[Bbradley62]

 Rain, on 2014-June-05, 08:38, said:

• Adjusted the values GIB thinks it needs for bidding slams and grand slams. GIB will now only try for slams with more combined points in NT contracts, but with less combined points in trump contracts.

Does "combined points" mean combined HCP for NT contracts and combined Total Points for suit contracts?

[uday]

Sorry for the muddled explanations

Gib will be LESS willing to play in 4-3 or 5-2 fits now .

We always played U vs U but we made some refinements there.

Until this version, Gib was somewhat weird about bidding NT slams. In defiance of the conventional thinking ( need fewer points w/a fit ), it chose to need MORE points to bid a suit slam. As of this version, things are more mainstream - it will hunt for 33 HCP to bid a slam , and a little less to bid a suit slam.

[Rain]

 Bbradley62, on 2014-June-05, 10:03, said:

Does "combined points" mean combined HCP for NT contracts and combined Total Points for suit contracts?

By "Combined" I mean between player + robot, combined.

But yes, I believe GIB uses HCP for NT contracts, and TP for suit.

I think I'll change my point to say this.

[BriddlesBo]

How can GIB's Sandwich 1NT be showing distribution for the OTHER 2 Suits as well as a "strong No Trump" as you indicated (thus systems --- stayman/transfers --- are "ON"?)

[1eyedjack]

 BriddlesBo, on 2014-June-06, 03:02, said:

How can GIB's Sandwich 1NT be showing distribution for the OTHER 2 Suits as well as a "strong No Trump" as you indicated (thus systems --- stayman/transfers --- are "ON"?)

It can't. Ergo, it doesn't.
It shows a strong no trump instead of (not as well as) the other 2 suits. Unless you have an example where the explanation shows both? That would probably be a typo in the explanation.

[1eyedjack]

I think that this thread should be unpinned, or at least re-titled, now that we are up to version 30.

[diana_eva]

 1eyedjack, on 2014-June-07, 12:38, said:

I think that this thread should be unpinned, or at least re-titled, now that we are up to version 30.

Agree. Renamed the pinned discussion and merged with the latest release notes.

[barmar]

 BriddlesBo, on 2014-June-06, 03:02, said:

How can GIB's Sandwich 1NT be showing distribution for the OTHER 2 Suits as well as a "strong No Trump" as you indicated (thus systems --- stayman/transfers --- are "ON"?)

It shows a strong NT by an unpassed hand, the other 2 suits by a passed hand. This change happened a couple of revisions ago -- it used to be the other 2 suits in all positions.

The change this time is that when it shows a strong NT, systems are on.

[diana_eva]

A new version of GIB is is here! We call this Version 31. This is a major release which contains a lot of bug fixes and bidding improvements.


Significant Changes:

• By popular request, GIB now plays Reverse Drury. A 2C response by a passed hand to partner's major opening (in an uncontested auction) is now forcing, showing 3+ in the major and 10-12 Total Points.
• If a minor fit is found and player makes a jump to 5 in the minor, GIB will no longer treat this as a slam inquiry. Instead, GIB will pass the minor game. Eg, 1N-2S!-3C-5C. (2S is minor suit stayman).
• Holding a very strong hand after opponents' preempt, GIB will now make a takeout double first before rebidding his suit. Eg, AKQxxx AK AK xxx. After a 3C preempt GIB now makes a double first before bidding. Conversely, this means if GIB jumps to 4M instead of first making a double, he doesn't have a super strong hand.
• GIB now plays system on after a sandwich NT in 4th position. Eg, (1D)-P-(1S)-1N, (P)-2D! (2D is now a transfer to hearts).
• GIB no longer plays Lebensohl if the double comes from passed hand.
• GIB will evaluate hands better if partner makes a Support or Negative Double.
• You can no longer gamble on GIB not leading his Ace against your 7NT. The new and improved GIB always leads his Ace!
• Tons of bug fixes.

[steve2005]

 diana_eva, on 2014-December-16, 02:44, said:

A new version of GIB is is here! We call this Version 31. This is a major release which contains a lot of bug fixes and bidding improvements.


Significant Changes:

• You can no longer gamble on GIB not leading his Ace against your 7NT. The new and improved GIB always leads his Ace!.

This will spoil a lot of humour! lol

[diana_eva]

 steve2005, on 2014-December-16, 10:59, said:

This will spoil a lot of humour! lol

I was tempted to move that up in the list as 1st change

[helene_t]

Well done BBO, this sounds as if most of the things that annoyed me have been resolved in one go!

[shiang]

Hi, I'm interested in a job in helping improve GIB. I have some programing experience and AI but it's "limited". I do have some great ideas such as letting users tag hands where they think GIB errored to get a better data pool and see how we can fix the problems. I also think it would be nice to have different levels and types of convention cards available to players of different skill levels, and at the upper levels make the bidding customizable.

[barmar]

 shiang, on 2014-December-17, 17:51, said:

Hi, I'm interested in a job in helping improve GIB. I have some programing experience and AI but it's "limited". I do have some great ideas such as letting users tag hands where they think GIB errored to get a better data pool and see how we can fix the problems. I also think it would be nice to have different levels and types of convention cards available to players of different skill levels, and at the upper levels make the bidding customizable.

