Would you like to play bridge over the internet?

If yes, what do you have to do?  How much does it cost?  When can I play?  Are there any other ADBC members playing on line?  If so, where?  These are some of the most frequently asked questions by members of the club.  This page will (hopefully) answer most, if not all of those questions by listing some of the better known internet bridge sites, along with details (where known) and listing those members who are already on-line and who would be interested in a game - just email them for details.  If you know of a site that is not listed here - let me know at clive.keep@ntlworld.com

Firstly then, where can you play?

The earliest, best known, and probably still the best is  OK Bridge   with thousands of members all over the world. You will probably find that American systems (e.g. Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC)) are very much to the fore - but the system can be down-loaded and is not too difficult to take on board).  Anyhow, the more of us join, the more 'Acolites' there will be!  There are always many tables in play, no matter what time of day or night and the tables are identified with the required standard of player so you can always find one that's right for you.  You can play duplicate pairs or teams with instant scoring.  There are facilities to exchange convention cards and play quite complicated systems if you want to - there aren't any EBU 'levels' to worry about!  The cost is about £50 per annum, with a free month's trial.  Go on - have a go!

One site recommended by Keith Sadler is Winbridge.  This site is totally free, easy to use and provides comparative duplicate scoring after every hand.  There are players from all over the world, but in the main it is dominated by Scandinavians, Eastern Europeans and Chinese players.  The standard is good, with SAYC as the predominating system.  There are ACOL players - but beware - Dutch ACOL is very different from that used in the UK!   One problem is that all scores are aggregated to form an overall ranking system (like in OK bridge).  This means that many players are very cautious about who they play with - often lurking in the wings until they find someone with a higher rank than themselves!  But it is good fun - 24 hours play, with about 7 or 8 tables most evenings.

A good place to start if you are new to internet bridge is the Yahoo games page.  It is good fun and friendly - choose the 'sociable' game first.  All games are free on Yahoo, and Bridge is no exception.  There are different levels but rubber bridge is all that is played.

Another totally free site is 'The Zone'.   This is part of Microsoft.   The Microsoft gaming zone  is a huge network of games.............. there are 18 different free games including bridge, backgammon, crib etc.  The MSN gaming zone is totally free, worldwide, provides comparative duplicate scoring for every hand played (in four of the available rooms) and is friendly.  There are competitions every day but it is slow because you have to wait for everyone to play all the four hands before you move onto the next set of partners.  Another problem is that most competitions are based around Pacific Standard Time (California) so they start at 11.00pm for the lunchtime meet and go on through the night!  No particular system is used, but SAYC predominates and standard convention cards are provided making it convenient to play different systems - if you like that sort of thing!  There are 23 rooms, but if you are confident enough - go straight to 'Expert Duplicate IMP Stats' where you will get the duplicate comparative scoring.

The EBU On-line Bridge Club is now underway, running under a joint venture with Gameplay.com, the successful internet games company, and 'Bridgeplayer Live', who provide the necessary bridge software.  One of the main advantages of the EBU club is that most players are playing ACOL - and all players are British, of course.  There really is a friendly atmosphere when you play - at present you can only play imp-scored competitions and rubber bridge, but that will change as more members come on line.  You will be even able to earn 'net points'!  Soon you will be able to earn 'greens' from the comfort of your arm (or computer) chair - I don't think!  The cost at the moment is zero pounds, but an eventual charge of about £40 per annum is envisaged.  Want to have a look?  Go to www.ebuonline.co.uk and sign up!

What do you have to do?  Well go to the sites listed above and follow the instructions for downloading the free software, give yourself an 'alias' to identify you on-line and away you go!  You can always browse through the play guidelines - if there are any - before you start (recommended - I did - but I am the cautious type!).

What about players in the Abingdon Bridge Club who play internet bridge - click here for a list, where they play and the most frequent times/days they are on line!  Don't forget however, that you can always find partners at all of these on-line clubs - you just join a table (or start your own) and start playing with the person at the opposite side of the table.  The other thing is that you can play for as long, or as short a time as you wish!  Happy Bridging!

If you want to see who plays from the whole of Oxfordshire, then click here!

Clive Keep
information correct at 01/05/00
acknowledgement to Keith Sadler for reports on 'Winbridge' and 'The Zone'