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Contract bridge
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==History and etymology== {{Main|History of contract bridge}} [[File:Biritch, or Russian Whist by John Collinson 1886.png|thumb|right|180px|John Collinson's "Biritch, or Russian Whist", 1886]] Bridge is a member of the family of [[trick-taking game]]s and is a derivative of [[whist]], which had become the dominant such game and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries. The idea of a trick-taking, 52-card game has its first documented origins in Italy and France. The French physician and author [[François Rabelais|Rabelais]] (1493–1553) mentions a game called "La Triomphe" in one of his works, and [[Juan Luis Vives]]'s ''Linguae latinae exercitio'' (Exercise in the Latin language) of 1539 features a dialogue on card games in which the characters play 'Triumphus hispanicus' (Spanish Triumph). Bridge departed from whist with the creation of "Biritch" in the 19th century and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game. The first known rule book for bridge, dated 1886, is ''[[s:Biritch, or Russian Whist|Biritch, or Russian Whist]]'' written by John Collinson, an English financier working in Ottoman [[Constantinople]]. It and his subsequent letter to ''The Saturday Review'', dated 28 May 1906, document the origin of ''Biritch'' as being the Russian community in Constantinople.<ref name="Collinson">{{Cite magazine |last1=Depaulis |first1=Thierry |last2=Fuchs |first2=Jac |date=Sep–Oct 2003 |title=First Steps of Bridge in the West: Collinson's 'Biritch' |url=http://levantineheritage.com/pdf/Biritch.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://levantineheritage.com/pdf/Biritch.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |magazine=The Playing-Card |publisher=[[International Playing-Card Society|The International Playing-Card Society]] |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=67–76}}</ref> The word ''[[biritch]]'' is thought to be a transliteration of the Russian word {{Lang|ru|Бирюч}} (бирчий, бирич), an occupation of a diplomatic clerk or an announcer.<ref name=Collinson/> Another theory is that British soldiers invented the game bridge while serving in the [[Crimean War]], and named it after the [[Galata Bridge]], which they crossed on their way to a coffeehouse to play cards.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alan Truscott |date=2 February 1992 |title=Bridge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/02/news/bridge-317092.html |website=The New York Times}}</ref> Biritch had many significant bridge-like developments: dealer chose the [[trump (cards)|trump]] suit, or nominated his partner to do so; there was a call of "no trumps" (''biritch''); dealer's partner's hand became dummy; points were scored above and below the line; game was 3NT, 4{{Hearts}} and 5{{Diamonds}} (although 8 club odd tricks and 15 spade odd tricks were needed); the score could be doubled and redoubled; and there were [[Glossary of card game terms#slam|slam]] bonuses.<ref>{{Cite web |last=John Collinson |date=9 July 1886 |title=Biritch, or Russian Whist |url=http://www.pagat.com/boston/biritch.html |access-date=29 July 2018 |via=Pagat.com [2007]}}</ref> It also has some features in common with [[solo whist]]. This game, and variants of it known as "bridge"<ref>Elwell 1905 {{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}} and Benedict 1900.{{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}}</ref> and "[[bridge whist]]",<ref>Melrose 1901.{{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}}</ref> became popular in the United States and the United Kingdom in the 1890s despite the long-established dominance of whist.<ref>Foster 1889.{{Full citation needed|date=July 2018}}</ref><ref name=Collinson/> Its breakthrough was its acceptance in 1894 by [[Henry Brougham, 3rd Baron Brougham and Vaux|Lord Brougham]] at [[Portland Club (London)|London's Portland Club]].<ref name=Collinson/> [[File:Shimer College bridge club 1942.jpg|280px|left|thumb|Bridge club at [[Shimer College]], 1942]] In 1904, [[auction bridge]] was developed, in which the players bid in a competitive auction to decide the contract and declarer. The object became to make at least as many tricks as were contracted for, and penalties were introduced for failing to do so. In auction bridge, bidding beyond winning the auction is pointless; for example, if taking all 13 tricks, there is no difference in score between a 1{{spades}} and a 7{{spades}} final contract, as the bonus for rubber, small slam or grand slam depends on the number of tricks taken rather than the number of tricks contracted for.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Auction bridge |url=https://gambiter.com/bridge/Auction_bridge.html |access-date=31 July 2022}}</ref> The modern game of contract bridge was the result of innovations to the scoring of auction bridge by [[Harold Stirling Vanderbilt]] and others. The most significant change was that only the tricks contracted for were scored below the line toward game or a slam bonus, a change that resulted in bidding becoming much more challenging and interesting. Also new was the concept of "vulnerability", which made sacrifices to protect the lead in a rubber more expensive. The various [[bridge scoring|scores]] were adjusted to produce a more balanced and interesting game. Vanderbilt set out his rules in 1925, and within a few years contract bridge had so supplanted other forms of the game that "bridge" became synonymous with "contract bridge". The form of bridge mostly played in clubs, tournaments and online is [[duplicate bridge]]. The number of people who play contract bridge has declined since its peak in the 1940s, when a survey found it was played in 44% of US households. The game is still widely played, especially amongst retirees, and in 2005 the [[American Contract Bridge League|ACBL]] estimated there were 25 million players in the US.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=David Owen |date=17 September 2007 |title=Turning Tricks – The rise and fall of contract bridge |url=http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/09/17/070917crbo_books_owen |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref>
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