If you’re anything like the majority of bridge players out there, bridge isn’t the only game you play – and I’m willing to bet good money that a great deal of players out there also happen to be fans of other board and card games like chess, backgammon, poker, blackjack, reversi or others.

My wife and I have built up a small collection of board games, some of which has been known to travel with us for whenever the urge to play strikes us. (Of course, I’d rather not go into who wins most games from there…)

If there’s one thing I learned during these late-night board game sessions, it’s that board game strategies can be well applied to bridge with a few adaptations.

Taking a technique from one game and realizing that it might very well apply to bridge keeps the way you think about strategy fresh.

Here are a few useful board game strategies that have served me well so far within the context of cards.

Keep Pieces Low

A common strategy for the game of reverse states that it’s not all about total board dominance for most of the game. Instead, the player that most commonly wins the game is the one who has the least amount of pieces on the board for the majority of the match – and the final burst that earns you game only comes later.

The same way, bridge has sure tricks, not-so-sure tricks and later tricks.

Don’t count all your trick-ens before they’ve hatched.

Some games rely on keeping tricks low at the beginning of the game just to be sure of winning enough tricks for your contract later on.

Standard Moves

Backgammon has standard moves: Ones that appear in certain situations, and ones that advanced players can spot from a mile away. It’s one way in which my wife has consistently kicked my ass sideways at backgammon for the past seven (and counting!) years ever since our very first game in her apartment way back when.

Standard moves is one of the first things I learned about. It’s also one of the first things I tried to apply to bridge: Certain card combinations are common, and certain trick combinations are seen over and over again.

Recognizing patterns like this helps you to spot where the game could possibly end up from that move onwards.

Check

In chess, check is what happens right before checkmate.

It’s the moment where you can feel your opponent so close to winning that they’re metaphorically breathing down your neck.

The point of “check” is that you’re stuck – and going to be out in one, obvious move – but the point of “check” is also the potential to get out of the situation.

Bridge games can reach a similar stage where one move can make all the difference.

Protect the Queen

It’s another chess rule that could serve you well in the context of a bridge game. Court cards are good, and a queen in the right suit could gain an advantage – but only if you don’t sacrifice the game’s queen for nothing.

Gain the Corners (or Aces & Courts)

Gaining the corners is a strategy seen in games like reversi, although is also true for a few others.  It can also be true for bridge. Just replace the word “corners” with “courts and aces” and you’ll be on the same page as what I mean by this.

Court cards and aces are useful. Very useful. But only when they’re in the right hands – and being played at the right time.