What's new in SimiliBridge 5.62

Several little improvements

• A new option for the card play: Players at maximum level

  I don't know if it's a good idea (you'll tell me when you use it), but it's an option for the card play I've wanted to add for a long time. Let's take, for example, a signaling technique used in defense. It's understandable that the user wouldn't activate it if he doesn't know the relevant signals. He wouldn't be able to read the signals made by his partner, and the latter might see signals where there aren't any. But if North and South play without this signaling technique, East and West do the same when they're defending. The user prefers this because he then plays against opponents of a similar skill level. This might be good initially, but in the long run, he could develop significant flaws in his card play, since his major errors are rarely penalized. Whereas if East and West are set to the maximum level, they'll make him go down much more often and may show him his flaws, especially if during the comparison the computer makes the same contract without any difficulty.

  Let's now consider the example of the attacking technique called "Loser on loser play." Suppose the user doesn't activate it because he doesn't know it or hasn't yet fully grasped it. On some deals, he will fail to make his contract, thinking there was no way to win, and this will seem confirmed when the computer, also playing without using the technique, will go down in the same way during the comparison. But if North and South are set to the maximum level, the computer during the comparison might make its contract thanks to this very simple technique, showing on which trick it was better to discard a loser instead of ruffing. This might be a good way for the user to discover new techniques and want to use them himself.

  The new option is disabled by default with the None choice selected in the Players at maximum level list. If you already play at a high level with all the card play and signaling techniques, you don't need this option. But otherwise, I encourage you, just for fun or to test yourself, to occasionally go to the rule preferences on the Card play / Various options page and select East and West or All from the "Players at maximum level" list. Note that in defense, North will always play with the same preferences as you, regardless of the selected choice, to avoid any misunderstandings between the two of you.

  Don't worry that the maximum level will make the computer too challenging for you. The complex techniques (Dummy reversal, Various maneuvers) correspond to situations you will practically never encounter. On the other hand, the most frequent techniques (Ducking to avoid the danger hand, Loser on loser play, Preference signal when giving a ruff) are simple to understand and easy to master. See some examples with deals 1 to 11 from the last corrections file (accessible via the Examples menu).