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The complex, partnership-based card game contract bridge, or simply bridge, offers a range of cognitive and social benefits, as well as emotional wellbeing, Warkworth Bridge Club president Lynley Lewington says.
In New Zealand, there are about 14,000 bridge players across 110 clubs.
“Bridge involves mental gymnastics and is the perfect combination of mental stimulation and social interaction – keeping us sharp and sociable as we age,” Lewington says.
“It’s a game for lifelong learning where you can start simple and build in more later; and it is played by all ages.
“Bridge gives the brain a workout as it challenges memory, focus, planning and decision making. It delays cognitive decline as its complex mental activity may help to delay dementia and Alzheimer’s keeping the neural pathways active.”
Lewington says the benefits of playing bridge include:
• Exercising your grey cells, keeping them sharp for years to come
• Widening your social circle, reducing loneliness and combating isolation
• Forming new partnerships and friendships, playing at your level
• Improving skills in logic, deduction and lateral thinking
• Ongoing challenge, engaging some of the greatest minds in history, including Bill Gates and Mahatma Gandhi
• Reducing stress and depression, boosting self-esteem and confidence
She adds that supporters of the game say bridge can contribute to emotional wellbeing by providing a structured mental workout that involves strategy and problem-solving, while also offering regular social interaction.
“In the words of Warren Buffett (American investor, business tycoon and philanthropist) ‘Bridge is the best exercise for the brain’.”
The Warkworth Bridge Club welcomes visitors, former players and beginners. Beginner lessons start on March 19, and those interested can contact the club at warkworthbc@gmail.com.
Warkworth Bridge Club History
In 1968, two new residents to the town put an advertisement in the local paper to see what interest there was in forming a bridge club. Sixteen people answered and a meeting was arranged in the basement of a home in the area. After a few weeks of tuition and with the expertise of two members from an Auckland Bridge Club, The Mahurangi Bridge Club was formed.
As interest grew and the club gained more members, it shifted out of the basement to other larger venues until it was granted a lease of the former Warkworth War Memorial Library in 1996. The same year the name was changed to the Warkworth Bridge Club.
