Bridge Player

BRIDGE PLAYER

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Play bridge against your Spectrum with the Bridge Player. Bid

in the Acol system, use the Stayman and Blackwood

conventions as appropriate, and then play the cards.

Alternatively see all 4 hands, choose the contract and then

play the cards. Other features include a post mortem facility,

cumulative scoring, print out of hands if a ZX printer is

connected.



(C) CP SOFTWARE







TO LOAD A PROGRAM



The procedure for loading a program is described in

chapter 6 of the Sinclair SPECTRUM Instruction

Booklet. For your convenience the procedure is

summarized here.



1. Position the tape before the start of the program.



2. Ensure that the EAR socket on the SPECTRUM is

connected to the earphone socket on your tape

recorder.



3. Set the volume control to about 1/2 of maximum and

any tone controls to: treble high, bass low.

Alternatively, use levels that you have already

found to be successful on your recorder.



4. Enter LOAD "" by pressing the following keys - J

(for LOAD) symbol shift and P twice (for "") and

press the ENTER key.



5. Start the tape recorder playing.



If the program fails to load, approximate load

time, 4 minutes, press BREAK and try again with a

new volume setting. If the program still fails to

load refer to chapter 6 of the Sinclair SPECTRUM

Instruction Booklet.



R. WHEEN (C) Copyright 1983



CP SOFTWARE. NO part of this program shall be reproduced

without prior permission in writing. While

every effort has been made in the production of this

program the publisher undertakes no responsibility for

errors nor liability for damage arising from its use.

The material on this tape and inlay card, or any part

thereof, shall not be copied for use by any other

person or organization, neither shall it be loaned nor

hired.



CP SOFTWARE, 17 Orchard Lane, Prestwood, Great

Missenden, BUCKS, HP16 0NN





ABOUT "BRIDGE PLAYER"



This program allows you to play the game of bridge

without having to find three people to play with. It

does not use prepared hands: instead the hands which

you will see result from random shuffling, which is

why you will have to wait a few moments for each new

hand to appear. Although it is not a bridge tutor it

will provide enjoyable and useful practice, particularly

for beginners and intermediate players, in both

bidding and playing the cards.



On each hand, unless you elect for option 2 (see

below), you will be South and your hand will be

displayed as if you were holding the cards. Using the

Acol system you will then be able bid your own hand,

with the computer bidding the other three hands. Once

the bidding is complete North and South's hands will

be displayed and you will be able to play the hands as

declarer, with the computer playing the opponents'

hands. All legal bids are allowed including doubling

and redoubling. If, by mistake or design, you enter

an illegal bid it will not be accepted. Similarly

during the play of the cards you can play any card

which you are legally entitled to play but a revoke or

the purported play of a card not held is not accepted.



To assist the declarer, the computer will make a small

'beep' whenever a defender makes a ruff i.e. trumps

another suit led.



You do not have to bid the hand if you do not want to.

Option 2 allows you to see all four hands and then

decide what contract to play in and who is to be the

declarer. Thereafter you will be able either to play

the hand as before (i.e. playing only the declarer's

and dummy's cards) or to play all 4 hands yourself.

Whichever option is selected the computer will always

display (in addition to the 2 or 4 hands, as

appropriate) the sequential hand number, who was the

dealer, the vulnerability of North/South and East/

West, any part score and (once these are known) the

contract and who is the declarer. In addition, once

you have started to play the hand the number of tricks

won by North/South and East/West will be shown as well

as the cards played to the previous trick.



The cards played to the current trick will normally be

shown in the centre of the screen. However, if all

four hands are being shown there is not room in the

centre of the screen for this display and accordingly

this information will be given at the top right-hand

corner of the screen.



If, at any time during the play of a hand, you wish to

abandon the hand and go on to the next one, the

computer allows you to do this by entering "next"

instead of a bid.



