[jillybean]

That may be true at your level but is it all good practice? I have heard others say it can be bad for your bridge. Playing in Indy’s for example I can believe that I am doing great, bidding correctly and playing well when in fact it is the frightful opposition giving away hands. It is tempting for us beginners to look just at the results and believe we are doing fine.

Redbird, I disucss hands and try new bidding methods with my favorite partners. Maybe we could discuss my 1nt openings when you’ve finished in the regional good luck.

[Rossoneri]

jchiu, on Apr 27 2007, 04:32 AM, said:

There is no such thing as "too old". David Treadwell, who recently had his 94th birthday, won the Flight A knockout at the recent Wilmington [Delaware] Regional, playing on a team that also included 17-year old high school student Ethan Kotkin.

As for live club games versus online, I find that while it is easier to concentrate at a brick-and-mortar club, the quality of partners and competition I can find online is much better. It also helps those difficult sessions at tournaments. I have played two regionals and the American spring nationals this year, and have outdone my previous results in similar tournaments by a large margin. I attribute this to playing many tough games online.

Damn! And I thought partnering an 80 year old at a tournament last year (when I was 18) was one of the biggest age gaps already!

[Chamaco]

The "escape" from face to face play vs the growth in internet games started earlier in chess than bridge

The first effect on the chess clubs was devastating: chess clubs became close to deserted

Every chess player was angry at the internet gaming sites, that were blamed as major responsibles for this phenomenon.

After some years though, a strange phenomenon occurred: unknown players started to attend to major tournaments, players that were coming from no well known chess clubs. And they were successful, too ! They had started from the internet and by playing vs computer programs.


Then I tried to analyze this process, and my personal belief is the following:
for a newcomer, either in chess or bridge, the club is not a friendly environment.

Sure, he/she will always find some patzer that wants to play with him/her (although 90% of the times this patzer will criticize most of the plays or bids rather than being friendly and accept the natural mistakes for a beginner)

But HARDLY, VERY HARDLY, a beginner will have the opportunity to play with a real expert, or even an intermediate

Instead, via internet, they can.

So, rather than complain, many intermediate/advanced and experts should start an OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS about their attitude towards weak players, because IMO, quite often THAT is the REAL reason why players are leaving f2f clubs to play online

[goobers]

Sorry, wrong wording. It doesn't have a negative effect on my game, I just meant that I don't focus very much because there are just so many other things going on around me. The lack of concentration made me feel as if playing online isn't improving my game, but that's untrue. It's just not improving my game as much as if I were playing f2f.

But I'm not complaining

[helene_t]

Chamaco, on May 22 2007, 05:25 PM, said:

The "escape" from face to face play vs the growth in internet games started earlier in chess than bridge. The first effect on the chess clubs was devastating: chess clubds became close close to deserted
[....]
After some years though, a strange phenomenon occurred: unknown players started to attend to major tournaments, plyers that were coming from no well known chess clubs. And they were sucessful, too ! Tgey hand started from the intenet and by playing vs computer programs.[.......]

for a newcomer, either in chess or bridge, the club is not a friendly environment. Sure, he/she will always find some patzer that wants to play with him/her (although 90% of the times this patzer will criticze mot of the play or bids rathe than being friendly and accept the natural mistakes for a beginner)
[.....]
So, rather than complain, many intermediate and experts should start an OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS about their attitude towards weak players, because IMO, quite often THAT is the REAL reason why players are leaving f2f clubs to play online

Very interesting, Mauro. Your comment makes a lot of sense.

[Gerben42]

We're seeing it happen in bridge too now. Andrzej Jaszczak (11jaszczak on BBO) was unknown to the tournament scene (so my insiders tell me) when he suddenly turned up and started to beat up the experts

[Al_U_Card]

Time being the valuable commodity that it is, finding the time to go to a game, play and then stick around for the results and have a beer to discuss hands......

Online play has filled a tremendous niche for keeping one's hand in, getting some play, filling a loose hour or so etc. I look forward to more "online" serious bridge but that may be some time away.

I agree with Chamaco's points 100% I was very lucky to find a f2f mentor that put up with my learning curve back in the 80's as I made the transition from kitchen bridge to duplicate.

Here on BBO, more exp-beg games should be encouraged (even if just 3 or 4 brds) so that there is an opportunity to provide some payback for what we get out of the game