BRIDGE GLOSSARY

DAB
An abbreviation for: Directional Asking Bid

Damaged Card
According to the Laws of Contract Bridge, Law 7, a pack of cards containing a card so damaged or marked that it may be identified from its back. It must be replaced if attention is drawn to the imperfection before the first card of the current deal is dealt. Law 7 states:

Danger Bid
The expression of this bridge-related term was alledgedly first coined by some member(s) of the Stanford Bridge Club and is attributed to Mr. John Bauer and Mr. Ravi Romamoorthi. The definition is the opposite of a safety bid; making a riskier bid when a safer one was available (but not a totally ridiculous bid). Also: danger play, danger double.

Danger Double
The expression of this bridge-related term was alledgedly first coined by some member(s) of the Stanford Bridge Club and is attributed to Mr. John Bauer and Mr. Ravi Romamoorthi. The definition is the opposite of a safety double; making a riskier double when a safer one was available (but not a totally ridiculous double). Also: danger play, danger bid.

Danger Hand
The declarer often strives to prevent one opponent, the danger hand, from obtaining the lead. This may be because that player has established winners, or because he will be able to make a damaging lead through a vulnerable honor holding.

Danger Play
The expression of this bridge-related term was alledgedly first coined by some member(s) of the Stanford Bridge Club and is attributed to Mr. John Bauer and Mr. Ravi Romamoorthi. The definition is the opposite of a safety play; making a riskier play when a safer one was available (but not a totally ridiculous play). Also: danger bid, danger double.

Danger Suit
A suit that the opponents may profitably lead; a suit in which tricks may be lost with jeopardy to the contract.

Danish Control Showing Responses - The original concept is designated as Control Showing Responses (also Step Responses) to a Strong, Artificial 2 Clubs opening. These original responses should be viewed first and then the variation and/or version as suggested by Mr. Lars Blakset and Mr. Soren Christiansen of Denmark.

Danish Standard Opening Bids
Mr. F. Dahl, in the early 1980s, described the system of Danish Standard opening bids, which is outlined below.

1 :		11-20 HCPs		3+ Clubs
1 :		11-20 HCPs		4+ Diamonds
1 :		11-20 HCPs		4+ Hearts
1 :		11-20 HCPs		5+ Spades
1 NT:		15-17 HCPs		Balanced shape
2 :		21+ HCPs		Any shape
2 :		6-11 HCPs		6 Hearts or Spades
or:		18+ HCPs		5+ Clubs or Diamonds
2 :		18+ HCPs		5+ Hearts
2 :		18+ HCPs		5+ Spades
2NT:		20-22 HCPs		Balanced shape

After a 1 No Trump opening, Stayman or Transfers can be employed on the two level. After an opening of 1 Heart or 1 Spade, a first response of 2 No Trump is game-forcing showing at least a 3-card trump support. The three openings of 2 Diamonds / 2 Hearts / 2 Spades, all openings showing 18 plus high card points is similar to the Acol Two bids. When the holding contains two 4-card suits, the lower suit is opened first. If the distribution is 4-3-3-3, then the opening is required to be 1 Club regardless of strength.

Danish Trend Opening Bids
This version of opening bids is / was favored in The Netherlands and is outlined below.

1 :		11-20 HCPs		3+ Clubs
1 :		11-20 HCPs		3+ Diamonds
1 :		11-20 HCPs		5+ Hearts
1 :		11-20 HCPs		5+ Spades
1 NT:		10-13 HCPs		Balanced shape
2 :		21+ HCPs		Any shape
2 :		6-10 HCPs		6 Hearts or Spades
or:		20-21 HCPs		Balanced shape
2 :		6-10 HCPs		5-5 distribution in rounded suits (Hearts/Clubs) or pointed suits (Spades and Diamonds)
2 :		6-10 HCPs		5-5 distribution in black suits (Spades/Clubs) or red suits (Hearts/Diamonds)
2 NT:		6-10 HCPs		5-5 distribution in either the Minor or Major suits

A No Trump opening is variable: 10-13 high card points when vulnerable and 12-14 when vulnerable.

Datum
The average, or trimmed average, with one or more scores removed from each end, of scores achieved on a deal, used as an artificial standard for scoring purposes. A reference score from which the number of IMPs won or lost in an IMP pair game can be computed.

DAUNT
The origin of this defense method to a defense method is unknown. The letters is an acronym for Defense Against Unusual No Trump, which is the or has become the more proper designation within the bridge community. See also Defense Against Unusual No Trump below.

Dead
1. Slang: having no entry;
2. Slang: referring to a seat reopening position after two passes.

Deal
1. to distribute the cards, either by hand or randomly dealt by a machine;
2. the 52 cards as distributed or dealt;
3. the entire course of bidding and play; one unit of a bridge game.

Deal 3.0
Created by Mr. Thomas Andrews. A brief history.

Deal was originally conceived in 1988 for bidding practice. I was a math graduate student just learning bridge and another grad student, Robin Pemantle, suggested a way to practice bidding. His idea was to have the computer deal out twenty or so hands, and then offer each hand up to you, randomly, for bidding. This way, you could bid all four hands in each of twenty deals, and, if you tried hard, you could avoid remembering which hand was which.

I mentioned that idea to my partner at the time, Nathan Glasser, and he wrote a program called bid, which is still available from the bridge archives.

The problem with bid was that it could not be used for practicing specific auctions. John Oswalt solved this in a rather crude fashion. His modification forced you to re-link your application each time you wrote a new query (in C).

After using this modified version for a while, I got frustrated and wrote a very crude interpreter. It was a "stack-based" language so I wouldn't have to write a parser. It was very much like the Unix "dc" calculator, only without all the features. (That's a joke, but I guess you wouldn't get it if you didn't know dc.)

I could have used a fully interpreted language, like Perl, but for the types of simulations I was doing, I need very fast execution of the computation routines, and so implementing the core in an interpreted language was going to slow down the program too much.

In about 1992 I first stumble across the Tcl language. Immediately, I saw that I could use it in my dealer. Tcl was an interpreted language which had excellent support for extensibility via fast C routines. It turned out that Nathan's code did not easily fit into my new scheme, so I rewrote the dealer from scratch. I had my first version done quickly, and released the first public version (v0.5 I called it, in retrospect) in 1993.

The next version (v1.0) was released about two years later, and basically cleaned up the query interface. In the haze of my memory, I can not recall what features were added, certainly "vectors" and "shape classes."

Version 2.0 uses new optimization methods, some of which were suggested to me by the very same Nathan Glasser. There are some other new features, including shape functions, customizable output formatting, and more built-in formats.

Version 3.0, is the next major release. Major changes are:

* GNU GPL license - making it free for all use
* Much faster execution using Tcl 8.x features.
* Addition of 'holding functions' - like 'vectors' but more suitable for complex evaluations like "losers" and "CCCC."
* "Smart stacking" for finding rare hands.

The next version of Deal I've called "iDeal." It's a much changed beast, and could almost be called a general bridge programming environment. Currently, my progress here has stalled, but I'm planning on a GUI interface to the Deal.

While Deal is a labor of love for me, it makes it easier to love the project if I get feedback which shows people are using Deal. Even if you tried Deal and did not like it, please let me know.

Thomas Andrews (thomaso@best.com)

Dealer
1. the player who deals the cards;
2. the player first to call.

Deals Possible in Bridge
This number, as has been mathematically calculated is: 53,644,737,765,488,792,839,237,440,000. The possible number of bridge auctions, as has been mathematically calculated is: 128,745,650,347,030,683,120,231,926,111,609,371,363,122,697,557.

Fact: Many mathematical calculations have been achieved employing this particular number and one of the most interesting is the fact that if every person now living, approximately 6,000,000,000 (6 billion) were to play a bridge hand, four persons to a table, every seven minutes, twenty-four hours a day, then it would take about 475,972 billion years to play all possible hands.

Death Holding
A holding in a suit which seems an "a priori" certainty, or a "from cause to effect situation", to kill the partnership’s chances of playing or defending successfully.

Death On The Nile
A novel published by Agatha Christie in 1937 and made into a film showing in 1978. During a game of bridge in the Salon a shot is heard and the story unfolds. A short summary is presented in a .pdf file, which will opened automatically by your browser.

Deception
The probability of a deceptive play must be calculated by each player at the table. Deciding whether a played card is intended to mislead the declarer or opponent can lead to an essential winning trick.

