If you have aspirations to be a bridge champion one day, I’ve noticed a couple of things that could help you on your journey to get there.

Champions don’t just play well to get there, and being an expert bridge player isn’t quite enough to call yourself a true champion.

From Zia Mahmood to Sabine Auken, there are clear characteristics that define the champion player.

But there are also clear characteristics that don’t scream “bridge champion”, and that you’ll never see in the top player’s ranks.

Here are 3 things that you’ll never see a bridge champion do.

1. Cheating

Let’s get the biggest and most obvious matter out of the way first. Champions are players who have paved their way through the ranks by playing their way up – the honest way.

Cheating champions aren’t champions at all, some would say, and I’ve come to agree.

What defines some of the greatest players in any mindsport?

They earned their top spot with honest playing.

(Don’t. Cheat. At. Anything.)

2. Insulting

Insults don’t belong at the tabletop, and no bridge player ever improved their playing by making everyone else at the table their direct enemy.

Have you ever seen a bridge great flip another player the bird? That’s a euphemism, and you can guess which finger is extended into the air for this international insult…

For the most part, no.

Champions might very well be thinking their insults, but they surely don’t express them out loud at the table.

If you have trouble sticking to this yourself, just imagine if the great Zia would dare say it in his fancy accent. No? Then you shouldn’t say it, either.

3. Intimidating

Intimidation isn’t a tabletop strategy, but a potentially alarming personality trait that you would never see from a top bridge player during their game.

If I’m going to play a fair game against someone, I want my nervous fear to be based on their competitive edge (and not upon what they might do to me after the game).

Have you run into intimidation tactics from a bridge opponent or partner before?

It’s not fun to encounter, and it certainly doesn’t class them as a champion by any means.

Which characteristics would you say brings someone a few inches closer to being a true champion bridge player?