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'''[[Main Page|Home]] * [[People]] * Thomas A. Throop'''
[[FILE:ThomasAThroop.jpg|border|right|thumb|180px|Thomas A. Throop <ref>Image from [[Stephen J.J. Smith]], [[Dana S. Nau]], [[Thomas A. Throop]] ('''1998'''). ''Computer Bridge: A Big Win for AI Planning''. [[AAAI#AIMAG|AI Magazine]], Vol. 19, No. 2, [http://www.cs.umd.edu/~nau/papers/smith1998computer.pdf pdf]</ref> ]]
'''Thomas A. (Tom) Throop''',<br/>
an American mechanical engineer, pioneer in [[Bridge]] programming, and founder of ''Great Game Products'' <ref>[http://www.greatgameproducts.com/ Great Game Products]</ref>, the makers of ''Bridge Baron''.
He is strong bridge, chess and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correspondence_chess correspondence chess] player, and has written a first computer bridge program on a [[UNIVAC I]] at a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Navy US Navy] laboratory in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C. Washington, D.C.] in 1958 <ref>[http://www.jackbridge.com/ewkprt.htm#bridgebaron Bridge: Jack - World Computer Bridge Championship Contestants: Bridge Baron]</ref> <ref>[http://www.bridgeguys.com/CGlossary/Computer/CBProgrammers.pdf Participating Computer Bridge Software for the World Computer Bridge Championship and the History of these Software Programs - Summary of Participants at Computer Olympiads See: Computer Olympiad] (pdf)</ref>.
In 1982, he completed the first version of ''Bridge Baron'', and founded ''Great Game Products'' in 1985 <ref>[http://www.gb64.com/game.php?id=17023&d=39 Tom Throop's Bridge Baron - GB64.COM]</ref>. In collaboration with [[Vaxchess]] programmer [[Tony Guilfoyle]], ''Bridge Baron '' won the Gold medals in 1990/91 at the [[2nd Computer Olympiad#Bridge|2nd]] and [[3rd Computer Olympiad#Bridge|3rd Computer Olympiad]], and the Silver medal at the [[4th Computer Olympiad#Bridge|4th Computer Olympiad, 1992]], the 1990 version commercialized as ''Micro Bridge Companion'' <ref>[https://www.amazon.com/BRIDGE-COMPANION-DISKETTE-PROGRAMS-GUILFOYLE/dp/B000KX4VPC Micro Bridge Companion - Programs by Tom Throop and Tony Guilfoyle] from [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com Amazon.com]</ref> <ref>[[Ian Frank]] ('''1998'''). ''[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7998822-search-and-planning-under-incomplete-information Search and Planning Under Incomplete Information: A Study Using Bridge Card Play]''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springer_Science%2BBusiness_Media Springer], 1996 Ph.D. thesis, [[University of Edinburgh]]</ref>.
Along with [[Dana S. Nau]] and [[Stephen J.J. Smith]], Throop developed sophisticated AI-planning techniques in Bridge Baron <ref>[http://www.cs.umd.edu/%7Enau/bridge/bridge.html Bridge Baron - The 1997 world champion of computer bridge uses AI planning techniques to plan its declarer play]</ref>, when it became the first [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_bridge#World_Computer-Bridge_Championship world champion] in 1997.
In 2001, Thomas A. Throop, Senior passed along the role of managing the company to his son, Thomas Throop, Junior <ref>[http://www.bridgeguys.com/CGlossary/Computer/CBProgrammers.pdf Participating Computer Bridge Software for the World Computer Bridge Championship and the History of these Software Programs - Summary of Participants at Computer Olympiads See: Computer Olympiad] (pdf)</ref>.
=Selected Publications=
<ref>[https://dblp.uni-trier.de/pers/hd/t/Throop:Thomas_A=.html dblp: Thomas A. Throop]</ref> <ref>[https://ilk.uvt.nl/icga/journal/docs/References.pdf [ICGA Journal#RefDB|ICGA Reference Database] (pdf)]</ref>
==1960 ...==
* [[Thomas A. Throop]] ('''1966'''). ''Thoughts on the Development of Computer Learning Programs''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Technical_Information_Center Defense Technical Information Center]
* [[Thomas A. Throop]] ('''1967'''). ''Computer Intelligence to Enhance War Gaming''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Technical_Information_Center Defense Technical Information Center]
* [http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n82-208460 Albert D. Tholen], [[Thomas A. Throop]] ('''1968'''). ''[http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=AD0686781 Time-sharing Systems for War-gaming Applications]''. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Technical_Information_Center Defense Technical Information Center]
==1980 ...==
* [[Thomas A. Throop|Tom Throop]] ('''1980'''). ''New Chess Products''. [[Personal Computing#4_9|Personal Computing, Vol. 4, No. 9]], pp. 75
