[johnu]

benellis58, on 2026-February-27, 09:26, said:

The GIBBO robot sitting East wins his queen of hearts... and then plays his heart king...thereby giving declarer a hand entry, the whole heart suit, and the power to squeeze him (East) in diamonds and clubs, to make TWELVE tricks.

https://www.bridgeba...D6%7Cmc%7C11%7C

The problem is that West returned a 5th best ♥4, instead of a top of nothing ♥8. Of course, GIBBO doesn't use defensive signals so East is at a guess.

[benellis58]

You are 100 % correct, Johnu, and I commend you for being a frequent and diligent reader of this "bashing" thread. Your comments are always greatly appreciated. As you noted, West certainly returned the wrong heart spot and East, for that reason, had to guess. But there's a lot more that needs to be said, so here we go:

The clueless GIBBO robots rarely signal, so they often have to guess. I used the word "rarely" rather than "never" because sometimes (although certainly not often) it does appear that they are signaling...but who knows? Maybe on those rare instances that they appear (?) to be signaling, they just randomly pulled a card (as usual!) and it accidentally happened to LOOK like a correct signal. But even if they sometimes DO give a correct signal (whether on purpose or by accident), it can't be trusted because of the very fact that they almost never do it.

These inept GIBBO robots seem to treat all spot cards interchangeably, which is one of the many reasons they will never even come close to being competent defenders. Clearly the 4 of hearts was the WRONG spot for West to play at trick three.

There is another issue also, however. East should definitely have known that his imbecilic "partner" West had led an INCORRECT heart spot. Why? Because...

The GIBBO robots are atrocious...but they are at least a little better than the even worse GIB ones were, as Lorserker has made some improvements. I have noticed that the GIBBO robots play fourth best leads. Sometimes they do so to a ridiculous degree. For example, on several occasions I have seen a West robot on lead against a South NT contract make a lead of fourth best from a holding headed by the AKQ. Against a 3NT that I declared, for example, he had AKQ3 of clubs and led the THREE. Clubs were 4-3-3-3 around the table, so West COULD have taken the first four tricks. Instead, by RELIGIOUSLY adhering to his policy of fourth best leads, he allowed ME to win an undeserved and "impossible" club trick at trick one with my jack-third, gave me a tempo that I should not have had, and failed to take his TOP four club tricks. To me, that performance and others like it indicate that the ONE thing they DO respect and usually adhere to is leading fourth best, which brings us back to why East should have KNOWN that West's play of the heart 4 HAD to be wrong!

As per the Rule of Eleven, if West's heart 4 was his fourth best, that would mean that there were 7 hearts higher than the heart 4 (since eleven minus four equals seven) in the combined North, East, and South hands. BUT East sees (only) one (the stiff 10) in dummy South, and he sees (only) two (the king and queen) in his own East hand. One plus two equals (only) three, so North presumably must hold FOUR hearts higher than West's supposed fourth best lead of the 4. WHY must North hold four hearts higher than the four? Because East and South only have three combined. BUT: North followed to the first heart play with the DEUCE, so if he actually DOES have four hearts higher than the four (to satisfy the Rule of Eleven), that means that he began with FIVE hearts...but that is impossible! Why? Because he opened 1D and after his partner South bid 1S, he (North) bid INT...which he would obviously not do with FIVE hearts. Thus, East should KNOW that West led the WRONG heart spot at trick three.

Bottom line: Both West and East are, like all GIBBO robots, absolutely atrocious "defenders".

[benellis58]

Although the lead is irrelevant on this hand, since it's open and shut for 10 tricks in spades for East-West, let's criticize North anyway, just to remind ourselves how bad the GIBBO robots are.

Even though from his blinkered perspective any lead might turn out "right" or "wrong", why would he - for no reason whatsoever - lead a heart from 987? Surely a diamond, the suit his partner opened, would make more sense. But of COURSE he ruled that out, because he HATES to lead his partner's suit.

All right then, given his M.O.R.O.N.I.C. prejudice against a diamond, why not a club? Surely leading from a J107 suit is more attractive than leading from a 987 suit - EXCEPT, obviously, in the sick and twisted world inhabited by the GIBBO robots.

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/2xhuzam3

[johnu]

benellis58, on 2026-February-28, 02:17, said:

Although the lead is irrelevant on this hand, since it's open and shut for 10 tricks in spades for East-West, let's criticize North anyway, just to remind ourselves how bad the GIBBO robots are.

Even though from his blinkered perspective any lead might turn out "right" or "wrong", why would he - for no reason whatsoever - lead a heart from 987? Surely a diamond, the suit his partner opened, would make more sense. But of COURSE he ruled that out, because he HATES to lead his partner's suit.

