wachusett

Being a firm believer in the KISS system, why not bid 3 Clubs immediately over the 2 Club opener? Normally that would show at least 8 HCP and a good Club suit. But 'cmon, that eight card suit surely makes up for the deficit of 1 HCP from a proper positive response.

Among all of the stakeholders within our game of bridge it would seem that ACBL is the one entity most in need of finding a “new normal.” We might talk of bidding screens, social distancing at tables and at clubs, and all the rest of the physical aspects involved in duplicate, but it’s going to be the psychological aspect of the game that is going to weigh heaviest. How many players actually are willing to return to anything resembling bridge clubs as we knew them at the close of 2019? And even if they are, how long will it be before that happens? I am a club manager from Massachusetts who is in no hurry to resume operations of a F2F club. Admittedly, I have the advantage of my club being “half hobby – half business,” since I look for only enough income to repay my investments in Bridgemates, dealing machine, bidding boxes, and boards, with maybe only a slight return for my time spent. But I am well aware that it is not possible to expand my limited club space or to find new space. For that reason I could not promise my players an increased factor of safety at my club until the happy day when Covid-19 is certified as being removed from the face of the Earth. Even then – what’s next based on the lessons we have currently learned? So all of this has me wondering if Virtual Clubs will and should stay in place as the mainstay of duplicate bridge, with perhaps a resurgence of home games in order to satisfy the need for the social aspects of the game? Certainly from the perspective of a club manager, the idea of what is essentially a “zero cost” club is appealing. And BBO’s profit has no doubt skyrocketed during the last couple of months as Virtual Clubs send 20 percent of their card fees in that direction. But ACBL is currently receiving only its normal $1 per table from regular Virtual Club games. What’s more, there currently is no way for clubs to run charity games or participate in STaC’s. Perhaps that will change. But even beyond that is the question of sectional and regional tournaments. Even as a formerly-eager participant in both, I do not see myself returning to either during 2020 and, at least in my area, tournaments are already being cancelled all the way out to August in some cases. For ACBL to maintain its relevance, it must decide soon whether to support online play forever, or try to force play back into physical space at some specific point in time. Secondly, it must work with BBO in order to offer the entire hierarchy of games; charity, sectional, and regional. But before any of that happens, BBO must be encouraged to come up with foolproof algorithms to prevent any unethical behavior which is almost impossible for online Directors to supervise. I, myself, have been reluctant to play in national and international online events when I see exceedingly high percentage games, or when I see players whom I know to be both expert AND ethical (many of whose names sit on my bookshelf), consistently finishing well down in standings.