     --------------------------------------------------------
            README for SmartBridge Version 3.0
		      7  - March - 1999           
     --------------------------------------------------------
	       
SMARTBRIDGE - A new bridge program for Windows.

This document contains only a brief description of the product and its features, along with instructions for its installation. Quite detailed documentation is included in the archive, and can be read after installation.


--------
CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
INSTALLATION
HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
SHAREWARE vs. REGISTERED VERSION
LIST OF SMARTBRIDGE NEEDED FILES
WHAT'S NEW
SOME TIPS
REGISTRATION and PAYMENT TERMS

----------


INTRODUCTION
============

Here is a new version of SmartBridge for Windows! The program had a good success, so I decided to spend some more time on it...

What can you do now ? Some examples:

You can play rubber, duplicate or pairs (10 tables) against computer, exercise your bid with more than 40 conventions, play duplicate against champions (game loaded from a Portable Bridge Notation file) or just view the stored games (1200 games from 13th Cap Gemini WTT 1999 are zipped with the program). Computer gives hints, warns when the bid is not recommended, and plays automatically, when requested. Suit division probabilities can be shown when playing from declarer.

Do you want to exercise your bid ? You have now more than 40 conventions (5 Card Major, Canap, Roman Clubs, Forcing 2 over 1, Forcing 1NT, Rever, Jacobi 2NT, Gambling 3NT, Michael cue-bids, Unusual 2NT, Quantitative 4NT, Inverted Minors, Splinters, Weak Jump Overcall, Intermediate Jump Overcall, Strong Jump Overcall, Weak 1NT, Strong 1NT, Variable 1NT, Basic Stayman, Extended Stayman, Forcing Stayman, Jacobi Transfer, Texas Transfer, Minor Suit Stayman, Minor Suit Transfer, Weak-2 openings, Pre-empt bids, Strong 2C, Roman 2D, Crodo 2C, Flannery 2D, Astro, Landy, Lebensohl, Gerber, DOPI, Grand Slam Force, Cue-bids, Blackwood, Roman Key Card Blackwood, Takeout double, Negative double). 

Do you want to play against champions ? Select Options: Play: Duplicate, and then Load a game from a .pbn file (I have more than 10.000 games from top level tournaments available; others will come) and ReDeal it; bid and play, and get a score (computer compares your open room result with the champions result, from the file, used as closed room). Rebid, replay, analyse, find your errors. Or you can just view (Set: Viewer) the stored games.

Do you want to store your games ? You can store your games or games from tournaments in a .PBN file, using a powerful editor, generate deals (random or special distributions, balanced and unbalanced, singletons or voids, fit or misfit, any high-card points) and print them. Edit the deal, then bid and play manually (Set: Human All), eventually save the game in a .pbn file.

If you're a skilled Bridge player, you might enjoy analyzing difficult deals, so SmartBridge provides an interface to GIB (Options: Play: GIB); give it some minutes, and wait for the result.

The look is up to Windows Solitaire standards, and if you have a sound card, you'll enjoy the voice comments and MIDI-based music. Several appearance and behavior settings can be adjusted, and an extremely detailed Help file is included. 

New version has a new bidding system (new hand evaluation, new conventions) and new features (attitude and suit preference carding, takebacks, pairs).

It has been tested against Richard Pavlicek (http://www.gate.net/~pavlicek/bidprac1.txt) basic auctions deals (deals are included in the rp_test.pbn file), with the following results:

1F17(beginner review I): 120/120 (100%)
1N17(beginner review II): 120/120 (100%)
2U17(intermediate review I): 114/120 (95%)
2V17(intermediate review II): 113/120 (94%)

And it's faster and more comfortable (try to use the spacebar, and the keyboard !).



SmartBridge is compliant with PBN 1.0 standard.

PBN stands for "Portable Bridge Notation" (PBN). PBN is based on "Portable Game Notation" (PGN), a standard for the representation of chess games. PBN has been designed with several pretty criteria in mind. PBN is an open, portable standard. It is publicly available for users and software developers. PBN is not subject to any copyrights. The PBN notation is straightforward and comprehensible. A human is able to read and write the PBN notation easily. 

The PBN standard is based on textual files, instead of binary files. A lot of PBN data, including comment, are text strings.
 
