Duplicate Bridge has been a challenging, rewarding, and interesting journey. I live in the part of the country where duplicate players are few and most games are small. Nevertheless I studied and traveled to acquire the colored points needed. Then one of my favorite partners moved to another state; two of my regular partners passed away. As I tried to moved along the ranks it seemed hopeless to consider a new status.

I had decided to just stop playing bridge about the time the the Pandemic invaded our world. Games were over. A friend in Florida tried to persuade me to join Bridge Base Online. Many years ago I had ventured into that strange world, but found it to be very unfriendly so declined. My Florida friend continued to pester me and said we could partner even though we were miles apart. I finally gave BBO a try. I told my friends that I would never be able to reach the next level.

As I wandered through the steps of learning how to deal with this new concept, I found it very interesting to play with new partners!! Partners far away! I even played with my cousin in California who is a beginner. I am amazed how ACBL and BBO have worked diligently to make our bridge games work. I now have two very good partners (friends?) I’ve never seen. As I became more comfortable with this new scenario, I began to gather a few points. A new partner and I played in the recent week long tournament and we found the points I needed to be a a Ruby Life Master.

Life is good.