I started playing Bridge after moving to a new community as a way to sort of force myself to get some social interaction. That was maybe a bad move as the bridge community is so old, and sort of insular, that it didn’t really lead to much. Though I imagine if I was traveling to lots of tournaments I’d feel differently.
That being said, I play a lot online despite a preference for in-person.
Is it more difficult for you all to play in-person recently? Does it feel like we are moving into a largely online space?
I would say so, yes.
COVID definitely played a role in moving the bridge community to mostly online - but even during pre-covid times, I have seen physical clubs dwindling gradually. We had a couple of local bridge clubs, going down in numbers as days go by, where the players’ average age was deceased.
People getting busier and busier caused them to look for places to play deals after deals in a shorter period of time, and what’s better for it than an online platform ?
One good thing is that bridge is getting more and more competitive in recent times, and players have switched from “leisurely play” to “improving fast”. Unfortunately, online play has made bridge popular than ever, but the social aspect is diminishing, and there’s no way to deny that.
As for myself, I learnt bridge from my dad in my teens, with actual cards and human players in front of me, but then there was a hiatus of about 2 decades (you know the drill, life happens, family, kids, blah blah) - and after all this time when I got back to bridge again, online is what I see everywhere.
Not that it is necessarily bad - online platforms brought people “closer” from all over the world - but I do miss the bidding box, LOL.