PBN Contact information: 	
Tis Veugen, Schubertlaan 2, 5583 XW Waalre The Netherlands.
Homepage: http://www.IAEhv.nl/users/veugent
(you can find here also links to .pbn archives)
Email: veugent@IAEhv.nl
Telephone: +31.40.2218210

With SmartBridge it's possible to observe bridge games, stored in .pbn files, for both the bidding and the playing phases, going ahead step-by-step, or automatically. 

Most of the game related info (player names, teams, result, scores etc.) are shown, and can be edited when saving a new game. The loaded game can be either simply viewed, or you can bid and play, as for a randomly generated game. Moreover, all the games played using SmartBridge are saved in a <.pbn> file, and can be recalled later. 




INSTALLATION
============

The program is packaged as a SMARTBRI.ZIP archive, containing:
- README.TXT (this file)
- FILE_ID.DIZ (short description)
- EXTRACT.EX_ (compressed self-extracting archive)
- EXTRACT.PIF
- SETUP.EXE (setup program)

Run SETUP.EXE. You will be asked to enter a folder to install from (e.g. A:\ if you install from floppy disk, otherwise the folder where you unzipped the downloaded archive), and a folder to install to (default is C:\SBRIDGE3).

Please note that:

1. All the needed programs are expanded in the SmartBridge directory, nothing is written outside ! (I don't want to risk crippling other applications)

2. So, you don't need an unistall function: simply delete the directory

3. *** YOU NEED VBRUN300.DLL ***   I don't distribute it. It is often present in the Windows directory. If not, you can download it from the Web. For instance: 
<http://www.winsite.com/info/pc/win3/util/vbrun300.zip>

4. If you want to use GIB, you have to download it from the Web, and copy it to the SmartBridge directory. Let me know if you have problems.

5. Check your MS-DOS icon properties (C:\WINDOWS\_default.pif), and verify that MS-DOS program run is enabled when iconized.

6. Help file may have problem with Windows-NT. Let me know, I will send you an older Help file, compatible with NT.


Should the setup program fail, you can install manually:

- make a directory (e.g. C:\SBRIDGE3)
- copy all the unzipped files in that directory
- rename EXTRACT.EX_ to EXTRACT.EXE
- execute EXTRACT.EXE
- the program EXTRACT.EXE will autoexpand (see below for the list)
- close the DOS application "extract" (when finished !)
- now you can run SMBRIDGE.EXE and/or read SMART.HLP
- if all is OK, delete EXTRACT.EXE
- if you want, you can create shortcuts etc.

And now, I hope you enjoy the program.


HARDWARE/SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
==============================

The program needs at least a 486/33 MHz processor with 8 MB RAM.

The required disk space is around 5 MB.

The program was developed and tested on Windows'95.



SHAREWARE vs. REGISTERED VERSION
================================

If you are using the unregistered version of SmartBridge, I have granted you a limited license to try out the software to determine its appropriateness for your needs. This evaluation (or demo) version includes all features of the program, and is not crippled in any way.

There is practically only one major limit: evaluation version allows for 20 different random hands and 2 conditioned hands only (for each type of bias).

Registered version will allow you to generate up to 20000 different hands (10000 random + 10000 conditioned) for each registration code. I will send you as many codes as you need.

Other differences:
- no more displaying that you are evalauting the software
- registered version shows the registered user name in the opening screen
- GIB thinking time is limited to 10 seconds
- demo version allows only one "Edit hand" for run
- demo version allows only one "Modify hand" for run
- demo version allows only one "Load <.pbn> game" for run
- some <.pbn> tags are overwritten using the demo version

Once registered, you will receive a personalized code, to be stored in the file code.dat, that will remove the shareware messages and unlock the program.  The code will make all future 3.xx versions fully functional. 

After registration, all you have to do is download the latest version from the Web.

Please note that the above list is the comprehensive set of limitations associated with the shareware version of the product. I have not included bugs or poor performance in the shareware version as an incentive for you to register. I will do my best to improve the product with further releases that will hopefully overcome these limitations. 




