I’ve been recommending bridge to people all over the world for a while now, and one of the first things I tell new players to do often is oppose their bridge partner during a few games.

When a player is still learning the beginnings of the game or has been playing for decades, switching the tables to play your partner as your opponent can teach you a great deal.

Bridge might be a game of partnerships, but switching around can be fun. You might realize many things that can help you again in a partnership game, but only by spending some time as opponents.

Here are 5 reasons to play your partner as your opponent at least every once in a while.

1. Take a step back from their bidding.

It’s fair to guess that most bridge partnerships out there are used to bidding together. You’re speaking the same language, and with a similar accent if not the same.

What happens when they are your opponents, bidding against your contract?

You might see them take a new approach, and pull out bids you haven’t seen before. The next time you’re playing together, remember their moves here and use them.

2. Play tricks against them instead of with them.

A partnership often gets to know one another’s tricks – and sometimes too well over time. Oppose your partner in a game, and you might see them play a few tricks you never would have noticed as their teammate.

Once they’re playing against you, you’ll learn to know their strategy (and what they might do during your next team game) just that little bit better.

You might even try a couple of different tricks yourself.

3. Study how you’d counter one another.

Bridge playing is a bit like a dance at times – although I would swear that some games play in the fashion and pace of a funeral march.

When playing against your partner, your dancing style changes right there. You get to study how you would counter playing, instead of how you would combine it.

The next time you’re playing as a team, you will both feel far more in tune than you did before.

4. Assess your collective bridge knowledge.

It’s fair to imagine that occasionally, you’ll play bridge with other people (and so might your partner). When this happens, it provides a wealth of games to learn from on both sides.

When playing as opponents, both you and your partner have a chance to show the things you’ve learned separately. Then, you’ll know what you can do to combine these techniques and plays during your next team game.

What have you and your partner learned about bridge in the past few weeks or months?

Play against them and find out.

5. Get to know them better.

Turning your friendly-game partner into a fiery-game opponent gives you an opportunity to know them better in general. Isn’t that what most great bridge partnerships are all about?

Their bidding, their play, and their intricacies of both are things you might only notice when they have become your opponent.

In the end, you’ll learn to play better together as a result of what you’ve learned here.