I have been primarily a TEEN-PATTI men. I am game for betting on uncertainties and unknown probabilities. However, I always wondered about BRIDGE. In Delhi, at Rani Jhansi Road, Jhandewalon, seniors would convene in the boss’s chamber during lunchtime for Bridge. It never interested me, not that I was invited. I was happy pocketing Carom Queen, where I was considered an expert.
Recently, I listened to the TED talk– ‘Ultimate Mind Game’ by my dear friend and Batch-mate from IIMA, Mastermind Sunil Varghese. I realised I should have played Bridge instead of carom
So, I did some digging.
No doubt, Bridge is a challenging mind-sport, almost like Chess where you are constantly reinventing and defining the path you would follow. However, it stresses teamwork by focusing on the partnership aspect, something every organisation and management looks for.
In Bridge, strategies are being made and revised with every move. You get exposed to and learn, problem-solving, organising & planning. As an additional benefit, it helps enhance logical thinking, decision making, memory and concentration.
That should be enough a reason to learn Bridge. Ask kids to learn it and maybe include it as mandatory strategic training for your team members. Management Institutes should seriously consider including Brand-I and Bridge as a course in the first year. No doubt, many top businesspeople and industrialists like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Martina Navratilova and Omar Sharif are slaves to bridge.
NO MONEY BRIDGE.
Yes, like Rummy and Teen Patti, Bridge can also be played for money. However, one understands that playing tournament format only skill matters. It is the only card game that is interesting enough without money winnings
THE GAME OF LIFETIME – IS FAIR FOR ALL AGES.
Bridge as a game is useful for all ages. Young players learn discipline, focus and the ability to deal with pressure. For Seniors (including oldies), It helps to keep the mind agile and in the process, it helps to ward off neurological disorders like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
Learning to play well takes time and effort. But the game is impossible to master- even computers know that. Bridge is the “game for a lifetime”. No matter how long you have played and what level you have played, there will always be new challenges. The learning never ends.
NOT TOUGH TO LEARN.
Like most of the card games, Bridge is easy to learn and has simple rules and expectations. It can be a fascinating pastime between friends, colleagues and family members and can lead to long-lasting relationships. It definitely keeps boredom and dullness at bay and needless to say can be played till your dying breath. And then, you keep playing with better players to sharpen your understanding and skills.
And yet, in the era of Artificial Intelligence, Computers have beaten world champions in every mind game, including Chess. However, the computer is not even close to beating real people in Bridge – the King of Card Games.
Chess and ‘GO’ are complete information games while Bridge is incomplete. Hence, with enough computer power, it is possible to analyse all the possible moves and find the best move. In Bridge, the information is never complete. Which makes it more complicated than Chess or GO.
ALWAYS A NEW ADVENTURE.
There are more than 750 trillion possible hands that can be dealt with. So, most possibly, each time you could play a game you have never played before. The games are fast. Takes hardly any time to finish a round. And then there is the new challenge in the next round. Bridge, it is said can be exciting, challenging, frustrating and humbling, but it is never boring.
RIGHT AND LEFT-BRAIN GAME.
Bridge stimulates both sides of the brain. There is logic, intuition, communication, psychology, face reading, memory, Visualisation and pattern in every round. It’s a unique mental workout that is both relaxing and invigorating for the mind. I can’t think of any other leisure or work-related activities delivering it. Can you? Well other than working with personal projects with incomplete information and hope- like my incomplete story at Goafest.
BRIDGE TODAY IN INDIA.
In India, Bridge is reasonably popular. There are more than 10,000 active players regularly participating in local, regional and national tournaments. In fact, Bridge World Championships of 2015 were held in Chennai.
Unfortunately, Bridge has acquired a negative image and is seen as gambling and a game for older people. Not many youngsters from the new generation are adopting it as their game. In reality, it can be played at all ages and levels. It is a beautiful way to challenge the mind and keep it alert and sharp.
LEARN NOW.
There are various tutorials available for the game. However, I am plugging LEARN BRIDGE by mastermind Sunil Varghese. The Beginners course is – 14 sessions of 2.5 hours each, twice a week split equally between tutorials and actual play on the online platform www.Bridgebase.com. Register for the course starts September 4th 2020. And if there are 20 people- Master Mind Sunil can schedule it as per time convenient to the group.
Sunil, who is a national winner in Bridge, has delivered 3 online Beginners courses over the past 4months. He has been conducting at the Madras Cricket Club, Gymkana Club, Shisya school and IIT Madras since 2016. However, he feels that with the use of, technology, online teaching Bridge has become more interactive and effective than the traditional classes. He has delivered talks/seasons on Bridge at IIM Ahmedabad, CFAI Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai and many more.
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Seriously speaking.
I hear that in Netherland, Bridge is taught as a school subject for students to learn social skills, problem-solving, etiquette and interacting with others. Well till then, you are on your own. Maybe, you learn first and introduce it to the family and then see the socialising go up, because, in Bridge, you can WhatsApp your strategy to the partner.
Whatever be the advantages, nothing beats TEEN PATTI in Diwali.
BLOG/68/2020
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