As a graduate student in meteorology, Mike Ring often spends sevendays a week at the lab in MIT's department of earth, atmospheric, andplanetary sciences. He's just not the type of 20-something to hit thebars after work.
So on Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m., when he's ready to cut loose, heplays contract bridge.
'I'm interested in card games, so it's a fun thing to dosocially,' said Ring, 26, who also received his undergraduate degreefrom MIT. 'It makes you think, and it's something to do for fun andto get out of your lab or working on your computer code.'
Those in the bridge community often refer to the card game as a'mind sport,' one that challenges the brain the way jumping hurdleschallenges the body. It is also attracts people with strong mathskills.
So it's no surprise that one center of interest in the game andthe only regular duplicate bridge game in the City Weekly area thatis open to any newcomer, according to the Eastern MassachusettsBridge Association is found on MIT's campus in Cambridge.
The Tuesday night games are sponsored by the MIT Draper Lab BridgeClub, part of the Eastern Massachusetts Bridge Association. Thesessions have been going for as many years as any of those involvedcan remember; usually held at the student center, the gathering draws20 to 58 players, filling seven to 12 tables for three hours of play.
What makes the club's profile unusual is its youthfulness. For agame more often associated these days with senior centers thancollege campuses, many of its players are plucky beginners, and theirages range from the early 20s to late 50s. At most bridge gatherings,20-somethings seem as out of place as Jesse Helms at a Busta Rhymesconcert.
'Whenever we go to national tournaments, it seems that half of thepeople under 40 come from this club,' said member Brian Duran, 29, ofSomerville.
While many members have ties to MIT as students, instructors,researchers, or graduates others say the sessions are simplyconvenient to their work or home.
Reid Fleming, 49, of Arlington, said that many bridge playerslearn the game in college but give it up as they start families andcareers.
'When the kids get older, people get back into bridge again,' saidFleming, who stops by the MIT game on his way home from work in HydePark.
Contract bridge involves four players divided into twopartnerships, and uses every card in the deck, with each playerreceiving 13. Tournaments typically involve a variation of the gamecalled duplicate bridge, in which every two-person team plays thesame hands, or arrangements of cards, over the course of thecompetition to give skill an edge over the element of luck.
The players bid on how many tricks, or rounds of play, they thinkthey can win in a hand, based on the strength of their cards, andthen are obligated (or 'contracted') to deliver at least that many.The combination of bidding, using a coded language that offers aglimmer of which cards partners and rivals may be holding, and trick-taking gives the game a sophistication that is fascinating forexperienced players.
It is said that while great bridge players are very intelligent,very intelligent people aren't necessarily great bridge players.Those who take to the game tend to be comfortable with numbers andprobability theory, such as accountants, engineers, scientists, andcomputer programmers, according to Barry Margolin, 45, an MIT alumnusand Draper Lab club member for 18 years.
The club's age profile is reflected in its style of play.
'The difference between the game here at MIT and games at otherclubs in the area is that there's a younger demographic here, andit's more focused on creativity,' said Steve McDevitt, 33, a Medfordresident who is vice president of membership for the club.
'The bidding systems tend to be more varied here, whereas at clubsmost people play a version of `standard American' or `two-over-one,'which are the two main systems. In terms of the card play, the MITclub tends to be a little weaker, typically, because people have lessexperience than at clubs where people have been playing for decadesand play the cards very well. It's second nature.'
Margolin, who lives in Arlington, noted that there is also adifference in atmosphere, if only that it comes from looking aroundat younger faces.
While players tend to concentrate intensely during each hand,bridge is a social game. Roger Li, 50, a retired Boston doctor whohas played bridge for 30 years, said the club's location is part ofits appeal, but he also said that 'the younger crowd is one reason Icome.'
Players of all levels are welcome at the MIT Draper Lab BridgeClub, either in teams or as singles. Most games are played at theStratton Student Center at MIT, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Costis $4, or $2 for students. For more information, check the club'swebsite, web.mit.edu/mitdlbc.