Deceptive Play
The term could well be used of any play that aims to mislead an opponent. Some bridge authors, however, tend to restrict the use of the term to plays by the declarer. Deceptive plays by the defenders is perhaps more suitable described as False-Carding. The deceptive plays by the declarer can take on various forms, all of which have their validity at the bridge table. They can be called:

1. weakness concealing plays
2. strength concealing plays
3. honor concealing plays
4. scrambling plays
5. miscellaneous deceptive plays

Deck
The collection of fifty-two cards, four suits of thirteen cards each, used in bridge.

Declarant
A designation for the more modern term of declarer. In the previous forms, such as Plafond and the very similar Russian game of Vint, or versions of the evolving game, such as Auction Bridge, etc., the declarer was referred to as the declarant and the auction was referred to as the declaration. These designations have faded into history and are no longer employed.

Declaration
1. the contract;
2. a statement of intent as to further line of play made by the declarer at some point previous to the play of the last trick of any given hand.

Declarative-Interrogative, D.I. Four No Trump
This is the official designation used for Declarative-Interrogative, otherwise known as simply D.I. It refers to a 4 No Trump bid employed as a general slam attempt. This method was originally established as part of the Neapolitan system. The Blue Team Club was based upon a bidding system called Neapolitan, the origin of which remains unknown, but which was played successfully by many bridge players in Italy. However, since 1965, Mr. Benito Garozzo has gradually revised the Neapolitan and renamed it the Blue Team Club system.

The bid of 4 No Trump is Blackwood if it is a jump bid or bid at the very first opportunity after a sudden jump to game by either partner. Otherwise the bid of 4 No Trump promises 2 Aces if bid by an unlimited hand by either partner, or 1 Ace if bid by any partner, who has limited his holding. The 4 No Trump bid requests that the partner show an undisclosed feature, either a first round control, or a second round control, or even a key Queen by bidding the suit, in which the feature is held. This feature-showing response does not indicate or promise additional values unless the bid exceeds the five level of the agreed upon trump suit. For example, if the agreed trump suit is Hearts and the D.I. response would be 5 Spades, then this sequence promises additional values. The responder may also rebid by jumping to the six level of the agreed trump suit, which denies any interest in a grand slam, or the responder may rebid 5 No Trump to communicate maximum values and interest in a grand slam. After any normal five-level response to a 4 No Trump asking bid, the bid of 5 No Trump asks for additional features, seeks the grand slam, and promises one more Ace than originawlly guaranteed.

The Declarative-Interrogative 4 No Trump bid, in other bidding systems such as Blue Team Club and Kaplan-Sheinwold, requests additional information about held features rather than the responses promising a specific number of Aces or Key Cards. In the Blue Team Club bidding system, whenever the Declarative-Interrogative 4 No Trump bid is made after a series of feature-showing cuebids, then it becomes a slam try with the promise that all suits are covered and/or contain a first-round control card unless the player, who bids 4 No Trump, bypasses a suit in which a control has not been shown. It must also be mentioned that certain partnership agreements have the understanding that after a Blackwood 4 No Trump and the Ace-showing response, any 5 No Trump rebid is always, without exception, declarative-interogative, asking for features rather than normally for the number of held Kings.

Declare
To act as declarer.

Declarer
The player who first named the strain of the final contract for his or her side and who manipulates both his own cards and partner's during the play. This player only becomes declarer when the opening lead is faced.

Deep Finesse
A finesse when three or more cards are missing higher in rank than the card finessed. This deep finesse is often made in order to execute a Duck or Avoidance play, but can be a genuine play necessary to achieve the best result.

Defeat The Contract
Preventing the declarer from taking the number of tricks required by his contract.

Defective Trick
A trick that contains fewer or more than four legally played cards. See Law 67.

Defend
To act as opponent of the declarer.

Defender
1. an opponent of the declarer.
2. an opponent of the side that made the first bid in the auction.

Defending Hand
Any of the two opponents of the declarer.

Defense
1. declarer's opponents;
2. the approach taken by declarer's opponents;
3. countermeasure against an opponent's call or systemic agreement.

Defense Methods in General
The attempt has been made to include as many defense methods as possible after interference by the opponents. This interference, overcall, double in competition may take any permissible form. In essence, the attempt is made to provide the partnership with a possible bidding scheme to compensate for the interference by the opponents. Basically, these web pages represent defense methods against defense methods, which any competition is. Defense methods against certain openings are presented elsewhere.

Defense Against Unusual No Trump
The origin of this defense method to a defense method is unknown. It is also sometimes referred to by its acronym DAUNT, which are the first letters of each word in the designation.

Defense Method to Multi 2 Diamonds Opening
This method of defense against a 2 Diamonds opening by the opponents, employing the Multi 2 Diamonds convention, was devised by Mr. Danny Kleinman, a bridge expert player, who together with Mr. Eddie Kantar devised the Kantar Kleinman Slam Force.

Defense To Double Of 1 No Trump
Bridge players have formed several different partnership agreements to counteract this double by an opponent.

Defense Mechanism to Opponent's Overcalls of 1 No Trump
This defense mechanism was written by Marinesa Letizia and published in the Bridge Bulletin November 1997 and presents an alternative method of dealing with overcalls of 1 No Trump. The logical approach outlined assists the bridge player to deal with most of the conventions devised to disturb the communication of two players.

Defense Signal Summary
A short summary of defensive signals, carding and discarding methods, which have perhaps the higher frequency of application. The individual defense signals have been posted elsewhere, but this short summary may be useful.

Defense To Opening Four-Bid
Preempts, when used properly, have a definite effect on the bidding procedure. Bridge partnerships have different partnership understandings as to how to defend. Some partnerships agree that a double over a Minor suit Four-Level Preempt, that a double is for takeout. A bid of 4 No Trump is considered natural, but some partnerships agree that a bid of 4 No Trump is simply Blackwood, asking responder for the number of Aces in his holding.

After an opening of the Heart suit on the Four Level, some partnerships have agreed that a double is for takeout and promises Spade support. The normal partnership agreement is that a bid of 4 No Trump is a takeout for the Minor suits.

After an opening of the Spade suit on the Four Level, the normal partnership agreement is that a double is for penalty, and a bid of 4 No Trump is for takeout in any other unnamed suit.

Defense To Opening Three-Level Preempts
Defending against an opening preempt on the Three Level has caused many bridge players to devise several methods to reach an optimum contract in the shortest amount of bidding space available.

Defense to Strong Artificial Opening Bids
Mr. Alan Fraser Truscott has devised a method of defending against a Strong, Artificial Opening bid, generally an opening of 1 Club, to show a one-suited or two-suited holding.

Defense To A Squeeze
To be squeezed during the play of the hand is one of the oldest practices of bridge. One player runs a long suit, and the other players are forced to discard, which means that a winning card may have to be discarded, but which one is based upon certain squeeze strategies.

Defensive Bid
1. a bid made to prevent the opponents from naming the final contract of their choice; sacrifice;
2. a bid made by a defender.

Defensive Bidding
1. the use of defensive bids; sacrificing;
2. bidding from the point of view of the side not making the opening bid.

Defensive Play
The play by the opponents against the declarer. The primary objective of defense is to defeat the contract, even at the expense of presenting declarer with overtricks if the chosen line of defense is unsuccessful.

Defensive Play of the Year
The Precision Award was renamed in the year 1985 to the Sender Award and was presented to honor the best Defensive Play of the Year. Kathie Wei-Sender renamed the award in honor of her husband, Mr. Henry Sender of Nashville, Tennessee.

Defensive Trick
A card or card combination that may be expected to win a trick if an opponent becomes the declarer.

Definitions
A short summary of the terms used by bridge players.

Dejeuner - A Strong Pass System, Version 0.92
This Strong Pass System was developed by Mr. Todd Anderson and Mr. Atul Khare in 2003. It is a combination of systems of American, Australian, Polish, and Italian origins. Quote contained in the description: Since this system was developed and played mainly during lunch and since it is a derivative of the French sounding name Tresboof, the system was named for the French word for lunch - dejeuner. This Strong Pass System has been only archived and preserved on this site in .pdf file format for future reference. The student should study the original version as presented on the Internet via the provided link.

