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