My parents used to play Bridge with all of their friends, they have now moved to the back side of nowhere where Bridge isn’t well known in their circle of friends. My Dad has expressed an interest in have a computer game to play Bridge. I could never get the hang of the game and I am not sure what type it is. There were usually 4 people playing and you sat across from your partner. There was a lot of bidding that went on and then someone would lay thier hand on the table and their partner would play both hands. there was some sort of complicated scoring where what you bid indicated the number of “tricks” you won.
So I need to know
what kind of bridge was this?
does anyone know a computer game that you would recommend, I would guess for an intermediate level player. Well beyond the basics but not competion level either.
Sounds like they’re playing contract bridge in a non-competitive format sometimes called “Party Bridge”.
Bridge Baron is a great computer version of the game.
They also may wish to consult American Contract Bridge League. This is a sanctioning body primarily devoted to tournament and duplicate players (same game, just different scoring methods and more competitive). There are bridge clubs nearly everywhere, and if they haven’t tried duplicate, they might enjoy it. I haven’t played in years, but might return to the game at some point, when/if I have the time.
I see that there is a Bridge Baron 21 that is about 5 years old and a Bridge Baron 22 that should have come out this year in September but Amazon doesn’t know when it will be available. Do you have a reocmmendation of one over the other?
Heh…I last played Bridge Baron…16 or so, I think. I think the main difference in the newer versions of the game are in the historical deals included–usually a selection of the hands played at major tournaments. Some versions may have other bells and whistles on them, but the basic gameplay is likely pretty similar. As I recall, there are multiple ways to play the game, including just random deals with the computer playing as Partner and Opponents. I think you can switch the scoring from duplicate mode to rubber (party) mode, and there is support for most bidding methods. It’s pretty expensive as video games go.
As a free option, there is a way to play bridge online at Yahoo games…
There are plenty of online bridge games that your father can join. Bridgebase Online is a good place to start. The real advantage of playing online is that you play with actual people, which is more varied than a game (which always plays the best move; people may not). You can play a competitive game, or a more casual one.