Principle of fast arrival

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This article concerns contract bridge and uses terminology associated with the game. See Contract bridge glossary for an explanation of unfamiliar words or phrases.

In the game of bridge the Principle of fast arrival is a widely adopted principle in bidding:

In game forcing auctions: Bidding game directly shows a minimum hand for your previous bidding, and is limiting. Making a forcing bid, such as a change of suit below game level, shows extra strength or potential beyond the minimum.

The main advantage of this approach is that on strong hands it creates extra bidding space to explore for slam or choose the right game contract, whilst on weaker (or limited) hands it has a pre-emptive effect on the opposition and minimizes the information they might otherwise obtain.