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Origin of Bridge Baron

Bridge Baron is the result of over 42 years of research, passion, and intelligent collaboration with some of the brightest minds in the country. The game was originally created by Tom Throop. He has devoted more time to this subject than any other person in the world and has pioneered the development of computer bridge programs.

Tom is a lifelong bridge and chess player, and also a Silver Life Master of the American Contract Bridge League. He has written the only book on bridge software, titled "Computer Bridge". In the chess world, Tom has a draw against the one-time US Champion, Arnold Denker. Tom also reached the rank of the 35th highest ranked postal chess player in the US.

Tom knows a great deal about computers and has merged this with his passion for the game of bridge. In 1958, while working at a US Navy Lab in the District of Columbia, he programmed a Univac computer to play bridge. The machine, which had a 1,000-word memory, could play only one round before it ran out of computer power. Some years later, Tom wrote some play routines using the GE time-sharing system.

Later, Tom designed bridge software for Radio Shack, Apple, and Commodore computers. In the early 1980s, Tom wrote the only book on bridge software, titled Computer Bridge published by Hayden Books. By 1982, Tom had produced the first complete computer bridge program, BRIDGE BARON 1. Eventually, in 1985 he founded a company in Bethesda, Maryland called Great Game Products, Inc., that focused on selling his Bridge Baron software. (Excerpts from "Program for a Better Bridge Game" Washington Post, September 15, 1997.) Great Game Products, Inc. has continued an unsurpassed track record for the past 19 years.

Tom became the president of Great Game Products, the most successful company in the development and marketing of computer bridge products. Great Game Products specializes in the development of computer bridge products for players at all skill levels. Great Game Products' flagship product is Bridge Baron.

The accomplishments of Bridge Baron, first marketed in 1982, are unequaled by any other bridge program. The Bridge Baron has won five world computer bridge championships and has been one of the most popular bridge computer software games in the world.

In 2001, Tom Throop, Senior passed along the role of managing the company to his son, Thomas Throop, Junior. The passing of this role indicates the ongoing belief in the success of the company and its current and future products.

Thomas had been working in Great Game Products alongside his father since 1995 in a variety of roles, each increasing in responsibility over time. His most recent, prior to his the addition of the new role, has been in overseeing and running the product management function of the company. He has been doing this both onsite in Maryland, as well as from his home in Boston and briefly from St Louis. Prior to Great Game Products, Thomas� background focused on technology development and integration, as well as project management. His technology background, plus the addition of the studies towards a MBA degree, enabled Thomas to speak the language of the company�s programmers, as well as the customer and vendors. It also enabled him to develop the financial management tools to successfully run an sound business. Thomas brought a market savvy and business acumen into Great Game Products, which is an asset for supporting the brilliant programming minds in it. His success in expanding the market penetration for the Bridge Baron, as well as helping to structure the functions to manage product development and marketing are what prompted his father to pass along the reins.