SiVY Bridge at Home

With the shutdown of the Bridge Center in mid-March came a move to online bridge for players of all ages, including our youth. Soon after the shutdown, SiVY had its first online event – Casual Saturday. Modeled after the in-person Casual Friday, the online event offered a relaxed and fun place to play bridge with friends while receiving mentoring advice. In the 4+ months since the first such event, SiVY has held 10 “casual” games, first on Saturdays and now back to Fridays.

After it became clear that in-person youth events would not be resuming any time soon, a small group of organizers worked out a way to also move the monthly Pizza Party to an online version. The No Pizza (unless your parents buy it) Parties have been held twice, on May 2 and June 12. Each of these offered casual play or a tournament. Tournament and random drawing winners received $10 Pizza Hut or Subway gift cards

One of the mentors who was also part of the organizing committee is Frank Smoot. Frank has said about online teaching, “It’s much harder to know if I’m getting my points across. Even though the mentees are on a Discord conference call, sometimes it’s very quiet! I don’t let that stop me from making my jokes, though.

Richard Liu, 17 years old, is one of the regulars at the online Casual and Virtual Pizza Parties events, having previously regularly attended the “live” events. Richard will be entering his senior year at Monta Vista High School, where he learned to play bridge at its bridge club in freshman year. Richard said about the online versions, “(I like that) the online casual Fridays are easier to attend as there is no need to arrange transportation. I think they are less good because they lack the social interaction offered in live events, and as a result play often slows down and it is harder to pay attention to the game.” In spite of their limitations, however, Richard does plan to keep playing in them. “Online bridge is better than no bridge,” he says. A feeling many of us share.

See future dates for Casual Fridays and Virtual Pizza Parties.