one-notrump openings: double = a one-suiter, suit unspecified; two of a minor = that suit and hearts; two hearts = majors; two spades = spades and a minor.

Bull

(1) (slang) ace;

(2) blunder.

Bullet

(slang) ace.

Bump

(slang) fall together (usually said of honors); cause to fall together.

Business double

penalty double.

Bust

(slang) a very poor hand; a hand weak in honor cards; a hand weak for the holder's earlier bidding.

Busy

(of a card) needed to prevent an opponent's winner or for some other specific purpose.

Butt-in

(slang) overcall.

Buy

(1) (slang) obtain (the contract); make the highest bid in.

(2) (slang) find in dummy. [Usage: I hoped to buy a spade honor (i.e., find dummy with a spade honor).

BWS

Bridge World Standard

By me

(slang) improper form of "pass.".

Bye

(noun) a round without an opponent;

(adjective) in a duplicate bridge movement, referring to a table (sometimes "bye stand") where boards are placed but not played.

Byzantine

a complex form of key-card Blackwood.