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