How are no-trump tricks scored in contract bridge?
Card editor of the London Field W.H. Whitfeld published this bridge problem in 1885. South is declarer and has the lead with hearts as trump. With a sophisticated finesse, South can win every trick. South begins by leading the ace of diamonds, which, depending on what the opponents discard, opens a possible finesse of North's jack of diamonds. Next, South passes the lead to North with a spade that North trumps. North then leads the last heart, and South discards the 10 of clubs. With the lead of the last trump and then the ace of clubs, the defenders are presented with an insurmountable dilemma. East must hold two diamonds or South takes the last two tricks in the suit by discarding a spade. However, in order to hold on to two diamonds, East must discard the jack of spades, which in turn would force West to hold the queen of spades. Since West also needs the queen of diamonds and the jack of clubs to avoid losing a trick, a discard from any of the three suits will allow South to win all of the remaining tricks by an appropriate discard.
In contract bridge, when a side fulfills a no-trump contract, they score points for each trick taken over six (known as odd tricks). The scoring for no-trump is as follows:
- First odd trick: 40 points1
- Each additional odd trick: 30 points1
These points are recorded below the horizontal line on the score sheet and count toward winning a game. If the contract is doubled or redoubled, the trick points scored below the line are multiplied by two or four, respectively. Any tricks taken beyond the contract (overtricks) are scored above the line as honour points.1
Please note that this scoring system applies specifically to contract bridge. It differs from the scoring used in the earlier game of bridge whist, where no-trump tricks were valued at 12 points each.12