Delayed
Not done immediately in bidding or play. For example: delayed support is support given on a later round of bidding. A delayed duck is the deliberate or necessary loss of a trick after some other activity, such as a squeeze, is performed.

Delayed Duck Squeeze
A designation given to the Secondary Squeeze by Mr. Clyde E. Love using the Principle of Squeeze Establishment.

Delayed Game Raise
This is a particular bidding sequence which is equal to a standard jump raise.

Delta
See: Weak Opening Systems

Demand Bid
This is the traditional use of an opening two bid in a suit to show a hand which can almost guarantee game, or even slam. This is also referred to as the Culbertson Two Bid, the Forcing Two-Bid, or Strong Two. It formed the foundation of the Culbertson system. However, during the evolution of the game of bridge, this method has been abandoned in favor of Weak Two Bids, the Acol Two Bid, etc.

Denial Bid
A bid that shows weakness or lack of support for partner’s bid. Obsolete term.

Denial Cuebids
A method of showing honor location in the later stages of the auction. It was first used in several Relay systems but with different formats. The method was developed by Mr. Roy Kerr and others in New Zealand as part of the Symmetric Relays. The concept has also been attributed to Mr. David Cliff. This concept has achieved several interpretations over the years and has been designated by different authors with different names such as Spiral Scan Cuebids (or Spiral), designated by Mr. George Rosenkranz of Mexico, and the book The Ultimate Club, written by Mr. Mike Becker, Mr. Matt Ginsberg, Mr. Matt Granovetter and Mr. Ronnie Rubin, uses the designation Variable Cuebids.

Denis Howard Trophy
The Management Committee of the Australian Bridge Federation awards the Denis Howard Trophy to the winning Open Team for the Australian National Championships. Mr. Denis Howard was a past President of the ABF from 1982 to 1986, also the World Bridge Federation President from 1986 to 1991, the Founding Editor of the Australian Bridge Magazine, the Founding convener of the National Open Teams, represented Australia in five World Championships and was on the winning NSW team at the ANC twelve times from 1959 to 1975.

Den Xiao-Ping - Honorary President of the China Bridge Federation
When Deng Xiao-Ping, China's leader for many years, died recently, his intense interest in the game of bridge came to light. As a matter of fact, the only major position he held at his death was honorary President of the China Bridge Federation. When the television news station CNN News discovered his interest in bridge, they called the Bulletin office in Memphis looking for Kathie Wei. They were informed that Kathie was playing in a tournament in Tel Aviv, and they contacted her there. The follwowing is that interview that took place as a result. Source: Bulletin 6

Announcer: Statesmen who make our headlines also have private interests and obsessions. With Deng Xiao-Ping's death, China has lost not only its great modernizer of the late 20th century, but also one of its most enthusiastic bridge players. In his final years, even as Deng shucked his titles in the party, the government and the army, he remained the honorary Chairman of the China Bridge Association. He loved the game. He was said to have advanced the party career of at least one bridge partner, and he championed the cause of China’s national bridge team.

One person who helped him do that was Kathie Wei-Sender of Nashville, Tennessee, who was born in Beijing. She became a four-time gold medalist in bridge. We caught up with her in Tel Aviv where she is attending the Israeli Bridge Festival.

Kathie: Deng Xiao-Peng was very young when he learned the game in France. He was about 16 years old. He was a very small man, and because of his size he was very competitive. He was able to use his brain to command military theaters, you know, but he felt that in bridge it’s equal opportunity for the brain, not for size.

Announcer: You had a chance to play with him, didn’t you?

Kathie: I had several chances. In 1981 I went to China to play in an invitational tournament, and he asked me to go and play with him because he wanted to play with a world champion. Then in 1983 I was in Shanghai, he flew me back to Beijing and we played a couple of days. 1989 was the last time I saw him. We did not play bridge that time.

Announcer: Before he became terminally ill, how often did he play bridge, do you think?

Kathie: He played almost every day, at least three or four times a week. He told everybody that he used bridge to keep his brain alive, and he used swimming to exercise his body. And each time he was purged -- he was such an active man -- he took out all his frustrations by playing cards. The only time he couldn't play was during the Cultural Revolution.

Announcer: In addition to his own love of the game, was he interested in cultivating other bridge players in China?

Kathie: Absolutely! He told me the first time I met him, I want to promote bridge in China. I want a Chinese team to make it into the medal round. At that time, he had just started working on economic reform. He said that he was in a hurry for economic reform and for the unification of China -- and for China to reach the medal round in bridge. Well, I looked at him and I said, I'll tell you the truth. I don't think the open team has a chance but I think the ladies division and the mixed division have a better chance. If you give me the team to train -- if you give me absolute authority -- I'll take over the job. I think they can medal within 10 years. I kept my promise because by 1991 they won the bronze and last year they won the silver.

Announcer: And Deng Xiao-Ping was proud of that.

Kathie: Very proud. It was very important to him because bridge was a very big part of his life. This was something he was just made for. He felt that bridge had trained his mind to become such a good manager.

Announcer: How good a bridge player was he?

Kathie: He was VERY good. His strategy was good. He bid his hand and he defended with a lot of thought, like a military affair. He was very thorough. I would say that he was as good a player as Omar Sharif.

Announcer: Really! As good a player as Omar Sharif!

Kathie: Absolutely!

Announcer: Well, Kathie Wei-Sender, thank you very much.

Denomination
Strain; one of the four suits or No Trump specified in a bid.

Dentist's Coup
This term refers to the extraction of a safe exit card from the hand of the opponent, and, by inference, the removal of a card that allows an opponent a safe play.

DEPO
Acronym for Double Even, Pass Odd, a method for showing Aces, or Key Cards, after interference over Blackwood or Key Card Blackwood.

Descending Order
The order of the rank of the denominations. No Trump, Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs.

Deschapelles Coup
The lead or sacrifice of an unsupported high honor to create an entry to partner's hand. This sacrificial play was devised by Guillaume Descapelles for the game of Whist.

Desperation Lead or Play
A lead or play made in defiance of the dictates of safety when defensive prospects seem poor or inadequate. The term particularly refers to rubber bridge.

DESY Polish Club Bidding System
This is a form of the Polish Club bidding system used in northern Germany. The designation comes from the fact that the players are employees of a company called High Energy Physics Laboratory located in Hamburg, Germany. The website offers the visitor the chance to download their version of the DESY Polish Club bidding system, but the format is an internal company format and may be difficult to open. The present URL may be possibly outdated, but this is the only connection at the moment. The opening bids are shown in the schematic below. The opening of 1 Club has multiple meanings and the sytem uses the opening of 5-card Major suits and a strong No Trump opening.

1 :		12-15 HCPs		Balanced shape (possible non-vulnerability)
or:		12+ HCPs		Distribution: 4-4-4-1 or 4-card plus Club suit
or:		19-20 HCPs		Balanced shape (possible unfavorable vulnerability)
or:		19+ HCPs		Various shapes
1 :		12-16 HCPs		4-card plus Diamond suit
1 :		12-16 HCPs`		5-card plus Heart suit
1 :		12-16 HCPs		5-card plus Spade suit
1 NT:		16-18 HCPs		Balanced shape
2 :		22+ HCPs		Any shape
2 :		17-21 HCPs		5-card plus Diamond suit
2 :		17-21 HCPs		5-card plus Heart suit
2 :		17-21 HCPs		5-card plus Spade suit
2 NT:		21-22 HCPs		Balanced shape

Deuce
The two-spot; the lowest-ranking card of a suit.

Deuces Scientific Opening Bids
These opening bids were devised and developed by Mr. Don Varvel and Mr. Eric Taylor of Austin, Texas. The No Trump range is considered weak and the opening of a 4-card Major suit is preferred. The opening of the multiple 1 Club opening bid requires that the first response by the partner is an artificial negative 1 Diamond if the responder has a range of only 0-6 high card points.

