Boots – shoes – and leggings
Patent
1989-07-06
1993-04-06
Hayes, Gail O.
Boots, shoes, and leggings
273148R, A63F 100
Patent
active
052008908
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for an electronic bridge game.
The commercial success of electronic chess games has encouraged manufacturers to make electronic bridge games, but the undertaking has turned out to be much more difficult than for chess, since the bridge game apparatus must be capable of playing with one, two, three, or four players actually present, and it cannot make do, during play, with determining the best course of action over four or five turns ahead.
Bridge game apparatuses proposed in the past are not satisfactory, for numerous reasons:
in these machines playing cards are replaced by luminous symbols, and this is less attractive;
they do not allow four people present to play together; and
they are incapable of giving an explanation or displaying a comment, even briefly, on an essential stage of the game.
In addition, although prior machines are capable of bidding fairly well in most cases, they turn out to be extremely poor and particularly unsatisfactory in card play.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for a bridge game, enabling the drawbacks of presently known apparatuses to be mitigated.
In particular, one object of the invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for a bridge game enabling three or four people present to play using deals prerecorded in memory, in which case the apparatus of the invention acts as a bridge tutor.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and an electronic bridge game enabling, one, two, three, or four people present to play either on recorded deals or else on deals dealt by chance, either with or without assistance from the apparatus during bidding, opening, and card play.
Another object of the invention is a method and an apparatus for a bridge game enabling one or more people present to play bridge with the assistance of the apparatus at highest competition level.
The invention thus provides a method of playing bridge by means of a computer system comprising a microprocessor, memories, and input/output units such as at least one display screen, an alphanumeric keyboard, and a playing cardreader, the method being characterized in that it consists in using the microprocessor means to control the various input/output units in order to:
record the number of players present and their places;
select a deal in a memory containing a predetermined number of recorded deals;
reconstitute the selected deal by reading the playing cards while the cards are being dealt and displaying the place of the player to receive each card as read; and
input each bid from each player present, compare that bid with corresponding bid prerecorded in the memory, correct it if necessary, and then display the final contract, together with prerecorded comments, and keep a score.
This method of the invention thus allows three or four people present to play bridge on data prerecorded in memory together with assistance from the system, at least with respect to bidding, and it allows them always to play an optimum contract.
The people also have the pleasure of playing with bridge cards which are read by a reader of an appropriate type with which the system is fitted.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the method also consists in displaying the bid made by a player so long as it is identical with the bid prerecorded in memory, and otherwise in requesting the same player to make a different bid and then in displaying the correct bid as recorded in the memory.
In variant implementations, this method further consists, after card play by the players present, in displaying the essential stages of the game prerecorded in memory together with an appropriate commentary, or else in replaying the entire card game for the edification of the players present and by way of demonstration while displaying commentaries explaining the more important stages of play.
The invention also provides a method of playing bridge by means of a computer system comprising
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"Computer Bridge-a Challenge For AI", Eick et al. Inspec Abstract No:C91025722, 1986.
"Computer Bridge", Thomas Throop, pp. 69-77, 116-134, 1983.
Hayes Gail O.
Syllogy S.A.
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