March 2024 - 7

IN Box
Bots get better
On page 27 of the November issue,
Zia, in his " Sexy Bridge " column, presented
a deal that purportedly shows
what a human bridge player is capable
of doing that is forever beyond the
capabilities of programmed computer
" bots. "
First, an opportunity to ever make
such a play is seldom or never, as
attested to by the fact that to make his
point, Zia had to construct this imaginary
deal himself. Second, this larceny
is beyond the capabilities of most
all players. Third, bots already play
better than most humans, as attested
to by Kit Woolsey's bidding comparisons,
bots vs. experts. In addition, bots
on IntoBridge also play better, as well.
In this instance, as Zia most probably
understands, his deal demonstrates
that the exception proves the
rule. The somewhat harsh reality is:
Bots will be the best bridge players
eventually. Perhaps they are already.
NAT SILVER
Lansing NY
Why he learned to
play bridge
Wikipedia says John Raimondi
of Palm Beach Gardens FL is " best
known as a creator of monumental
public sculpture, with works
throughout the United States and
several European countries. "
Raimondi's parents both developed
Alzheimer's. Doctors at Massachusetts
General Hospital called him, his
siblings and others whose parents had
Alzheimer's in for a conference. They
warned them that they were in danger
of developing the disease as well.
To ward off Alzheimer's, the doctors
suggested the family members become
involved in an activity to engage their
brain to burn off old neurons, facilitate
new neural pathways, and enhance
synaptic connections. They mentioned
crossword puzzles, if cruciverbalists
were willing to devote two-plus hours
a day to solving them. Sudoku, jigsaw
puzzles and chess were also OK, but
the maximum benefits came from
games with personal interaction and
complexity, such as bridge.
So John signed up for lessons with
Brenda Montague at The Bridge Spot
in Woburn MA. He instantly took to
the game and has been playing for over
20 years. He cites the youth champion
Ethan Wood as the partner who
bolstered his game the most. Frequent
lessons with Castor Mann also ensure
that John's game is always sharp and
evolving. He played most recently at
the District 9 Regional in Boca Raton
where he earned 54.10 gold points and
is close to becoming a Gold Life Master.
Raimondi has no plans to quit nor
falter in his devotion to bridge.
DONALD CAPLIN
Waltham MA
Minus 5200
It was with great interest and
anticipation that I anxiously read
Norman Beck's article about Jeff
Meckstroth surpassing the unimaginable
level of 100,000 masterpoints.
I thought that my team and I might
be mentioned for a unique record we
recorded against his team at a San
Diego NABC in the early 1990s.
We were representing District 20
in the top flight of the Grand National
Teams. As was common, there were
early Swiss matches to reduce the
field to 16 teams. In one match, we
faced (with considerable trepidation)
Jeff and partner Eric Rodwell at our
table. The boards were thankfully
timid with an IMP there, a push,
more IMPs there, an IMP to us, a few
IMPs there, etc. Near the end of the
match, as dealer with no one vulnerable,
I picked up dA K Q J 10 x x x and
five losers. We played gambling 3NT,
showing a solid seven-card minor
with no other stoppers, so I opened
3NT, deciding the extra diamond was
unlikely to cause a serious problem.
Things quickly got interesting when
Eric overcalled 4h, partner bid 4NT,
and Jeff doubled. I passed, as did
Eric. My partner pulled the dark blue
redouble card out of his bidding box,
and Jeff passed. I learned the game in
central Indiana where a good bidding
rule-of-thumb is that if you have
accurately described your hand to
partner, you are effectively out of the
auction. Here, I thought, " This is the
top pair in the world, but my extra diamond
should be an overtrick so what
could go wrong? " I would have been
better advised to stop my thought
process with the first eight words.
Eric and partner passed. I expected
a dummy with a diamond, the hA Q,
a black ace and Q-J-10 in the other
black suit. Wrong! With little thought,
Eric led the hA. Partner tabled four
low diamonds (at least the opponents
did not have a loser in that suit) and
three useless cards in the other three
suits. The play went quickly, allowing
Jeff to make a " Life Master of the
Universe " discard of the sA. Down
10 was minus 5200, poetically 100 for
every card in the deck.
Suggesting that 5c (which I could
have corrected to 5d) might have
been a better choice than redouble
seemed a little cruel. More to the
point, I was in shock and unable to
produce any rational thought.
Sadly, we had to compare with our
other half - two sane, calm and competent
players. We had a team agreement
that there would be no comments
on, or questions asked about results
before the comparison was complete.
I thought to myself that this would be
the acid test of that approach. As expected,
things began quietly until the
dreaded board when teammates announced,
" Plus 1010. " Partner, who had
been unusually subdued to this point,
March 2024 | Bridge Bulletin |
7
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March 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2024
