Bridge Etiquette
Bridge is a partnership game and participants are expected to conduct themselves in an honorable fashion at all times. It is interesting to note that the Laws of Contract Bridge and the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge do not address the matter of cheating. It is assumed that, absent evidence to the contrary, contestants are honest and that achievement has been fairly earned.
The proprieties of bridge demand that spoken communication with your partner is limited to the numbers one through seven, the names of the four suits, no-trump, double, and redouble. All other words are strictly forbidden, as are gestures and other means of conveying pleasure or displeasure with your partner's bids or plays.
The laws do, however, address the subject of what is known as proprieties — and there are rules about how bridge players communicate with each other. It is highly inappropriate, for example, to indicate displeasure by gesture, comment, or facial expression with a partner's bid or play. You are free to deceive the opponents through the bids you make or the cards you play, but not in the manner in which you make your bids or plays.
Partnership Skills
Perhaps the most important skill you can cultivate is that of being a good partner. If you are known as a calm, supportive partner, you will be in demand at the bridge table, even if you never become an expert.
No one wants to sit across the table from an enemy. You already have two of them at the table. If your partner is also an antagonist, you are in deep trouble. Your chances of enjoying the most enjoyable of games will dwindle sharply.
You will find as you become more keenly interested in bridge and its many nuances that you will thirst for improvement and knowledge. You must remember, however, that players progress at different paces. You might well learn more rapidly than your partner. Be patient and supportive.
It is important for your development as a player to learn the correct way to play the game. You don't want to be branded as a coffeehouser — a player with dubious ethics. The term comes from the bridge play at European coffeehouses, where conversation was often designed to give information or guide partners in ways that are frowned upon.
