Twenty questions is a popular guessing game whereby one participant chooses an object or topic, and the opposing person has twenty questions they can use to guess what the object is. It’s popular enough to have been turned into a physical toy that resembles a Magic 8-Ball with an electronic brain – and you can play an online version of 20Q game for free. (Link: 20Q.net) 

What stops the childlike game of twenty questions from being useful in bridge? 

It can help you to guess an object, but it can also help you to guess what the cards in play are going to mean.

If you were engaged in battle and the cards represented physical living, dying soldiers instead of suits, would you play them differently? 

This is a question proposed to me during a backgammon game against my wife, and it’s one that’s stuck with me for several games since. What this sentence or question means to me is to stop and think twice about the move you were about to make – and to consider the implications before placing a piece or playing a card. 

What were you thinking? 

Asking “What were you thinking?” isn’t just a way to point out an ill-advised move by yourself or your bridge partner with some slight sarcasm after the game. Instead, it should be an honest question that’s asked every time a card is put down.

Ask what your goal was with the move you just made, or what your partner/opponent were thinking when they made it. It can help tell you what they’ll be thinking next.

Is this regrettable later? 

Foresight can be one of the most useful skills to develop. Some cards can be appropriately played with the intent of winning later tricks, while other cards should never have left your hand as early as they were played – and this move can bite later.

Don’t just think about what this card means for this trick right now. Think about what this card could mean in two or more moves.

What’s the next powerful card?  

Once someone has played the most powerful card in their partnership’s hand, surely there’s a next most powerful card that hasn’t been played yet. Between the dummy, declarer and remaining players, who is holding it? 

You’ll generally know if it’s you, and the dummy plays open cards – pardon the pun – so assuming you aren’t playing an infinite number of decks, it’s possible to figure this out.

How do I turn this around? 

Lost tricks are part of the game. Win some, lose some, and sometimes you have to give up one trick to win another in much the same way that you’d give up a pawn to save a chess piece that still has a few moves left to complete.

If you’ve lost a trick, ask yourself how it can be turned around if it wasn’t a deliberate one.