Which one is harder to learn to play correctly--Chess or Bridge?

Question

Where would u guys rank HEARTS on the difficulty scale?

Answer 1

So far Bridge seems to be winning the war but I'd like to give Chess a point.  If you've been playing bridge for 2-3 years your about the same level as a chess player who has been playing for 10 years.  So bridge might be harder at first but to be really good it does not take as long as chess.  The basic moves in chess are not too hard but to be able to think several moves ahead takes very long and alot of practice.

Answer 2

According to my bridge partner...:)

Seriously, bridge requires the ability to "read" other people; a thing way more complex than anything else.

I've wondered if my partner will trump  my ace, but never wondered ifmy Bishop will mess up and move like a rook.

Answer 3

Bridge is MUCH harder than chess to learn to play correctly.

Even a complete beginner can pick up how to play chess within half an hour of first learning the rules. Of course, it takes years of experience to play chess really well. But anyone can start enjoying the game very quickly.

Bridge is different. To learn to play correctly, you have to learn a bidding system (e.g. Standard American, or Acol). To the beginner these systems are mind-bogglingly complicated. It is like learning a foreign language. Often people pay for many hours of lessons, simply before they can start to play the game.

What makes it even more complicated is that the preferred bidding system varies from country to country!

So if you are looking for a sophisticated game that is also easy to learn, I would strongly recommend that you start with chess.

ANSWER TO LAST QUESTION

Hearts is the easiest of these games. It's usually more of a social game than an intellectual one, though there is some strategy to it.

Answer 4

Bridge is far more difficult to learn properly.

Bridge involves bidding and "conventions"... "conventions" are basically a set of bids that partners use that mean specific things in specific instances ... So even the same bridge deals can be played and bid on differently by different sets of partners.

Chess can be programmed in such a way as to be able to beat at least 95% of the people in the world who play chess.   No one's written a bridge program that even remotely simulates bidding and play by championship - level players for all possible hands.  

It's also all but impossible to learn to play bridge by yourself... you can learn all about bidding and scoring and basic play, but bridge is a team game, whereas chess is an individual game in every way.

To learn how to play bridge properly, you need a partner (and one or two opponents).

Hearts is nothing compared to Bridge and Chess, in terms of complexity.   And "Spades" is nowhere near Bridge in terms of being a game of skill, although a lot of people think it is simply because it involves "bidding".

_______________________________

Jerry, it takes much longer than 2 or 3 years to become a world class bridge player.

You can be "decent" at both games by playing them constantly for 2-3 years, but it always takes a certain number of study hours to become world class at anything.

Again, since it's fairly easy to write a world class chess program, while at the same time, there really ISN'T a world class bridge program (or anything close to it), that suggests that bridge is a more complicated, and therefore, more difficult game to learn properly.

Playing bridge at a high level also requires planning ahead, just as chess does.