One of the features of some of the organised sports is that they can be played at many levels. Bridge too falls in this category. From bridge at home with family members, with fellow members at the bridge clubs, at club and city level short duration tournaments and then at the higher levels of competitive bridge at zonal, national and international level – bridge has many layers and platforms. Moreover, it’s so easy to set up a bridge game – a table, four chairs and a pack of 52 cards is all that is needed.
Once the very basic learning is done, all these avenues become available. Historically, bridge in the family was the main reason for passing the baton on to the next generation. Anyone who happened to see the seniors in the family playing bridge, it drew attention, at least out of curiosity. Once a few sessions were watched, the interest could arouse and learning process could start.
However not many are lucky to see bridge played at home and for them the only platform available is observing social bridge. One may have an access to a group |of friends who play bridge casually for fun but play it regularly. Any one of such players can become your first bridge teacher! If these first two avenues are not there for you, the only way forward is to get hold of a bridge teacher straightaway and read bridge books.
Let us say you get introduced to the game and you learn the very basics. What next? I believe the answer to this must come from within! How much have you liked the game, are you enjoying its processes and do you feel you belong to this game – answers to these issues can guide you on your bridge journey hereafter. It is not necessary at all that you need to play competitive bridge right away. I feel that many bridge teachers and guides look at bridge freshers as potential tournament players too soon and push them into competitive bridge prematurely. I also believe that opting for playing bridge competitively is a matter of self-desire and motivation. For this you need aspiration, competitive zeal and time. Even competitive bridge has many layers. As mentioned earlier, it can be a club level, short duration periodic tournament or a slightly higher scale of city level open tournament. Anything higher than this calls for serious resources – time and money.
If you feel you do not want to try this too soon, its fine. It will be a better idea to keep playing amongst friends and fellow learners for some time and then take a call, if at all. Some great books on the game are available, authored by greats of the game. These books can help you understand the game better. What also helps a lot is reviewing the bidding and the play with your teacher. Home bridge and social bridge must thrive and then let some portion of that migrate to competitive bridge.
As you know, this game has no retirement age. What typically happens is that a beginner runs into many veterans. The vast difference in knowledge, experience and expectations can become a problem. The veterans can be impatient and new players can feel intimidated. It is the responsibility of the veterans and the tournament organisers to make new players feel relaxed and help them enjoy the game. Another way is to organise bridge sessions that are exclusively for the beginners and casual players. This way they can get accustomed to competitive bridge systems but amongst the equals.
All types and segments of bridge players are important for existence and growth of the game. Let the players select which strata they want to be in – from casual to competitive!
(The writer is a National Championships winner, advanced Life Master rank holder, and bridge teacher. You can reach out to him on arvindv22@gmail.com)
