The Orbis World Computer Bridge Championship
The 3rd World Computer Bridge Championship took place as part of the WBF's Orbis World Bridge Championships, held in Bermuda. The ACBL hosted the first two championships. The 1997 Baron Barclay World Computer Bridge Championship was held in Albuquerque, NM during the summer NABCs, and the 1998 Baron Barclay/OKbridge World Computer Bridge Championship was held in Chicago, IL during the summer NABC. This year's World Computer Bridge Championship was co-hosted by the WBF and ACBL and sponsored by Orbis Investment Management Limited. Al Levy, a member of the ACBL Board of Directors, is the creator of the World Computer Bridge Championship and acted as the organizer and coordinator of this year's event.
A web page for contestants was set up which included all Conditions of Contest, Rules and Regulations, contestants Convention Cards, and entrant's information. http://members.aol.com/allevy/WorldComputerBridgeChampionship
Eight computer programs from around the world competed in the Orbis World Computer Bridge Championship. The event started on January 16th with the eight participants playing a 10-board round robin. The top four programs from the round robin played a 38-board semifinal match on January 19th and the winners played a 54-board final on January 20th.
The standings at the end of the round robin were:
| Program / versus | Total | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 | GIB (USA)
www.gibware.com |
100 |
X |
14 |
11 |
16 |
7 |
19 |
16 |
17 |
| 2 | Wbridge5 (France)
ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/yvescostel |
99 |
6 |
X |
19 |
13 |
16 |
7 |
18 |
20 |
| 3 | Micro Bridge (Japan)
www.threeweb.ad.jp/~mcbridge |
91 |
9 |
1 |
X |
18 |
15 |
15 |
13 |
20 |
| 4 | Bridge Buff (Canada)
www.bridgebuff.com |
70 |
4 |
7 |
2 |
X |
12 |
20 |
5 |
20 |
| 5 | Q-Plus Bridge (Germany)
www.q-plus.com |
66 |
13 |
4 |
5 |
8 |
X |
11 |
14 |
11 |
| 6 | Blue Chip Bridge (UK)
www.bluechipbridge.co.uk |
58 |
1 |
13 |
5 |
0 |
9 |
X |
11 |
19 |
| 7 | Bridge Baron (USA)
www.bridgebaron.com |
57 |
4 |
2 |
7 |
15 |
6 |
9 |
X |
14 |
| 8 | Meadowlark Bridge (USA)
rrnet.com/meadowlark |
19 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9 |
1 |
6 |
X |
In the semifinals (38 boards plus full carryover from 10-round robin):
GIB (+21) beat Bridge Buff 118-79
Wbridge5 (+32) beat Micro Bridge 118-79
In the finals (54 boards plus full carryover from the round robin):
GIB (+11) beat Wbridge5 178-77 (curtailed after 48 boards)
Prize Money:
| GIB | $2,000 |
| WBridge5 | $1,250 |
| Micro Bridge | $750 |
| Bridge Buff | $750 |
| Q-plus Bridge | $375 |
| Blue Chip Bridge | $375 |
| Bridge Baron | $375 |
| Meadowlark Bridge | $375 |