Bridge is often scientific in nature. But bridge is also a game. There are many non-scientific situations when it comes to playing the game of bridge. Sometimes these involve using judgment (also known as guessing, where you rely on your experience and education) and at other times they involve bidding tactics. 

Tactical decisions are important and fun aspects of the game, often overlooked. One of the key areas of tactical bidding to consider is when to share information and when to conceal it. A common way that we share information is by making bids that further describe our hand. We hope this information helps partner and allows them to make better decisions as the auction proceeds. But the information we share in the bidding may also help the opponents defend the hand better. It is often down to experience to know when to share information (when it's more likely to help partner) and when to conceal it (when it's more likely to help the opponents). 

An example of this is not using Stayman (or Puppet Stayman) with an extremely balanced hand.

Bidding Stayman is a “normal thing to do”, but with our siding holding 13 HCP + 15-17 – making for a total of 28-30 points, just bidding 3NT is a very reasonable thing to do. 

Here, not giving the opponents any information, will make it more difficult for them to get off to the best opening lead. This is an example of practical bidding (doing something reasonable that will usually be correct) vs. scientific bidding (trying tools to get all the information possible to make a fully informed decision). 

Another classic example of when we must choose between doing something practical vs. trying for a more precise auction is making a help suit game try.

Imagine you hold this hand:

You open 1♠ and partner raises to 2♠. One option is to make a help suit game try by bidding 3♦ – to find out if partner has shortness or an honor in ♦. If they do, then game will be a good contract. But may be a good contract if partner has a lot of different hands. It is better here to just bid game and see what happens. The information you share by making a help-suit game try is more likely to help the opponents defend the hand well than it is to help us make a good bidding decision. It is best to just make the practical bid of 4♠!

Another thing to consider is that bridge can be an exhausting game. I know, playing cards doesn’t seem like it should be an exhausting thing to do, but keeping in a state of hyper-focus for extremely long periods of time is mentally taxing. There are plenty of other reasons that we may be tired when we play bridge, and it is important to take into account how you are feeling when you play. Are you on form and playing your best, or struggling to focus, fighting your way through the game.

While playing bridge when tired most people tend to try to make perfect bids – they try extra hard to get it right. This often leads to more complex auctions and more difficult decisions. This is not winning bridge when you are not at your best. When you are tired, preserve your energy for the important stuff and make practical bids (your judgment may be slightly off and you should avoid extra complex difficult decisions if you can).

Furthermore, making the perfect scientific bid often requires both you and partner to make great judgments afterward. When you are playing your best, this may work out well. But when you are not, it will often be winning bridge to just keep it simple, and being practical is more likely to bring you more success.

The bottom line is, we all love gadgets (conventions) and the science of bridge, but winning bridge is often keeping it simple and doing something practical!

About the Author

Robert is a professional player and teacher that you’ll find all over North America (and the world).  He is the founder of Adventures in Bridge and you will find him hosting events, either virtual or in-person, almost every week of the year!  Robert is also the president of the ACBL Educational Foundation where he is working to building an institution to shepherd the long term good of bridge!