Bridge maxims are like the mantras, commandments or often-repeated rules of playing bridge; although not everyone mgiht agree with the specific mantras or commandments that you choose, these are still the ones that you choose to play by because that’s often the way you were taught to do it.
Maxims are sometimes subject to change throughout your bridge playing span, but they’re useful for learning the first ways around the game when still stumbling around the rules. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re not, but the point is that they help.
We use maxims to help us remember things. It’s like making up a rhyme on the way to the store to remember what you need to buy. (As embarrassing as it might end up sounding out loud, you still didn’t forget to buy them, did you?)
Here’s more about popular bridge maxims and where to find them.
Books About Bridge Maxims
- 101 Bridge Maxims (by Hugh Walter Kelsey)
- Bridge Maxims: Secrets of Better Play (by Audrey Grant & Eric Rodwell)
- Maxims for Playing the Game of Whist (by William Payne)
- 121 Tips for Better Bridge (by Paul Mendelson)
- Victor Mollo’s Bridge Quiz Book (by Victor Mollo)
Bridge Maxims from the Internet (& Elsewhere)
- Length over strength.
This evergreen bridge maxims tells bridge players that it’s better to have a longer suit than a stronger hand.
The thing with a limited amount of stronger cards in your hands is this: Eventually, they’ll run out – and you’ll have to rely on the length of your strongest suit when this happens. (That’s why people says this!)
- One up, shut up.
Now, I’ve never heard this one before, though I’ve heard plenty of people telling their bridge partners to shut up… What this one appears to mean is that players shouldn’t bid too confidently if all they can spot in their hand is a single trick. (That’s not going to go well for anyone except the opponents.)
Alternatively, skip single tricks.
- Don’t bid the first (without knowing the second).
Okay, fine. This one doesn’t rhyme, and it’s not the most catchy in the world – but you’ll often find that it happens to be true.
When you make the first bid, it’s useful to know what you’re going to follow it up with.
If you aren’t sure yet, then bidding turns into a writer trying to write his masterpiece without having any idea of the plot.
- Eight ever, nine never.
The popular and often-said bridge maxim applies to the art of the finesse.
It’s for when the player has eight or nine cards that include the more sought-after King and Ace in the correct suit; should they finesse?
This supposed bridge maxim gives the answer (or not).
- When in doubt (lead a spade).
When the player isn’t sure what to do next, resort to playing spades – often the strongest suit in your contract. It’s the equivalent of playing any of the appropriate Dragon-cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Universe.