In
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions ...
the minor
suits are
diamonds
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
() and
clubs
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album '' kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
().
They are given that name because contracts made in those suits score less (20 per contracted trick) than contracts made in the
major suits (30 per contracted trick), and they rank lower in bidding. In particular, one can make
game
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (suc ...
with a four-level bid in a major suit, while a five-level bid is required in a minor. Of the two minor suits, diamonds rank higher than clubs.
Suit combinations
Fundamentally, there are three ways to divide four suits into pairs: by ''color'', by ''rank'' and by ''shape'' resulting in six possible suit combinations.
* Color is used to denote the ''red'' suits (hearts and diamonds) and the ''black'' suits (spades and clubs).
* Rank is used to indicate the ''
major
Major ( commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicato ...
'' (spades and hearts) versus ''minor'' (diamonds and clubs) suits.
* Shape is used to denote the ''pointed'' (diamonds and spades, which visually have a sharp point uppermost) versus ''rounded'' (hearts and clubs) suits. This is used only as a
mnemonic
A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding.
Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and image ...
.
See also
*
Standard 52-card deck
The standard 52-card deck of French-suited playing cards is the most common pack of playing cards used today. In English-speaking countries it is the only traditional pack used for playing cards; in many countries of the world, however, it is used ...
*
Major suit
*
Two suiter
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minor Suit
Contract bridge