[fuzzyquack]

I've been wondering what does it take to be a star player on BBO. The rule is to earn international achievement(s). I followed one player, who also claims to be 'World Class'. I list below all the international achivements of this player according tzo the WBF site. To protect the privacy I skip the years the listed events happened.

Teams: Euro Transnational Open - 67th; Euro Transnational Mixed - 17th and 30th; World Open - 94th.
Pairs: Euro Transnational Open - 42nd (wow!) and 166th; Euro Transnational Mixed - 75th and 139th.

Interestingly, on BBO I've also seen known to me players with Bermuda Bowls medals who claim neither a star or 'World' status; well, some such players claim 'Novice.' Isn't the human ego a funny thing?

[paulg]

Originally stars were awarded to players who asked for them and had represented their country in international competition. The stars indicated people who would be good to watch at a time when BBO was expanding. Of course it is easier to represent some countries than others and so it is not a level standard, especially for the smaller countries.

It is fair to say that a lot of these stars may not have been awarded today as BBO is stricter, although some of the juniors given stars in those days were good to watch and some would now earn a star for their non-junior achievements (so we've seen them on a journey).

I suspect that there are also a lot of people who have won NABC+ titles who would not be found on the WBF site and it would be hard to argue that they do not deserve a star.

There is a lot of history in the stars system and it was never intended as a mark of achievement. Overall I think it is helped a lot of people enjoy bridge on BBO over the decades.

I believe BBO has rules for its stars, like real name, no false levels (like novice) and good behaviour. It has removed stars for breaches of these rules but has never been tempted to re-evaluate them once given.

[pilowsky]

All very well, mais où sont les étoiles d’antan?

[barmar]

Do you expect us to create accounts for long-dead masters of the game just so we can give them stars?

[pilowsky]

barmar, on 2022-June-14, 17:12, said:

Do you expect us to create accounts for long-dead masters of the game just so we can give them stars?

A BBO equivalent of 'retired numbers'?
What a great idea.

[pigpenz]

I thought it was upto Fred and Uday along time ago who got a star
wink wink not all are good players