Board (bridge) - Play

Play

Play of each board proceeds as follows:

• The North player positions the board in the centre of the table (perhaps at the top of a stack of boards), making sure that it is correctly oriented so that each player's cards are nearest to him.
• Each player removes the cards from the pocket corresponding to their playing position at the table (i.e. North, East, West or South).
• Each player counts his cards before looking at any card face. The director is summoned if any player does not have exactly thirteen cards.
• The players look at their cards (without showing any card face to any other player at the table) and optionally arranges them in order (e.g. by suits) according to personal preference.

• The player designated as the dealer on the board makes the first call.
• The bidding is completed and play proceeds.
• To play to a trick, each player shows a card face or places a card face up on the table in front of him. The cards are not mixed together as they are in rubber bridge trick collection.
• After four cards are played to a trick, each player turns his card face down and places it in a row in front of him, overlapping left to right. If that player's side won the trick, it is placed straight up (pointing towards one's partner); otherwise, it is laid sideways (facing your opponents), so that it is clear how many tricks each side has won at any time. If a player places the card the wrong way, his partner may point out the error.
• After the play, the number of tricks won by each side is agreed, and then each player gathers only his own cards, shuffles them and replaces them face down in the board pocket from which they came. The shuffle ensures that the next player can make no inference from the ordering of the cards in the pocket.
• The travelling scoresheet is removed from its slot, the score and other details for the board are written on the scoresheet by North and checked by East, and the scoresheet is then replaced in its pocket or slot in the board.