At the Mende bridge club, the stakes are raised with some serious assets around the table

Jean-Jacques Rouvière (à gauche) espère au moins une douzaine de nouveaux joueurs cette année. MIDI LIBRE – Michel Pieyre

The Mende bridge school offers introductory and advanced courses by qualified instructors.

Jean-Jacques Rouvière, president of the Mende bridge club and qualified instructor from the ad hoc university (with Hélène Magnoux and Gilberte Dalle), is ready to start the season around the gaming tables.

That day, it's an open house to recruit new faces: “We have tournaments, twice a week in the afternoon, one on Wednesday evening. It's all official, the goal is to score points, a bit like in tennis. You have to progress through the levels, from the 4th series to the first.” Bridge is played by four people, two teams of two (north-south against east-west) who oppose each other. The goal is to make bids and make them to win the round.

Young international players

No stakes, no money, no professional circuit, bridge remains above all an amateur cerebral “sport” but with high stakes: “The greatest will join the French team and take part in international tournaments, rejoices Jean-Jacques Rouvière. We have youngsters who are climbing. The French women are European champions. They are between 20 and 30 years old, one of whom started at 12."

While most players operate in their prime, the champions are rather young. “It requires memory, logic, it is a game of conventions. Each bid has a meaning. There is no talking in bridge, it is a silent game."

40 points to take

Each player has thirteen cards in their hands: "I can promise my partner, depending on my play, for example, five heart cards and at least twelve points (in the game, there are 40 points to take in the four suits, 4 points for an ace, 3 for a king, 2 for a queen, 1 for a jack, editor's note)". We play trumps (clubs, spades, diamonds, hearts) or without trumps: “You must provide the requested color.” 

The player who fulfills his contract collects points. If he fails, the opponents take a bonus. “We must not lie, it is not like poker”, smiles the expert. Each deal lasts on average seven and a half minutes, timed in tournaments. A complete round a little over three hours (24 deals).

Motivated new recruits

“The game had a difficult, bourgeois connotation. It comes from whist, an English game. “This was codified at the end of the 19th century and it evolves every year,” argues Jean-Jacques Rouvière, showing the bible of international bridge rules. The Mende club has about sixty members.