Until last week, Lia, IntoBridge’s robot, was a hybrid of Lia’s bidding and Ben’s carding, with slight improvements from our team. Since we were unable to make significant enhancements to the card play, we decided to develop a new carding system from scratch. Since last summer, our robot developer, Luc Bellicaud, along with our team, has been working on this project.
We officially launched the new carding system last week but chose not to announce it right away. We wanted to observe how IntoBridge players would react and whether they would notice the difference. Now, eight days after the release, we haven’t received a single report suggesting that the new carding system is inferior. This reassures us that we’re on the right track.
With this update, Ben is now fully retired from IntoBridge. We are incredibly grateful to Ben’s developer, Lorand Dali, for generously providing his robot for free use by the entire bridge community. His contribution has been invaluable to IntoBridge, and we deeply appreciate it!
What’s New?
Previously, Lia only showed standard count in all situations—there were no attitude or suit preference signals. Now, that has changed! Lia now plays standard attitude, standard count, and suit preference. The leads remain 3rd/5th vs suit contracts and 4th best vs NT.
We look forward to your feedback!
Easier access to convention cards
Until recently, the convention cards of Lia were only available in her mini profile, and you had to switch the system to get access to the convention card.
We’ve simplified it, adding a new option – all convention cards are available in the system picker…
Play the Same System as the Celebrity
One of the most frustrating experiences for our players has been seeing Lia bid differently at a Celebrity’s table than at their own. This happens because Lia’s level of “aggressiveness” varies across different systems.
While that hasn’t changed, we’ve added a simple new option that allows you to play the same system as the Celebrity. This ensures you get the same auction—provided you make the same bids as the Celebrity! It’s also a great opportunity to explore a new approach to bidding.
New Systems for Learners
In collaboration with English Bridge Education & Development and New Tricks Bridge, we’ve added two new systems to Lia’s arsenal. These systems are designed for learners and can be found in the system picker, where you can also view their convention cards. Both systems are based on a Strong No Trump and 5-card major openings.
Turn Off “What Would Lia Bid?”
While Lia is already a stronger player than most bridge players, she’s still not at the level of the world’s best. Some experts have mentioned that they find the “What Would Lia Bid?” suggestion distracting.
For those players, we’ve added a new option to disable this feature.
Now go try Lia’s new carding!