1 :		13-21 HCPs		4-card plus Club suit
or:		18-20 HCPs		Balanced shape
1 :		13-21 HCPs		4-card plus Diamond suit
1 :		11-21 HCPs`		4-card plus Heart suit
1 :		11-21 HCPs`		4-card plus Spade suit
1 NT:		12-14 HCPs		Balanced shape
2 :		22+ HCPs		Any shape
2 :		8-12 HCPs		-card Diamond suit
2 :		7-10 HCPs		6-card Heart suit
2 :		7-10 HCPs		5-card Spade suit
2 NT:		21-22 HCPs		Balanced shape

Deviation
A deviation was defined by Mr. Don Oakie in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin, February 1978, as a bid, in which the strength of the hand is within a Queen of the agreed or announced strength, and the bid is of a suit of ample length or of No Trump. He also defined a deviation as a bid of a suit, in which the length of the suit varies by no more than one card from the agreed or announced length and the hand contains ample high-card values for the bid in the system being played. If either of these situations occurs, it is easy to see by repeating the definition of a psych, which is a deliberate and gross misstatement of honor strength or suit length, that a deviation is not a psych.

Devil's Bedpost
The Four of Clubs.

Devil's Coup
1. an elopement that denies the opponents a trump trick they would get if trumps were led;
2. as commonly used such an elopement when the opposing trump holding is exactly five cards including the Queen and Jack.

Devil's Pictures, Books, Tickets
Cards themselves have been the object of scorn and derision throughout the ages. These terms described the feelings particularly of the New England Puritans in America. The cards were themselves viewed as being included in the interpretation of the Second Commandment, which states that: You must not make for yourself a carved image or a form like anything that is in the heavens above or that is on the earth underneath or that is in the waters under the earth. Several churches got around this commandment by manufacturing cards that had no face cards. It was not only the Puritans who wished to abolish cards due to reasons of gambling and wasting man-power hours or religious condemnation. In 1397, John 1, King of Castille, forbid the play of dice and cards. In 1397, the Provost or chief dignitary of the cathedral in Paris ruled that playing cards was not allowed on work days. In 1404, the Synod of Langres issued a ruling that no clergyman may play either dice or cards. In 1423, St. Bernardino of Siena, an Italian Franciscan monk and principal leader of the movement to restore the strict rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, Feast Day May 20, canonized in 1450, preached vehemently against the use of cards. In 1541, the Parliament of Paris forbade the play of dice and cards in the homes of the town and suburbs of Paris.

Develop
To establish.

D.I.
This is an abbreviation used for Declarative-Interrogative. It refers to a 4 No Trump bid employed as a general slam attempt. This method was originally established as part of the Neapolitan system. The Blue Team Club was based upon a bidding system called Neapolitan, the origin of which remains unknown, but which was played successfully by many bridge players in Italy. However, since 1965, Mr. Benito Garozzo has gradually revised the Neapolitan and renamed it the Blue Team Club system.

The bid of 4 No Trump is Blackwood if it is a jump bid or bid at the very first opportunity after a sudden jump to game by either partner. Otherwise the bid of 4 No Trump promises 2 Aces if bid by an unlimited hand by either partner, or 1 Ace if by by either partner, who has limited his holding. The 4 No Trump bid requests that the partner show an undisclosed feature, either a first round control, or a second round control, or even a key Queen by bidding the suit, in which the feature is held. This feature-showing response does not indicate or promise additional values unless the bid exceeds the five level of the agreed upon trump suit. For example, if the agreed trump suit is Hearts and the D.I. response would be 5 Spades, then this sequence promises additional values. The responder may alsow rebid by jumping to the six level of the agreed trump suit, which denies any interest in a grand slam, or the responder may rebid 5 No Trump to communicate maximum values and interest in a grand slam.After any normal five-level response to a 4 No Trump asking bid, the bid of 5 No Trump asks for additional features, seeks the grand slam, and promises one more Ace than origianlly guaranteed.

The Declarative-Interrogative 4 No Trump bid, in other bidding systems such as Blue Team Club and Kaplan-Sheinwold, requests additional information about held features rather than promising a specific number of Aces or Key Cards. In the Blue Team Club bidding system, whenever the Declarative-Interrogative 4 No Trump bid is made after a series of feature-showing cuebids, then it becomes a slam try with the promise that all suits are covered and/or contain a first-round control card unless the player, who bids 4 No Trump, bypasses a suit in which a control has not been shown. It must also be mentioned that certain partnership agreements have the understanding that after a Blackwood 4 No Trump and the Ace-showing response, any 5 No Trump rebid is always, without exception, declarative-interogative, asking for features rather than normally for the number of held Kings.

Diagram
A chart showing position of the players and the cards they hold.

Diamond Bust - Club Bust
A colloquialism to describe a holding with a long Diamond suit, generally a 6-card suit, and insufficient values for game after a No Trump opening by partner. The second designation, a Club bust referring to the other Minor, is also a colloquialism used in the bridge community.

Diamonds
The suit second highest in rank, above the Club suit. The suit originated in France in the 16th century, and the name comes from the diamond-shaped lozenge used for the pips.

Diamond Life Master
An ACBL Life Master who has more than 5,000 masterpoints. The term also applies to an ABA Life Master who has more than 1,000 masterpoints.

The Diamond Major
A book by Mr. Peter John Oakley of Christchurch, New Zealand. The link is to the web page containing the 3rd Edition, 2000.

Dick Cummings Blue Ribbon Pairs
Mr. Dick Cummings, who died October 27, 1999, and named a member of the Australian Bridge Federation's Committee of Honour as of 2000, and who participated in four Olympiads and six Bermuda Bowl competitions, was further honored by having the Canberra Blue Ribbon event renamed in his honor in 2000, and which is to be held annually during the November Spring Nationals in Sydney. Mr. Dick Cummings was a member of the Big Four, the others being Mr. Tim Seres, Mr. Roelof Smilde and Mr. Denis Howard, and who dominated Australian bridge for twenty years. His ethics and demeanour set the very highest standards and he was a role model and mentor to many of the finest bridge players of Australia.

Dickens, Charles - Charles Dickens
This author of many, truly classic novels was also very much interested in the game of Whist, the precursor to the game of bridge, and employed the game into several of his works. One of his more famous books, Oliver Twist, has The Artful Dodger playing the game. Another publication, called the Pickwick Papers, Chapter VI, provides the reader with not only an account of the game, but also the accompanying, story-telling conversation. These links are .pdf files and these accounts are only archived and preserved on this site for future reference. They do not constitute the entire work of the author, nor are they intended to do so. They merely are representations of the pages, on which Mr. Charles Dickens actually employs the game of Whist as a scene-setting for his novel.

Dight 2 No Trump
This method was sent to us by Mr. Len Dight, which he has incorporated into the ACOL bidding system. The short description follows:

There are two new conventions which have been passed by the E.B.U. and becoming widely known. The English Acol system, of course, does not make use of the 3 Major raise as forcing after a 1 of a Major opening.

This has left a niche in the market for descriptive replies to 1 of a Major opening with trump support.

The Dight 2 No Trump in reply to 1 of a Major opening is the first to differentiate between a singleton and a void whilst being able to prefer the Delayed Game Response, if the hand holds a strong suit as well as the Singleton or Void.

It works as follow:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
1 /		2 NT		1. shows trump support 2. shows a minimum of 10 HCPs 3. shows a singleton or a void
3				Puppet
		3		Singleton in Diamonds
		3 of other Major		Shows a singleton
		4		Singleton in Clubs
		3 NT		A Pudding Rise 1. shows 13 to 15 support points 2. shows 4-3-3-3 distribution 3. shows only a 3-card support for opener's Major suit

The spotlight is still on responding hands with an excess of power over and above its point count value, so with an excess of Aces and the trump King and 13 to 15 points (includes distribution) the new Zig-Zag Swiss (which now can ignore Singletons and Voids) can go to town using the little used bids in the ordinary sense, i.e.:

Opener		Responder		Meaning
1 /(1 )		3 /(3 NT)		shows a 3-card trump support, including the Ace of King of trump
		3 NT/ (4 )		shows a 4-card trump support, including the Ace of King of trump
		4 /(4 )		shows a 5-card trump support, including the Ace of King of trump
		4 /(4 )		shows a 5-card trump support, including the Ace of King of trump

After these replies the opener can use the 1st step to enquire for: 2 Aces, 2 Aces and King of trump, or 3 Aces.

These two conventions take their place in the hierarchy of Acol replies to 1 of a Major opening without usurping any Acol traditional bid as the Dight 2 NT can be converted to 10/11 points if called on responder's second round.

Dink
To shorten the trumps of either dummy or declarer by forcing him to ruff.

Direct Competition
Such a competition exists between two contestants when they play hands, which are identical with respect to cards, relative location, dealer, and vulnerability.

