In the huge room in the Parc Saint-Fiacre, dozens of small tables next to each other, four players per table. And a cathedral silence. Bridge requires a lot of concentration.
It is not easy to summarize the rules of bridge in a few lines. But let’s see what this card game brings with Yves Gibon, 74 years old, 60 of whom have practiced: “it is brain activity. Bridge is accessible to everyone from 9 to 99 years old. There is no chance unlike poker. Bridge is a very simple game to understand. This is a four-player battle. It’s worthy of a good role-playing game or video game scenario. Bridge is fun, full of surprises and never boring. It helps to fight against Alzheimer’s disease and it is an anti-crisis remedy. It is also a link accelerator. But be careful though, because it can become addictive!“
A little further in the room, we meet Arthur Boulin between two games. This 23-year-old man from Mayenne started playing bridge at the age of 11. In 2017, he was crowned under-21 world champion. This engineer trains twice a week and considers himself a top athlete: “yes totally because bridge is for me a sport of the mind. As for the video games that we call e-sport. The competitions are well developed, there are even anti-doping controls for the world level. A competition is six to eight hours a day for several days. You have to stay focused for a long time. It’s stressful, you have to know how to manage the pressure. So yes, bridge is a sport.“
– Gildas Menguy
The next big competition for the Mayenne champion will take place in July with the European championships in the Netherlands.