January 2022 - 7

IN Box
Thank you
The Indianapolis Bridge Center's
Board of Directors and its managers
wish to extend their appreciation to
the ACBL's Board of Directors and
management team for their early
and continuing support of local clubs
throughout the pandemic.
By teaming early with Bridge Base
Online to provide online games for
clubs, ACBL helped our club survive
the steep drop in revenues. While
the money was vital for survival, the
club-based online games also helped
with maintaining the identity and
camaraderie of our bridge club.
Moreover, as we have reopened for
in-person play, ACBL's change in policy
to allow for awarding more points
in more special club games have
aided in attracting and rewarding our
returning members.
Obviously, we are not out the woods
yet. But with the inspired leadership
from our national organization, and
our club's membership retention and
recruitment efforts, we are hopeful
that the Indianapolis Bridge Center
will be around for years to come.
On behalf of all the Indianapolis-area
bridge community, our
sincere thanks.
BETH MORTON
Secretary
Indianapolis Bridge Center
Online play:
Opportunities, complaints
The COVID pandemic has caused
many of us to become alienated and
depressed. Thank God for keeping
us mentally challenged by playing
duplicate bridge!
Being an ACBL member, I was able
to play in the virtual clubs on BBO
and take lessons with instructor
Sam Marks of Atlanta via Zoom. The
lessons provided lots of fun and mental
stimulation until recently when
ACBL policy changed, practically
forcing in-person games. Frankly, I
am not comfortable playing in person
yet. The COVID numbers are still
not good. I am fully vaccinated and
have had my booster, as well. However,
when I am outside of my house,
I cringe every time a person coughs.
People I know who are fully vaccinated
are getting sick. I am not willing to
put my or anyone else's health at risk.
I am requesting that whoever
makes decisions for the ACBL to reconsider
and allow me to play in any
available games online.
MARGERY KELLAR
Atlanta GA
The future of bridge is not what it
used to be. COVID forced the ACBL
and its clubs to change from face-toface
(F2F) to online play, but some
clubs and players dropped aside, perhaps
forever. Pre-COVID bridge was
challenged with decline. Now there is
a strategic opportunity, given technology
and culture shift, to further
adapt online play and grow. Returning
back to F2F will lose players, continuing
the downward slope. Some
players will never return, some want
a balance of F2F and online play, and
some prefer online play primarily or
exclusively. Future technology-centric
players may never reach an ACBL
table unless we fully embrace online
bridge. Players have been able to play
where previously they couldn't due
to weather, travel, mobility, etc., and
many have played more often.
Offering just F2F and online sanctioned
games isn't enough to develop
and grow the game. A club, by providing
both game types a la carte, may
sub-optimize potential player numbers.
A key strategy is to offer a third
game type, a hybrid, that combines
F2F and online sections concurrently,
with identical hands, and scored
together. This technology is in use today
by clubs. It can be enhanced and
made more functional and available.
There will be technical issues, of
course, but those can be solved.
The ACBL and clubs need to
make difficult policy decisions to
support this innovation, including
jurisdictional considerations. For
example, an ACBL unit or district
could support a club offering a hybrid
supervised game for new players, allowing
online access across all clubs
and players in their area. This could
integrate with other assisted tables at
feeder clubs unable to support novice
development and attract players lacking
a local opportunity to develop and
play at their comfort level.
Also, STaC games could have
unlimited visitors in hybrid games
within their districts, or sectional
tournament clubs could include hybrid
game players from their jurisdiction.
The ACBL could encompass
F2F with hybrid online for regional
tournaments, again with appropriate
geographical considerations. Various
iterations for utilizing hybrid games
can and should facilitate significant
growth opportunity for our game.
I could partner with a friend in the
winter, who is physically compromised
and lives 30 minutes away
from the nearest club!
Vision and innovation are required
to make this balance of game types
work across all stakeholders. Pushing
and shoving may happen, but at the
end of the day, more people will join
our game. We need this!
RODGER ARCHER
Orillia ON
My weekly virtual online game was
just canceled. I am upset. I am angry.
I am frustrated with the ACBL. I have
been playing online with my sister,
who lives in Atlanta, in the virtual
games since the pandemic hit. Now,
the ACBL has come up with restrictions
that no longer allow us to play
together. How in good conscience can
January 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
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January 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2022