Direct System, The
This is a designation for a bidding system or conventional method listed in the publication The Bridge Player's Bedside Companion, authored by Mr. Albert A. Ostrow, published 1955. During the early evolution of the game of bridge there occurred a proliferation of many such bidding systems. However, many have been forgotten and were discarded for the newest version of another bidding system. Any additional information would be greatly appreciated.

Direction
1. the location of a player at a bridge table: North, East, South or West;
2. one of the partnerships, North-South or East-West.

Directional Asking Bid
A bid, usually a Cuebid on a low level in an opponent’s suit, that attempts to make partner the declarer at No Trump by forcing him to bid No Trump.

Director
The person designated to supervise a bridge tournament and to apply and interpret the Laws of Duplicate Bridge as defined in Laws 81 to 91. There are club directors, many ranks of tournament directors and IN (Intermediate-Newcomer) directors who have been trained to work with and supervise newer players.

March 2004 in Reno, Nevada, a young Mr. Cooper Galvin, 14 years old, of Anchorage, Arkansas, completed the three-day class instructed by Priscilla Smith and successfully passed the examination to become a Certified Club Director. He attended the class with his father, Mr. Patrick Galvin, who also successfully passed the examination.

Direct Position
The position immediately following in clockwise rotation.

Dirigo System
This conventional method employed in competition was developed by Mr. Dave LeGrow of Pennsylvania. The designation itself is taken from Latin and means: I lead. The Dirigo System is a competitive bidding system that consists of an initial Transfer Overcall. It is activated when the opponents are first to open the bidding. If the first bid (or double) by the competing (non-opening) side is not a notrump bid (or double), it is intended as a transfer to the next highest suit. All subsequent bids by the competing side are natural. The intent of this system is to enhance the ability of the competing side to describe hands without having to make initial compromises. It permits the competing side to more fully engage in the auction and to neutralize the advantage that many aggressive (weak opener) systems provide. The link is a .pdf file and will be automatically opened by your browser.

Disappearing Trunp Trick
See: Devil's Coup

Discard
1. to play a plain-suit card of a suit other than the one led.
2. a card thus played, which can be a signal conveying information to partner.
3. Other terms are: ditch, pitch, shake.

Discarding
This term applies normally to which cards to keep, and which to discard, in the later stages of the play. The art of discarding is a basic element of the game and should be studied at considerable length by the partnership.

Discards
The act of attempting to communicate information to a partner when defending in play. There are many variations on this theme and the attempt has been made to list several of these below.

Attitude Discards
A high card encourages the suit discarded and a low card discourages.

Count Discards
The concept is that when a player plays a high-low in a suit, this action shows an even number and playing low-high in a suit shows an odd number of cards.

Dodds Discards
This is a system similar to Italian Discards. Even cards are encouraging while odd discards are discouraging (Discouraging Odds) and ask for the suit of the same color.

Foster Echo or Foster Returns
A third-hand unblocking play against a No Trump contract intended to show count. With a 4-card holding, the first play is the second highest, followed by the third highest, with the lowest being played last. With a 3-card holding, the first play is second highest and the second is the highest, saving the lowest for last.

Hand Parity Discards
The fundamental concept with this method of discarding is that the player might be able to tell partner the entire hand shape with one card. Hand types may be divided into two classes:

Even Parity hands have three suits with an even number of cards: 4-4-4-1, 4-4-3-2, 4-2-2-5 and so on.
Odd Parity hands have three suits with an odd number of cards: 4-3-3-3, 4-1-3-5, 5-5-2-1 and so on.

When partner knows the parity of your hand, the partner should be able to deduce or infer the exact shape using information also available during the auction.

Italian Discards
A refinement of McKenny is to give different meanings to odd and even cards. This allows the player to combine attitude and suit preference signals. An odd card encourages that suit while an even card is McKenny. Sometimes referred to as Roman Discards or Odd-Even Discards.

Kelly Solid Suit Signal
The origin is unknown. This conventional method of signaling partner is the play of the second highest or highest card of a suit, which was originally led, to the second trick of the suit to show that the balance of the suit (five cards originally or longer at No Trump) is now established and will run. A variation for the original leader is the selection of which of touching honors shall be led against a No Trump contract. From KQJ4, the lead of the King followed by the Queen shows a 4-card suit. If the holding is KQJ105, the lead of the Jack would show a 5-card suit. If the holding is KQJ1032, then the Ten would be chosen as the second lead based on the principle that the lower the second lead, the longer the suit.

Lavinthal Suit Preference Signals
See: Suit Preference Signal. A defensive discarding method whereby a defender may direct his partner to lead a specific suit. This defensive discarding method was devised by Mr. Hy Lavinthal in 1934, and has had a greater effect on defensive play than any other development in bridge history and ranks with the distributional echo and the High-Low count signal.

McKenney Signal
A standard term in England for Suit Preference Signal, named for Mr. William E. McKenny.

Reverse Signals or UDCA
A defense signaling method of informing one's partner as to attitude towards the card led and/or both count and attitude.

1. A relatively low card encourages the continuation of a suit being led.

2. A relatively high card discourages the continuation of a suit being led.

Reverse Attitude
This concept is the reverse of the standard Attitude Discard method. A low card encourages and a high card discourages.

Revolving Discards
Methods of discarding which assigns a suit preference meaning to the first discard on any hand. One method is that a low discarded card asks for the suit below the suit in which the signal was given. A second method is that a low card asks for the lower-ranking of the other two suits, and a high card asks for the higher-ranking suit.

Disciplinary Code
The ACBL Disciplinary Code, approved in 1975, provides that every member charged should have a fair hearing. Disciplinary bodies in the ACBL are Units, Districts, The National Board of Directors and Tournament Committees.

Discipline
The ability of both members of a partnership to follow an agreed system when partnership action is called for.

Discouraging Bid
A bid indicating that game is unlikely, but not impossible.

Discouraging Card
A card played by a defender as a signal to partner not to lead, or to discontinue leading, a particular suit, or to suggest weakness in the suit. In general practice, any card of the rank of 6 or lower is considered to be discouraging.

Discovery
The process of maneuvering the play in such a manner as to learn vital information about the concealed hands.

Discovery Play
A play designed to gain information about the concealed cards.

Disguised Two Hearts or Two Hearts Disguised
The origin of this conventional method is unknown. The concept is to open the auction with a Weak Two bid in Hearts, which signifies a point range between 5 and 9 high card points and shows a distribution of 5-5 in either Major suit and in one of the Minor suits. The opening bid does not show one specific suit, which is a requirement of most sponsored bridge events.

The responses are as follows:

Any suit:	If the responder has support in Hearts, then the responder may pass the opening bid of 2 Hearts. Otherwise the responder will bid Spades with Spade support. The responder may not raise the auction to the three level before the opener has the opportunity to clarify one of the two-suited holding.
2 NT:	This is a relay bid asking the opener to bid the unspecified Minor suit.

The rebids of the opener are as follows and clarify the holding after a 2 No Trump relay by the responder:

3 :	The opener shows Clubs and Hearts.
3 :	The opener shows Diamonds and Spades.
3 :	The opener shows Hearts and Diamonds.
3 :	The opener shows Spades and Clubs.

Disqualification
The Law 91 of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge provides that a director is specifically empowered to suspend a player for the balance of a session, or subject to the approval of the tournament committee, or the sponsoring organization, to disqualify a player, pair or team in order to maintain discipline or order.

Distribution
1. the number of cards in each suit held by one player. For example: 5-4-3-1 distribution shows five Spades, four Hearts, one Diamond and three Clubs;
2. the number of cards of a particular suit held by each player;
3. Slang: the lie of the adversely held cards.

Distribution Points
Valuation points awarded because of the trick taking potential of long or short suits at trump contracts.

Distributional Counts
In order to arrive at a hand valuation after a fit has been discovered, distributional points can and should be added to the high card points.

Distributional System of Contract Bridge
This is a bidding system and/or extension of the Official System as promugated by Mr. Ely Culbertson and incorporated into that bidding system. The bidding system is described by Mr. Victor R. Smith (aka Mr. Winfield Liggett Jr.) in his publication The Distributional Systme of Contract Bridge published in 1930. The specifics of this particular bidding system are unknown.

Distributional Values
1. the trick-taking possibilities of a hand that depend on the distribution of the cards in the other three hands rather than on the rank of the cards in their respective suit;
2. low-card tricks in general, including long-suit tricks and ruffing tricks.

