Computer bridge; a big win for AI planning.

* A computer program that uses Al planning techniques is now the world champion computer program in the game of Contract Bridge. As reported in The New York Times and The Washington Post, this program--a new version of Great Game Products' BRIDGE BARON program--won the Baron Barclay World Bridge Computer Challenge, an international competition hosted in July 1997 by the American Contract Bridge League.

It is well known that the game tree search techniques used in computer programs for games such as Chess and Checkers work differently from how humans think about such games.…