How does the auction begin 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, the auction begins immediately after the deal is completed. Each player, starting with the dealer and proceeding in rotation, has the opportunity to make a call.1
A call consists of one of the following actions:
* Pass: Indicates a player does not wish to contract to win any number of tricks.1
* Bid: A commitment to win a specific number of odd tricks with a designated trump suit or at no trump.1
* Double: A player may double the last bid if it was made by an opponent and has not been doubled previously.1
* Redouble: A player may redouble if the last bid was made by their own side, doubled by an opponent, and not previously redoubled.1
Each subsequent bid must be higher than the preceding one, either by naming a greater number of odd tricks or by naming the same number of tricks in a higher-ranking suit. The auction continues until any call is followed by three consecutive passes.1