Distinguished Employee Award
A special award presented and created by ACBL at the 2004 Orlando NABC to recognize contributions that are made by an employee that dramatically change the nature of the game or the way the League functions. The first recipient was Mr. Jim Lpuushinsky, who assisted in developing and creating the scoring software ACBLscore, which is presently being used by the majority of bridge clubs and tournaments to score matchpoint and IMP contests.

Distinguished Member
A special award presented by the ACBL Board of Directors. The first and only recipient through 1992 was Mr. Lou Bluhm of Atlanta, Georgia, who was presented this award for his personal attributes and contributions to bridge, particularly in the area of ethics and courtesy.

District
One of the 25 sectors of the American Contract Bridge League. Each district is represented on the ACBL Board of Directors by a director, elected by the unit boards of the district.

Districts
A list of the different Districts.

District 4 Regional Championships - District Four Regional ChampionshipsDistrict 4 Regional Championships - Keystone Fall
See Keystone Fall. This bridge tournment was contested over four days. The tournament was conducted annually in Pennsylvania, United States, beginning in the year 1961. This tournament was conducted between the years 1961 and the year 1964 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and in the year 1965 the tournament was conducted in Wilmington, Delaware, United States. The event consisted of Open Pairs, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, and Mixed Pairs.

District 5 Regional Championships - District Five Regional Championships
This bridge tournament was contested over five days. The tournament was conducted annually in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and the date selected included the American holiday of Labor Day. The event began in the year 1958 and consisted of Open Teams, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, and Mixed Pairs.

District 8 Regional Championships - District Eight Regional Championships - Champagne
This bridge tournament was contested over four days. The tournament was conducted annually in Illinois or Northern Indiana, United States, beginning in the year 1967, generally in the late summer months. The event consisted of Open Teams, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, and Mixed Pairs.

District 11 Regional Championships - District Eleven Regional Championships
This bridge tournament was contested over four days. The tournament was conducted annually and rotated among the cities Dayton, Ohio - Indianapolis, Indiana - Louisville, Kentucky - Columbus, Ohio - Cincinnati, Ohio - and Lexington, Kentucky, United States. The event represented the District 11 of the American Contract Bridge League and was organized by the members of District 11 and supervised and sanctioned by the ACBL. The event consisted of Knockout Teams, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, and Mixed Pairs.

District 14 Regional Championships - District Fourteen Regional Championships
This bridge tournament was contested over four days. The tournament was conducted annually in Nebraska or South Dakota, United States, beginning in the year 1968. This event consisted of Knockout Teams, Open Teams, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, and Women's Pairs.

District 15 Regional Championships - District Fifteen Regional Championships
This bridge tournament was contested over five days. The tournament was conducted annually in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, or Northwest Texas, United States, beginning in the year 1967. The event consisted of Knockout Teams, Open Teams, Masters Pairs, Open Pairs, Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, and Mixed Pairs.

District Judiciary Committee
A committee of the District Organization whose rights and responsibilities include hearing appeals from disciplinary action imposed on a member by a unit board of directors, and conducting disciplinary hears ab initio, which may result in censure, suspension or expulsion of a player.

Disturbing Opponent's No Trump
This is a convention used in bridge bidding and which was devised by Mr. Marty Bergen and published by Mr. Larry Cohen. This convention is sometimes referred to as Bergen Over No Trump, but has been accepted into the language of bridge as simply D.O.N.T.

Ditch
Slang: discard, usually a loser.

Dixon
A possible defense strategy against a Multi 2 Diamonds opening, generally employed in the United Kingdom.

DOBD or D.O.B.C.
This conventional defense mechanism is unknown. It is employed after an opponent has opened the auction with a strong, artificial 1 Club. The designation is most probably an acronym for Disturbing Opponent's Big Club.

Dodds Discards
This is a system similar to Italian Discards. Even cards are encouraging while odd discards are discouraging (Discouraging Odds) and ask for the suit of the same color. Source: Contract Bridge Play: The Language of Defense, authored by Mr. David N. King, 2004, Publisher: Bear Publications Worcester, ISBN: 0953137295 and also: http://www.omahabridge.org/MHemPubs/L_S_D2.pdf.

Dog
1. Slang: a very weak hand, or a holding that has been shown to be weak in nature by the previous bidding sequence;
2. Slang: the act of bidding conservatively. Used in the phrase: The player dogged it.

Dominant
An adjective of describing bidding systems which place the opponents into a defensive position on most deals by passing with opening values. See: Weak Opening Systems

Dominica: Commonwealth of Dominica Bridge Association - Contacts

Dominican Republic: Bridge Club of Santa Domingo - Contacts

Donaldson Over No Trump
This conventional defense method was devised and developed by Mr. R. James Donaldson of Vancouver, Canda. The employment of the double is penalty-oriented, and this conventional defense method can show either a one-suited holding, or a two-suited holding, or a three-suited holding.

Donaldson Trophy
The R. James Donaldson Trophy is awarded to winners of the COPC or Canadian Open Pair Championship.

The objectives of the Canadian Open Pairs Championship (COPC) are:

i)	to provide a method for periodically determining a Canadian Open Pairs Champion.
ii)	to hold a National Final at a common site to provide a forum for Canadian players from across the country to play and meet each other.
iii)	to conduct a National Championship in which players may participate at the club level.

The event is numbered according to the year in which the National Final is held. The event is held in two stages:

i)	Club Level.
ii)	National Level.

D.O.N.T. or DONT or Disturbing Opponent's No Trump
A defense against 1 No Trump openings: double shows one minor or both Majors; two of a Minor shows that Minor suit and some higher-ranking suit.

Modified DONT
The origin of this variation is unknown. The original concept was devised by Mr. Marty Bergen and published by Mr. Larry Cohen. The original convention is sometimes referred to as Bergen Over No Trump, but has been accepted into the language of the bridge community as simply D.O.N.T. As with all defense methods, this concept has also been altered, varied, modified, and revised to meet the needs of individual partnerships.

Revised DONT
The origin of this variation is unknown. The original concept was devised by Mr. Marty Bergen and published by Mr. Larry Cohen. The original convention is sometimes referred to as Bergen Over No Trump, but has been accepted into the language of the bridge community as simply D.O.N.T. As with all defense methods, this concept has also been altered, varied, modified, and revised to meet the needs of individual partnerships.

Dont No versus No Trump Defense Method
This is a variation developed by Mr. Glen Ashton of Ottario, Canada, of the DONT conventional method. This information has only been preserved and archived on this site in the form of a .pdf file.

Defense Method Against DONT - This is a defense method to be employed by the responder of the No Trump opener after an immediate DONT-oriented double by the opponent. These guidelines to defend against a DONT-style double are suggestions only for a possible defense method.

D.O.N.T. + T(ON) or DONT + T(ON) vs. a Strong Club Opening
The significance of the designation is not explained. This is an alternative defense method after a strong Club opening by the opponents as presented by Mr. Tony Melucci and developed in association with Mr. Neill Currie in his description of the Currified Precision system (archived reference). The method is shown as follows:

Overcall		Meaning
Double:		Lead directional in Clubs or Hearts
Pass:		Lead directional in Diamonds or Spades
1:		5+ Hearts or no more than 2 Hearts
1:		5+ Spades or no more than 2 Spades
1:		5+ Clubs or no more than 2 Clubs
1NT:		5+ Diamonds or no more than 2 Diamonds
2:		Clubs and Another (suit)
2:		Diamonds and (a) Major (suit)
2:		Hearts and Spades
2:		Spades
2NT:		Both Minors

DOOP
A device developed by Mr. Ronald Andersen which permits one table duplicate games, so that hands previously played in tournaments can be played in the home. Doop is a duplicate bridge game for two pairs, in which pre-dealt hands are played. Sessions, usually 26 deals, are based on the actual hands and matchpoint scores from ACBL Regional and National championships. For each deal, a partnership receives the matchpoint score that their result would have achieved in the actual tournament.

DOPE
Acronym for Double Odd, Pass Even. A method for showing Aces or Key Cards after interference over Blackwood or Key Card Blackwood.

DOPI
Acronym for Double zerO, Pass 1. A method for showing Aces or Key Cards after interference over Blackwood or Key Card Blackwood.

