One of the early questions that I had as a starting bridge player was this, “How do I know that I’m getting any better at this?”
As a guitarist, the question was an easier one to answer. I would record snippets of practice, usually with the use of a phone, and then either pass these around or listen to them myself with criticism and a second try after.
With bridge, I’ve taken much of the same approach – and often go through previous hands just like I’d scan through guitar riffs. Where did I do right – and where could I have done better?
Here are 6 ways to measure your own bridge progress.
#1: Assess Your Score
Keeping score isn’t just to see which side comes out victorious on the other side of a bridge or chess game; scores are also there so we can find out why.
Assess your bridge scores regularly, whether playing bots or humans.
Scores might be higher at certain times of day when you feel more “at your game”, or lower during times where you’re dealing with stress. Either way, seeing your bridge game scores at a glance (or even as a spreadsheet) can help you to tell what’s been affecting your scores.
#2: View Your Hands
BBO allows all players to view their hand records through their profiles. Viewing your hands is the equivalent of playing back guitar riffs to see how well it went – and it can be extremely useful to any bridge player in retrospect.
When going through hands a second time, you might very well spot other avenues that could have performed better – and you can use these patterns should you ever encounter these situations (or these cards) again in future.
#3: Time for Trivia
There’s more to playing bridge than just physically playing bridge – and when trying to measure whether your mind has been paying enough attention throughout bridge resources you’ve been reading through, trivia is great.
Bridge trivia and quizzes can be about anything from bridge terms to bridge players, and I’ve noticed that it helps for staying on-point.
If you show up with low scores, it’s a good excuse to do some more reading.
#4: Bid Bidding Puzzles
Bidding puzzles are wonderfully enlightening, with a seemingly unending supply of them available on the internet. This is great for anyone who wants to improve at bridge (or know how well they’ve been doing) – and with just a few regular puzzles added to your routine, you’ll notice the improvement in a few weeks.
If you keep getting bidding puzzles wrong instead, take some time to find out why. Go back to previous bridge resources that apply to the thinking behind these puzzles, too.
#5: More Just Declare
Just Declare is a quick, great little form of bridge at BBO that allows you to play in a permanent declarer’s seat without the need for bidding. While a great deal of resources are dedicated to better bids, let’s not forget about the play.
Just Declare is instant, fast – and you can compare your scores.
#6: Bot Challenges
GIB is a great opponent for practice and measuring progress, especially because he doesn’t talk, argue or care much. This means that you can bombard him with a 1, 000 hands if you have the patience and the time to play them – and he doesn’t give as much of a damn as a human partner if you’re terrible at it.