N
- Natural
- A call which indicates either: (1) a willingness to play the contract named, (2) a suit bid suggesting length or strength in that suit, (3) a notrump bid that suggests a balanced hand, (4) a double that suggests the ability to defeat the opponent's contract, (5) a redouble to suggest that the contract can be made in the face of a double by opponents, or (6) a pass that suggests weakness, satisfaction with the last bid made or no desire to make a further call. Compare with Artificial.
- NBB
- Nederlandse Bridge Bond (Dutch Bridge League).
- Negative double
- A conventional call used by responder in a competitive auction to denote possession of at least one unbid suit.
- Negative free bid
- Responder's suit bid following an opening bid and an overcall. Nonforcing by prior agreement.
- Negative inference
- An inference based on something that did not happen. For example, if a defender does not overruff, declarer might conclude that he could not overruff. Or if declarer does not ruff a loser in dummy, a defender might conclude that declarer does not have a loser in that suit.
- Negative response
- A bid that shows insufficient values for a stronger response. For example, a 2♦ response to a forcing 2♣ opening bid is often negative, as is a 1♦ response to a Precision 1♣.
- Negative slam double
- In a competitive auction, the double of a voluntarily bid slam to show no defensive tricks, and therefore to suggest a sacrifice.
- Neuberg formula
- In duplicate pairs tournaments, a method of fairly adjusting match point scores when not all boards have been played the same number of times. It gives equal weight to each board by calculating the expected number of match points that would have been earned if the board had been played the full number of times.
- New minor forcing
- By agreement, after 1m - 1M; 1NT, a bid of two of the unbid minor as artificial and forcing, often requesting three card support for responder's bid major or four cards in the unbid major. Sometimes called PLOB.
- New suit
- A suit that has not yet been bid.
- No bid
- An alternative to "pass". Used in the United Kingdom, where "pass" might be mis-heard as "hearts." Regarded as improper in the US.
- Non-forcing bid
- A bid which partner may pass. See also forcing bid, invitation, sign-off.
- Non-vulnerable
- See not vulnerable
- Nonadverse suit
- A suit which has not yet been bid by either opponent.
- None vulnerable
- In rubber bridge, the state of the score in which neither pair has made a game. In duplicate bridge, the vulnerability condition under which neither pair is designated as vulnerable for the board in play. Also, "neither side vulnerable."
- North-South
- One of the partnerships designated on duplicate boards.
- Not vulnerable
- The state of vulnerability in which both bonuses and penalties are smaller. Therefore, less is at stake for a non-vulnerable pair investigating game or slam, or that is contesting the part score, than for a vulnerable pair. Also, "non-vulnerable."
- Notrump (No Trump)
- A contract, or a bid that names a contract without a trump suit. Notrump is the highest-ranking strain. WikiProject Contract bridge deprecates the two-word "No Trump".
- Notrump distribution (No Trump distribution or NT distribution)
- Balanced distribution. WikiProject Contract bridge deprecates the two-word "No Trump".
- NPC
- Non-Playing captain.
- Nuisance bid
- An interference bid whose principal aim is not to preempt or to compete for the contract, but nevertheless to upset the smooth flow of the opponents' bidding sequence.
- Number
- (With "go for") A very large penalty: "He went for a number." Often, "telephone number", alluding to the size of that number if regarded as a quantity.
Read more about this topic: Glossary Of Contract Bridge Terms