What is the Best Way to Learn to Play Bridge?

There is really no substitute for getting out a deck of cards and playing the game. A school bridge club that mixes some instruction with a lot of playing cards can get you right into the game.

Nowadays, you can also play bridge online. Once you have your feet wet, a good site to check out is Bridge Base Online. You can play for free, and they offer tournaments for nominal fees.

Books and Other Learning Materials

Thousands of instructional books (and software) have been written about playing bridge. Most books and software are directed to a particular experience level of bridge player: new-to-bridge, novice, intermediate, advanced, or expert. You can find many of these materials – and select the right experience level for your needs – via an internet search of Amazon or other sources.

If you are brand new to bridge, and are looking for highly recommended free software to download, you can follow the two-step process outlined below to download software from Fred Gitelman. This software works on Windows computers, not on Macs or Unix.

1. Register your interest in downloading the instructional software with the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) by completing the form found here.
   
   The registration does not commit you to becoming a member of the ACBL, although it does require you to share your email address with the ACBL.

2. The act of registration will generate an email to you from the ACBL. That email will include a personalized link for you “to begin the download for both Learn to Play Bridge I and Learn to Play Bridge II.” Follow that link to download the software.