BRIDGE v. CHESS : SO WHICH IS THE MORE CHALLENGING GAME ?........ ( Article by Dr. Sigmund T. Schukelgruber )

Many people would say chess offers the greatest challenge in a world of so many excellent mind sports. Certainly, it is a purer game than bridge in that it that the loser only has himself to blame. Defeat has nothing to do with luck, or any other outside random factor : defeat is the direct result of being out-thought and out-manoeuvred by a more skillful opponent.
However, there is no disputing the fact that bridge players face far greater challenges, having  so many more obstacles to overcome before victory can be assured. By having these additional challenges the game becomes a more demanding mind sport, which is turn makes it the hardest and best game in the world. Indeed, the obstacles listed below require bridge players to possess far more than superb technical card skills, if they are to succeed at the highest level.....
1. Developing a perfect partnership understanding where it is essential that both players are  thinking and on operating on the same wavelength 
2. As declarer having to overcome the combined brainpower of two opponents ( not just one )
3. Utilising an ever growing body of past information and inferences about the bidding, and play of the cards, to re-evaluate your very next move
4. Being a victim of undetectable cheating,  both of the soft and hard variety
5. Being a victim of the random injustice when a TD's discretionary rulings going against you
6. Playing like a true champion but getting  poor results simply because of the insanity of what is happening elsewhere in the room
7. Being undone by players who are far inferior, as for instance when they secure an undeserved top by their gross under-bidding
8. Never being able to build or capitalise on an early success,  in that the opponents are always back in the hunt with everything to play for on the very next board
9. Having to cope with a greater level of background noise and distractions
10. Having to overcome and deal with partner's mistakes along with your own
So, in my opinion, any one who wins at bridge, playing fairly and honestly, have done so by not only being good technically adept players,  but as heroes who have overcome all other challenges. Bridge, unlike chess, is a like huge battlefield, where there are so many things that can  (and will ) go wrong,  and where there are so many  factors and/or circumstances  beyond one's control. In chess a player can see everything that is going on right there infront of his eyes..... all the remaining pieces.....  and where each could possibly  be moved. In contrast, a bridge player needs to working out how results might unfold elsewhere in the room, and  always having to make decisions when never quite certain of what is still  lurking in an opponent's armory, or what their next play will be. Indeed, it is the expectation of the unexpected that makes bridge the best and most challenging game in the world today.