Exploring
the Internet… by Al Levy
You could live your bridge life
on the Internet, with everything from online play to watching Vugraph shows,
news to forums, lessons to e-magazines, you name it and it’s there.
I started to put together the best websites for North American players
and bridge enthusiasts, and was amazed at what a wealth of great websites I
found. The best of them are listed on my webpage, “explore the world of bridge
on the Internet” www.allevybridge.com/allevy/worldofbridge.html
My categories include: Youth; Online
Lessons, Teachers and e-Magazines; For Teachers; Blogs and Forums; Online Play;
Robot Play; International Websites; Books and Software; Marketing; Video Clips
and Players in the News; Travel; and My Favorites.
An example of the variety of
great websites can be seen in the Youth
category. You can see at the 12
websites listed some of the best youth programs in North America and throughout
the world. There are also 4 links
explaining why kids benefit from bridge.
In the Online
Lessons category there are a number of sites to improve your game.
Let me recommend pointing any aspiring advanced player to Howard
Schutzman’s site, bridgesights.com/hondobridge,
where you will find an excellent set of free lessons on play and bidding.
Also go to my Newcomer webpage at www.allevybridge.com/allevy/beginners.html
The material and presentations are conducive to learning.
My favorite category is Marketing,
especially the YouTube video clips. The
number of informative interviews of our bridge personalities is growing.
I recommend the video clips of Hall of Famers, many of whom let you
inside their personal world. Also,
you can see many write-ups of well known bridge players published in the
mainstream media, and links to peanuts cartoons where Snoopy plays bridge.
There is such a variety of
entertainment on the Internet. Look
for the complete series of Bols tips or the Goren TV series.
Read the bridge column in the New York Times online. I
recommend surfing bridgebum.com, a reference site for bridge.
Interested in the world of social bridge?
Check out Maggy Simony’s Bridge Chronicles.
The now famous 92-year old Ms. Simony was recently featured in the Wall
Street Journal. Want to read an interesting free e-magazine, one with an
International flavor and with the most interesting interviews? Go to the Italian
website, neapolitanclub.altervista.org.
My wife, Beverly, and I are
hooked on a robot game. Almost every
day we play, separately, a 16-board set using one of the best robots, many-time
world champion Wbridge5, in the other three seats.
Our individual overall scores are compared to a few hundred others who
play the same set. Go to bridgez.net
to download the software. It will
keep you sharp and improve your game. One
caveat…it’s a French site (English isn’t always the best and you need to
check on the conventions used). Also
look at the many robot sites and other online robot games available.
FunBridge has excellent graphics and works on iPad as well as a PC.
I participate in the
BridgeWinners.com forum, where you will find the top players discussing bridge
and bridge happenings. Look at the
collection of bridge blogs under Blogs
…and more. All this and I
haven’t even mentioned online bridge play.
Of course you can play sanctioned bridge at BridgeBase Online, OKbridge
and Swan Games. I recommend surfing
BBO for free non-sanctioned play or just to kibitz or watch Vugraph shows and
much, much more…it will keep you entertained like no other site on the
Internet. Did you know that online
play takes place all over the world at many International sites?
Take a look at the sample shown under International Online Play.
Explore the world of bridge on
the Internet. It will amaze you and
entertain you. Now if we could just
let the rest of the world in on our secret, maybe we will once again be the game
to play by everyone. The Internet
could make it happen!
Marketing
our Game…by Al Levy
OK…enough bridge hands.
I met someone the other day who never heard of bridge!
Something is wrong. The media
is ignoring us, except for a few stories about successful business personalities
who play bridge, some pics of retirement communities groups, and some PR when we
come into a town with a NABC. That’s
all good, but not nearly enough. We
need to develop our own stars and grab some serious press.
A 50+ million play social bridge all over the world and organized bridge
is healthy and growing in many countries.
We have the best ‘game’ of
all times, the resources and organizations, the entrepreneurs, the stars and
personalities, the national and International big events, and now we have the
Internet. Word is that ‘the
word’ spreads fast on the ‘net.
There are websites focusing on
youth, online lessons, teachers, online activities and play, International news,
major events, marketing, travel, books, supplies, software…some free
stuff including bridge tools and robot play.
There are blogs and forums. Websites,
such as Bridge Winners, are bringing players together for a better bridge
experience. There are great
video clips on YouTube and more. I’ve
put together a webpage “explore the world of bridge on the Internet” as a
step toward looking at the big picture, with a focus on ways to spread the word
to youngsters, adults and the media.
Marketing our game is all
important. That includes a national
campaign to market through the Internet. It’s
a domino effect…if bridge is cool, kids will want to play...adults will be
interested in everything from human interest stories to who’s who in the
bridge world…and the media will follow, as well as sponsors.
Any ideas are welcome.
If you go to… http://www.allevybridge.com/allevy/worldofbridge.html
let me know about other websites. The
list is not complete as there are 100s of sites, but many are not up to date,
too local or lacking in some way.