GIB: Steps Toward an Expert-Level Bridge-Playing Program

Matthew L. Ginsberg

Abstract: This paper describes GIB, the first bridge-playing program to approach the level of a human expert. (GIB finished twelfth in a handpicked field of thirty-four experts at an invitational event at the 1998 World Bridge Championships.) We give a basic overview of the algorithms used, describe their strengths and weaknesses, and present the results of experiments comparing GIB to both human opponents and other programs.