I’m of the opinion that printed out “cheat sheets” are great for learning anything to the point where they become second nature – especially if you put them in an obvious place where you’ll frequently see them, or if you refer back to them whenever something slips your mind.
A lot of people hate the use of cheat sheets. But they helped me pick up guitar chords and scales, and I’ve found them just as useful for learning anything else. (Of course, the whole point of cheat sheets is to learn it by heart and – eventually – discard the cheat sheet, or it defeats the entire point of trying to learn anything new…)
Whether you’d just like to run through a few things yourself or whether you’re introducing a new or inexperienced player as a bridge teacher, tutor or friend, here are some handy cheat sheets covering conventions, terms and more.
Bridge for Dummies Cheat Sheet
Bridge for Dummies is a must-read for beginners by Eddie Kantar, and one of the very first bridge books I remember picking up. Accompanying the books, there’s usually a cheat sheet for essential information on the website, and here’s their sheet for bridge. Other cheat sheets are also available covering everything else from poker to piano for a quick on-hand reference.
The Stayman Convention Cheat Sheet
The Stayman Convention is like the chromatic scale of bridge: Endlessly useful, and one of the first things that new players should learn. From the website Improve Bridge, you can download this handy and printable Stayman Convention cheat sheet. Once you’re done there, you’ll find a few more on the Improve Bridge website to keep you busy.
Bridge for Beginners
Even though the David March website hasn’t been updated in a while, there are some very useful resources available if you have a moment to browse. This sheet has responses, suit transfers and major suit Stayman covered all on the same sheet.
Sven’s Rubber Bridge Scoring Table
My Bridge Tools is run by Sven, who has come up with a bunch of bridge resources, software and cheat sheets and put them all on his website for easy download. (Note: Thanks!) You can find a downloadable and printable rubber bridge scoring table at the above link, or some other resources including a printable score sheet and bidding pad.
Bridge Club’s Cheat Sheet (Based on American Standard)
(Source: Williams Bridge Club)
Here’s a handy bidding cheat sheet from Williams Bridge Club that’s used for helping new players pick up American Standard.
Convention Cards
You can find downloadable and printable convention cards on the ACBL’s website at the above link, perfect for every game.