Double
A call that increases the scoring values of odd tricks or undertricks on a bid of the opponent.

Double Action
In certain bidding auctions, a player will pass after some hesitation, gesture or other mannerism, thus alerting his partner to the idea that he would prefer to take some action. This situation is deemed unethical and the partner should bid his own hand, and not continue to keep the auction alive with a double or other call based on this unauthorized information.

Double-Barrelled Stayman
A variation of the Stayman convention using a combination of Non-Forcing and Game-Forcing Stayman bids.

Double Coup
A trump coup in which two ruffs are necessary to achieve the required end position.

Double-Dummy
1. all four hands exposed;
2. Slang: action taken as if in sight of all four hands, meaning perfect for the lie of the cards;
3. Slang: criticize for not acting as though having seen all four hands. For example: My partner double-dummied me for not starting Clubs first.

Double Dummy Problems
These are situational problems in bridge whereby all four hands are known to the person challenged by the problem. The contract and the first lead are announced and the solver must then find the solution to the problem. Such problems were a source of entertainment and enjoyed much popularity during the time of Whist and then Bridge. Several books have been published with such problems: Sure Tricks by George Coffen, based on Double Dummy Problems created by Mr. Ivar Andersson; Double Dummy Bridge by George Coffin; Bridge Magic by Hugh Darwen.

Double Dummy With A Widow
This is a variation of the game of bridge for two players. The following explanation as to the proper procedure is from the book The Bridge Player's Bedside Companion by Mr. Albert A. Ostrow, published 1955.

Deal four hands of twelve cards each. Place the remaining four cards face down in the center of the table, as a widow. Bid, beginning with dealer. During the bidding contest each player may consult his face-down partner-hand as often as he likes. The bidding over, declarer picks up the four cards of the widow and deals them face down, two to opponent and two to himself.

Each player looks at these two cards and places one in the dummy hand and one into his own. He may not, however, use any other cards in his hand for the purpose of adding to dummy. Declarer now specifies which of opponent's hands, dummy or closed, makes the opening lead. His hand or his dummy must be the last to
play to the trick. Procedure in play and scoring is as in the regular game.

Double Finesse
A finesse against two outstanding honors or key cards.

Double For Sacrifice
A double of an opponent’s voluntary slam bid after the doubler’s side has bid and raised a suit preemptively, designed to help the defenders decide whether they have enough tricks to defeat the slam or should sacrifice. The double indicates how many tricks the doubler expects to make.

One treatment, which is called the Negative Slam Double or Unpenalty Double, requires that the left hand opponent of the player bidding the voluntary slam to double only if he has no defensive tricks. In the case that the partner has less than two such tricks, this partner sacrifices. If the left hand opponent of the player, who bid the voluntary slam, has one or two tricks, he passes and his partner doubles only if he has no tricks. This treatment allows the slam to be played doubled if the pass was made with two tricks, or the sacrifice to be taken if the pass was made with one trick.

A second treatment, called the Positive Slam Double, requires that the left hand opponent of the player bidding slam to double only if he has two defensive tricks. In the case that the left hand opponent passes, his partner will sacrifice with no tricks, pass with two tricks, or double with one trick. This treatment allows the slam to be played doubled if the pass was made with one trick, or the sacrifice to be taken if the pass was made with no tricks.

Double Grand Coup
A play by which declarer twice ruffs certain winning cards in order to reduce the hand which is long in trumps to the same length as that of an opponent, in preparation for a coup.

Double Jump Cuebid Overcalls - Jump Cuebid Overcalls - Non-Jump Cuebid Overcalls
The origin of this defense method is unknown. The method considers 1. the Non-Jump Cuebid Overcall, 2. the Jump Cuebid Overcall, and 3. the Double Jump Cuebid Overcall to communicate that the holding is one-suited and that this suit is a solid to semi-solid suit. Also known as Andersen's Cuebid.

Double In A Crowd
The origin of this form of double is unknown. The concept behind this particular double include the following features:

1. Practically all players are in a competitive auction but the double can not be mistaken for any other form of double, such as Support Double, Responsive Double, Negative Double, Balancing Double, Maximal Double, etc.

2. This particular double shows / promises values, which can compete on higher levels.

3. The player, who doubles, indicates neither length nor honor cards in the suits of the opponents.

South		West		North		East
1		Pass		1		1
2		3		Double
				543 AK106 K54 Q105

The double by North indicates a moderate to good holding in values without trump tricks in the suit(s) of the opponents, and no clear descriptive bid. The opener then has several open options per partnership agreement, including the possibility of converting the double to a penalty double.

Double Into Game
A double of a contract that is not a game undoubled, but is when doubled.

Double Jump
A bid two levels higher than necessary. This can refer to a raise: 1 Heart - 4 Hearts. This can refer to a response: 1 Heart - 3 Spades. This can refer to an overcall: 1 Heart - 3 Spades. The double jump is not to be confused with a Double Raise.

Double Jump Overcall
A preemptive jump after an opposing opening bid.

Double Jump Raise
A triple raise, such as 1 Spade - 4 Spades. Not to be confused with a jump raise such as 1 Spade - 3 Spades.

Double Jump Takeout
A preemptive response one level higher than a Jump Shift. For example: 1 Heart - 3 Spades.

Double Key Card
Key Card Blackwood in which the Kings of two suits are counted as Key Cards.

Double Knockout
A form of tournament in which teams are not eliminated until they have lost two matches.

Double Menace
In a double squeeze situation, the threat card in the suit guarded by both opponents.

Double Mitchell
This is a form of duplicate tournament competition to allow a comparison between a greater number of pairs that can be had in direct competition in a single section, and a Mitchell movement is used. This term also applies to describe a movement for two small sections which can be linked together to permit half of the boards to be played by the midway point.

Double Negative
A second negative bid by a player who has already taken a negative action. A bid or rebid by the responder after his partner has opened the auction with a strong Two-Bid or an artificial strong 2 Club bid, which indicates a holding with less than 3 high card points.

Double of a Cuebid
If an player doubles a suit bid made by the opponents at a high level, but which is not the intended suit to be played, then the double of a cuebid is understood as a lead-directing double. This double of a cuebid can, under circumstances, be unwise, since the left hand opponent then has the possibility of passing or to redouble. Some partnership agreements have given this redouble a certain interpretation, sometimes showing second-round control of the cuebid suit.

Double/Redouble out of Rotation
This action is covered by Law 32 of the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge, and generally states that: A double or redouble out of rotation may be accepted at the option of the opponent next in rotation (see Law 29), except that an inadmissible double or redouble may never be accepted (see Law 35A, if the opponent next in rotation nevertheless does call). If the illegal call is not accepted, it is cancelled, and the lead penalties of Law 26B may apply.

Double Raise
A bid two levels higher in the suit named by partner. For example: 1 Spade - 3 Spades.

Double - Reopening Double of 1 No Trump Responses and Rebid
This is a contribution of Mr. Marvin French of San Diego, California, to whom we are indebted. This is a revised version of the original article, which appeared in Popular Bridge magazine, June 1977, and in The Bulletin of ACBL in February 1995, page 93. This is a .pdf file which will automatically be opened by your browser without being downloaded to your computer.

Double Shot
A situation, whereby a player takes a wild or gambling action, which seeks to use the infraction of the opponent as a safety net. The result of this gambling action is that the player believes, perhaps mistakenly, that the gamble, if it fails, will still result in a positive score since the infraction by the opponent may cause the director to rule in favor of the gambling player.

Double Squeeze
A squeeze in which each opponent is squeezed between two suits.

Doubler
The player who doubles.

Doubleton
A holding of two cards in a suit.

Doubles
The most general use of the double is for Takeout and for Penalty. In the game of bridge, the use of the double is commonly a partnership agreement.

Double Tenace
A tenace in which the sequence is broken in two places, such as Ace-Queen-Ten.

Doubly Improper Call
A call which is irregular in two respects, such as an insufficient bid out of rotation.

Douche Club
A bidding system complete with opening bids devised by Mr. Mark Abraham, Mr. Griff Ware, and Mr. Daniel Geomboux. This outline is presented in a .pdf file format and is dated May 24, 2007. The opening bids are multiple purpose; the 1 Club opening, for example, may have five different meanings, two of which show specific distributional patterns.

Down
An expression used for: set, defeated, or off. As is: the contract was set 2 tricks, defeated by 2 tricks, off 2 tricks.

