Category : A Collection of Games for DOS and Windows
Archive   : BRIDGPAL.ZIP
Filename : DOCUMENT.PRN

BridgePal User Manual









B r i d g e P a l (2.0)






Plays the Card Game of Contract Bridge




Complete Bidding, Play, and Scoring
For 1 or 2 players
Random Hands -- Every one different
Bidding Help for Beginners
Options to Replay, Quit, and Auto Finish
Best Hand option to increase Offensive Play
Works with Monochrome, CGA, and EGA









Program and Documentation

Copyright 1989 by

WR Software
P.O. Box 4819
Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Registration $9.95

Permission hereby granted to make exact copies of
Program and Documentation


BridgePal User Manual







B r i d g e P a l (2.0)


Table of Contents


Getting Started
Introduction...............................................3
Setting Up.................................................3
Loading....................................................3
Game Options...............................................4
Bidding....................................................4
Playing the Hand...........................................5

Saving the Score...........................................5

Rules of Bridge
Introduction...............................................6
Shuffling and Dealing......................................6
Bidding....................................................6
Playing the Hand...........................................7
Scoring....................................................8
Summary....................................................8

Bidding Rules
Point Count................................................9
Basic Opening Bids.........................................9
Responses to Suit Bids.....................................9
Responses to No-trump Bids................................10
Other Opening Bids........................................10
Overcalls.................................................11
Take-Out Double...........................................11
Blackwood Convention......................................11
Summary...................................................12



BridgePal User Manual





Welcome to BridgePal, the computer version of the card game of
bridge. Here's your chance to learn, practice, or just enjoy the
game of bridge without needing three other players. BridgePal is
played just like bridge, except the computer shuffles and deals the
cards, bids and plays three hands, and does the scoring. You will
bid and play the South hand. If your team gets the bid, then you
play both the North and South hands.

BridgePal is a "shareware" program, so you are encouraged to try it
out and make copies for friends. If you like the program and
continue to use it, we ask that you acknowledge your use by sending
in a $9.95 registration fee. When you register, please include any
comments or suggestions you have regarding BridgePal. Ideas for
additional features, new or revised bidding conventions, and improved
play strategies are especially welcome. If your idea is included in
BridgePal, we'll send you a free disk with the latest version which
includes your suggestion.


SETTING UP

To begin with, it is a good idea to copy the BridgePal diskette to
another floppy or a hard disk, and save the BridgePal disk as a
backup. Floppy users can format a new diskette (FORMAT B:/S), put
the BridgePal disk in the A: drive, and then make the new disk copy
(COPY A:*.* B:).

Hard disk users can log on to their fixed disk (usually drive C:)
and see the DOS prompt: C>. You will probably want to set up a
sub-directory for BridgePal, for example one called "BP". To do
that, type "MKDIR \BP" and press to create the sub-directory,
then type "CHDIR \BP" and press to change to the new
directory. Finally, insert the BridgePal diskette into floppy drive
A, and type "COPY A:*.*" and press to copy the files to your
hard disk.


LOADING

At the DOS prompt, type "BRIDGE" and push (Note: if you have
trouble with this version, try BRIDGE1 instead). The program will
load into memory, and ask "Color (Y/N)"? If you have a color monitor
then reply Y (for Yes). All other users should reply N (for No).
The next thing you see is the BridgePal Menu.







3
BridgePal User Manual



GAME OPTIONS

There are three ways to play BridgePal. SOLO bridge is for one
player. TWO PLAYER bridge provides scoring for two people, who take
turns playing random hands. Similarly, DUPLICATE scores for two, but
deals the same sets of hands to both players.

All three game options will ask if you want the "Best Hand (Y/N)"?
If you reply Y(es), the hand with the most points is given to you
(South) on every round. All options also ask if you want "Automatic
Trick Pickup (Y/N)"? If you reply Y(es), the cards will be "picked
up" after the fourth card is played on each trick. Reply N(o) and
the cards will be displayed until you "Push any key to continue."

When the hand is finished, you are asked if you want to "Play this
hand again (y/N)?" The uppercase "N" indicates that this is the
default response. If you press just then N(o) is assumed.
Reply "Y" (upper or lower case) if you wish to repeat that hand. If
you choose to replay the hand, you may then choose to "rotate" the
cards. This will move each player's cards one player to the left
(clockwise). You must complete the hand the last time it is played,
or the score for that hand is not kept.

