Frequently Asked Questions.

Q: Why does the Bridge Analyser zip file have a password ?

My web server does not allow unencrypted executable files to be offered for download so I have to encypt the file.  That requires a password to decrypt the file when the zip file is opened.  However the password is visible as the name of an unused text file when you try and extract the installation file.

Q: I have heard computers can't generate enough random sequences to deal all possible bridge hands - is that true?

Standard computer random number generators can't - there are 2^225 ways to deal 52 cards and they produce 2^96 different hands (a lot of the deals have the same 13 cards in each hand just dealt in a different order) but standard random number generators are seeded with a single 32 bit integer so can only generate 2^32 different random sequences (and hence deal less than 0.0.000000000000000008% of all possible bridge hands). Bridge Analyser uses the Isaac Algorithm to generate its deals and special techniques to create an array of 256 x 32 bit random numbers as a seed. As a result 2^8192 different random sequences can be created which is more than sufficient.

Q: Do I need to buy Bridge Analyser to try it out?

No - just download the program from the download page and once installed it will work for 28 days before you have to buy a serial code.

Q: How do I get the Bridge Analyser serial code?

First download and install the trial software. Then click the buy button on the download page of this website and pay by credit card or PayPal account, then open Bridge Analyser and click get serial from the register menu. This will create an email to me with your selected user name + computer hardware ID. Just add information about your payment (copy payment details from your PayPal email) and I will send you back the unlock code. IMPORTANT - If you do not have any email software installed (ie you use a web browser for emails) my auto procedure will not work. Just send me an email using your normal procedure but include the hardware ID that is shown on the registration page as I need that to create the serial number.

Q: If my computer has multiple processors will it run faster?

Yes, as from version 1.2.0.0. The double dummy solver I use can run in 'threads'. That is computer talk which means that if you have 2 or more processors Bridge Analyser will detect that and when you run double dummy analysis it will set up different instances of the double dummy solver for each processor (up to a maximum of 16) and analyse deals in parallel. You can deal 32 boards and create a full makeable contracts grid for 0-13 tricks for all 20 possible contracts on each hand in under 8 seconds on a quad core computer (less than 2 seconds on my computer). As from version 1.2.4 dealing also has multi processor support so it is much faster to do large double dummy analysis with complex deal biasing.  If you are just dealing hands to view a graph of hand characteristics without double dummy results Bridge Analyser can deal 100,000 hands per second on each of your CPU cores if you have a fast CPU. To look at shape and strength stats for North over 10,000 deals where South opens 2♣ and West overcalls 3♠ you need to analyse over 23 million deals to get 10,000 that open 2♣ and overcall 3♠ and then analyse the 10,000 to produce the graphs.  This takes about 12 seconds on my 20-core computer.

Q: Will it run on my computer?

If you have Windows XP or later, 32 bit or 64 bit, Yes. If you have a Mac with Windows emulation then also yes but I am not sure what the minimum operating system requirements are. Bridge Analyser uses about 15Mb of disk space plus a little extra to save your own files, and requires about 50Mb of free RAM to run efficiently for normal use. Those doing large double dummy simulations will benefit from more RAM but even the minimum 1Gb standard for computers a few years old is sufficient for most basic things you are likely to do. However if you want to use the multi processor features to dramatically speed up double dummy calculations you need 1.5Gb to use more than 2 processor cores at the same time, more than 2.5Gb to use more than 4, and more than 4.5Gb to use more than 8 up to the max of 16 regardless of RAM.

Q: What screen size do I need, and what about multiple monitors?

You can just about get by with a screen resolution of 800x600 but 1024x768 or larger is much better. Multi screen setups are supported from version 1.2.2.0 onwards.