Contract bridge, or simply bridge, is a trick-taking game using a standard 52-card deck. It is played by four players in two competing partnerships, with partners sitting opposite each other around a table. Millions of people play bridge worldwide in clubs, tournaments, online and with friends at home, making it one of the world's most popular card games, particularly among seniors. The World Bridge Federation is the governing body for international competitive bridge.
The game consists of several deals each progressing through four phases: dealing the cards, the auction (also referred to as bidding), playing the cards, and scoring the results. However most club and tournament play involves some variant of duplicate bridge, where the cards are not re-dealt on each occasion, the same deal being played by two or more different sets of players to enable comparative scoring.
