Laura Camponeschi: Lorenzo, what is the long term impact of the possibility of playing bridge online?
Lorenzo Lauria: Everyone on Earth right now is living through a distressing time, a dystopian situation. Fighting against boredom, as well as the virus, is one of people’s priorities. Our bridge community is lucky because training and competing online partly address the issue: they are a distraction and a welcome comfort. What happened on BBO is a deep wound which may not heal, so I encourage all to be understanding: nobody has ever experienced anything like this and so we are more prone to mistakes that we never thought we would make. RealBridge is a potential solution to go back to playing peacefully, without worrying about trust issues. I say ‘potential’ because it can be improved and could really be the future of bridge.
LC: Angelini disbanded his team in 2016, Lavazza passed away a few months ago. Who are the new sponsors on the Italian bridge scene?
LL: In Italy we have always had a passion for bridge and we have always had sponsors, small and big. Today we are lucky to have Vinci, who is the main one at the moment and I hope can achieve as much as Angelini and Lavazza did in international competitions.
LC: Could you share one positive and one negative feature of your long-term partner, Alfredo Versace?
LL: As everyone knows, Alfredo smiles all the time, he is always in a good mood. Even in tricky situations, Alfredo does not lose his temper (other than with me). His worst flaw is that he is a liar, but always for the greater good. He can say small innocent lies in order not to hurt a friend.
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