Where Did Bridge Go?
I have to vent. I read the Letters part of the Contract Bridge Bulletin and got a chuckle out of L. James Phillips rememberance of Bernie Chazen, and I concur with Jim Diebel’s Common Sense approach. But I was saddened by a couple of the other letters. Tom Terwilliger bemoaned the lack of support for a pairs day at tournaments. I’ve been wanting to see a Saturday “nothing but pairs” day for a long time. Tom’s solution seems reasonable. The letter reminded me of a line from Eddie Kantar’s Gamesman Bridge (one of the all time best books for intermediate players, by the way). In Chapter 10 Eddie and his student play in the regional pairs at L.A.’s Bridge Week back in the Ambasador days. “…We found ourselves in competition with 179 other pairs, separated into six sections of fifteen tables each.” Try to find a game like THAT anywhere today. And back then there were no flights. Everyone played against everyone… the way things OUGHT to be!
But then comes Steen Metz’s letter, asking for flighted pairs to avoid having to play against Flight A players. YUCK!!! But Steen is in the majority in the ACBL. It’s so sad. I’ve been lobbying against the separation of A/X and BCD in the Swiss events (Should be ABCD all in one field.) And I really got mad at the mini events at the NABCs (Mini Blue Ribbon, Mini Spingold, Mini LM pairs, etc.). All this sort of thing does is keep mediocre players like me from ever meeting and enjoying being thrashed by the greats of the game like Bobby Wolff etc. But I enter the open anyway. And I end up at the bottom of the field, because my peers are playing in the mini/low flighted events. And that’s the problem. To play with today’s greats of the game requires lesser players to abandon hope of placing in the overalls in any event. (Or, as I have done, to shell out a lot of money to hire one or more pros to even the playing field a bit.)
I’m not sure this is a game worth saving, the way it’s going. Rubber bridge, anyone?
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I am starting to write a series on similar topics. In 1996 Ray and I wrote an editorial about the future of bridge. I am looking back on our ideas then and comparing it to what has since happened. I actually think that there is an argument for segregated events although not quite so many perhaps. Certainly novices should have their own game with perhaps somewhat relaxed rules, more time, fewer boards, and so on. But even intermediates may not be ready to face lots of conventions and irritable highly competitive players. So what is the cut off?
I agree it would be great to have big games with many pairs all playing in one event and it is sad that they have disappeared.
Hey I love bridge. It is worth saving. I think some things have got better in the last 10 years. I like the increase in World Bridge Federation events and I like the two variety WBF ranking scheme. Online bridge is awesome. I love watching online vugraph. There is so many more good things.
Who cares if you are at the bottom of the field in the open. I tried to tell a partner of mine that there can be no winning without losing.
“If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same” … Rudyard Kipling.