Learn to play bridge, from scratch

Never played? Start here. Short lessons teach the game one step at a time, on small deals you play yourself, and then whole hands with a coach beside you. No bidding to learn first: you start by playing the cards.

The path

1. Stage 1: Tricks. 6 short lessons: the table, a trick, following suit, leading, counting sure winners and long suits.
2. Stage 2: Trumps and no-trump. 5 lessons: trumping, overtrumping, drawing trumps, trumping in dummy, and playing without trumps.
3. Stage 3: Declarer and dummy. Whole hands with a coach beside you: your first hand as declarer, counting winners, setting up a long suit, your first finesse, and getting to dummy.
4. Stage 4: Points and contracts. 3 quizzes on endless new hands (counting points, who declares, trumps and game), then mini-bridge: see dummy, choose the contract, and play it.

How the lessons work

• You play the cards. Each lesson is a small deal: the other players' cards are played for you, and you choose yours.
• The rules explained as they come up. Try a card you can't play and you're told why; short notes explain who leads next, what dummy is, and when you may trump.
• Questions as you go. A quick question now and then checks the idea, with the reason after every answer.
• Free. The beginner path is free, with no weekly limit. The first lesson needs no account; the rest need a free account, so your progress is kept.

What is bridge?

Bridge is a card game for four players in two partnerships, North–South against East–West. All 52 cards are dealt, and each deal is played in tricks: one card from each player, clockwise. The side that takes the tricks it promised in the bidding scores. It's a game of logic, memory and teamwork, played by millions of people around the world, at clubs, at home and online.