| After many years of little progress, at the end of the | | | | like options to earn ACBL masterpoints, purchase |
| twentieth century computer bridge made big strides | | | | software to improve Bridge skills, and earn money |
| forward. In 1996, the American Contract Bridge League | | | | playing Bridge. These are for fee services. |
| (ACBL) initiated official World Championships | | | | Some national contract bridge organizations now offer |
| Computer Bridge, to be held annually along with a | | | | online bridge play to their members including the English |
| major bridge event. The first Computer Bridge | | | | Bridge Union, the Dutch Bridge Union and the Australian |
| Championship took place in 1997 at the North | | | | Bridge Federation. MSN and Yahoo! Games have |
| American Bridge Championships in Albuquerque, New | | | | several online rubber bridge rooms. In 2001, World |
| Mexico. | | | | Bridge Federation has issued a special edition of the |
| Strong bridge playing programs such as Jack (World | | | | lawbook adapted for internet and other electronic |
| Champion computer bridge 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, | | | | forms of the game. |
| 2006) and Wbridge5 (World Champion computer | | | | Advantages of playing bridge online are: |
| bridge 2005) probably rank among the top few | | | | Flexible choice of when to play. |
| thousand human pairs worldwide. A series of articles | | | | Choice of opponent skill level. |
| published in 2005 and 2006 in the Dutch bridge | | | | Player rating system that attempts to measure ability |
| magazine IMP describes matches between Jack and | | | | without regard to the number of games played or the |
| seven top Dutch pairs. A total of 196 boards were | | | | number of years spent accumulating masterpoints |
| played. Overall, the program Jack lost, but with a small | | | | Fewer restrictions on which conventions can be used. |
| margin (359 versus 385 imps). | | | | Unauthorised information cannot be passsed by tone |
| There are several free and some subscription-based | | | | of voice or body language. |
| servers available for playing bridge on the Internet. | | | | Detailed records may be kept, to help resolve |
| OKbridge [1] is the oldest of the still-running Internet | | | | complaints. |
| Bridge services; players of all standards, from | | | | The software prevents plays and calls that are |
| beginners to world champions may be found playing | | | | against the laws. |
| there. SWAN Games is a more recent competitor. | | | | Disadvantage are: |
| Bridge Base Online is the biggest online bridge club in | | | | A greatly reduced social element. |
| the world, and provides the largest variety of services | | | | Increased opportunities to cheat, using IM technology |
| and games for free. There are also premium features | | | | Players dropping out after a few hands |