Down the Line
1. describing bidding the higher of equivalent features. For example: advancing one Spade to a takeout double of a one Diamond opening with four cards in each major is bidding down the line.
2. describing playing the highest of available cards.

Dragon 2 No Trump - Dragon 2 NT
Contributed by Mr. Robert Hanly of Canada. This conventional method is employed when the partnership employs Weak No Trump openings and an opening of 1 Club or 1 Diamond promises multiple values and shape. This is a .pdf file and will automatically be opened by your browser.

Dragon 3 Clubs
Contributed by Mr. Robert Hanly of Canada. This is a conventional method employed as an Asking Bid when playing 1M-2NT as natural and forcing to game. This is a .pdf file and will automatically be opened by your browser.

Draw
To remove from the possession of the opponents. As in draw trumps, meaning to take away the opposing trumps.

Draw for Partner
As stated in Laws of Contract Bridge, Law 3, before every rubber, each player draws a card from a pack shuffled and spread face down on the table. A card should not be exposed until all the players have drawn. Unless it is otherwise agreed, the two players who draw the highest cards play as partners against the other two players. When cards of the same rank are drawn, the rank of suit determines which is higher.

Drawing Trumps
The action of removing the trumps from the opponent’s hands. The elements of drawing trumps include the features of when to ruff, considering entries, maintaining stoppers, and of timing.

Drive Out
To force the play of a high card, meaning to lead or play a card sufficiently high in rank to force the play of an adverse commanding card to win the trick, or to continue until this result is achieved.

Drive To
Slang: to reach the bidding level of x. For example: drive to game means to ensure that the bidding reaches at least game.

Drop
Slang: lose; give away through error.
To capture an adverse potential winning card by the direct lead of a higher card or cards.

Drop Dead Stayman
A colloquial designation for Garbage Stayman.

Drury
1. Mr. Douglas Drury devised the Drury convention and originally, a Two Club response by a passed hand shows maximum values;
2. in its more modern form, often called Drury Fit, a Two Club response by a passed hand to show a fit for partner's Major in a hand too strong for a single raise. There are several variations to this concept, such as Reverse Drury and Bergen Drury.

Double Drury
This is a designation among bridge players in the bridge community for a method of showing either a 3-card support or a 4-card support for a Major suit with a possible 4-card suit, which has been opened by partner in either Third or Fouth Seat.

2 :	Promises a limit raise and only a 3-card support for the opened Major suit.
2 :	Promises a limit raise and only a 4-card support for the opened Major suit.

Drury Convention Variation
The following variation, origin and developer unknown, played generally in Norway defines the rebids of the opener in a more detailed fashion and allows for a more informative description of the holding of the opener. The auction proceeds normally, but it is important to remember that the distinction is made between the opening of 1 Heart and 1 Spade.

Dub
Slang: in bridge, a dub is a player whose game is below the standards of the players with whom he competes.

Duck
To play a small card when holding a higher one, in order to surrender a trick which could have been won. The goal of this play is to preserve an entry. There are several reasons to duck:

1. Suit Combinations: used to maximize the number of tricks in No Trump having no side entry to the dummy.
2. Trap Combination: this ducking procedure is used when declarer has no side entry in the dummy.
3. Double and Triple Duck: Used in No Trump contracts when the split of a suit in the hands of the opponents requires that the declarer duck twice, when necessary three times, in order to win the maximum amount of tricks.
4. Control: applied in Trump contracts using the trump suit as entry.
5. Defensive: a defender in a trump contract can also duck a winning trick in order to prepare for a ruff by his side or to prevent a ruff by the declarer.

Duckling
This diminutive form refers to a distribution of: 5-3-3-2, whereby a meaningful rebid is not present, especially if the values are minimum. This distribution is also referred to sometimes as Ugly Duckling.

Duel
A two-handed form of bridge invented by Mr. Norman B. Hasselriis, and described by him in The Bridge World magazine in February 1950.

Duffer
Slang: a bridge player of inferior ability.

Duke
This term refers to a very strong hand, which may entice the holder to over-estimate the playing ability and result in a minus score, which happened to the Duke of Cumberland.

Duke of Cumberland Hand
A Whist hand in history, when related, according to the book How To Play Whist, 1885, by Mr. Richard A. Proctor, cost the Duke of Cumberland, the son of George III, King of England, £20,000.

Dull Club System
A bidding system devised in The Netherlands. At the heart of the system is the 1 Club opening. It denotes a dull hand. The definition of a dull hand is an opening with 12 to 18 HCPs and a No Trump distribution, (i.e. 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2 or a 5-3-3-2 with a five-card Minor). As these hands are so common, it is practical to keep as much bidding space as possible. This bidding system has been only archived and preserved on this site in a .pdf file format.

Dumb Bidder
A device, consisting of a board with listed calls placed in the middle of the table, to permit silent bidding. This board has all four suits, No Trump, the numbers from 1-7, double, redouble, and pass inscribed on it. Each player makes a silent bid by tapping the appropriate section with a pencil.

Dummy
1. partner of declarer;
2. that player's cards, exposed on the table after the opening lead.

Dummy Play
The management of the values held by the declarer and dummy.

Dummy Play
The manner in which the values and honors of the dummy are utilized.

Dummy Reversal
1. ruffing with the partnership's longer trump holding until the opposite hand has more trumps;
2. a procedure by which the dummy is made the master hand.

Dummy’s Forfeiture Of Rights
This is invoked if the player whose hand is the dummy intentionally looks at his partner’s or an opponent’s hand. He then forfeits his privileges as far as protecting his partner against revokes or leading from the wrong hand.

Dummy's Forfeiture of Rights
The dummy may forfeit his right to prevent his partner, the declarer, from revoking or leading from the wrong hand, if the fact has been established that the dummy has intentionally looked at the hand of his partner or at the hand of an opponent. See Laws 42 and 43.

Dummy’s Hand
It is the responsibility of all the players equally that the dummy’s hand shall be a proper one, such as the number of cards. No revoke can be claimed as a result of an improper play from the dummy.

Dummy Whist
This is a variation of the game of Whist which involves only three players. The player who draws the lowest card plays with the dummy which then becomes his partner. According to the rules of Whist, the last card turned establishes the trump suit. The dummy is not exposed until a lead has been made. Scoring is such that one point is given for every additional trick after book, or 6 tricks, has been taken. In Whist, 7 points count for game.

Duobridge
A four-handed bridge game for two players invented by Mr. Art Kaplan of Merrick, New York, in 1977.

Duplicate
A term applied to the playing of the same deal of cards by more than one table of players.

Duplicate Bridge
A form of bridge in which two or more sets of participants have an opportunity to play the same deals. It is a form of the game whereby the conditions of play are duplicated exactly at each table: the same cards in each hand, the same dealer, the same vulnerability. The matchpoint score does not depend on the luck of the deal, but is rather derived by comparing the scores made by players who hold the identical cards under the identical conditions.

Duplicate Bridge Board
The following picture is an illustration of the bridge boards used in playing duplicate bridge. The players are designated by North - East - South - West, the number of the board is generally displayed on each board as is the player, who is assigned the dealer, as well as the state of the vulnerability.

Duplicate Bridge Events
In duplicate bridge there are three basic types of events: Individuals, Pairs and Teams. There are many types of games within each category. This web page informs the reader about these basic types of bridge events and provides information regarding them.

Duplicate Decisions
This is a publication origianlly created for ACBL by Julie Greenberg, ACBL Director of Education and presents the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge in everyday language.

Duplicate Whist
This is the oldest form of duplicate competition, in which movements such as the Mitchell or Howell were developed. This occurred in the year 1891 under the auspices of the American Whist League Championships, one year after Mr. John T. Mitchell published his book on Duplicate Whist and the movement.

Duplication of Distribution
Both partners have the same suit lengths in all four suits, and are evenly matched.

Duplication Of Values
This happens when both partners have strong values in the same suit, and which generally contributes to their side's disadvantage. Also referred to as Mirror Distribution.

Duplimate
A machine that duplicates deals rapidly for use in duplicate tournaments by reading bar-coded playing cards, automatically dropping the cards into the correct pockets of a duplicate board. Produced by Mr. Per Jannersten of Sweden.

Dutch Acol
A variation of the ACOL bidding system used by bridge partnerships i