Blog Archives - LoveBridge

Bid+Score in Herning

by LB Admin | Jul 3, 2024 | Blog

After eleven days of intense bridge, the 56th European Team Championships in Herning has come to an end. Three events took place during these few days: the 56th European Team Championships, the 12th Women’s and 10th Senior National Pairs Championships.

The two pairs championships finished first, with Polish pairs taking the gold medals in both. In parallel, the Team Championship in the Open category was already underway, as it had the largest number of teams, 30 in total. Four days later, the Women’s, Senior and Mixed categories started, with 22, 20 and 23 teams respectively. Full round robin matches were played in each category, after which Norway came first in both the Open and Women’s, while the Netherlands won at the Seniors and Israel in the Mixed.

Thanks to a recent development it was the first Bid+Score tournament (the gameplay is still with cards) where the live results were published on the LoveBridge vugraph site, in addition to the EBL site.

We also introduced in Herning our match broadcasting system called LoveBridge Operator (LBO), that – with the assistance of an operator – makes possible to stream the playing phase of the game on our vugraph. Live broadcasts of selected matches were available for spectators and their full bidding and playing history can be reviewed any time on LoveBridge Vugraph.

Congratulations to all the medallists and everyone who qualified for the World Championships! We look forward to being part of the most prestigious bridge championship with LoveBridge next year!

For those interested in the results, you can find them on the following links:

https://vugraph.lovebridge.com/screen/lb01/938599?screen=running-score&round=29

http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/24Herning/microsite/Results.htm

More pictures can be found on the European Bridge League’s facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.763202006013607&type=3

New NBO on board! – the Romanian Bridge Federation

by LB Admin | Jun 21, 2024 | Blog

We’re pleased to announce that the Romanian Bridge Federation has begun using the LoveBridge system for their tournaments. Their first event started on June 1st, the National Team Championship Final. And they already held their second pairs tournament the last weekend.

The collaboration started back in late January, when the Romanian Federation reached out to express their interest in the LoveBridge system. After assessing the needs and possibilities, and then jointly developing the terms of use, we signed a contract in early April.

Since then, the Romanian Federation has acquired the necessary equipment, including 85 tablets. After that, the preparation of the tablets and the training sessions could begin. In this case, too, the preparations and training were carried out entirely remotely.

We are extremely pleased to welcome the Romanian Bridge Federation as the 3rd European National Bridge Organisation to adopt the LoveBridge system for their National Championships.

Contract signing with the EBL

by LB Admin | Jun 1, 2024 | Blog

We have reached a significant milestone in our growth and acceptance within the bridge community. In May 2024, Lovebridge signed a new contract with the European Bridge League (EBL) covering the 2024 and 2025 calendar years.

This contract includes two key components:

1. 1. Lovebridge tablets will be used for bidding in all tournaments organized by the EBL.
  2. The contract also includes a new vugraph streaming platform for Vugraph Operators. This will allow the EBL to stream gameplay from their Bid+Score tournaments live on the Lovebridge vugraph website.

This second part of the deal is also an important development for LoveBridge. This new feature will be launched at the 56th European Team Championships in June. Live streams of selected matches will be available on our vugraph site and can be viewed at any time later.

The contract was signed in Budapest during the 47th International Budapest Bridge Festival (IBBF) by Eric Laurant, President of the EBL, Igor Chalupec, Treasurer of the EBL, and on behalf of LoveBridge Gyula Bódis, owner of Visoft Ltd. and Orsolya Hegedüs, CEO.

Gyula Bódis, Igor Chalupec, Eric Laurant, Orsolya Hegedüs

USBC with LoveBridge One for four years now

by LB Admin | May 27, 2024 | Blog

After a busy and exciting month, the 2024 United States Bridge Championships has come to an end. The USBC, held in Schaumburg from 1 to 26 May, saw fierce competition in the Open, Mixed, Senior, and Women’s categories. In addition to our non-stop live vugraph coverage, there were matches almost every day with live commentary by renowned American players, allowing fans to enjoy the exciting hands and the journey to see who would represent the United States at the World Bridge Championships in Argentina.