After completing each hand the last time (if the hand is replayed),
the score for that hand is shown. This display also shows: 1) "Hand
Number," 2) who bid first, and 3) whether or not the Best Hand option
was used. If you wish to replay this same hand some other time, you
will need to jot down these three items. Then you can choose
SELECTED HAND from the menu to replay the same hand at any time,
even months later. When you choose SELECTED HAND the first hand is
the one you indicated, then the game continues in the SOLO mode using
randomly generated hands.


BIDDING

BridgePal bidding is the same as conventional bridge. Bids which are
not legitimate, like one club after three hearts, will cause the
message "ILLEGAL BID" to appear. This will repeat until a legal bid
is made. BridgePal understands (and makes) the following bids:
Preempt, Short Club, Take Out Double, Penalty Double, Overcall, and
Blackwood.

Bids are entered into the computer by pressing a number and then a
suit, using the first letter of the suit. So, to bid two hearts,
push the "2" key and then the "H" key. No-trump bids are made by
using the letter "N" instead of a suit letter. The following bids
are entered by pushing just the first letter: P(ass), D(ouble), and
R(edouble). It is not necessary to push ENTER to make a bid.





4
BridgePal User Manual


Deciding what to bid can be difficult, but HELP is available. Just
push "H" and the computer will suggest a bid for you. To see the
point COUNT for your hand, push "C" before you make a bid. To exit
the hand press the ESC(ape) key.


PLAYING THE HAND

After the bidding is finished, the play of the hand begins. The "?"
symbol will appear next to the appropriate hand when it is your turn
to play a card. Cards are played by choosing the letters A(ce),
K(ing), Q(ueen), J(ack), or the numbers 2 to 10 (you can also use
the letter T to play a Ten). The suit is selected by the first
letter of the suit, just like in the bidding. So, to play the ace of
spades, just press "A" and then "S". To follow suit and play the
lowest card you have in that suit, just press the ENTER key.

After the first card is played on a trick, a snowflake (*) will
appear in South's hand next to the suit that was led. After a card
has been played by each of the four hands, BridgePal will determine
the winning card. A arrow symbol will point at the winning card.

You may decide during the play of the hand to let the computer finish
playing the hand for you. BridgePal will "AUTOMATICALLY FINISH" the
hand if you key in "AF" and push ENTER. You can also press the
ESC(ape) key to quit the hand. If you are not playing the DUPLICATE
option, you will have the choice of repeating the hand, or dealing
again and playing a new hand.


SAVING THE SCORE

You can save the score at the end of any hand, before the rubber is
finished. The score will be written to your diskette or hard disk,
along with the type of game (for example, SOLO), who was dealing
next, etc. At a later time, you can select PRIOR GAME on the Main
Menu and resume the game at the point where you left off.

















5
BridgePal User Manual





RULES OF BRIDGE

These instructions are primarily for those who have never played the
card game of bridge. Former players may find some helpful reminders
here. The game of bridge is played by 2 teams of 2 players each.
BridgePal replaces 3 of the players, letting you play bridge by
yourself. A hand of Bridge consists of 4 different activities:

Shuffling and dealing
Bidding
Playing the hand
Scoring



SHUFFLING AND DEALING

Bridge is played with a 52-card deck composed of 4 suits of 13 cards
each. Cards are ranked from Ace (highest), King, Queen, Jack, and 10
to 2 (lowest). All cards are dealt to the 4 players, so each player
has 13 cards in his "hand". BridgePal will shuffle and deal the
cards automatically.


BIDDING

Bidding is the way you describe your hand to your partner, and make a
guess about the strength of your combined hands. The highest bid
becomes the "contract," or goal of the offensive team. If you can
fulfill your contract, your team scores points. If you fail to make
the contract, your opponents will score.

You may bid a suit or "No-trump." If the highest bid is a suit, that
suit becomes the "trump" suit. Cards in the trump suit are something
like "wild cards," as you will see in the next part of the game. If
"No-trump" is the final bid, then there are no "wild cards."

Suits are ranked from lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts,
spades, and No-trump. So a bid of "1 diamond" is higher than a bid
of "1 club." The bidding begins with the dealer and continues
clockwise until 3 players in a row say "pass" (pass means "no bid").
The lowest possible bid is "1 club," and the highest is "7 No-trump."
Each bid must be higher than the previous one: for example, 1 club,
1 heart, 1 No-trump, 2 diamonds, etc. Each bid is supposed to give
your partner more information about the strength of your hand.