The computer keeps the score cumulatively and after

each hand shows, in the customary format, the previous

and the new scores, including penalty points, honours,

slam points and rubber points. It does not include in

the score the results of a replayed or abandoned hand.



At the end of each hand you will have the opportunity

to see all four hands as originally dealt and then, if

you wish, to replay the cards.



If you have a printer you may wish to connect it to

your Spectrum before loading the program, since there

is a facility in the program to otain a print-out of

all four hands after the play of the cards.





THE ACOL SYSTEM AND CONVENTIONS

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The computer plays the system known as Acol with a

weak (13-15) no trump. Opening bids at the two level

are strong (with 2 Clubs being a conventional bid

showing normally 23 or more high card points) and

opening bids at the three level are pre-emptive and

weak.



A bid at the two level overa partner's no-trump is

considered as weak.



The computer understands and accepts the Stayman and

Blackwood conventions and will reply accordingly.

(For those not familiar with these conventions see

below.) However, it will not initiate these

conventions itself. Thus, if the computer bids 2

clubs in response to your '1 no-trump' it is not

Stayman but a natural (weak) bid showing a Club suit.



In leading, the computer will lead the higher of

touching honours (e.g. A from A, K; K from K, Q).



The Stayman Convention - 2 Clubs over a partner's

opening of '1 no trump' asks for the bid of a

four-card major suit if held and, if not held, for the

bid of '2 Diamonds'. If both majors are held, hearts

will be bid.



The Blackwood Convention - The bids of '4 no trumps'

and '5 no trumps' ask the partner to show the number

of Aces and Kings respectively which he holds. These

are indicated by the following responses:-



Response to '4 no trumps' Response to '5 no trumps'



0 or 4 Aces - 5 clubs 0 or 4 Kings - 6 Clubs

1 Ace - 5 Diamonds 1 King - 6 Diamonds

2 Aces - 5 Hearts 2 Kings - 6 Hearts

3 Aces - 5 Spades 3 Kings - 6 Spades





PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS



The enter your bid - To bid a suit or no-trumps enter

first the value of the bid (1, 2, etc.) then the

initial of the suit, i.e. S, H, D, C or N (for No

trumps). For example, to bid '2 No trumps', you would

enter 2N or 2n. To bid '6 Spades' you would enter 6S.



The remaining possible bids are entered as follows:-



Pass (no bid) - P (or p)

Double - D (or d)

Redouble - R (or r)



Once you have entered your bid, press the "ENTER" key.



To play a card - Enter first the suit to be played (S,

H, D or C) and then the card (A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7,

6, 5, 4, 3 or 2). For example, to play the Jack of

Hearts enter HJ.



Note that if you enter the suit alone, that will

result in the lowest card of the suit held being

played. For instance, if you hold AJ65 of diamonds

and you want to play the 5, all you need do is enter

D. This even works if you happen to hold, say, a

singleton Ace.



Once you have entered the card to be played, press the

"ENTER" key.



At the end of the hand - The result of the hand will

be shown, including the number of overtricks (if any)

on the number of tricks by which the contract has been

defeated. The score on that rubber will also be

shown, with the score on the latest hand shown

separately. If you have a bid and make a slam, or when

the rubber is complete, or if your contract has been

defeated, an appropriate tune will be played.



Thereafter you will be given the opportunity:-



- by pressing R, to see all four hands and, if you

wish, replay them (you will be able either to have

the computer play the defenders' hand or to play

all four hands yourself). Note that the computer

will not include the results of a replayed hand in

the score (it will already have scored the hand

when first played);



- by pressing P, to have the hands, and details such

as the declarer and contract, printed out on your

printer, if this is attached;



- by pressing N, to proceed to the next hand.



Prompts are given for all these options.



General - If, at any stage during the play, you wish

to abandon the hand and proceed to the next hand,

enter "NEXT" or "next" instead of a card. The hand

you have abandoned will not then be scored.



Whether in bidding, in the play of the cards or in the

responding to prompts, the computer accepts CAPITALS

or lowecase letters.