Plugging Into the Online Contract Bridge League
By Alex J. Coyne for Great Bridge Links
Meet the OCBL.
Basically, this could very well turn out to be the place where Neo from the Matrix-series eventually heads to play bridge.
The Online Contract Bridge League aims to organize high-quality, high-level online tournaments through BBO.
Right now, events are said to be invitational-by-application.
Great Bridge Links and Alex J. Coyne spoke to Max from the OCBL to find out more.
Find it here
The direct links for more information about the OCBL can be found below.
From Max
“As the world was on total lockdown without a proper alternative to F2F bridge games, the OCBL was born,” says Max, one of the OCBL’s founding members.
“We are a professional organizational network serving the world class bridge community, focused on providing high-level tournaments with the utmost standards.”
When he says high-level, he means the best European and USA teams in the world so far.
The OCBL also offers butler scores, results and “a team format so that players can compare themselves with the field.”
Above all, games are meant to be clean in a time where cheating in mindsports makes headlines. “In the near future, we are considering different options in order to reduce the possibility of cheating to a minimum.”
For the time being, he says they’re keeping tables closed except for one that starts 15 minutes after the rest. “It keeps a track record for all of our matches so that an independent body (CAT) then analyzes each board in order to find any repeated anti-statistical behavior.”
Then, he adds, “Quoting Lincoln, ‘You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.’”
Max says their events are run through BBO – and also says they’ve been incredibly supportive. “They’ve allowed us to use the Vugraph to transmit the most interesting matches.”
At the moment, he says events are invitational. “All participating teams are handpicked. In order to apply for an invitation, you can apply through our site.”
If you aren’t selected to play, remember that you can view games and broadcasts.