MICROBRIDGE
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     Bridge is a card game for  four  players,  who  sit round a table with
     "North" and "South" partnering each other against "East" and "West".
                                        
     They deal out the cards and  play  a  succession of "hands". Each hand
     results in one  or  other  partnership  receiving  "points", until one
     partnership has sufficient points to win  a  "game". The best of three
     games constitutes a "rubber" - hence the full name of the game: Rubber
     Bridge.
                                        
     Each hand consists of  two  stages.  First  the Bidding Stage, whereby
     each partnership vies with the  other  in  saying how many tricks they
     can make, and in what suit (in making  a bid, the first six tricks are
     ignored. So a bid of  "1  heart"  means  "We  will  make 7 tricks with
     hearts as trumps")
                                        
     It is also permitted to bid in "no-trumps" when none of the four suits
     will be made trumps.
                                        
                                        
                                    BIDDING
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     Any bid must be higher than the  last  one  made. Thus a bid of "3" (9
     tricks) is always higher than a bid  of  "2", while the four suits are
     in the order spades (highest),  hearts,  diamonds  and clubs. A bid of
     "no-trumps" is however higher than a suit  bid of the same level. Bids
     therefore range from 1 club to 7 no-trumps.
                                        
     Players bid in rotation and the player  whose last bid is not bettered
     by the other three is,  together  with  his  partner,  set the task of
     making the number of tricks bid. This  they  will attempt to do in the
     second stage of the hand, the Playing  Stage. The target bid is called
     the "contract" and the suit mentioned will be the trump suit.
                                        
     A player may always choose not to bid.  When  it is his turn to bid he
     will then say "pass"  or  "no  bid".  This  does  not prevent him from
     joining in the bidding either on the next or any subsequent round.
                                        
                                        
                                   GAME PLAY
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     During the Playing  Stage  one  of  the  two  contractors  becomes the
     "declarer".  He  is  the  one  who  first  bid  the  trump  suit,  not
     necessarily the one who made the  final  bid itself. His partner plays
     the role of "dummy", who lays his 13 cards on the table for all to see
     before playing any of them. Declarer in effect plays both hands.
                                        
     This version does  not include bidding.  Instead this is  already done
     for you. On every hand you will be South  and  will  be  the declarer.
     Your opponent West  is about to play his first card,  after which your
     partner, North, being dummy, will lay down his hand.
                                        
     Your first step will then be to look  at all the cards; decide how you
     are going to playb the hand, and  in  particular what card you want to
     play from dummy on the first trick.
                                        
                                        
                               HOW TO PLAY A CARD
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     FIRST press a key to indicate the suit - i.e. [S],[H],[D], or [C];
                                        
     THEN press a key to denote the card's value. For example:
                                        
        [A] for ace; [K] for king; [Q] for queen; [J] for jack
        The 10 can be denoted by [X] or [T]
        Cards 9 down to 2 are denoted by their actual value - e.g. [7]
                                        
     You will find on  occasion  that  even  this  simple  procedure can be
     shortened. If for instance you  have  no  choice  of suit because, for
     example, all your cards are of the same suit, the suit can be omitted.
     If you are playing a singleton, the  value can be omitted. If moreover
     there is only one card you can  play,  e.g.  at trick 13, then any key
     depression will play the card - the [space] key will be easiest.

                                        
                                THE FULL VERSION
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     When you have tried out the hands on this disc you will surely want to
     acquire the full blown version of MICROBRIDGE. This will not only give
     you the chance of playing far more hands,  you will also be able to go
     through the far more challenging Bidding Stage.
                                        
     Here MICROBRIDGE is even  more  helpful,  producing  line upon line of
     textual commentary at every bid;  explaining  the reasoning behind the
     bid it suggests; telling you why it thinks your bid is wrong (it won't
     stop you making it, though!);  and  telling  you  what to make of your
     partner's bid (even though you can't see his cards).
                                        
     What's more MICROBRIDGE comes with  a  comprehensive manual that takes
     you through the subject of bidding in  a series of 16 lessons, to each
     of which there corresponds a set of specially selected hands which you
     also deal out and examine on your PC.
                                        
                                        
                                  HOW TO ORDER
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     The recommended retail price of  Microbridge  is  £29.95 plus VAT. But
     you can receive one for  the  special  price  of £24.95 including VAT,
     using the order form in this issue of Personal Computing.
                                        
     Please state whether your  A:  drive  accepts  5.25in. or 3.5in. discs
     (your PC must be IBM compatible and have  at least 384k of RAM - a 512
     or 640 will therefore be fine)
                                        
                      MicroBridge  (c) 1988  J. M. MacLeod