New bridge partnerships are born every day.

People are from different walks of life, different backgrounds, and from different learning schools about bridge.

This means that partnerships are seldom perfectly balanced.

Are you playing with a less experienced partner, or are you the less experienced player?

There’s no reason why this should have any effect on how well your game gets played.

All players in a baseball team aren’t exactly the same amount of experienced, and they don’t all think the same strategically. The same is true for a bridge partnership.

Here are tips for balancing your bridge partnership for better team play.

Talk Conventions

Bridge partners talk.

It’s a good idea to speak to your bridge partner about general strategy and their approach to the game.

How will you know if you’re on the same page with your partner if you don’t talk about it?

It’s also a good idea to talk about conventions. Players from different backgrounds will often know different approaches.

Go With GIB

Practice makes a huge difference in how well partners are able to co-ordinate to each other’s movements.

It’s the same in any band.

GIB is great for creating practice tables where it’s just you, your partner, and bots to fill in the gaps.

Go with GIB, and grow your bridge partnership.

Share Resources

Have you read any great bridge resources lately?

Share them with your bridge partner, even if you think that it’s something they already know.

Long-term bridge partnerships can benefit from reading through each other’s resources or libraries.

Be Opponents

Bridge partners can benefit from learning how to be on the other side of the table.

Switch. Play a couple of games where your bridge partner is there as your opponent instead.

Again, empty seats can be filled in with GIB for a full bridge game. A game of honeymoon bridge could also work well.

Learning how to oppose one another’s strategies and playing techniques is an excellent way to piece them together as a partnership.

Do Something Else

There are more things bridge partners can do together.

Have coffee, play chess, see a movie.

It can allow you to get to know your bridge partner as a person. Naturally, this can lead to more natural reactions as players around the table.

Distance doesn’t have to be limiting for any partnership activities. Many board games are available online, and online conferences, concerts, and even wine tastings are gaining a lot of speed.

Partnership Practice

Bridge partners practice – and they practice together.

It’s something that you can’t get around (if you’d like to be any better). A good bridge partnership runs like a well-oiled machine, and practice is all that gets you there.

The good news is that online bridge has made it easier for partners to connect for quick games.

In just a few clicks, arrange a few practice games with your partner every week. Take the time to review the game after: where did you co-ordinate well, and where could you do better?

Then, practice some more.