Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Robot or human?

The robots on Bridgebase Online have a reputation for doing wacky things. Guess what? Humans do, too. Here are some problems. You have to guess whether the wackiness was by a bot or a human.

Problem #1:
You hold:
8 6 A K 6 3 9 5 J 10 9 8 7.

The auction is pass pass 1 to you, and you double! Are you human or robot?

Problem #2:
You hold:
A 10 4 3 Q 2 J 9 7 K Q 9 4.

Partner opens 1 and the opponents are silent. You bid 3NT and go down one. If you respond 1 you find your 4-4 fit and make five. Are you human or robot?

Problem #3:
You hold:
Q J 8 2 7 6 3 Q 9 5 4 7 2.

It goes pass pass to you, and, vulnerable against not, you open 1. Are you human or robot?

Problem #4:
You hold:
A 9 8 7 5 9 7 Q J 5 2 4 3.
Partner opens 1. Your right-hand opponent doubles, then bids 5 on his own. You not only don't double (it goes down 3), but you lead the 3!

Are you human or robot?

All these actions were taken by humans. I played in one of the individual tournaments last Friday night. I may think twice before doing so again. You can see all of these atrocities goofs if you click here.

3 comments:

  1. Indies can make you go bald prematurely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are there bridge bots like there are poker bots?

    ReplyDelete
  3. @kurokitty: there are, but you're not exactly competing against them like you are in poker. Bridge is a partnership game, so one of them is on your side, as it were, and you compete against the other two.

    ReplyDelete