Gamma-ray bursts of short duration may harbor vital clues to the range of p
henomena producing bursts. However, recent progress from the observation of
optical counterparts has not benefited the study of short bursts. We have
searched for early optical emission from six gamma-ray bursts using the tel
ephoto array on the Robotic Optical Transient Search Experiment I. Three of
these events were of short duration, including GRB 980527, which is among
the brightest short bursts yet observed. The data consist of unfiltered CCD
optical images taken in response to Burst and Transient Source Experiment
triggers delivered via the GRB Coordinates Network. For the first time, we
have analyzed the entire 16 degrees x 16 degrees field covered for five of
these bursts. In addition, we discuss a search for the optical counterpart
to GRB 000201, a well-localized long burst. Single-image sensitivities rang
e from 13th to 14th magnitude around 10 s after the initial burst detection
and from 14 to 15.8 mag 1 hr later. No new optical counterparts were disco
vered in this analysis suggesting short-burst optical and gamma-ray fluxes
are uncorrelated.