All right then, given his M.O.R.O.N.I.C. prejudice against a diamond, why not a club? Surely leading from a J107 suit is more attractive than leading from a 987 suit - EXCEPT, obviously, in the sick and twisted world inhabited by the GIBBO robots.

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/2xhuzam3

South made a lead directing pass of 2♥ which tells partner to lead a heart. To tell partner to lead a club, South should double 2♥. To get a diamond lead, South should bid 3♣. Bridge is an easy game!

[benellis58]

There's that trademark Johnu humour that the bridge world has come to know and appreciate. Thanks again, Johnu.

[benellis58]

Not that it mattered on this hand that was open and shut for 11 North-South tricks in hearts, but why do these hopeless GIBBO robots LOVE leading stiff trumps (as West did here) and why do they LOVE returning the suit that DECLARER plays (as West also did here)? I think I know the answer to both questions: It's because they have no idea how to play bridge.

https://www.bridgeba...C4%7Cmc%7C11%7C

[benellis58]

This worked out fine, but it's a typical example of how the GIBBO robots basically always compete - often on AIR - when their partner opens 1NT and the opponents intervene.

Look at North's hand...and I have seen him do it even on WEAKER hands. I saw him do it with a "trump" suit that HE introduced on a similar auction with 5432, and a total of 3 HCP.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it's just plain stupid.

https://www.bridgeba...CH6%7Cmc%7C8%7C

[benellis58]

Note East's CRAVEN first pass. Yes, I see that he has "only" 6 HCP. I also see that he's 6-2-0-5 with ELEVEN cards in the two unbid suits, and that it's the ONE level. How do you spell "wimp"?

https://www.bridgeba...S3%7Cmc%7C12%7C

[benellis58]

DIAMOND lead? WHY? A heart lead would seem normal, although as is often the case, it's true that "anything" might or might not have worked, depending on the random layout.

BUT...for what it's worth (hi there, Buffalo Springfield!), on THIS random hand the "normal" heart lead would have been better for EW than the abnormal diamond. Maybe that's WHY "normal" is NORMAL!

https://www.bridgeba...C9%7Cpc%7CCQ%7C

[benellis58]

Another USELESS bid, given the pathetic GIB definition and the context of the particular auction in question, by the GIBBO robot sitting North:

3S is defined as "5+ diamonds; 12+ HCP; 13 total points; forcing". What is even the point of having garbage like this in the hopeless GIBBO system? Given the auction at the point North makes his useless 3S bid, he should instead either just pass 2NT or raise it to 3NT. All his useless 3S call does is basically force South to bid 3NT anyway.

https://www.bridgeba...HK%7Cmc%7C11%7C

[benellis58]

At trick two, East covers the jack of clubs. While it's true that the play rates to be irrelevant and in fact was irrelevant, it's still a play that can never gain and that on some layouts will lose. In other words, a bad play. In other words, a typical GIBBO robot play!

https://www.bridgeba...H6%7Cmc%7C12%7C

[benellis58]

Does East lead clubs, the unbid suit? No, he leads diamonds, the suit South opened.

At trick three, does West play second hand low in hearts? No, he plays second hand high. It didn't really matter on this layout, but why would he do it?

https://www.bridgeba...CC9%7Cmc%7C9%7C

[benellis58]

GIB definition of 3D: "Jump raise - 4+ clubs; 4+ diamonds; 3- card clubs; 16-18 total points".

Let's examine this pile of trash piece by filthy piece:

"Jump raise": The usual unnecessary, obvious, annoying, insulting type of nonsense that INFECTS the beginning of far too many GIB definitions.

"4+ clubs": NO. WRONG. INACCURATE. Given that the definition later says "4+ diamonds", West MUST have at least FIVE clubs, because with equal length in the minors he would have opened 1D, not 1C.

"4+ diamonds": Okay, fair enough.

"3- card clubs": What? WHAT? WHAT???!!!Earlier in this SAME definition, it stated that West has "4+ clubs" and even THAT was too few, because as explained above, he must have at least five. But now, all of a sudden, the ASTOUNDINGLY bad GIB definition is contradicting ITSELF (!) and stuupidly (and of COURSE incorrectly!) saying that he has "3- clubs". How could utter GARBAGE such as this even have been written, but once it WAS written, how could it not have been seen and corrected? The GIB definitions are consistently pathetic!

https://www.bridgeba...H5%7Cmc%7C12%7C

[benellis58]

East leads a club, dummy's first suit, because the GIBBO robots LOVE leading the ENEMY'S suits.

