Appendix A. an Overview of Commercial Computer Bridge Systems
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Appendix A. An Overview of Commercial Computer Bridge Systems I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. - THOMAS WATSON Chairman of IBM, 1943 Software developers, perhaps hoping to cash in on the market of 100 million Bridge players worldwide, have managed to produce a large number of com mercial systems capable of playing the game. Here we list and describe some of these products, with the aim of enabling the better packages to be more easily identified. Figure A.1 summarises the various computer Bridge systems of which we are aware, showing the platforms on which they operate, whether they contain algorithms for defender play and declarer play, and whether a demonstration copy is available. Most of the systems cope with the entire course of the play of a hand, but we have also included some programs whose only concern is with the bidding phase. The following sections present a brief overview of many of these programs, based on reviews published in Bridge or computer magazines, on our own per sonal experiences with the programs, or on a combination of both. These overviews concentrate wherever possible on the playing strength of the sys tems, although some information on the overall presentation and packaging is also often included. Clearly, there are too many systems for us to individually examine and play-test each one, so many of the overviews draw extensively on magazine reviews, especially those from Canadian Master Point [126). In these cases, direct quotations are identified in the normal way, using either in-line single quotes or an indented paragraph. Wherever possible, details on availability and price have been included. (For readers in the UK, many of the programs can be obtained from Chess and Bridge Limited, 369 Euston Road, London NW1 3AR, Tel: 0171-388 2404, Fax: 0171-3882407.) 253 t>.:I Name- .- "Platform . _LDefend [ Declare Demo? Section " II ~ Amiga Bridge 1.06 Amiga • • BBC Bridge Companion Plugs into TV A.I Bicycle Bridge IBM • • Bidding IBM • A.2 Bridge 7.0/Bridge 8.0 Mac/IBM • • Bridge Buff IBM • • A.3 Bridge Champion IBM • • A.4 Bridge For Windows IBM • • A.5 Bridge Master IBM A.6 Bridge Master Mac • • A.7 BridgeMate IBM • • • A.8 Bridge Olympiad IBM • • A.9 ~g. Bridge Pal IBM A.I0 • • • I\:> =::;, Bridge Parlor IBM • • Q., Colossus Bridge IBM/ AmigajSpectrum/C64 • • Grand Slam Bridge I/II IBM A.ll ~ • • ~ Meadowlark Bridge IBM (Windows) • • • A.12 =::;, Microbridge IBM • A.13 ~. Micro Bridge IBM • • A.14 Micro Bridge Challenger IBM ~ • • Q., Micro Bridge Companion Mac/IBM/Tandy A.15 • • • ~ MVP IBM(Windows) • • S"- Omar Sharif's Bridge IBM (Windows/Dos ) /Mac/ Amiga • • A.16 Oxford Bridge 4 IBM • • A.17 Positronic Bridge IBM • A.18 • .... Saitek Bridge Shadow Hand-held • • A.19 l(1) Saitek Pro Bridge 310 Hand-held A.19 • • S" Saitek Pro Bridge 510 Lap-top • • A.19 O> Radio Shack Bridge Companion Hand-held • • S I\:> Figure A.l: Summary of commercial Bridge systems g-. An Overview of Commercial Computer Bridge Systems 255 A.I BBC Bridge Companion Price £199.99. This is a 'tutorial' system, and does not play random deals. During the bidding it can point out any mistakes and suggest alternatives. During the card play it lets you take the role of declarer, but stops you if you reach a position where the contract cannot be made, taking you back to the error. According to Forrester [127] it only allows 'one or two lines of play', and the display is rendered using 'very basic - almost retro - Ceefax-style graphics'. Forrester's summary is that the program provides a 'decent basic tutorial', but that it 'is never going to explain even the basic subtleties of the game', and that 'you would get much more, much more cheaply, from a book'. A.2 Bidding Producer Platon M. Beletzky. Address L. Pervomaiskogo st. 3, 13, Kiev, Ukraine, 252023. Tel + 7 (044) 2212794. Email pmbel%[email protected]. Price Shareware. Registration fee $9.95. This program allows the user to practise their bidding on randomly generated hands. During the bidding, the computer can be asked to present a summary of all the inferences that can be drawn from the bids made so far. However, the computer appears not to be capable of making hints about the correct bid - if you want the computer to suggest bids, control of the auction has to be passed over to it, and it retains this control, bidding for all players, until the auction is finished. One problem with this program is that it appears to come without documentation, making it difficult to interpret the computer's bids with certainty, although it appears to adhere to a basic Standard American system. Also, there is no scope in the system for competitive auctions. A.3 Bridge Buff Producer BridgeWare. Address Toronto, ON, Canada. Tel (416) 463-2689. Price $125 (Can). A review of version 1.0 of Bridge Buff in Canadian Master Point magazine (June 1992) was rather unflattering, finding the interface to be 'just not user friendly' and the mechanics of bidding 'cumbersome'. Another major problem was that the program could not be used to 'actually play bridge' - it could defend against your declarer play, but not play the role of declarer itself. 