LIST OF SMARTBRIDGE NEEDED FILES
================================

SmartBridge directory must contain the following 72 files:

SMBRIDGE EXE     2.048.218  07/03/99  13.26 smbridge.exe
SMART    HLP       203.343  27/02/99  10.52 Smart.hlp
SMART_IN CNT         3.828  23/02/99   7.42 smart_in.cnt
REGISTER EXE       128.962  21/02/99  11.50 register.exe
ROUND15  PBN        38.124  03/03/99   8.13 ROUND15.PBN
ROUND14  PBN        38.030  03/03/99   8.13 ROUND14.PBN
ROUND13  PBN        38.938  03/03/99   8.31 ROUND13.PBN
ROUND12  PBN        38.362  03/03/99   8.13 ROUND12.PBN
ROUND11  PBN        37.646  03/03/99   8.12 ROUND11.PBN
ROUND10  PBN        38.850  03/03/99   8.12 ROUND10.PBN
ROUND9   PBN        38.210  03/03/99  18.56 ROUND9.PBN
ROUND8   PBN        38.166  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND8.PBN
ROUND7   PBN        38.611  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND7.PBN
ROUND6   PBN        38.252  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND6.PBN
ROUND5   PBN        37.353  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND5.PBN
ROUND4   PBN        37.661  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND4.PBN
ROUND3   PBN        37.815  03/03/99   8.14 ROUND3.PBN
ROUND2   PBN        37.213  03/03/99  19.26 ROUND2.PBN
ROUND1   PBN        38.812  03/03/99   8.13 ROUND1.PBN
RP_TEST  PBN        16.179  21/02/99  11.28 rp_test.pbn
CODE     DAT             1  22/04/98  19.39 Code.dat
DOWN     WAV         5.260  13/04/98  19.39 down.wav
OTRICKS  WAV         8.690  13/04/98  19.21 otricks.wav
OTRICK   WAV         8.514  13/04/98  19.21 otrick.wav
WITH     WAV         4.600  13/04/98  19.20 with.wav
MADE     WAV        14.762  13/04/98  19.17 made.wav
WEST     WAV         5.786  13/04/98  19.16 west.wav
TOPSCORE WAV         8.908  13/04/98  19.15 topscore.wav
SS4      WAV         5.324  13/04/98  19.14 ss4.wav
SS3      WAV         7.136  13/04/98  19.14 ss3.wav
SS2      WAV         5.078  13/04/98  19.13 ss2.wav
SS1      WAV         6.812  13/04/98  19.13 ss1.wav
SOUTH    WAV         6.082  13/04/98  19.12 south.wav
SIGIOCA  WAV         5.208  13/04/98  19.12 sigioca.wav
S4       WAV         5.820  13/04/98  19.10 S4.wav
S3       WAV         6.922  13/04/98  19.10 S3.wav
S2       WAV         6.084  13/04/98  19.09 S2.wav
S1       WAV         6.802  13/04/98  19.09 S1.wav
S0       WAV         8.922  13/04/98  19.09 S0.wav
REDOUBLE WAV         6.282  13/04/98  19.08 redouble.wav
REDOUBLD WAV        10.072  13/04/98  19.08 redoubld.wav
PASSO    WAV         4.982  13/04/98  19.06 passo.wav
PASSED   WAV         7.662  13/04/98  19.05 passed.wav
NORTH    WAV         5.202  13/04/98  19.05 north.wav
MORTO    WAV         7.158  13/04/98  19.04 morto.wav
LEADER   WAV         6.474  13/04/98  19.04 leader.wav
ILCONTR  WAV        10.648  13/04/98  19.03 ilcontr.wav
GRAZIE   WAV        14.206  13/04/98  19.02 grazie.wav
GIOCAVA  WAV        10.590  13/04/98  19.02 giocava.wav
EAST     WAV         5.342  13/04/98  19.01 east.wav
DOUBLED  WAV         5.520  13/04/98  19.00 doubled.wav
DOUBLE   WAV         4.812  13/04/98  19.00 double.wav
DEVIRISP WAV        12.304  13/04/98  18.59 devirisp.wav
DECLARER WAV         9.644  13/04/98  18.58 declarer.wav
DEALER   WAV         7.652  13/04/98  18.58 dealer.wav
7        WAV         6.510  13/04/98  18.57 7.wav
6        WAV         5.594  13/04/98  18.57 6.wav
5        WAV         5.864  13/04/98  18.56 5.wav
4        WAV         5.670  13/04/98  18.56 4.wav
3        WAV         5.522  13/04/98  18.55 3.wav
2        WAV         3.960  13/04/98  18.54 2.wav
1        WAV         4.510  13/04/98  18.54 1.wav
WELCOME  WAV        24.446  03/01/98  13.21 welcome.wav
SB       MID        10.177  05/12/97  20.18 sb.mid
COMMDLG  DLL        89.248  15/02/97  12.54 COMMDLG.DLL
REGISTER HLP        16.454  16/01/97  15.39 register.hlp
THREED   VBX        64.432  16/07/93   0.00 THREED.VBX
MCI      VBX        30.112  28/04/93   0.00 MCI.VBX
CMDIALOG VBX        18.688  28/04/93   0.00 CMDIALOG.VBX
PICCLIP  VBX        15.840  28/04/93   0.00 PICCLIP.VBX


