Which points count toward winning a game in rubber 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 rubber bridge, only trick points count toward winning a game. These points are recorded below the horizontal line on the score sheet. A side wins a game once it has accumulated 100 or more trick points, which may be achieved across one or multiple deals.1
All other points—such as those for overtricks, honors, slam bonuses, and penalties—are recorded above the line and do not contribute to winning a game. Once a game is won, a new game begins, and the process repeats until one side wins two games to secure the rubber.1