Returning from the 2ND EUROPEAN WINTER TRANSNATIONAL BRIDGE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2025 in Prague, I’m struck by how big a role navigating through doubt and uncertainty played for me during this tournament.
On the second day of the match, a pair that had won many championships, came and sat opposite me and my coach-partner, Morten. Although they were perfectly friendly and approachable, I couldn’t help but still feel intimidated, and started to feel self-doubt creep in. Were my reads and responses accurate enough? My confidence faltered, and with it, my ability to think clearly. The word ‘intimidated’ has ‘timid’ embedded within it, and that’s exactly how I felt. That clouded my judgement the entire day, costing us advancement in the A-ladder.
I absolutely did not have a winning mindset that day.
My bridge coach for the past four years is Morten of Denmark. His claim to fame is his son —ranked amongst the top 10 bridge players in the world— who he trained, coached and partnered with. Morten predominantly coaches school-going children in Denmark, and I am by far his oldest student.
Unlike my previous coach, Morten is a true mentor who emphasizes the mental game. He advocates skill is only part of the equation; the ability to manage doubt and stay focused amidst uncertainty is what it takes to be a winner.
The enormous number of possible card combinations in bridge is ripe for uncertainty. You can never be completely sure what your opponents hold or what the best play is. This inherent doubt forces you to rely on logic, psychology, and intuition – and to be prepared to adapt when things don’t go as planned. Further uncertainties get tossed at you when the opposition throws curve balls, because they are more skilled or unafraid, or just tricky.
The seven-minute feedback loop — the time allocated to play one hand — while incredibly fast, is valuable for learning to manage doubt. Results of your decisions are known in seven minutes, giving you an opportunity to learn what decisions were clouded by uncertainty, and how to approach similar situations differently in almost real-time. This is in contrast to real-life or in business situations where the cause and effect might be separated by months or even years.
Bridge players analyze each hand with their teammates to absorb the lessons from the seven-minute feedback loop. Lunch break and dinners are usually the time when analysis takes place.
Analyzing hands is usually not about improving technical skills; it’s about confronting our doubts and uncertainties. It’s about the mental game. Sharing our thought processes, both the successful ones and the ones that led to mistakes, helps us all learn to manage the mental game more effectively.
When my teammate joked that the reason I couldn’t visualize squeezes was because I was ‘too old,’ it momentarily triggered a familiar wave of self-doubt. Was I losing my edge? Could I still compete at this level? But then I remembered Morten’s lessons about the importance of mental resilience…
In both bridge and business, doubt and uncertainty are our biggest opportunities to grow. It’s through facing mental challenges that we learn from our mistakes. With logic, and little light humor, we can truly progress.
It’s not easy. But it is what it takes to win. In bridge, in business, and in life.
5 responses
In this context, there are two different ways of viewing the world we live in.
The Win-Lose Model: You can view the world as full of competitors and adversaries who are there to challenge you and intimidate you, and thereby threaten your success and happiness. Under this model, every competition becomes a zero sum game. If the other side wins, you lose. And vice-versa. Ultimately, life itself becomes a (zero sum) game of mental toughness.
The Win-Win Model: You can view the world as full of people who are on their respective journeys through life. Each of them is pursuing their goals as they see fit. We do the best we can in a given situation (including in a bridge competition) and not worry too much about the result (as Bhagavad Gita would say). Though we appear to compete with others, in our minds we always compete with our former selves. Thus, as we play, we continually improve ourselves through practice, as well as by learning from others.
Most people are trained to embrace the win-lose model. But consider the advantages of the other model. In that model, you never feel intimidated, no matter who your opponents are. You always stay calm and play your best. You enjoy every game and keep getting better. You celebrate your wins with humility while (sincerely) congratulating your opponents when they win. Because, regardless of who wins the trophy, in your mind, you are always a winner.
Vijay you are taking it to the next level “in our minds we always compete with our former selves”. That is the key.
I AM NOT A B RIDGE PLAYER, HAVE NOT PLAYEDE THE GAME AND HENCE WILL NOT WANT TO COMMENT! I PLAY RUMMY, POKER AND FLASH!
I can identify so strongly with your experience on this day in Prague; it describes to a tee how I felt playing across the table from “teaching professionals” for many years. Bravo to you for studying with Morten and continuing the journey, and thank you for sharing the words of encouragement.
Thank you, Stacy.