WHAT'S NEW
==========

1.0
First released BETA version.

1.01
Bidding errors corrected.
Play of the hand errors corrected.
Modified help.

1.02
Bidding errors corrected.
Modified Summary message.
Atout suit now is on the left.

1.03
Display errors corrected.
Scoring errors corrected: scores were always computed as vulnerable.
  (reported by francesco_zek@rocketmail.com)
Bid errors corrected: it was possible to redouble partner; it was not always possible to double opponents.
  (reported by francesco_zek@rocketmail.com)
Cue-bids have been introduced.
Rubber summary window improved.
Play summary window introduced.
Estimate window introduced.
If only one card remains in a suit, it is played automatically
  (hint by mario.cucci@iol.it)

1.04
New graphic functions (several decks, desktop colors).
Takeback during play.
New .mid file

1.1
First market released version. 
Automatic Setup program.
Uncompressed program information (readme.txt, file_id.diz).
Option window splits into 3 windows, and provides help.
It's possible to define up to 3 convention systems.
It's possible to associate convention systems and play styles to any line (2 lines for rubber, 4 lines for duplicate).
Much stronger card play with GIB (see TIPS).
Floating windows.
New .wav files (different voice, six more files).


2.0
Bug fixed: V1.1 didn't work with more than 64K colors
Bug fixed: V1.1 didn't find file <register.exe>
Many improvements to the bid, the play and the look and feel.
An improved Editor allows to input (and/or Modify) a given hand.
It's possible to bid and play manually a game from all positions (Human player = All).
All the played games are saved in the <smart.pbn> file.
It's possible to save a game in a user defined <.pbn> file.
It's possible to load a game from a <.pbn> file, and bid and play it.
It's possible to view a game loaded from a <.pbn> file.
Option window modified.
New Vulnerable sequence for duplicate (according to usual marking of boards).


2.1
Many 2.0 bugs fixed:
-gives an overflow after dealing hand n.330
-redoubled undertricks score
-does not write ScoreIMP and Competition tags in PBN output
-duplicates Vulnerable tags (second one should be Declarer)
-force bid (Set) does not work when forcing NT
-takeback with Viewer leaves some covered decks on the table
-load PBN allows only 2 characters for the Board field (4 needed)
-several bid and play bugs
New features:
-it is possible to set the risk when forcing the bid (Set)
-suit division probabilities can be shown when playing from declarer
 (odds are automatically updated during play)
-play summary can be invoked during play to remind already played cards
-viewer game list automatically positioned on the next game 
-new layout for high resolution screen (1024 x 768 or higher)
(thanks to Francesco Zecchini and Tis Veugen for bug reports and tips)


3.0
Solved a problem with Win-NT ("out of stack" after some Deal's or ReDeal's)
New features:
- New bidding system, with more than 40 conventions
- New hand evaluation
- Pairs tournament with 10 tables
- Duplicate against champions
- Attitude and suit preference carding
- Current deal number can be selected at the startup
- Card selection by keyboard (PageUp-Down + Enter)
- New Help file



TIPS
====

The program needs at least a 486 processor with 8 MB RAM. With slow processors/less RAM, starting requires to be patient (windows loading). Some graphics (card redrawing) can also be slow.

Best results with Pentium, 16 MB RAM, 64K colors and at least 800 x 600 resolution. With less resolution large cards should be used (Options - Large cards).

The play result is saved in a smart.pbn file, which is always growing. You may need to rename it or delete, when too big. Also, loading too big pbn files can be slow, and saturate the memory; keep the files to be loaded small.

Several windows are opened and are floating on top of the main window. They are automatically positioned, but they can be moved not to hide cards. With higher resolution, windows can be arranged in a way to be all visible.

Make sure that .wav and .mid channels are active: .wav files must be necessarily present, .mid files are optional. The program plays in sequence .mid files found in the directory. 

Activate Options: Print to print the deal.

Current deal is always stored in hand.hnd file, and the played game in the smart.pbn file. In case of errors, please send me the error report together with the smart.pbn file. Smart.pbn file will grow; you may need to rename it (or delete) after a certain time.

