Bridge Base, Inc.

Bridge Base Incorporated was a company founded in 1990 by Fred Gitelman, president, and Sheri Winestock, vice-president, and based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Although its first two products, BASE II (1990) and BASE III (1991), were analytical tools designed for serious students of bridge, it was most famous for offering free online contract bridge through its website Bridge Base Online (BBO), with which it became synonymous. As of October 2007, it was owned by Gitelman, along with Uday Ivatury, Bill Gates, Sharon Osberg, and David Smith.[1] Bridge Base, Inc. was dissolved on February 15, 2019,[2][3] after its main product, Bridge Base Online, was sold to another company.

Bridge Base Online
Screenshot of gameplay

Bridge Base Online (BBO) is a website launched by Bridge Base, Inc. on April 23, 2001[4] offering free online multiplayer bridge play, and has since become synonymous with the company itself. Since anyone can register and play for free, 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 several languages that allow players and observers ("kibitzer") to chat at tables and other "rooms". Records of all hands played are kept, and publicly accessible, enabling comparisons with other players of the same hand. Bridge Base Online was acquired by the Entertainment group in December 2018.

Other content

In addition to bridge rooms, the site also includes 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. Many "helper" players are denoted by their yellow background in the lobby whose job is to help newer players find their feet.

The "Deal of the week" and past "Deals of the Week" are articles that examine world-class player's thinking as they play a hand, as an aide to intermediate and advanced players. Every day, there are many tournaments for individuals, pairs, or teams to compete in; some are free, and many of the rest cost $1.00 or equivalent.

Robots in BBO

Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridgeplayer (GIB) is an Artificial intelligence (AI) program presented as a robot (or "bot") that can be rented on BBO for a small fee. It plays the 2/1 game forcing system and be used to fill the seats of one or more players, or simply provide advice. Promotionally, it has also been made available free for a day from time to time. GIB is well regarded as a bridge program, though, like many other computer bridge simulators, its actions are prone to the occasional error.

American Contract Bridge League

In conjunction with the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), Bridge Base 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. Together, they also distribute a "Learn to Play Bridge" computer program. Included in the program, Gitelman has also provided a simplified bidding system which he calls Bridgebase basic. It is based on a modern Standard American bridge bidding system and allows unfamiliar partners to bid effectively together.

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, BBO partnered with ACBL and The Common Game to initiate an online platform named ACBL Virtual Clubs. This is scaling up rapidly and allows duplicate bridge clubs to hold their games via an online platform, with the majority of the game fees going to the clubs. Player eligibility is limited to ACBL members that have played at least once at that club in the past 12 months.

Vugraph usage
Main article: Vugraph

The BBO software provides pictures of cards and a chat window and has become the dominant user of the Vugraph system of relaying real-life hands online. Through use of its internet technology, BBO transmits many world-class tournaments live so that any interested BBO user can watch hands being played at a world-class tournament in near real-time. In these tournaments, someone with a computer clicks the cards that they see the competitors play so that everyone on BBO can watch. In these tournaments, the commentary is often provided by recognized bridge experts.

Notes
  1. Gitelman, Fred (October 1, 2007). "Letter from Fred". Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  2. "Bridge Base, Inc". Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  3. "SilverFlume – Nevada's Business Portal". Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  4. Gitelman, Fred (April 23, 2001). "Bridge Base Online". Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved December 24, 2009.

References
  • Seagram, Barbara; Lee, Linda (June 30, 2008). Beginning Bridge. Master Point Press. p. 203. ISBN 1-897106-33-5.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.