| Bridge Base Online | |
| Industry: | Online games |
Bridge Base Online (BBO) is the world's largest bridge-playing online platform, with about 10 million monthly visits as of November 2021.
In 1990, Bridge Base Inc. was founded by Fred Gitelman and Sheri Winestock and released BASE II, an analytical tool for serious bridge players that ran on DOS. In 1992, teaching software, Bridge Master, was released for MS-DOS. In 1998, Bridge Master for Microsoft Windows was released. Also in 1998, an online bridge offering in Microsoft Gaming Zone, later MSN Games, was supplied by Bridge Base.[1]
Originally created by professional bridge player Fred Gitelman, BBO was first published by Bridge Base, Inc. in 2001 as a Windows-downloadable software offering free online multiplayer bridge rooms for practice and play. Around 2008, BBO was ported to a web application to also support Linux and macOS users, as well as mobile devices.
In 2018, Bridge Base Online was inducted into the American Contract Bridge League's Hall of Fame for its long-term commitment to bridge. As of February 2022, BBO was the only organization ever inducted by the Hall of Fame.
In addition to bridge rooms for casual play and teaching, BBO hosts many types of duplicate bridge tournaments, including events sanctioned by official bridge organizations such as the American Contract Bridge League or the English Bridge Union, which award official masterpoints to players.
Bridge Base Online also features free tools that help novice players learn and improve their game skills, like 'Bridge Master' and 'Minibridge'. Partnerships can practice their bidding methods at Teaching Tables. Users can register at no cost. Many playing activities are also free, while premium tournaments charge an entry fee. Players may also rent robots for play practice.
A significant contribution to the game are the Vugraph "broadcasts", which present live matches from around the world and are enhanced by expert commentary. As with other online bridge platforms, because the language of bridge bidding and play uses only 15 words and all selections are done via mouse click, people who speak different languages can play together. BBO's interface supports many languages, and it allows players and "kibitzers" to chat, mainly using a text-based interface, at tables and other virtual rooms. Records of hands played are archived and are publicly accessible, enabling players to view their own and other competitors' actions.[2]
BBO also offers playing robots, which allow users to practice or compete without human partners and/or opponents. "NABC Robot Individual", for example, is a 3-day duplicate tournament where about 3000 players compete, partnering with robots. The BBO robot is also known as Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridge player (GIB). GIB is an artificial intelligence bridge player. It can be rented on BBO. It plays the 2/1 game forcing system and can be used either to fill in for one or more players or to provide advice.
In partnership with the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), Bridge Base Online sponsors ACBL-sanctioned tournaments on its website. These tournaments award online masterpoints. The colorless masterpoints awarded for online play can be combined with other types of ACBL masterpoints, which helps players achieve higher ACBL ranks.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, BBO partnered with ACBL and The Common Game to initiate an online platform named ACBL Virtual Clubs. This grew significantly during the pandemic by allowing duplicate bridge clubs to hold their games via an online platform, with the majority of the game fees going to the clubs. Collusive cheating, which is very easy online and all but impossible to prove except through statistical means, became a significant issue during this period. In response, the ACBL announced it was joining forces with the EDGAR foundation effective February 1, 2024.
Several browser add-ons have been developed to enhance the functionality of BBO. These include BBO Helper (double dummy display and many other features), BBOAlert (for remembering and automatically alerting complex system agreements), BBO Extractor (PBN and CSV download of boards), and BBO Visual Assist (for the visually impaired).
Card fees for masterpoint awarding events have risen significantly higher than the rate of inflation since BBO was acquired by 52 Entertainment. BBO enjoys a degree of monopoly power based on which online bridge sites are contractually permitted to award masterpoints and due to a network effect owing to many players' desires for a large field and strong players seeking to compete against other strong players. The increase in online play during the COVID-19 pandemic has generated new competitors such as Swan Bridge, IntoBridge, and RealBridge, built on more modern web platforms, often with support for audio and video built-in.