After the National Bridge Championships

As the last event of the Summer National Bridge Championships concludes today, we are sharing a few thoughts as well as some news from the world of BridgeFromHome.

While reference to the Championships is inevitable, this should not be construed as a commentary on the event. Organizing an event on that scale requires a great deal of effort, planning and coordination and we can just thank the organizers for bringing the event to a successful conclusion in a smooth and timely manner.

Observations on the Nationals

As mentioned above, all events were conducted in a smooth and timely manner. The efforts of the organizers have to be lauded. The particular attention paid to press coverage was also heartening even though the columns in the press were small.

For me, personally, the experience as a director was enriching and enlightening. 2 years of online events had reduced the number of possible 'errors' to a minimum (cannot bid out of turn, cannot make an insufficient bid, cannot revoke etc.). These errors, which are inevitable in physical (F2F) bridge, required thought and explanation of rulings to the players. I also have to laud the players for accepting all rulings with minimum fuss and one didn't hear a single raised voice about any ruling.

The matter of concern, for all of us was the level of participation. In a first, the number of Silver teams was less than the number of Gold teams. In discussions with many people we came to some sort of agreement that it was due to a combination of many factors like

• ExpenseAt the very cheapest, the cost of fielding a team for the Nationals, would be of the order of Rs. 50,000. For those who were hitherto used to flying, the skyrocketing of air fares, thanks to the global strife, would have only raised the number higher.
• The impact of CovidThe fear of Covid could well have made people think twice about traveling to an event which would be crowded and in a public place.
• The impact of ageThe bridge playing population is not getting any younger and therefore, the willingness to risk ill health (apart from Covid, you could have issues with outside food for so long etc.), injury etc. would have diminished.

The second matter of concern was the rather cavalier attitude towards the possibility of catching Covid. On day 3 of the event, the organizers were earnestly requesting everybody to wear masks. This was largely to follow a government directive. Failure to follow it could have led to cancellation of the event. Given that the event was at stake, I do feel that all of us could have cooperated with them a bit more. Post facto, the number of Covid positive cases that are coming up would suggest that doing so would have been prudent. Please note that this is just an observation and there is no intention of starting a debate on the issue.

A third point, raised by the organizers, is that we as players fail to acknowledge our dues to the sponsors of the events. This is something that almost all of us are guilty of. Even if we are at the venue, most of us fail to pay attention to the prize distribution ceremony. Most prize winners too have to be cajoled to stay back and allow the sponsor to hand over the prizes and say a few words. Friends, the number of sponsors are few and diminishing. We need to show our gratitude to them by giving them at least a modicum of return on the money they have spent for our pleasure. For the upcoming F2F events, let us try and be more courteous towards them.

Online Bridge

A phenomenon that we are observing nationwide is the inability to successfully reinstate the regular F2F club level events at a level of participation prior to the lock down. The preference to continue with online bridge, for reasons that have been discussed over and over again, is overwhelming.

At BridgeFromHome, we hope to bring you events on a regular basis. We will need continued support from you as players for this. The attempt will always be to avoid clashes with any major official live events. However, clashes with regional events will be inevitable and we request all organizers not to regard this as any attempt to scotch the F2F event. F2F events are, by their very nature, restricted to a locality while online events are available to anybody who is free and unable to travel to an F2F event.

Rescheduling of Masters Independence Day Open

In order to accommodate the Corporate Bridge event being conducted on the 13th of August in Mumbai, the sponsor of the Masters tournament has decided to reschedule the event. Fresh dates will be announced as soon as they are decided.

Having said that, as mentioned earlier, we will do an event to cater to the rest of the nation. Watch our website for more details.

Wednesday Wonders

We hope that this event takes on the shape of a national gathering of all bridge lovers. We need support from you in order to make it a weekly event.