It doesnt use my index!

[sambar]

I don't know, but have I got the wrong idea about indexing? I'm stuck..

I have to fields in my table:
`player_1` mediumint(7) unsigned NOT NULL default '0'
`player_2` mediumint(7) unsigned NOT NULL default '0'
reffering to users' id-number in another table.

I have two indexes:
KEY `one` (`player_1`),
KEY `two` (`player_2`)

The cardinality of them is 6000 and 7000. My primary-key has cardinality 150 000.

When i run this query:
EXPLAIN SELECT *
FROM `gamebase`
WHERE player_1 =1

It uses the "one"-key (doh!).

But now, that I run my next query (using OR), it tells me that one and two are possible keys, but it uses neither, but loops through my entire table "Using where".
EXPLAIN SELECT *
FROM `gamebase`
WHERE player_1 =1
OR player_2 =1

What am I doing wrong or not understanding?

Thanks for your time.

[nikkiH]

I'm not all that versed in MySQL, but SQL Server sometimes needs "index hints" to tell it which index to use because as smart as the optimizer can be, sometimes it just does dumb things.