Board (bridge)
In the card game Bridge, a board is a container with 4 compartments, each containing 13 cards for the 4 players. Boards are needed because in bridge tournaments the same distribution is played one after the other at several tables by different players.
Each board is marked with the board number. If several boards with the same number are used in one round of a tournament, then they usually also contain the same distribution. The compartments are marked North, South, East and West. Which player acts as divider is also noted on the board, as well as the danger situation: red markings indicate the players who are in danger. The allocation of board number on the one hand and divider and risk situation on the other hand is determined by the tournament bridge rules (§2).
There are essentially two types of boards: those that can be folded up for transport like a pencil case, and those made of hard plastic or metal with a bar that prevents the cards from falling out of the compartments. The cards have to be bent slightly here to remove them from the compartment. Among the hard boards there are those whose top can be opened. When opened, they fit into a duplicating machine and can be filled there automatically.
Since there is no German term for board , the English word is used everywhere in German-speaking countries.