Bridge declarer

Introduction

At its core, bridge is a game of skill played with randomly dealt cards, which makes each deal a game of chance. This is conducive to play as a "friendly game" among four players.

Despite this, the chance can be eliminated by comparing pairs' results in identical situations. This is achievable when there are eight or more players and the deals from each table are preserved and passed to the next table, thereby duplicating them for another 4 participants to play. At the end of a competition, the scores for each deal are compared against each other, and most points are awarded to the players doing the best with each particular deal. This measures skill despite the initial chance of the deal.

This form of the game is referred to as duplicate bridge and is played in tournaments, which can gather as many as several hundred players. Duplicate bridge is a mind sport, and its popularity gradually became comparable to that of chess.

Bridge on the Internet

There are several free and some subscription-based servers available for playing bridge on the Internet. OKBridge1 is the oldest of the still-running Internet Bridge services; players of all standards, from beginners to world champions may be found playing there. SWAN Games2 is a more recent competitor. Bridge Base Online3 is mostly free, and now has a much larger membership base than either of the above. Some National Contract Bridge Organizations now offer online bridge play to their members including the English Bridge Union, the Dutch Bridge Union and the Australian Bridge Federation. MSN and Yahoo! Games have several online Rubber Bridge rooms.

There are many advantages to playing Bridge online:

  • The ability to choose when you play.
  • The ability to choose your opponents. In a club game, you may be forced to play against pairs that are much weaker, rude, or much stronger. Playing online, you can play against opponents of nearly equal ability.
  • Most servers offer an accurate player rating system. The ACBL and EBU masterpoints systems give credit for how much one has played rather than how well; most online systems have a rating system which attempts to measure one's ability without regard to the number of games played.
  • There are fewer restrictions on which conventions one is allowed to use.
  • You can not make inferences from partner's tone of voice or other cues available in real life. However, intentional cheating, such as instant messaging your partner, is easier.
  • A detailed record of every hand may be kept, to help resolve complaints.
  • It is impossible to make an illegal play by accident, as the software won't accept a play or call which does not conform to the rules.

The main disadvantage to playing online is that bridge is a social game, and many people play because they enjoy the social atmosphere of the bridge club.

Links

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

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