September 2022 - 7

IN Box
Online vs. live debate
continues
After 50 years of active participation
in the ACBL, I'd like face-to-face
bridge to thrive, but I'm afraid that
ship has sailed and that online bridge
will continue to grow, while F2F
bridge at the club level will suffer.
Our Cleveland unit has run a
round-robin team event (the Vichill
League) for about 40 years, but with
the advent of online bridge and the
pandemic, we recently moved our
league online. We now conduct three
online round-robin team events per
year, each running one night a week
for nine sessions. The cost is $5 per
player per session. Teams are divided
into brackets of nine or 10 teams and
play a complete round robin within
each bracket, with match results
converted to victory points. Entries
are no longer limited geographically.
In our recently-completed spring
competition, we had 59 teams of four
to six players each, divided into six
brackets. Our roughly 300 players
came from 25 states, D.C. and two Canadian
provinces. The highest bracket
had teams that averaged more than
20,000 masterpoints per player, and
the lowest bracket averaged about 50
masterpoints per player. Competition
in every bracket was intense: No
team in any of the six brackets went
undefeated!
Our online league makes it possible
to form teams with friends and
relatives located in other places. One
team in our league featured a husband
and wife pair playing with their
two sons who live in different states.
My own team of six players included
players from five different states.
Matches are run on BBO using the
BigTeams software system pioneered
by Jay Whipple and others. Within
each bracket, all matches are played simultaneously
using duplicated hands.
After the matches, players can see how
everyone else in their bracket played
each of the hands. Our events award
ACBL (non-pigmented) masterpoints
to the top four bracket finishers and
for individual match victories.
Our online team league delivers
a bridge experience that cannot be
duplicated by F2F bridge. No F2F format
could create a team competition
that extends over a roughly threemonth
period, between teams of approximately
equal strength, involving
players who might live thousands of
miles apart.
Anything that creates excitement
around the game of bridge at multiple
levels of competition deserves to be
encouraged by bridge organizations.
By all means, let's try to help our
clubs survive. But let's not lose sight
of the advantages and increases in
player engagement that online bridge
can bring.
STAN DUB
Shaker Heights OH
Regarding the F2F vs. online discussion,
I have an incurable, untreatable
muscular dystrophy (inclusion body
myositis). While I cannot hold the
cards, I can point and click a mouse.
Last year, a former partner, Flo Belford,
wrote and invited me for an online
game. She was pleased when we
placed, earning a fractional masterpoint.
Pleasure turned to disappointment
as she would not receive her
points because my ACBL membership
lapsed 30 years ago. Consequently, I
signed up again, wishing to have more
games with her, and we have been
playing regularly since. I'm delighted
because it's something fun I can do.
Thank you, ACBL, for bringing
some joy into my life.
LARRY GIFFORD
Ajax ON
I am writing to offer a different
perspective on the current debate
about F2F bridge and the impact that
online bridge is having on our bridge
community.
There are many factors that make
players choose online bridge, not the
least of which are health concerns
which sadly dictate how so many of
us live our lives. For example, I have
spent the better part of the last 18
months battling breast cancer, with
many complications. I am severely
immuno-compromised. Do I wish
that I could go out and play face-toface
and see my bridge friends? A
resounding yes! However, to do so
risks all the progress I have made.
I simply cannot take that risk, nor
will my medical team allow me to
play F2F without guarantees that I
will not be exposed to anything that
might hinder my progress as I fight to
survive my cancer.
I also think of many older players
who are in a variety of compromised
health situations. Surely there are
great benefits to them being able to
play the game we love? For example,
players who can no longer drive and
are dependent on friends to take
them to games can easily continue to
enjoy bridge by playing online while
maintaining their independence.
Games online are usually two hours
without the stress of driving, dressing
up, going out and so on. It is not
just a convenience, but a truly viable
way for them to enjoy this marvelous
game. They can do so without any
loss of dignity.
Online bridge also offers a very
workable solution to those who must
drive extensive distances to attend a
F2F game. We do not all live in large
urban centers with multiple choices
of bridge clubs. Driving is not an issue
for the younger crowd, but for those
of us who are older, driving can be
difficult, especially at night or during
inclement weather. Playing online
is far less stressful and considerably
safer for many of us and acknowledges
the reality that a large portion
of North America does suffer the
September 2022 | Bridge Bulletin |
7
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September 2022

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