Board (bridge)

Board (bridge)

In duplicate bridge, a board is an item of equipment that holds one deal, or one deck of 52 cards distributed in four hands of 13 cards each. The design permits the entire deal of four hands to be passed, carried or stacked securely with the cards hidden from view. This is required for duplicate bridge tournaments, where the same deal is played several times and so the composition of each hand must be preserved during and after each play of each deal.

First used in 1891, then called "trays", boards have evolved in shape, size and material to a rectangular shape such as that illustrated; most are now made of plastic, which has replaced metal (usually aluminium) and leather boards formerly used. Most designs include a slot or pocket to hold a paper travelling score sheet.

Each board is usually marked with the following information: board number – (usually in the sequence '1' to '32') identifies the deal and helps to order the play of multiple deals; compass directions – used to match the four hands to the four players at a table; dealer – designates which player is the "dealer"; this designates the player who is to make the first call of the auction; vulnerability – (often represented by color code: a "vulnerable" partnership is usually shown in red) designates which of the two partnerships are vulnerable: neither, North–South, West–East, or both.

Colloquially, the term board may refer to one deal plus its bidding and play. ("Do you remember Board 1?")

When bridge is played online, there are no physical boards, nor physical cards, but the software emulates all of the features of duplicate boards and the unit of the game is commonly called a board.