Gabby Kamil comes top in the August Women's Daylong Race
Hear the Daylong Reward games winner's story Gabby Kamil from the USA, known to ...
Fabien is responsable for the design and usability of BBO. He works hard to make sure BBO is easy and fun to use.
He's got to be one of the fittest members of the team. He never stops moving and regularly gets out for 12 mile runs! He's also a young dad, managing the fine balance of work and life commitments.
Here we ask Fabien some questions to find out more about what makes him tick.
Can you explain what you do at BBO in simple terms?
My job is to make the BBO experience as easy and enjoyable as possible.
What do you like to play on BBO?
I like to play Bridge Master. It’s a good way to improve your bridge skills.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love spending time with my family and friends. It’s important for me to be surrounded by my loved ones. I try to do as much sport as possible (I run a lot and enjoy to cycle with my son). I was very athletic when I was very young; I played soccer for 15 years (I started at the age of 3) and at the age of 16 I started hip hop dance (breakdance), which I did for 8 years. Something else I love to do is playing with lego - it's very calming!
Here's a video of me from my hip hop dancing days
If you could choose a superpower, what power would you like to have?
The superpower that I would like to have is that of being able to stop time! I find that everything goes very fast these days and sometimes we don’t take the time to enjoy important moments.
Who is your role model?
I don’t really have a model, but I take inspiration from people like Phil Knight (creator of Nike), Thierry Marx (famous French chef) as well as athletes like Eliud Kipchoge, Francois Dhaene, Kobe Bryan, and Anthony Joshua.
What is the best advice you ever received?
If you fail, start again.
What would your perfect week look like?
For me the perfect week is a combination of nice weather, playing sport and spending time with my family and friends around a good barbecue in Spring or Summer or a raclette in Fall or Winter.
Do you like travelling?
Yes, I've enjoyed travelling around Europe as well as China, Thailand and Indonesia. I also like to travel around my native France, as we have lots of beautiful landscapes.
Are you a music lover and do you play an instrument?
I don’t play an instrument but I do love music! I listen to all kinds of music, but I have a preference for hip hop and jazz.
I have asked several BBO 'staff' people how do I call the Director while playing a hand. The answer is the same: 'click on the icon with the bars.' But I do not have the icon they are referencing. The only icon I have is a bar graph with the lines at different heights. When I click on it, there is no response. I have a Microsoft computer.
Where do I get help?
Fabian, your BBO is a very well designed site but the only snag is it is not an Acol user friendly. Is there anything you can do with your site for Acol player.
Having a ball with BBO. But the other day I was sitting excitedly awaiting the start when the game suddenly started without me!!
Apparently I’d logged in with no activity for too long and had been kicked out. I had no idea. Maybe an ‘alert’ could permanently appear across the screen to let the user know they have to manually log off and then log in again.
I was sooo sad!??
Windows 11 has arrived and i wonder if i should install it. I have been on Windows 10 for years but i think i should upgrade providing BBO will still be compatible. What would you advise?
Hello John - yes, that should be fine.
Although I wouldn't make that the sole reason to upgrade to Windows 11 ?
Excellent User Friendly Game You have created. Do visit India.
BBO is excellent. Thank you. I am new to bridge and am hesitant to ask to be seated at a table. David's remark above about non-bridge players causing harm reinforces my concern. I don't want to be considered as someone who would cause harm. Might there be some way one could ask to be placed at a table with others who are working hard to learn bridge? If I were seated at a table of excellent players, it would not be fair to them or to me.
I enjoy playing bridge online. This is a great site and resource to learn bridge. In the write up above or in the newsletter, your associates did not elaborate on your specific contribution to BBO. I learnt that Uday Ivatury has been building BBO for the past 19 years, so I would appreciate learning about the enhancements you have made (e.g. software related? etc.) Thanks and good luck!
Thank you for giving us such a wonderful way to connect with friends and carry on, even while sheltered at home during the Covid surges. Many of us have become real fans of BBO. Still using it regularly, even tho we can now, with proper precautions, return to actually to sitting at a bridge table and holding cards in our hands!
I am really enjoying BBO and must say it has been a life saver during this pandemic. My query is.....why do some hands receive no score.......just a series of hyphens. Sometimes it is not important BUT sometimes it is a made slam !!! Can you tell me?
Hi - I totally agree with the point about having dummy look a bit different - it is so very obvious when playing for real that it feels a bit weird not to have more differentiation in BBO. Other than that I love BBO and think you've done a great job.
Fabian- I joined BBO in 2020 and have been an active member. October 20,2021 there was some trouble
With the system - my user name, Fowler55 was changed to my password. Consequently, I have lost the
Points I had accumulated and my bridge bucks. I have communicated with Cynthia who said she had
Taken care of the problem - not true. I am now operating under user name, Hartkaye. I want my Fowler55
Back along with my points and bridge bucks. My ACBL #2263157. Thank you for your help. 678-478-8454
I wish you could have commentaries with more of your tournament broadcasts. As a newer player, I find them both entertaining and educational. Thanks.
Fabian.please call me
kind regards,
Kyra ten Cate
Fabian, you seem to have fantastic skills. I’m a bridge teacher who uses BBO a lot. It would make the site complete for me if you reprogrammed the Teaching Table to allow the teacher to access the Undo button even when NOT sitting at the table.
As best as your intended intentions are sadly they are floored.
Simply because there are too many 'non ' bridge players on all sites.
This seriously detracts from the pleasures.
A way of dealing with this problem is to let the non bridge players play against each other so they cannot do any harm.
Fabien, thank you for making it so delightful.
You have a strong hand and many talents as evident in the attached Video clip. Merci!
Hi Fabien, I too love the BBO interface. I love BBO and play very (too) often 🙂
I do have a couple of comments though...
1. When you are declarer and you can also see dummy's hand on the screen, there is no differentiation between the two hands - other than by position of course. They are both on the table laid out in the same style. By contrast, when playing bridge in the flesh, it is always obvious and intuitive which is your hand and which is dummy's hand. One is laid out on the table and the other is in your hand.
My point is this, I sometimes (and others who I've spoken with say the same thing) have to think explicitly which of the visible hands on the table my opps can see and which they cannot. It is not quite so intuitive as it might be. Having to think abnout this can sometimes take my mind off the hand. I'm wondering whether one of the hands could be slightly shaded or made to appear slightly 3D with some shadow the like.
2. When claiming/conceding (especially on the android app) the two buttons are very close together. This means that often the wrong button is pressed and obvious claims are rejected by mistake. This can lead to frustration which could easily be avoided by separating the two buittlons a little more, maybe one at top left and one at top right instead of each of them touching in the top right.
Keep up the good work, the app is fantastic!
Cheers - Mark
I agree with point 1, but I think also we need an audible warning to prod the player who is on lead or the one who is supposed to play the hand.
Fabien I just love BBO, it’s such a well designed Bridge system for a complex online game, you've thought of everything, it’s a top experience! Even though my club has stopped using it I still enjoy watching BBO 3-4 times a week.
Keep up the great work ! (and I love your focus on fitness and family, both so important ?)
Warm regards,
Kay Tennant
Sydney, Australia