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The game of bridge has received considerably less analysis by computer than might be supposed. After all, there are many chess programs available which are capable of beating the majority of players, so why isn't the same true for bridge?

There are a number of reasons but the main one is that as a game, it is incredibly difficult to analyse. Whereas a bishop can only move according to well defined rules, a bridge player has considerably fewer restrictions when it comes to making a big or playing a card.

Side stepping some of the complexities of the game itself Colossus Bridge 4 is aimed fairly and squarely at the beginner.

Presentation-wise, the program works well. Entering a bid or playing a card is simplicity itself and there are facilities to replay or rebid a hand if you want to study alternative lines. Deals can be listed to printed if you want to save a hard copy and you can input your own hands if desired. My only niggles here are that it is not too easy to distinguish between clubs and spades and the claim option which allows you to claim some or all of the remaining tricks without having to play the rest of the hand through. The problem here is that the program does not check the validity of your claim, allowing you to cheat if you were unscrupulous enough so to do.

The standard of bidding is at best average. Allegedly following the Acol system - the one used by most British players, it copes well for the first round but then tends to get into murky waters. Wild leaps with inadequate trump support but a strong hand are commonplace but then it doesnt upgrade weaker hands with redeeming features such as good trumps and an unbalanced distribution. Once you get used to its style though, you should end up in the right contract on about 6-7 deals out of 10 where your side holds the balance of the high cards. The program's card play again isn't too hot, especially when defending and several of my contracts were allowed to be made when the computer simply failed to cash winners.

That's all well and good you say, but you know more or less what you are doing. How does the program rate for a beginner? The answer is not too bad at all. The tape is packaged with a book entitled Begin Bridge by Geoff Fox, one of the foremost bridge teachers and the combination of the two will prove an admirable introduction for anyone new to the game.

Read up on the basics of the game first and then get a feel for the mechanics of the game via the program. One last grumble though. side two of the tape contains ten demonstration hands. Apart from the fact that the program is badly bugged so you cannot actually play the hands through, the choice of deals is also poor. Elimination and endplays together with advanced avoidance techniques have no place in a beginner's package!

To conclude then, a reasonable introduction for the beginner who finds it impossible to learn from books alone but the more experienced player is likely to get extremely annoyed at lack of a real challenge.