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Ways To Practice Bridge For Speed

Speed bridge is an underrated skill, which I believe more time can be devoted to (with at least a bit of irony).

We all know about the game of speed chess. There are world records for how fast people can eat a certain amount of marshmallows. Scrabble can easily be played for speed.

How often do you focus only on your speed-game?

Any skill level of player can choose any appropriate form of bridge they prefer.

If you’re ready, let’s move on.

Here are ways to practice bridge for speed.

Just Declare, But Faster

I love the game of Just Declare, and I mention its existence often (and probably almost everywhere). Its simplicity just hits a certain gaming-satisfaction soft spot that I’ve only found with games like Tetris or Snake, my other secret additions.

It’s an excellent way to practice the skill of faster tricks. Eventually, it becomes faster general thinking in the heat of a match.

Play it with a timer, and see how well you do.

The Stopwatch

Clocks for keeping time at chess work wonderfully well for speed bridge, too. Failing that you happen to have one in the house, a smartphone’s stopwatch will do fine.

It’s usually hiding somewhere under your phone’s general Clock settings, just in case you can’t find it at first sight.

Play bridge with a stopwatch.

Have your partner do the same.

It might also be a great way to check a possible delay between your internet connections!

Use A Metronome

A metronome is a simple instrument. There are online equivalents for it, and it can also be found in app form with a simple search.

It can be used for a lot more than just piano practice. Start using it for bridge. The rhythmic tick-tock of a metronome is enough to focus a tired mind solely on two things: Metronomes and bridge.

While it might be too distracting for many, I have instead found it to be both soothing and useful.

It might have something to do with my premature birth (and the inherent comfort of a beeping heart monitor).

Then again, it might also just help you think up faster tricks.

Bid At Speed

Just Declare is an excellent way to build your trick-playing speed.

What’s the other phase of bridge that you could need to work on? Well, there’s bidding. Don’t forget bidding.

If you don’t want a speed gap appearing in your bidding, use games like Bridge Master (like Just Declare, but focused on bids) together with a stopwatch for faster playing.

Choose Fast-Paced Music

If you are part of the population sector that finds metronomes too irritating to deal with, try using music instead.

It’s another way to keep your mind focused on the game, but also concentrating on speed depending on which appropriate music you choose.

Upbeat is great for learning to play faster. What exactly you consider upbeat and pleasant music is up to you! Metal for some, but classical and country for others.

Apply Your Keyboard

While this seems like an unusual tip, using your keyboard instead of your mouse to bid and play saves you a lot more time than you might know.

It takes energy to move over to the mouse, look around once or twice more than you need to, and then move the cursor to click – and then finally, click.

Resting your fingers on the keys is a lot easier, and technically less effort. Use the extra energy for your bridge plays! Almost guaranteed, you’ll be playing just that little bit faster.