Bridge Base Inc.

Bridge Base Incorporated is a business which established and maintains an online website. It was founded in 1990 by Fred Gitelman, President, and Dr. Sheri Winestock, Vice-President. Their first two products, BASE II (1990) and BASE III (1991) were analytical tools designed for serious students of bridge. [ [http://www.bridgebase.com/ Bridgebase.com] ] It offers free online Contract Bridge for anyone willing to register a user name.

Use of the website

Anyone can register and play free at Bridge Base Online (BBO) and it is common to find thousands of players. Because the language of bridge bidding and play uses only 15 words and because all selections are done via mouseclick, people from any country and people who speak many languages can play together. In addition, BBO has support for a number of languages which allows player and kibbitzer chat at tables and other "rooms".

Fred Gitelman has also provided a simple and powerful bidding system which he calls Bridgebase basic. It is based on a modern SAYC and allows unfamiliar parters to bid effectively together.

Ownership

The business is owned by Fred Gitelman, Uday Ivatury, Bill Gates, Sharon Osberg, and David Smith. [http://www.bridgebase.com/bbo/letterfromfred.html]

American Contract Bridge League

In conjunction with the ACBL, BBO sponsors ACBL sanctioned tournaments on its website. These award online masterpoints. These colorless masterpoints awarded for online play can be combined toward the masterpoint rankings established by the ACBL.

Novices

The site, which requires a download of specialized software, has free instruction about bidding and play, a free downloadable demonstration of "BridgeMaster", rooms to practice bidding and rooms to practice play with a partner. Many of the tables can be observed by anyone. A friendly atmosphere is maintained by a complaint line which is provided and closely watched. A player who uses offensive language or infringes on other player's enjoyment can be blocked from the site temporarily or permanently. There are many "helper" players denoted by their yellow background in the lobby whose job it is to help newer players find their feet.

For more experienced players

The "Deal of the week" and past "Deals of the Week" are articles which examine world class player's thinking as they play a hand. These can be quite useful to intermediate and advanced players. There are many tournaments every day. Some tournaments are individual, some are pairs only and some are team of four tournaments. Some tournaments are free to enter, some require a small fee (usually $1.00 or equivalent) and some require a little more. In addition the site sponsors "money bridge"; players compete toward earning BBO dollars which can be used for tournaments or to purchase software. Normally, a $10.00 authorization via credit card buys a player 10 BBO dollars which can be spent on anything BBO offers.

Bots in BBO

Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridgeplayer (GIB) is an AI that can be rented on BBO for a small fee. It plays 2/1 Game Force and be used as players or just as an advisor. Promotionally it has been made available free for a day from time to time. GIB is well regarded as a bridge program though it does perform the odd weird action.

World Class Tournaments: Vugraph

The BBO software provides pictures of cards and a chat window. Through use of internet technology, many world class tournaments are transmitted via internet so that any interested BBO user can watch hands being played at a world class tournament in near real time. In these tournaments there is someone with a computer clicking the cards that they see the competitors play so that everyone on BBO can watch. In these tournaments, commentary is often provided by recognized bridge experts.

References