HOW TO DRAW INFERENCES
Bridge is in this respect a much easier game than Whist. In Bridge the declaration and the exposed dummy hand, both absent in Whist, lend enormous assistance in locating the cards.
The beginner invariably becomes interested in his own cards, or those of the dummy, and plays without paying any particular attention to the card that is led or to the one that wins the first trick; in other words he knows nothing about the location of the cards in that particular suit, and his disregard of the fall of the cards continues throughout the entire hand.
A notice which nothing escapes, the ability to count cards, and absolute confidence in your partner’s play, is the sine qua non of correct inferences.
Notice particularly the card that your partner leads; if it be a high card, understand what it indicates; and, if it be a low card, ascertain whether it is led from a long or a short suit.
Watch the cards as they fall, the adversaries’ as well as your partner’s, with unceasing attention, and make a mental interpretation of each play, with due allowance for the dealer’s false cards.
Don’t jump at a conclusion which masses the remaining cards of a suit, but count each suit accurately, with a certainty of the particular cards that must be held by the dealer and your partner.
Much of the intellectual enjoyment of Bridge is derived from playing your hand in conjunction with your partner’s. Credit your partner with playing for the common interest of the hands and place absolute confidence in the information he gives you. A trust in your partner’s Bridge ability will overcome many an obstacle in the way of drawing inferences.