Maybe Justice Mostyn has a point, but as yet there is no evidence to prove the physical benefits of bridge, unlike rifle shooting, which has demonstrated increased skeletal muscle activity. Critically, the physical activity required to take the rifle shot will determine its accuracy, whereas the speed and accuracy of placing cards on a table bears no relationship to the performance outcome. These soft skills are invaluable not only in the context of bridge playing but also in everyday life. The bridge players also noted that bridge improves their concentration, memory, sociability and wellbeing. While you might wonder what place a sport based on cards has at the Olympics, bridge can’t be compared to other ordinary card games. Even the International Olympic Committee has long recognized that bridge is in fact a sport.
- {
- Bridge is a card game played by four players (two teams of two) sitting around a table, with partners sitting opposite one another.
- These soft skills are invaluable not only in the context of bridge playing but also in everyday life.
- This article “Bridge – A sport based on skill, not luck” explains how bridge is based on skill, not luck.
- Athletes like 85-year-old Kong Te Yang demonstrated the sport’s unique ability to transcend age barriers.
- He added strategic elements that would later define its competitive nature.
- Research definitely supports the fact that bridge provides unique advantages for mental health, especially when you have older adults playing.
|}{
|}{
|}
Bridge is the ultimate trick-taking card game, easily the greatest source of enjoyment that four people can have with a pack of cards. Not only do you need the experience that comes along with playing a lot of matches, but also have to more information have played with your partner enough to understand the cards he/she is holding. Bridge’s competitive spirit shines through its worldwide reach. The 2018 Asian Games showcased this perfectly, with more than 200 players from 14 nations competing for glory.
Bridge’s trip from casual card tables to international sports arenas reveals an interesting story of legal challenges, mental athletics, and a continuous push for wider acceptance. This mind sport keeps reshaping our traditional views of athletic competition. The International Olympic Committee made a bold move in 1999 by recognizing bridge as a “mind sport,” despite skepticism about whether a card game deserves athletic status. This recognition placed bridge among traditional athletic competitions and started an intriguing debate about the true nature of sports.
The main aim of bridge is for the opposing sides to compete in a bidding auction for the right to establish the contract, with the winner being known as the declaring side. A contract is an exchange of the right to establish the trump suit (the one with the greatest power) for a promise to win at least the number of tricks specified by the highest bid. Bridge is a “mind sport”, though just because it includes the word sport in its title, it doesn’t mean it is automatically defined as a sport. Based on the commonly accepted definition of what is a sport, a sport requires physical skill and exertion, and bridge does not involve any physical activity other than sitting on a chair and moving cards around. Bridge grew from the card game whist in the 19th century, and its path to becoming a recognized sport started in the 1920s. Harold Vanderbilt introduced the modern form of contract bridge during a cruise.
Mental Athletics vs Physical Sports
The most striking aspect of bridge is how it creates a competitive space where age doesn’t affect excellence. This unique feature distinguishes it from regular sports, and anyone can participate whatever their physical limitations might be. Bridge evolved from casual social gatherings to prestigious tournaments after these developments. The World Bridge Federation also lifted the game’s status by introducing standardized rules and promoting it globally. It is believed that Bridge can enhance team spirit, socialization, the development of mental abilities and helps the brain to stay young and healthy.
Asian Games
We’ll break down the rules and strategies step by step so you can feel confident as you learn. However, we are now into the pedantic world of legal definitions. Jaffa Cakes succeeded in being classified as a cake as opposed to a biscuit for the sake of lower taxation, so maybe bridge could be classified as a sport. The case was brought by the English Bridge Union, which wants bridge to be classified as a sport in the hope the group would qualify for Sport England lottery funding, and a full judicial review has been awarded.
{
Roundup of the 42nd World Bridge Teams Championships
|}
This activity can even reverse cognitive decline and delay the onset of dementia. In other words, the idea that you should “use it or lose it” is true. Increased cerebral activity will elevate glucose metabolism in the brain, but this will have negligible affects on the body’s overall energy balance or consequential physical health benefits. Any benefits of this kind are often negated by the typical consumption of snacks and beverages during the activity.
Other studies have found that activities such as playing bridge reduces the incidences of dementia (see JAMA Psychiatry article or The New England Journal of Medicine article). Bridge is also recognised as an important contributor to socialisation, with many people enjoying the ‘community spirit’ that exists within a bridge club. Recent research at the University of Leipzig found that those taking up new activities involving other people, are more likely to see an increase in their ‘well being’ than those who start solo pursuits. A game of bridge consists of several deals (also called hands or boards). A hand is dealt, the bidding (or auction) proceeds to a conclusion and then the hand is played. Apart from being a competitive sport, bridge is also a social activity.
Of its direct ancestor, “Whist”, we have confirmed knowledge in England since the 16th century, when it was commonly played among the humbler classes. The game began to attract also the more privileged classes and its success grew to the extent that in 1742 Sir Edmond Hoyle codified it with specific rules in his “Short Treatise”, published in London, on the game’s technique. The popularity became such that the expression “according to Hoyle” became synonymous of exemplary conduct even beyond the card game.
For example, if hearts are trump, even a low heart can beat an ace of spades. If the contract is no trump (NT), no suit has this advantage, and the highest card of the led suit always wins. It is not difficult to see that bridge fails to tick the boxes referring to physical activity and fitness. Yet the judge insisted that the dealing and playing of bridge requires greater physical activity than that of rifle shooting.