We already have the "Robot Report" mechanism. We get about 10 of these a day, in addition to the reports people post here.

[1eyedjack]

 shiang, on 2014-December-17, 17:51, said:

I also think it would be nice to have different levels and types of convention cards available to players of different skill levels, and at the upper levels make the bidding customizable.

This is quite a common suggestion in these forums. All other factors being equal it sounds like a good idea. There are two particular concerns.

The first is that all other factors are never equal. If, for example, resources were made available to expand on GIB's repertoire of systems and conventions, those resources could alternatively have been devoted to improving GIB's ability to use its existing system and conventions. Likely, there will come a time when GIB is sufficiently good at its existing system that the marginal benefit of improving that aspect further is less than the marginal benefit of developing parallel systems. Personally I don't think that this point has yet been reached.

The second concern is that in robot tourneys (other than Instants) we currently enjoy a unique experience in that a sequence of bids and plays replicated at different tables will result in identical subsequent action by the robots at each table (and in Instants that also holds true except at your table). I regard that feature as a benefit, which would be lost if GIB were allowed a choice of systems. You could of course disable the choice in robot tourneys but enable it in MBC or human tourneys. But I believe that those environments only represent a tiny proportion of the total GIB usage, which in turn leads us back to the question of whether it would be the optimal use of resources.

[barmar]

If we had the ability to offer system choices (I'm not saying that we have any plans in this direction, I'm just thinking out loud), a reasonable approach in robot tourneys might be to allow you to choose the system of your partner GIB, but all the opponent GIBs would play the same system. It wouldn't be fair to let you hobble your opponents with an inferior system compared to other tables. But choosing the conventions used by your parternship is a normal part of bridge, and so it would be appropriate to allow that.

On the other hand, one of the issues that comes up when forming partnership agreements in f2f bridge is that you have to balance system complexity against your ability to remember it, since you're not allowed to consult your own notes. But in robot tourneys we display the meaning of everything. So players who choose complex systems will have all the advantages without the memory burden.

[diana_eva]

GIB Version 32 is here.

Changes:

• This version mainly contains bugfixes. For example, GIB should now bid more identically at different tables in the same tournament if auction progresses similarly across the tables.
• GIB will be a little more aggressive about bidding games and slams when it thinks partner has a wide range of 4+ Total Points. (So for instance, if your bidding had shown 3-8 TP, that's a range of more than 4 so it will be more aggressive.) However, GIB will deduct 1 Total Point when inviting or bidding games and slams.

[Bbradley62]

In the first item above, does "similarly" mean "similarly but not exactly"? I was under the impression that GIB already bid identically at different tables in the same tournament when auctions were the same.

[Bbradley62]

 diana_eva, on 2014-December-16, 02:44, said:

A new version of GIB is is here! We call this Version 31. This is a major release which contains a lot of bug fixes and bidding improvements.

Significant Changes:

• By popular request, GIB now plays Reverse Drury. A 2C response by a passed hand to partner's major opening (in an uncontested auction) is now forcing, showing 3+ in the major and 10-12 Total Points.

Have you also decreased the requirements for 1M openings opposite a passed hand, so that there is such a thing as a sub-minimal opening in GIB's logic? It doesn't appear to me that you have; it appears that GIB still won't open in third seat with a hand that wasn't good enough to open in first, and that he does not allow for the possibility that his partner has done so.

[Bbradley62]

BBO Today said:

GIB Upgraded!
A new version of GIB is is here! We call this Version 33.
Changes:
• GIB is now smarter about splinters and what suit it indicates. (eg 1♠ 2♣, 2♠ 4♦ is now a splinter for spades, not for clubs).
• GIB will now always raise a major suit response with three cards when holding 5431 shapes and a minimum opening bid. So with 3451 shape GIB will rebid 2♠ after 1♦ p 1♠ p. Previously, GIB only did this with strength in the three-card suit.
• GIB now knows 4th suit is not forcing to game by a passed hand. It will stop in a partscore when appropriate.
• 2♣ p 2♦ p 2M p 3♣ p 3M is now non-forcing (with 3♣ being an artificial double-negative.) This will allow stopping in a partscore with strength such as 22 opposite 0. If GIB has a game in its own hand with a 6+ major, it will generally rebid 4M instead of 3M.
• 2♣ p 2♦ p 3m p 4m is now forcing, instead of showing a weak hand as before.
• After an inverted minor suit raise, if responder rebids a suit on the 2 level or 2NT it will no longer be forcing to game, allowing for investigation of stoppers while still stopping in a partscore.
• GIB will have improved judgement about when to respond 1NT or 2NT to a minor suit opening rather than raising the minor on a balanced hand with 4 card support and stoppers.
• GIB will no longer make a crazy jump to 6NT in a contested auction without the A or K of the opponents' suit.
• Multiple bug fixes.

It appears to me that there are about 300 threads in this forum that were created after the release of Version 32 that no BBO staff member has commented on. Will these be reviewed for possible action?