[lindgm]

It would be VERY nice if you were able to select what bidding system your Robot partner should use in a tournament.
I do not at all feel confortable with the system used today, which I think is too complicated for my playing strength.
As a first step it would be good if you had a simple natural bidding system to select, if you were not satified with the system used today.
The next step would be to force the Robot to use my convention card.

[barmar]

It is an enormous amount of work to create a robot bidding system. I think it would be at least 6 man-months of effort to write something like SAYC, since it's not too different from 2/1. If we were to try to do something very different, like Precision or Polish Club, we would have to start almost totally from scratch, and it would probably be at least a man-year.

We have a hard enough time fixing all the bugs and making adjustments in the existing system. And if he were busy writing a new system, this would have to be put on hold.

[lindgm]

I understand that it is a big effort to write new software, especially if you did not make it configurable from the beginning, but please consider it, at least in the long term!
By the way, why didn't you choose a simpler system to start with, when you created the software for the first time?

If the Robot bidding system is "forced" on every one on BBO, I think it should be a common system,that most players are used to, not a complex one only suited for a few. Of course the best had been if the players were able to select system. Is it really so that most players on BBO are confortable with the system used by the Robots today? If so, I rest my case.

I understand that the Robot system used today is powerful (probably the most powerful Bridge playing software avaiable), but in most cases a simpler system works good enough. I am afraid that if I make an effort to learn the Robot system, I will then mess things up when I play outside BBO with human partners, where we are using a simpler system with natural bidding, except for Blackwood, Gerber, Stayman and 2♣.

[cloa513]

lindgm, on 2012-October-12, 07:14, said:

I understand that it is a big effort to write new software, especially if you did not make it configurable from the beginning, but please consider it, at least in the long term!
By the way, why didn't you choose a simpler system to start with, when you created the software for the first time?

If the Robot bidding system is "forced" on every one on BBO, I think it should be a common system,that most players are used to, not a complex one only suited for a few. Of course the best had been if the players were able to select system. Is it really so that most players on BBO are confortable with the system used by the Robots today? If so, I rest my case.

I understand that the Robot system used today is powerful (probably the most powerful Bridge playing software avaiable), but in most cases a simpler system works good enough. I am afraid that if I make an effort to learn the Robot system, I will then mess things up when I play outside BBO with human partners, where we are using a simpler system with natural bidding, except for Blackwood, Gerber, Stayman and 2♣.

They didn't, its Ginsberg's initial work- I suspect BBO have attached most of the conventions. They have stopped GIB playing against other bridge programmes which says something. Jack bridge software is able to play many different systems. GIB's system is moderately complicated in rarely needed situations.

[barmar]

Right. BBO acquired the software from Ginsberg. We have tweaked the bidding rules to fix bugs and make localized changes, but creating a new system is more work than we have currently have resources for. It would have to be done by someone who understands the language for writing GIB bidding rules (I think you can count them on one hand) AND knows the other bidding system well (most bridge experts we know use 2/1).