Rubber bridge, solo -- you and a computer partner against two computer
opponents. Full auction, Acol-ish bidding, real rubber scoring.
Ready for a rubber? You're always South, with North as your partner.
You & North
0
0 pts
East & West
0
0 pts
West
North
East
South (you)
North
West
East
South (you)
Hand complete -- hover any trick above to review it.
How Brug plays
Why "Brug"? It's the Afrikaans/Dutch word for bridge -- a nod to the card game
it's built on. Its sibling "Trug" takes the English word for basket instead, echoing
"canasta" (Spanish for basket) -- one Afrikaans name, one English, fitting for the Lower
Albany region both games are named after.
Tip: you can drag a playable card from your hand (or dummy's,
when you're playing it) straight onto the trick instead of tapping it -- tap-to-play still
works exactly as before either way. (A beta the admin can switch off.)
You're South, every rubber. North is your computer partner; East and West are the
computer opposition. Nothing is saved between visits -- Deal me in always starts fresh.
Full auction first. The computer seats bid for real, off a trimmed Acol system --
four-card majors, weak notrump (12-14), weak twos, Stayman, a simplified strong 2♣, one
Blackwood ace-ask. It won't bid a tournament-perfect system, but it's a genuine auction, not a
shortcut to a contract.
Then the play. If your side wins the contract with North declaring, you're dummy --
you can either play North's hand yourself (you'll see both hands and choose every card, same
as any declarer) or let the computer play the whole hand through while you watch, and you can
hand it back to the computer partway through if you change your mind. Otherwise you play every
card yourself, either as declarer (both your hand and dummy's) or as a defender (your own hand
only) -- though a "let the computer play this hand" toggle is always sitting right there too,
for a partscore that isn't worth your full attention, and you can take control back again
just as freely if the hand gets interesting.
Real rubber scoring -- trick points toward game, doubles/redoubles, slam bonuses,
honours, vulnerability once a side wins a game, and the rubber bonus once a side wins two games.
Trick points (below the line, toward the 100 needed for game)
♣ / ♦
20 per trick bid and made
♥ / ♠
30 per trick bid and made
No trump
40 for the first trick, 30 for each after
Doubled multiplies those trick points by 2, redoubled by 4.
Game is the first side to reach 100+ points below the line -- the slate then
resets to zero for both sides, and that side is vulnerable for the rest of the
rubber.
Rubber goes to the first side to win 2 games: +700 if the other side won no
games that rubber, +500 if they won one.
Overtricks (above the line): the same per-trick value as the contract when
undoubled; doubled, 100 each (200 vulnerable); redoubled, 200 each (400 vulnerable) --
plus a flat +50 "insult" bonus just for making any doubled or redoubled contract.
Slam bonus (bid and made, above the line): 500 for a small slam/12 tricks
(750 vulnerable), 1000 for a grand slam/13 tricks (1500 vulnerable).
Going down (above the line, to the defenders): 50 per undertrick undoubled
(100 vulnerable); doubled, 100 for the first undertrick plus 200 for each after that
(200 then 300 vulnerable) -- redoubled doubles those amounts again.
Honours, scored regardless of whether the contract's made: 100 for any four
of the top five trump honours (A K Q J T) in one hand, 150 for all five -- or, at no
trump, 150 for all four aces in one hand.
The computer's card play is a solid set of heuristics -- third-hand-high, cover an honour,
ruff when it's clearly worth it -- not a perfect double-dummy solver. It'll play soundly, not flawlessly.