Computer Bridge - Computers Versus Humans

Computers Versus Humans

In Zia Mahmood's book, Bridge, My Way (1992), Zia offered a £1M bet that no four-person team of his choosing would be beaten by a computer. A few years later the bridge program GIB, brainchild of American computer scientist Matthew Ginsberg, proved capable of expert declarer plays like winkle squeezes in play tests. In 1996, Zia withdrew his bet. Two years later, GIB became the world champion in computer bridge, and also defeated the vast majority of the world's top bridge players from the 1998 Par Contest (including Zia Mahmood). However, such a par contest measures technical bridge analysis skills only, and in 1999 Zia beat various computer programs, including GIB, in an individual round robin match.

Further progress in the field of computer bridge has resulted in stronger bridge playing programs, including Jack and Wbridge5. These programs have been ranked highly in national bridge rankings. A series of articles published in 2005 and 2006 in the Dutch bridge magazine IMP describes matches between five-time computer bridge world champion Jack and seven top Dutch pairs including a Bermuda Bowl winner and two reigning European champions. A total of 196 boards were played. Jack defeated three out of the seven pairs (including the European champions). Overall, the program lost by a small margin (359 versus 385 imps).