In the card game
contract bridge
Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game, trick-taking card game using a standard 52-card deck. In its basic format, it is played by four players in two Team game, competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each othe ...
, the major suits are
spades () and
hearts ().
The major suits are of prime importance for tactics and
scoring SCORE may refer to:
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*Sarawak Corrido ...
as they outrank the
minor suit
In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). 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 ...
s while bidding and also outscore them (30 per contracted trick for major suits—compared to 20 for minor suits). Much of the tactics of bidding in bridge revolves around the attempt by partners to find a "fit" in one of the major suits that will allow them to make a game contract. Another reason why the major suits is more desirable than the minor suits is that they need one less trick to make game. Of the two major suits, spades rank higher than hearts.
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'' (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 ( ), memory trick or memory device is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval in the human memory, often by associating the information with something that is easier to remember.
It makes use of e ...
.
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. The main feature of most playing card decks that empower their use in diverse games and other activities is their double-sided design, w ...
*
Minor suit
In contract bridge the minor suits are diamonds () and clubs (). 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 ...
*
Two suiter
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Major Suit
Contract bridge