Bridge Writing Style Guide

[MrAce]

http://rpbridge.net/7z69.htm

 

I just read this on R.P site and thought I should share it.

You all probably already know it but if there those of you like me who did not know some of these, you may find it useful since what we all do here is writing about bridge.

[Zelandakh]

I disagree with the point about 10 versus T. I think T greatly increases readability and should generally be preferred, as suggested later in the section on diagrams.

[gwnn]

T is pretty good as it is consistent with AKQJT = honours. On the other hand if you manage to squeeze in 10 in the same space as the other cards, it is kind of worthy of admiration.

[johnu]

I disagree with the point about 10 versus T. I think T greatly increases readability and should generally be preferred, as suggested later in the section on diagrams.

 

On this site, why not use the built in hand editor that makes things a lot more readable

 

 

[hv=pc=n&s=st63ht632dt97ct95]133|100[/hv]

[MrAce]

On this site, why not use the built in hand editor that makes things a lot more readable

 

 

[hv=pc=n&s=st63ht632dt97ct95]133|100[/hv]

 

 

 

[hv=pc=n&s=sakqt9hakq98d32c2]133|100[/hv]

 

Here is what happens when you use 10 instead of T. Both majors have same length but the one with the 10 looks longer to the eye.

[Tramticket]

This style guide is excellent. When I was producing newsletters I found that I had to develop things from scratch - this would have been an excellent starting reference.

 

A few comments:

(1) I disagree with Richard over capitalisation of the names of conventions. I think that, even if the name of the convention has not been derived from a proper name (e.g. Blackwood), the bridge usage of the name has now become a proper name. I feel that it is preferable to capitalise all convention names - e.g:

- Asptro

- Lebensohl

- Roman Key-card Blackwood

 

I note that the British magazines seem to adopt this approach. I'm not sure if this is a regional difference.

 

(2) I am interested that Richard uses notrump as a word, without hypenation. I'm not sure that I've encountered this and think that hyphenation is more normal. The current (February 2017) issue of English Bridge manages to use no-trump and no trump on the same page (P. 31): "I found someone who was happy to play a 12-14 no trump" and later "Because the average French player has little or no exposure to the weak no-trump"

 

(3) Richard has identified regional differences in the spelling of bridge terms. There are other regional differences.

 

One issue that Richard doesn't address is my pet irritation is the use of "trump" as both a plural and singular. An american publication is likely to state "Declarer draws trump", even when the defenders clearly have four between them, whereas a British publication will state that "declarer draws trumps".

 

Richard doesn't address this issue directly, but he does use the example "... if declarer just bothered to draw trumps". Maybe Richard is more British than he thinks!

[Tramticket]

[hv=pc=n&s=sakqt9hakq98d32c2]133|100[/hv]

 

Here is what happens when you use 10 instead of T. Both majors have same length but the one with the 10 looks longer to the eye.

 

Richard does state that T can be use when (as on this site) cards are given without spacing.

 

My personal preference is to use 10 rather than T.

[barmar]

[hv=pc=n&s=sakqt9hakq98d32c2]133|100[/hv]

 

Here is what happens when you use 10 instead of T. Both majors have same length but the one with the 10 looks longer to the eye.

If you use Chrome, there's an extension you can install that changes handviewer so it displays T instead of 10.

 

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bbo-forum-handviewer-t-if/holbaancpajpbjfefdinfbcikkgfcfdp

[MrAce]

If you use Chrome, there's an extension you can install that changes handviewer so it displays T instead of 10.

 

https://chrome.googl...dinfbcikkgfcfdp

 

Thank you Barry! I will do that.

[mycroft]

I strongly prefer 10 to T - provided we have a special bridge font where there is a single-character 10. Otherwise, I use T for the shape issues discussed above.

 

I am surprised that more specialty bridge publishing houses haven't spent the time to create a single-width '10' character.

[johnu]

[hv=pc=n&s=sakqt9hakq98d32c2]133|100[/hv]

 

Here is what happens when you use 10 instead of T. Both majors have same length but the one with the 10 looks longer to the eye.

 

Kerning would help, but not only does the first suit look longer, it usually plays longer :P

[blackshoe]

(2) I am interested that Richard uses notrump as a word, without hypenation. I'm not sure that I've encountered this and think that hyphenation is more normal. The current (February 2017) issue of English Bridge manages to use no-trump and no trump on the same page (P. 31): "I found someone who was happy to play a 12-14 no trump" and later "Because the average French player has little or no exposure to the weak no-trump"

According to the Oxford American English Dictionary on my computer, the correct version is "no-trump". The Oxford British English Dictionary has no entry for this term.

[gordontd]

According to the Oxford American English Dictionary on my computer, the correct version is "no-trump". The Oxford British English Dictionary has no entry for this term.

The EBU house style guide seems to favour "no-trumps" with NT an acceptable alternative.

[Fluffy]

another reason to prefer 10 over T is that it is right for other languages.

[paulg]

The EBU house style guide seems to favour "no-trumps" with NT an acceptable alternative.

 

My copy of the Laws has:

 

Denomination — the suit or no trump specified in a bid.

 

It is consistent in this usage. I looked over the IBPA site to see what they used and 'everything under the sun' would be a good description.

[helene_t]

I find T much easier to read than 10. I would only use 10 if I were writing in a language in which 10 does not begin with a T (I suppose German's could use Z but I think that is uncommon). Thankfully, 10 starts with a T in English, Dutch and Danish and I rarely write about bridge in other languages.

[nullve]

I try to save space and energy by using

 

* 'T' instead of '10' (bonus: all rank symbols will then have the same width)

* 'N' instead of 'NT' (bonus: all denomination symbols will then have the same width)

* '(abcd)' and 'abcd' instead of 'a-b-c-d' and 'a=b=c=d', respectively.

[Zelandakh]

According to the Oxford American English Dictionary on my computer, the correct version is "no-trump". The Oxford British English Dictionary has no entry for this term.

How old is the entry I wonder. It has often been observed that the usage of hyphens in English has reduced over time so I could easily imagine that the correct form might originally have been no-trump, while the correct modern spelling is no trump. In any case, for bridge we must surely go by the Laws in the first place and assume no trump is indeed the correct form, even if it were the case that no-trump remained prevalent for every other trick-taking card game and was therefore the dictionary definition.

[barmar]

The use of hyphens depends on context. When a pair of words is being used together as an adjective, it's usually correct to hyphenate them, e.g. "a no-trump bid".

[Fluffy]

My webpage changes cards when you switch languages.

 

1RDV10 in french

 

AKQJ10 in english and spannish

 

AKDB10 in german

 

Although there is no real 10, it is I0

 

I was willing to do some more if I Ever got dutch or even swedish, although that Kn looked scary for me.

[ruby007]

Thank you for the link above.

My webpage changes cards when you switch languages.

 

1RDV10 in french

(...)

It is a fact that french CARDS DECKS have '1' printed on aces and '10' printed on tens, but I never have seen '1' in any bridge publication, book or serious internet page. We (frenchies) use A for As and 10 for Ten, and more generally

R for King (Roi)

D for Queen (Dame)

V for Jack (Valet)

P for Spade (Pique)

C for Heart (Coeur)

K for Diamond (Carreau but to avoid confusion with heart)

T for Club (Trefle)

SA for No-Trump (Sans-Atout)

 

Web-browsers are way too much featured :D