West wins his diamond king at trick two and at trick three immediately plays...another diamond...because they LOVE continuing the suit DECLARER just played.

At trick five, West belatedly leads the spade 3, declarer North plays the 5, and East, with K10974, and seeing a spade void in dummy South, plays his...SEVEN, right? No, wrong. He's a GIBBO robot, so HE needlessly and misleadingly plays his 10.

Now, regardless of whether or not any or all of these plays mattered, why would any of them be made?

https://www.bridgeba...C2%7Cmc%7C11%7C

[benellis58]

North-South score 64.3 % on this board for making 1S plus three overtricks. On other layouts there obviously could have been other results, but regardless of what happened here or what would have happened on a different layout, I think it is clear for North to bid a forcing 1NT rather than to pass.

Passing with North's hand is a losing bridge style, something the GIBBO robots EXCEL at.

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/ycksndt4

[benellis58]

In #715, the post directly above this one, the GIBBO robot sitting North made an incorrect and cowardly pass.

On this hand, he was much braver...but even MORE stupid, INCREDIBLY stupid in fact, INCREDIBLY stupid in fact EVEN for a GIBBO robot. Coincidentally, N0rth-South scored 64.3 % on this board also, just as they had done for the previous shining example of robotic imbecility.

Check out North's bid of 3S here...on 932 (!!!), 83, Q984, A1062! While we're pointing out how I.D.I.O.T.I.C. and hopeless the GIBBO robots are, let's not forget to mention that the GIB definitions are among the worst ever written in the history of mankind. The definition for this *****ous 3S bid, for example, is a spine-tinglingly USELESS "5+ clubs; 8+ HCP; 8- total points". Let's dive into this CESSPOOL of a definition piece by slimy, fetid piece:

"5+ clubs". I don't see why the HELL bidding two SPADES should show at least five CLUBS...but then again North doesn't HAVE five clubs. He has only four, which he ALREADY showed with his earlier 2C bid. And, BTW, he is not adhering to his own GIB definition.

"8+ HCP". Well, it IS your (stunningly bad) system, Mr. GIB, so I'll take your word for it...but then how come North actually has ONLY six HCP, a full TWO less than the MINIMUM of 8 "promised" by the definition...and a staggering 31 less than a potential 37 (since the typically lazy GIB statement of "8+" , with no upper limit, literally means 8-37)?

And THEN we're informed that the bid shows "8- total points", which illustrates a common DELUSION found in COUNTLESS GIB definitions. It INCORRECTLY implies that "total" points can be LESS than HCP. No, Mr. GIB, they CANNOT, and it would be nice if you could learn that SIMPLE, BASIC fact.

Note that one subject NOT discussed AT ALL in this gloriously stupid JOKE of a definition is...SPADES. The robot bid two SPADES but the typically WORTHLESS GIB definition has not even a single SYLLABLE about SPADES!

Three Questions: One: Why on EARTH would any bridge player, even one as hopelessly incompetent as a GIBBO robot, ever even THINK of bidding 2S on this hand? Two: How is it possible that anyone or anything could play bridge as completely and staggeringly badly as the GIBBO robots? Three: Why are the GIB definitions SO often nothing but absolute HOGWASH?

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/2p8pfsbm

[benellis58]

Have I mentioned that I have nothing but contempt for the GIBBO robots, the GIBBO system, and the GIB definitions? Oh, I have? Sorry for the repetition then. But I'll add that despite my DEEP contempt for them, it somehow manages to become EVRN deeper every day. Amazingly, I enjoy the robot games anyway, but they would be INFINITELY more enjoyable with a decent system, decent definitions, a decent robot partner, and decent robot opponents.

[benellis58]

East's 3NT is defined as, among other things, showing "14-21 HCP". He actually has only 13 HCP. Now, if he chooses to bid 3NT with his hand, I have no problem, regardless of whether or not his choice is successful. BUT...if he is GOING to bid 3NT with "only" 13 HCP, and obviously he IS going to do it, since he DID DO IT HERE, then...change the definition so that it will be accurate and honest!

AND, by the way, would he REALLY bid only 3NT if he had 21 HCP (!), as the definition claims he might?

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/426y3hb5

[benellis58]

Typically stupid lead by a typically stupid GIBBO robot:

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/2p9che8p

[benellis58]

The GIB definitions here are the usual repulsive, inaccurate, untrue, annoying garbage that we have come to expect, but that's not even the story here. The story is West's bidding "judgment".

Why is he opening his hand...with a mere 10 HCP (which is less than the MINIMUM promised by his own GIB definition)... and a LOUSY spade suit...in FIRST seat...VULNERABLE?

https://tinyurl.brid...se.com/y4sjh5x7