GIB is a program developed by Matthew L. Ginsberg and uses techniques from artificial intelligence to build the world's first expert-level computer bridge player. GIB has successfully solved more deals than other competitors, providing evidence that its card play is at a level far superior to that of any other program. 

SmartBridge uses GIB.exe, version 1.2.10, released 3/27/97;  it is approximately 40% as fast as the production version. To play reasonably well, GIB requires a 100 MHz Pentium and at least 16MB of memory. In this configuration, GIB plays very well given at least 30 seconds per play. Since GIB takes time, you may want to stop it: if you press Claim, GIB ends its move (you must wait), then the hand is quickly completed (moves made by SmartBridge); if you press Deal or ReDeal, the hand is interrupted, and restarted with new or old deal (you must bid again).

GIB COPYRIGHT: Copyright in the GIB programs is by Just Write, Inc. Just Write retains all rights to the programs themselves. Permission is granted for use BUT NOT REDISTRIBUTION. Therefore SmartBridge only provides the interface. You must download the program from the Web, and put it into the SmartBridge directory. If the program is not present, SmartBridge plays according to own algorithms.



REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT TERMS
==============================

SmartBridge is not a free program, but rather is distributed as Shareware for purposes of evaluation. This gives you the opportunity to evaluate SmartBridge as long as you need; if you like the product, want to use the full functions, and encourage further development, you should register it. 

Registration is $25.

Registration can be done in the following ways:

I accept postal money orders, personal checks, bank checks, cash directly in the mail, for the following currencies and prices: (but such payments are at the sender's risk, I don't guarantee in case of loss):				
                                program	diskettes
ITL,italian lire		40.000  10.000
USD,US dollars			25	6
GBP,british pounds		15	5
EUR,european EURO		25	5
FRF,french francs		160	40
DEM,deutch marks		50	10
(prices have been rounded to banknote values; for other currencies please refer to official exchange rates, e.g.: <http://quote.yahoo.com/m3>, and round to the banknote higher value).
Print out the order form, fill it with all the required data, include it with your check or cash wrapped in paper to make it less obvious and send it to me.

If you have no time to go to bank, post office etc., or you don't live in Italy, the best way is to use Kagi Shareware Payment Processing Service.

This service handles the processing of the shareware fee. It accepts many different payment methods such as: US Check, Money Order, Cash (in many different currencies: Australian AUD, Austrian ATS, Belgian BEF, Canadian CAD, Danish DKK, French FRF, German DEM, Greek GRD, HongKong HKD, Irish IEP, Italian ITL, Japanese JPY, Dutch NLG, Norwegian NOK, Singaporean SGD, Spanish ESP, Swedish SEK, Swiss CHF, British GBP and American USD), credit cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diner's Club, Discover), First Virtual payments, and Invoice. Sensitive information, like credit card numbers, is encoded for better security.  

Please use the REGISTER program packaged with the product, and follow the instructions in register.hlp. REGISTER program can also be run from SmartBridge starting window.  For more information go to <http://www.kagi.com/> on the WEB, or send email to <support@kagi.com>.  

In all the cases, I send the registration code after the transaction has been successfully completed (by e-mail this can require less than 3 days).

If you want floppy disks, I can ship them by mail, with additional 6$ fee for expenses. 

If you have an e-mail address and you provide it with your order, then I will automatically send you notification on the availability of major new releases of SmartBridge, as they become available. If it is a version 3.xx upgrade, then your current registration will be accepted by the new software.

In any case, please fill in the following informations:

First name:
Last name:
Street:
Street number:
City:
[State:]
[Postal code:]
Country:
[Phone:]
[Fax:]
[e-mail:]
[x] standard price $25
[ ] additional charge for floppy disks $6

My address:

Francesco Barcio
Viale Abruzzo 154
66013 Chieti (CH)
Italy

My e-mail:

pes136k1@pe.nettuno.it
francesco@kagi.com

Another program from the author:
SmartPBNViewer, a powerful program to read ".pbn" (Portable Bridge Notation) files.
(see <http://www.IAEhv.nl/users/veugent> for details about the format)

No warranty is offered with the software.

This software and documentation are provided for evaluation only, on an "as is" basis. The author disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether expressed or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantabilitiy or fitness for a particular purpose. The author shall have no liabilty for any indirect, consequential, or incidental damage resulting from the use of the software.