6
BridgePal User Manual


A set of bidding rules is included at the end of these instructions,
but they are too complicated for newcomers. Rather than struggling
with them in the beginning, try using the bidding Help feature. When
it's your turn to bid, just push "H" (for Help). Then BridgePal will
make your bid for you.

The team that makes the highest bid wins the contract. The suit from
the highest bid becomes the trump suit (unless it was No-trump). The
player on the high bidding team who first mentioned the trump suit
(or No-trump) is called Declarer. The high bidding team is on
offense, and the Declarer has to "play" the hand by himself.


PLAYING THE HAND

After the bidding is finished, the person to the left of Declarer
plays the first card (opening lead). The Declarer is on offense, and
he plays both his own and his partner's cards. Declarer's partner is
called the Dummy. The Dummy puts all his cards face-up on the table,
immediately after the opening lead.

Declarer then decides which card to play from Dummy. The second
defensive team member plays next, and finally Declarer plays from his
own hand. The highest card played in the same suit as the opening
lead wins the "trick." A trick is a round of 4 cards, one from each
player in a clockwise direction. If someone plays a card from the
trump suit (a "wildcard"), then the highest trump card wins. But you
must follow suit if possible (you may play the trump suit only if
you don't have any cards in the suit that was led--the suit of the
first card played on each trick).

The hand that wins the trick has the lead and plays the first card
on the next trick. At this point you can play any card in your hand.
Play proceeds in this manner until all cards have been played and the
13 tricks are divided between the two teams.

This may sound confusing, but BridgePal will make it easier for you
to play the hand. BridgePal will prevent illegal plays, keep track
of who plays next, and tell you who won the trick.















7
BridgePal User Manual




SCORING

The basic objective of bridge is to win two "games" before your
opponents do, and therefore capture the "rubber." What is a game? A
game is 100 or more points. Game points are scored by the team
making the highest bid, if the contract is made. To make a bid, you
must take six tricks plus the number you bid. For example, a bid of
four spades means the team must take ten tricks to fulfill the
contract (six plus the four bid). Points are awarded as follows, but
only for tricks after the first six:

Spades or Hearts (Majors) = 30 points per trick
Clubs or Diamonds (Minors) = 20 points per trick
No-trump = 40 points for the first trick and 30 points
for each additional trick

In order to make a game in a single deal, you must bid three
No-trump, four hearts or spades, and five clubs or diamonds. These
points are written "below the line" on bridge scoring sheets. There
are also defensive and bonus points which are scored "above the
line." Since BridgePal will keep the score for you, there is no need
to understand scoring details before beginning to play.


SUMMARY

Well, that should be enough to get started (far too much, you say).
You can skip the following section on Bidding until you've had some
fun with the game. The BridgePal bidding "Help" feature will allow
you to get going without reading further.






















8
BridgePal User Manual





BIDDING RULES

The purpose of bidding is to reach the highest contract your team
can make. To evaluate your hand, use the following table to get a
total point count:

High Card Points Distribution Points

Ace = 4 Void (no cards in suit) = 3
King = 3 Singleton (1 in a suit) = 2
Queen = 2 Doubleton (2 in a suit) = 1
Jack = 1

A "game" bid will usually require 26 or more points between the
partners' hands. A bid of six or seven (called "slam") requires 33
or more points. Slam bids earn a scoring bonus.

Unfortunately, you are not allowed to call out your hand's point
count. Instead, you must hint at it using the various conventions of
bridge bidding. The more common conventions are discussed below.


BASIC OPENING BIDS

You may open the bidding with one of a suit if you have at least 13
points in your hand. An opening bid of one No-trump shows 16 to 18
high-card points, with no voids, no singletons, and not more than one
doubleton. Do not open one No-trump with a five card major. It is
all right to open a No-trump with a five card minor.

Which suit to bid? A four card suit is biddable, but always open
your longest suit. With two suits of equal length, bid the highest
ranking suit first, i.e., with 4 hearts, 4 spades and 13 points in
your hand, open the bidding with one spade.


RESPONSES TO SUIT BIDS

The partner who opens the bidding (bids first) is called the Opener;
the partner is called the Responder. The Responder evaluates his
hand with the same point count method as the Opener. With 6 points,
the Responder must bid; with less than 6 points, Responder must pass.
With 6 to 9 points and 4 cards in Opener's suit, bid 2 in the
Opener's suit. With 6 to 9 points and without 4 cards in Opener's
suit, Responder makes a bid at the one level, either with one of his
biddable suits or 1 No-trump. With 10 points or more, Responder may
bid at the 1 level or 2 level in a new suit. With less than 10
points, Responder cannot bid at the 2 level in a new suit.



