While it is possible to learn bridge by reading books or web site pages, few people attempt it. Bridge is best learnt by playing the game, but unfortunately you cannot play bridge until you have built up a fair degree of familiarity with it.
In the old days people would learn by watching their friends play, and then eventually feel confident enough to have a go themselves. Nowadays, it seems, few people are willing to learn by watching others doing something. It is still a very good way of learning, however, so don't dismiss it. If you have a friend who plays at a club, and your friend is willing to have you to spend at least ten evenings watching him play, and is prepared to answer your questions afterwards, then (with the help of a good reference book - see below) you can learn to play bridge well enough to start playing at the club yourself.
These days, however, most people learn by taking lessons, either from a bridge teacher or from a computer program.
The best way to learn bridge is to take lessons from an experienced bridge teacher. You will be taught to play alongside other beginners, whose company and friendship you will certainly enjoy (bridge players come from varied backgrounds but most of them are intelligent and interesting people). Furthermore, once you have learnt, you will be pleased to have your fellow students as partners.
These links will help you to find a teacher in your area:
If any bridge federation not represented in the list above would like to email me a link to their list of teachers, I will be pleased to publish a link to it.
You can find plenty of bridge software for sale on the Internet, at prices to suit every pocket. You can also find links to interactive bridge lessons. By all means try one of those, though (since I have not used them) I cannot vouch for any of them.
However, there is a perfectly good free "Learn to Play Bridge" program, written by Fred Gitelman for the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). My daughter downloaded this program from the ACBL web site many years ago and thoroughly enjoyed working through the lessons. It certainly did the job of teaching her very well. I recommend it.
I should warn you, however, that although the rules of bridge and the play of the cards is the same worldwide, American club players use a slightly but significantly different system of bidding than English club players use. In recognition of this, the English Bridge Union (EBU) have a modified version of Gitelman's program available for download from their web site. If you are resident in England, and plan on playing at local bridge clubs or with friends, then the EBU version may suit you better. But if you plan on playing bridge elsewhere in the world, or on the Internet, you should download the original ACBL version.
Here are the links:
The "Learn to Play Bridge" program requires the Microsoft Windows operating system.
The main problem with learning from a computer program is that you are likely to be learning in isolation. When you have completed the course you will probably want to play at a local club, but bridge clubs generally expect you to attend with a partner. If you have a friend or a family member who already plays, you will be all right. Your friend can introduce you to the club and partner you until you feel totally comfortable. After that, you can make your own arrangements to play with other club members.
Most clubs will find partners for players who wish to join, but you will require enormous self-confidence to phone a club and ask them to find you a partner, and then sit down at a card table for three hours with a stranger when you have never played with real cards before. When you take lessons with a group of students you can form parnerships amongst yourselves, and go to a local bridge club as a pair.
Whether you learn with the help of a friend, teacher, or software, a book will be a great help to you. One I have used and can recommend is "Bridge for Absolute Beginners" by Robert Sheehan and Sally Brock, which is now out of print but is available second hand from sellers on the Amazon books web site and elsewhere.
Author: Chris Burton
bridgeinfo.net