256 Search and Planning Under Incomplete Information The 'solid recommendation' received by version 2.0 in CMP's May 1994 re view, therefore, represented a large improvement, attributable to an upgrading of almost every area of the program. For example, the basic 2/1 bidding sys tem of the original was augmented to include what CMP described as a 'list of different conventions and treatments... long enough to give you a good se lection of ideas you might want to tryout on the computer before using them in a real game'. The new version also featured a declarer play module, and the graphics were also now 'clean and attractive, especially if you have VGA available.' CMP describes the standard of play of version 2.0 as follows: Bridge Buff... will bid and play against you at least as well as any of its competitors. It makes mistakes, but our testing did not catch it out in any of the wildly ludicrous kind of errors to which many bridge programs are occasionally prone. One issue that is not addressed by CMP's review is whether the new version of Bridge Buff improves its play by 'peeking' at the other hands. This approach helped the earlier version to defend 'well above the standard of other programs', but was an integral part of the algorithm which could not be 'turned off'. The downside of this increase in the computer's knowledge is that subtle deceptive plays become pointless. Such practices also make a comparison of the program's playing strength against other Bridge systems rather unfair. Manley's review [6] reports that the new version does still peek, and that this helps it to play at a level slightly stronger than most other programs, with the possible exception of Positronic Bridge. A.4 Bridge Champion with Omar Sharif Producer Oxford Softworks. Address Stonefield House, 198 The Hill, Burford, Oxfordshire. England OX8 4HX. Price £39.99. Many options for bidding including Acol, Standard American, or 5 Card Ma jors, at either beginner or advanced level, which can then be adapted according to taste from a wide range of conventions. However, Forrester [127] describes the level of bidding as 'not good', and Christina Erskine of PC Review mag azine comments that 'it's very willing to bid itself into high-level sacrifices in which it goes down massively'. Card play is described as 'reasonable' in [128], and by Forrester as 'passable most of the time, occasionally terrible'. However, this was the only Bridge program that Forrester could bring himself to recom mend anyone to buy, with the proviso that any prospective purchaser should be made 'fully aware of the limitations'. An Overview of Commercial Computer Bridge Systems 257 A.5 Bridge for Windows Producer Full Circle Computing. Address 15 Greenridge Avenue, Suite 19, White Plains, NY 10605-1248. Tel/FAX 914 997-1774. Price $49 + $4 s& h ($15 outside US/Canada). Note An evaluation copy is also available for $6. This program describes itself as being 'designed to provide relaxation'. It uses weak two-bids with two clubs as the only forcing bid, but during card play can only take the role of the defenders. To increase the chances of the user becoming declarer the best hand is given to South (the user) and North (user's partner). During the bidding, East and West's bids, as well as North's, are automatically generated. The following extract from the program's readme file seems to indicate that Bridge For Windows is an expert-system type application with a collection of rules designed to recognise varying situations. An attempt was made to deal with all combinations which may arise, however, there may well be situations, especially in bidding and responding, which may not be dealt with correctly. When you find such situations, please communicate this information to Full Circle Computing ... A.6 Bridge Master Producer Fred Gitelman, Bridge-Base Inc. Address 15 Lillian Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4S 2H7. Tel (416) 322-8316. Price US $59.95. Additional disks of 30 deals: $14.95. Bridge Master is an educational tool to instruct and improve the user's declarer play. It received a glowing review from Eric Rodwell in the November 1992 issue of the Canadian Master point magazine, along with further positive reviews elsewhere by Alan Truscott and Brent Manley.