Unimpressed by computer bridge programs to date, I was skeptical about GIB, Ginsberg's Intelligent Bridgeplayer, which has just appeared in Australia, but agreed to give it a try. Surprise, surprise. GIB bids well and its play and defence are superior to any other program I have seen so far. No wonder it is a regular competitor on OKbridge, the internet bridge provider. The graphics are excellent, large and clear. You can play random deals or you can play pre-existing deals from its library. For the real bridge enthusiast, this is a huge bonus, for GIB comes with deals from eight major national and international championships played in 1997 and 1998. There are over 300 deals from the 1997 Bermuda Bowl, the world teams championship, including eight matches from the qualifying rounds and six 16-board sessions from the final. That in itself would justify the price. After downloading a match, you play one hand with GIB playing the other three. At the end of play, you are shown the results at the other two tables. If you wish, you click on their results and the bidding and play at the other two tables are provided. You can thus see how they outbid or outplayed you (or vice-versa). It is as though you are playing in the championship yourself. On the following deal from the 1997 Bermuda Bowl final, cover the East-West cards. South opens one club, West doubles, North bids one diamond, East one spade and North-South finish in three clubs. West starts with ace and king of spades, followed by a third spade to East, who exits with a heart, won by the ace. How do you tackle the trumps? Dealer East : Nil vulnerable 10 8 2 7 2 K Q 9 8 2 A J 10 A K 3 Q J 5 4 K Q 8 3 10 9 5 4 10 5 4 J 7 3 6 4 2 Q 8 9 7 6 A J 6 A 6 K 9 7 5 3 France won the 1997 Bermuda Bowl, no thanks to this deal. At one table, Bob Hamman and Bobby Wolff (USA) bid 1NT : 3NT. The defence took four spade tricks but Wolff, South, won the heart switch and continued with a club to the ace and a club back. He now had nine tricks for +400. At the other table, the early bidding was as given. East's one spade was passed to North who doubled for takeout. South bid two clubs, raised to three by North, and there it ended. After three rounds of spades and a heart shift, declarer (Michel Perron) took the ace and led a club to the ten. One down. 10 Imps to the USA. Holding the West cards on GIB replay, I made a very light takeout double of South's one club opening. North redoubled, East bid one spade (good), passed to North who now bid two clubs (two diamonds is better). South continued with three clubs, all pass. The spade ace was led, followed by the king, East signalling 5-then-4. East won the third spade and switched to a heart. The GIB declarer rose with the ace and played a club to the ace and a club back. This produced ten tricks. As West has doubled for takeout, West is likely (but not certain) to be short in clubs. The club queen is more likely to be with the club length. Hence one should play East for the trump queen. When GIB plays a hand better than a world champion, it is hard not to be impressed. To run GIB, you need sophisticated software including at least a CD ROM, a 133 MHz Pentium processor, 32 MB of memory, a SVGA (800 x 600) or better graphics card and Windows 95 or later. The GIB CD can be obtained from The Bridge Shop (Tel 02-9967-0644). It may seem pricey at $A125 but frankly, I think it's a bargain.