[msheald]

Hello! When I show spades and a minor over 1NT opening with Cappelletti, why would the robot bid hearts? Thanks.

Mike

https://tinyurl.com/258gzfx6

[steve2005]

The Robot "thinks you have 11+ pts
so it is making a forcing bid to find game showing 14 pts counting 1 for the doubleton spade and 1 for the doubleton diamond which is probably your minor.

[msheald]

I do not study GIB. I prefer to study bridge that I play with my human partner and human opponents. I'm impressed with those who study GIB's progamming and learn its idiosyncracies. I don't have that ability, so I honor those who can play both robot bridge and human bridge well.

Having said that, I bid as if I had a human partner, and that was wrong. I continue to learn how GIB bids after passes. Though I pay/bid differently with a human partner, grunbling about GIB's programming is inappropriate.

So, to help me learn, from this comment, it appears that GIB might think that a game is likely at the 5 level? That is the only reason that I can think of to bid hearts, since it requires partner to bid at the 4 level in a minor - quite a reach given its hand. If GIB wants a minor game, why not bid 5 clubs with partner correcting to 5 diamonds if needed? Why exclude a contract at the 3 level with a bid of 3 hearts since it knows (or should know) a heart contract leads to a bottom board? I doubt that a human partner would do this. It should have had big support in a minor suit to make a 3 heart bid. A minor game typically requires 28 to 29 points, and the opening NT bid means such HCP is not possible, so the only way a 3 heart bid makes sense if it has distributional "points" that might allow a minor game contract.

I keep getting caught by GIB's passes. I've had cases here GIB passes 2 or three times. I have gambled on a sacrifice (after passing) only have GIB bid to the next level. On play, my bid was correct and would have given a good board. With GIB's bid, it is a bottom board.

What I take from this and my other experiences is that GIB's programming does not handle gambling sacrifices well. I need to remember that in my future play.

Best regards.

Mike

[smerriman]

msheald, on 2024-July-29, 04:43, said:

So, to help me learn, from this comment, it appears that GIB might think that a game is likely at the 5 level?

Had you paid for a basic robot or an advanced robot?

If a basic robot, then no, it doesn't think a game is likely at the 5 level at all. It doesn't think about the final contract at all; it's told that it can't raise spades with a doubleton spade, can't bid 2NT with a doubleton club, and has too many points to pass. 3♥ is the only bid it has left, and it doesn't care in the slightest what happens after that.

If an advanced robot, then it does think about the final contract, but not at the 5 level. It thinks about what hands you may bid Capp on (it doesn't include yours, since it's too weak), and in virtually all cases sees that passing will lead to the best final contract, so passes. Once in a rare while it will bid 3♥, but not to make game in a minor; it expects you to raise with 3 hearts, or correct to 3♠ in most other cases (which it may raise to 4). It's unlikely, but possible, that enough hands in the simulation result in that scoring better than 2♠, leading it to make the wrong conclusion. But most of the time it passes.

[msheald]

Thank you!