Bridge is undoubtedly the highest form of activity among mind games.
This is a card game, random decision-making and the last one based on artificial intelligence. Computers have already won with World Champions in all comparable games, eg. in chess, checkers and Go. The computer also beat four of the world’s best poker players.

These games are individual games and do not create what bridge gives – people-to-people contacts. At bridge clubs, dozens of people meet each evening, play in pairs and every 15-20 minutes they have to face the next pair.
Before and after the game, everyone stays together, talking, drinking coffee, discussing not only about the game.

• By its nature, bridge as a game with a partner creates interpersonal contacts.
• Clubs are meeting spots for many different personalities connected by one passion.
• They not only play, but also organize social gatherings, go to the cinema or small trips.
  They make new friendships.
• For older people, often lonely at homes, it is a great opportunity to get out of social isolation.
• Going to the club mobilizes people who are often reconciled with loneliness, forces them to dress up, walk and finally meet other people. It often starts going “back to life”.

It is worth it, because research indicates loneliness as a threat to life, greater than typical elderly diseases or even the most dangerous addictions.

It is worth learning how to play bridge at a young age so that it would be easier to get back to the game in older age.

It turns out that playing bridge prevents progressive dementia. Research by prof. M.C. Diamond from Berkeley California University have shown that playing bridge strengthens the immune system.

Of course, the subject of dementia prevention is now urgent, so the world bridge federation and scientists support comparative studies of hippocampal changes in playing and non-playing players. They are run in London, and next year they will also set off in Poland at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. Functional MRI scans allow you to precisely scan your brain. And although the problem of dementia is growing at an unprecedented pace around the world, the interest of the authorities in Poland cannot be seen, regardless of who currently has the power. The Ministry of Health spends less than 2 per mille of NFZ fund on prevention globally. How much of this is dementia?

Interested in the research of Prof. M.C. four years ago, Diamond from Berkeley California University introduced the “BRIDGE 60+” program in cooperation with the Polish Sports Bridge Union.

And so far, in the 275 centers created all over Poland, they learn to play bridge where several thousands of people play. The centers are equipped with cards and literature, thanks to support of the PZU Foundation and MRPiPS subsidies under the ASOS program.

Do you want to learn more about the Bridge 60+ program?