9
BridgePal User Manual



With at least 4 cards in partner's suit and 13 or more points, bid
3 in partner's suit (called a "jump," since you have skipped over the
next possible bid of 2 in your partner's suit). Bid 2 No-trump with
13 to 15 high-card points, all unbid suits stopped, and with less
than 4 in partner's suit. Jump in a new suit (jump shift) with 18 or
more points. With 13 or more points, no support in partner's suit,
and lacking the cards for a 2 No-trump bid, then bid another suit and
jump on the next round.


RESPONSES TO NO-TRUMP BIDS

If you have no major suit, try to play the hand in No-trump. With
less than 8 points, pass; with 8 or 9 points, bid 2 No-trump; with 10
to 14 points, bid 3 No-trump.

If you have 5 cards in a major suit and 10 or more points, you may
jump to three in this suit over the No-trump bid. If your partner
has three or more in this suit, he will bid four in the major. If he
has only 2, he will bid 3 No-trump. With less than 8 points and 5
or more cards in a suit, bid 2 of this suit.


OTHER OPENING BIDS

PRE-EMPT: This is a defensive bid designed to prevent your opponents
from arriving at their best contract. The rules for making this bid
are complex, but in general you must have a long suit (at least 7),
and a weak hand (less than 11 high card points). Bid 3 of the long
suit with minimum requirements, 4 or 5 with more length or strength.

TWO OF A SUIT: An opening 2 bid in a suit shows a very strong hand,
and both partners should keep bidding at least until game is reached.
To open with a 2 bid, you must have 25 points with a 5-card suit; 23
with a 6-card suit; and 21 with a 7-card suit. Your partner must
respond to this bid. With 7 or less points, the response should be 2
No-trump. With 8 or more points, make a positive response, i.e., bid
your best suit, raise your partner's suit, or bid 3 No-trump.

TWO NO-TRUMP: This bid is made with 22 to 24 high-card points and a
balanced hand. It is not forcing to game, but you will often end up
at a game bid. Your partner should respond with 4 or more high-card
points in his hand.











10
BridgePal User Manual


OVERCALLS

An overcall is a bid made after an opponent has opened the bidding.
This bid can be made with as few as 11 points, but the suit you bid
must have at least 5 cards, at least 2 of which are honors (A, K, Q,
J, or 10). Responder can raise your suit with any 3-card support.
With 6 to 11 points, partner raises one level. With 13 or more
points, partner raises with a jump bid.


TAKE-OUT DOUBLE

This is another bid made after an opponent has opened the bidding.
This shows an opening point count in your hand and asks partner to
bid his best suit. For example, opponent is dealer and opens 1
diamond. You have 13 points and at least 3 cards in all other suits
and less than 3 diamonds. You double, asking your partner for his
best suit. If your partner has 10 points or more and a good suit,
his answering bid should be a jump. Partner must respond, even with
zero points, if previous opponent has passed.


BLACKWOOD

When the bidding indicates that a slam is possible (33 or more points
between the partners), the Blackwood convention can be used. The
Blackwood convention is used to tell your partner how many Aces or
Kings you have. To start the Blackwood bidding, one partner makes
the bid of 4 No-trump. Then the other partner responds as follows:

Number of Aces Response

0 or 4 5 Clubs
1 5 Diamonds
2 5 Hearts
3 5 Spades

You can figure out how many Aces your team has by counting them in
your hand, and adding the number indicated by your partner's bid.















11
BridgePal User Manual




If the team has all 4 Aces, the 4 No-trump bidder may find out about
Kings by bidding 5 No-trump. The partner should respond as follows:

Number of Kings Response

0 or 4 6 Clubs
1 6 Diamonds
2 6 Hearts
3 6 Spades

You may bid a Small Slam (6) if your team has at least 3 Aces. You
may bid a Grand Slam (7) if your team has 4 Aces and at least 3
Kings.


SUMMARY

It may not seem like it, but this is a VERY BRIEF introduction to
bridge. If you get hooked on the game, you should get one of the
the many fine books that have been written about bridge. You will
then begin to see the diversity of bidding and play strategies that
exist. Join the ranks of those who find bridge a fascinating
challenge that lasts a lifetime.






























12