<P> The history of contract bridge, one of the world's most popular partnership card games, may be dated from the early 16th - century invention of trick - taking games such as whist . Bridge departed from whist with the creation of Biritch (or "Russian Whist") in the 19th century, and evolved through the late 19th and early 20th centuries to form the present game . </P> <P> According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word bridge is the English pronunciation of the game called "biritch". It followed on from whist, which initially was the dominant trick - playing game and enjoyed a loyal following for centuries . The oldest known reference to the rules of the game dates from 1886 and calls it "Biritch, or Russian Whist". The game featured several significant developments from whist: dealer chose the trump suit, or nominated his partner to do so; there was a call of no trumps (biritch); and the dealer's partner's hand became dummy . There were other similarities to bridge: points were scored above and below the line; the score could be doubled and redoubled; scoring a game in one deal required 3 odd tricks in no trumps, 4 in hearts, or 5 in diamonds (although it could not be done at all, undoubled, in clubs or spades); and there were slam bonuses . </P> <P> Despite the popularity of whist, this game, and variants of it, bridge and bridge - whist, became popular in the United States and the UK in the 1890s . </P>

Why is the game of bridge called bridge