The Principle Of Restricted Talent
by Danny Kleinman and Nick Straguzzi
This book is about a bridge-playing robot called Chthonic and his
adventures at and away from the bridge table. Not often have we come
across a bridge book that instantly shifted our regular duties
to second place. We finished the book the day we laid our hands
on it, and not because it is a flimsy book; 21 stories, more than 200 pages,
very well written with nice twists.
Chthonic's analyses are frequently subtle, but if
you have trouble following them, you surely won't have trouble understanding
his dead-on-target insults. Chthonic's sometimes un-humanlike
reasoning very much reminds us of our own Jack, and his knack
for insulting people warns us that we should never, ever teach Jack to speak.
Chthonic also reminds us of Jack occasionally when he blatantly ignores
the human factor to focus exclusively on the technical aspects
of the game, thus shooting himself in the foot.
The back cover of the book reads:
Chthonic, as he often reminds us, is the world's greatest bridge player.
When it comes to pure technical skill, the Orttman Foundation's
bridge-playing robot has no peer. Chthonic's brilliance at the bridge table
is matched only by his contempt for all things human, which he makes no
effort whatsoever to conceal. An array of digitized voices, ranging from
George Sanders to Shirley Temple with stops at Richard Simmons and Mr.
Rogers, only adds to Chthonic's ability to annoy and humiliate his opponents
- some of whom actually deserve it. But on rare occasions, Chthonic does come
out second-best; after all, he does have an Off switch.
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We do not get any money for promoting this book, nor do we sell it.
However, we do recommend it for your reading pleasure or as a gift
for a bridge-playing friend.
Some links:
Masterpoint press
The publisher's website, which includes a list of vendors who sell the book.
The Bridge World
Most of the stories in the book appeared in The Bridge World magazine.
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