The best Bridge players have the greatest regard for the rules; but the strong player recognises a situation for which a rule is not provided, and he allows his reason to dictate to him the times to follow and the times to violate them.
MANNERISMS
There is nobody who cares to be told that he plays cards unfairly; but, if you permit your manner to give your partner or the opponents the slightest intimation of the cards you hold, you lay yourself open to such criticism. Cards do not carry with them a license to be unfair or rude, yet, at the Bridge table, many socially correct people are both.
Try always to pause the same length of time before making the trump or passing. Do not allow your manner to express approval or disapproval of your partner's make or of the cards he plays, and select each of your own cards with equal deliberation. When you hold good cards be content to win tricks with them, without manifesting glee at your adversaries' defeat. When your cards are poor, do not complain of them; you imply that the opponents profit by your weak hands and not by their own skill, and, as a rule, the more you rail at your luck the worse it becomes. Be generous with your praise of a well-played hand, and be sure your partner will play a better game if he does not fear your adverse criticism. Do not permit yourself to take advantage of, or be deceived by, any mannerisms of your partner or of the opponents, and let your own manner be uniformly such that nobody can tell from it whether you are winning or losing.
MEMORY
It is not necessary to have a fine memory in order to play Bridge well; but it does require the ability to count thirteen. If you know how many cards of a suit have been played, you soon will be able to tell what cards have been played.
Begin with one suit, preferably your own, and count each card of that suit as it is played; you will be surprised to find that you will soon notice not only where the cards of that suit are, but just what cards have been played. A little practice will enable you to do the same with all of the suits.
No matter what may be your position at the table, you may cultivate your memory by observing carefully the cards laid down by the dummy. The number of cards remaining in a suit at any stage of the play will assist you in recalling how many rounds of that suit have been played, and this will help you in recollecting what high cards were played in those rounds.
When you are dummy, and have nothing to do with the play, occupy your time and attention with a determined effort to remember each card played by your partner, the dealer. At the end of the hand see if you can recall how many of each suit he held. With a little practice you will be able to recall what his high cards were as well as the number in each suit. Memory is simply a matter of observation and practice.
INFERENCES