A hand is said to be balanced if it has a distribution of 4-3-3-3, 4-4-3-2, or 5-3-3-2 (Also defined as "no voids, no singletons, and at most one doubleton"). Balanced hands are particularly suitable for notrump contracts.
Bid
A declaration of both level and denomination (suit or no trump) that generally indicates the number of tricks the bidder believes their partnership can win; certain bids can also be used as conventions.
Bid out of turn
A bid erroneously made when it was other player's turn to bid. Subject to penalty.
Bidding
The first phase of the game, where players try to establish the final contract by making subsequent bids.
Bidding system
The complete set of agreements and conventions assigned to every possible bid by a partnership.
Board
1) a device that keeps each player's cards separate for duplicate bridge.
Board-a-Match
A form of scoring for team events, parallel to matchpoint scoring in pair games, in which every deal scores the same – +1 for a win, 0 for a tie, and -1 for a loss. Now less common than IMP/victory point scoring.
Book
The basic six tricks that must be taken by the declaring side. Since there is a total of 13 tricks, these six tricks below the half are always assumed and are never taken into account in scoring. Thus, a contract on level 1 denotes taking at least (6+1) tricks.
Bonus
In scoring, the additional points awarded for making a contract, for making a doubled contract, or for making doubled or redoubled overtricks. There are different bonus amounts at the partscore, Game, small slam, and grand slam levels. Bonus amounts may depend on the vulnerability, and whether or not the contract is doubled or redoubled. Bonus amounts are different in rubber bridge and duplicate.
Break
When the cards of a suit in the hands of the opponents are split evenly, or nearly evenly, so that neither opponent has a particularly large or small holding in that suit, then suit is said to break. The corollary is a "bad break" when the suit does not split evenly.
Contract bridge glossary - B
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