Description

Swingbridge is a card game for three players, based on Contract Bridge.

It is a standard deck, trick taking game, with variable partnerships. An auction phase is followed by card playing. Four hands are dealt: one per player plus an additional one which is placed face-up on the table (the "dummy"); initially, one player is allowed to exchange his hand with the dummy. During the auction phase the players attempt to communicate information about their hands by bidding; like in Bridge, bids specify how many tricks must be taken and what is the preferred trump suit (or lack thereof); in addition, bids also have a "color" that indicates what is the preferred partnership for that deal. After the auction, the team that has won the bid (the "declarers") tries to win as many tricks as possible; the other player (the "defender") plays both his own hand and the dummy's, and tries to take enough tricks to have the declarers fail their contract. The scoring system is almost identical to Bridge, but players have individual scores.

Swingbridge is presented as a book, written for an audience of Bridge players, which contains the basic rules of the game, some optional variants, and an in-depth analysis of the mechanics and peculiarities of the game.