The history of LoveBridge and the United States Bridge Federation (USBF) dates back to 2021, when the first USBC was held after the COVID-19 pandemic. That year, the USBF decided to try the innovative LoveBridge One system to minimize in-person contact and make the tournament safer.

That year, they used the LoveBridge tablets in every category for the KO matches. In addition to making the tournament safer, the system provided many other benefits that contributed to the event’s success, marking the start of a long-term cooperation between LoveBridge and the USBC.

At the USBC, the LoveBridge tablets are used in a different setup. They have only two players in each room, the Screenmates. In order to enable communication between the two sides of the screen, the application had to be developed to enable the necessary written explanations and chat functions.

These functions required a keyboard and a larger screen, so in the third year (2023) the tablets were replaced by Chromebooks. By this time, the LoveBridge One system was being used in every category for the Round of 16 and KO matches.

Over the years, the LoveBridge team has worked closely with players and organizers to continually improve the user experience and ensure fair play. The aim was to also enforce rules that cannot be solved when playing with cards. This has led to many minor and major improvements over the last few years.

Congratulations to the winners of each category and good luck in Buenos Aires!

The winners of the Open category
Marty Fleisher, Brad Moss, John Hurd, Joe Grue, Chip Martel, Kevin Bathurst

47th International Budapest Bridge Festival

by LB Admin | May 23, 2024 | Blog

The vibrant city of Budapest once again played host to the prestigious International Budapest Bridge Festival (IBBF) in May 2024. This year, the 47th edition of the event saw a remarkable increase in participation, with players from 4 continents and 15 countries in total coming together for almost a week-long celebration of bridge.

In addition to the usual events one of the highlights of this year’s festival was the Friday night wine tasting event, where players had the opportunity to indulge in the rich and diverse flavours of Hungarian wines.

The competition itself was fierce, with players showcasing their strategic prowess and tactical brilliance on the LoveBridge tablets. The archives of the tournament are available on our vugraph site, allowing everyone from around the world to review the exciting hands that unfolded during the event.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the participants and prize winners. We look forward to welcoming you all back next year and encourage you to bring your friends along.

For those interested in the detailed results, you can find them on the following links:
https://vugraph.lovebridge.com/screen/lb01/898989?screen=running-score

Pictures of the tournament are now available on the event’s website.

https://ibbf.hu/en/gallery/

1st European Transnational Championships with Bid+Score

by LB Admin | Apr 25, 2024 | Blog

The LoveBridge team has had another exciting trip that will be long remembered. We could say that it was the most extreme trip to a bridge tournament so far.

Fortunately, the extreme part only applies to the travel and not to the tournament. Almost halfway through the ride, the LoveBridge minibus broke down and the team had to rent a car, that could fit all the tournament equipment. This unexpected turn of events consumed a lot of time and forced them to take the serpentine roads in the evening. Despite the long and eventful trip, they finally arrived at the venue alive and well, ready to tackle the competition in the following days.

The tournament itself went smoothly and was certainly one of our best events. The first three days were played in a Swiss format, with the top 16 teams advancing to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, the remaining teams competed in the consolation round of the Les Etincelles BAM Teams tournament.

Eventually, at the request of the organisers, the BAM tournament was also run using the LoveBridge Bid+Score system, which was successfully integrated on site. This collaboration ensured a streamlined and efficient experience for all participants.

There was an incredible atmosphere throughout the tournament, with exciting matches and lots of positive feedback about LoveBridge’s services. The team is thrilled to have played a part in raising the standard of the competition and looks forward to many more such tournaments in the future.

For those interested, the results can be found on the following link, where you can also hover your cursor over the contracts to view the bidding details. http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/24AlpedHuez/microsite/Results.htm

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