When God created the No-Goods, which He called Man, He also taught them bridge. You'll watch Him, J.C., Sister Mary (who never draws trump) and Brother Bill (who recites smutty limericks) play out over 50 bridge hands, some of which require divine inspiration if the best play is to be found.

CROSSWORDS WITH A BRIDGE FLAVOR Now bridge players who enjoy crosswords can combine their favorite pastimes! For this book, New York Times and Los Angeles Times crossword constructor Jeff Chen has designed 52 brand-new crosswords with bridge-themed clues and solutions, providing hours of challenge and fun. The puzzles in this book range from Easy (N.Y. Times Monday level) to Challenging (N.Y. Times Thursday level). JEFF CHEN is a children's book writer and a crossword puzzle constructor with 50+ puzzles published in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He's been playing bridge for ten years but still couldn't identify a squeeze or a Deschapelles Coup opportunity even if it came up and bit him on the bottom.

LEARN DECLARER PLAY FROM AN EXPERT This classic book, a bestseller for more than forty years, has been updated for this edition by Gail Greenberg, a frequent partner of Dorothy Truscott, and like her a World Champion. Dorothy had a unique ability to make complex bridge concepts simple to understand, and everything here, from the basics to the most complicated squeeze or endplay, is described in an interesting and easy-to-follow way. In addition to the technical material, the reader will also learn when and how to use deceptive tactics to give the opponents a chance to make mistakes. Each chapter has many sample hands to test and challenge the reader. Dorothy Hayden Truscott (1925-2006) was the top-ranked woman bridge player for many years. She won four World titles and twenty-eight National titles including the Life Master Pairs and the Blue Ribbon Pairs. She also came in second in the Bermuda Bowl and placed third in the World Open Pairs, the highest finish ever by a woman. Dorothy was a World Bridge Federation Grand Master, and was elected to the Bridge Hall of Fame in 1998. She is the author of the classic bridge book Bid Better, Play Better, and she co-authored several books with her husband Alan Truscott. Among her contributions to bridge theory are splinter bids and DOPI.

An intermediate-level discussion of declarer play in the game of bridge, this book focuses on the power of the trump suit. Its subjects include trump and situations where you need to unblock in the trump suit or to put a defender on lead with a trump. The reader will learn how to make maximum use of the entries provided by the trump suit, and how to perform a trump safety play or a trump avoidance play. Two other important topics are how to make your contract against a bad trump break and how you can survive a forcing attack on the long-trump holding. Later chapters explain how to play contracts with fewer than eight trumps at your disposal, and also how to conjure extra tricks from the trump suit. Every couple of chapters or so, there is a 9-problem quiz section.

In 2004, Julian Pottage's 'Play or Defend?' was the IBPA Book of the Year. An unusual problem format, it gave the reader all four hands and challenged them to analyze the deal and decide whether they wanted to play or defend. This sequel comprises 72 problems, presented in the same unique fashion, and will appeal to the same readership.

This work focuses on the opening and bidding of the major suits at duplicate bridge. It represents a cohesive and complete system that gets the partnership off to a good start on most contracts as the consideration for the score sheet is best initiated with concern for the majors--before notrump or the minors.

Travel and Teach at Sea Learn how to break into the wonderful world of teaching bridge on luxury cruise ships. This little book covers everything you need to know from finding an agent and making a lesson plan to packing the right clothes. " A must read for any bridge teacher who wants to teach on cruise ships." Barbara Seagram

This is the definitive book on the oldest - and most useful - convention in bridge, the takeout double. Originally published in 1994 (Magnus Books, 978 0963753 31 1), this book quickly became recognized as a 'must-read' for any would-be bridge expert, and has never been out of print. Now, almost twenty years later, the author has revised and updated the text to take into account modern developments in competitive bidding, one of the most rapidly changing parts of the game, not least in the new and varied uses of doubles.

Canadian expert Roy Hughes' first book, Building a Bidding System (2005; ISBN 9781897106 02 5), has become a must-read for expert pairs looking to develop effective constructive bidding methods. Now Hughes turns to the theory and practice of competitive auctions, a critical component of the modern game. Beginning again by establishing what the bidding system needs to accomplish, Hughes goes on to discuss every type of contested auction, and recommends useful methods and agreements from which the reader can select. This is a state-of-the-art discussion, covering many topics in detail that have at best seen cursory treatment in print up to now.

Just about every bridge player in the world has read Victor Mollo's Bridge in the Menagerie, a book that is on any list of the all-time top ten on the game. Towards the end of his life, Mollo penned a number of stories about the same well-loved characters (the Hideous Hog, the Rueful Rabbit, Oscar the Owl, and the rest), but they appeared only in the pages of obscure magazines. Now, for the first time, they are available collected in book form.

In the modern game of bridge, the majority of auctions are competitive, and every improving player needs to acquire the tools to handle this kind of bidding. This textbook covers the basic building blocks of competitive bidding (takeout and negative doubles, pre-empts, overcalls, competing over their no-trump openings and dealing with competition over your own, forcing pass auctions, the Law of Total Tricks). It describes a number of useful conventions and gadgets with which the reader needs to be familiar, and suggests other optional treatments for partnership discussion. There are reviews and quizzes, and the final chapter is a quiz covering all the material.

From the mind of Charles M. Schulz, the world's most beloved cartoonist, comes these funny looks at the game of Bridge. The game, the culture, and the very human foibles of those who play it all come under his masterful attention.

Start playing a winning system.

Not since the introduction of Precision has a new bidding system created such an immediate impact as Fantunes, the unique methods of Fulvio Fantoni and Claudio Nunes, the world's number one ranked pair.

The Italians have several world championship wins to their name, and their system has played a major role in that success. This book delves into the system, explaining how it works and just as importantly, why it works. Two words best describe Fantunes: natural and fun. It is the definitive text for those who would like to try an innovative and proven new bidding system.

Bill Jacobs has won many Australian national championships, the most recent three playing Fantunes, and has twice represented his country at Open level. He regularly provides astute vugraph commentary on Bridge Base Online. For the last ten years, he has been editor of the monthly bulletin of the Victorian Bridge Association.

"Bridge Is a Conversation" is a guide to bridge fundamentals for players who already have an understanding of the basics of the game and the desire to improve their competitiveness at the bridge table. The goal is not to teach how bridge systems are built, nor to describe their content, but rather to clarify how to use them the way the best players in the world do and to offer an alternative to simply "playing by the book." You will find the game much more interesting, challenging, and enjoyable than you ever dreamed it could be. The principles in this book are valid regardless of the bidding system used. In sixty years of playing bridge, author Gerard Cohen has observed many games of bridge, and he brings that knowledge to this guide. His observations of how his partners, opponents, and others play that make them outstanding are key to the thoughts included here. He looked for patterns, drew conclusions and developed general concepts that those who haven't reached the top level yet can learn and apply for a chance at competing with the best. Take your bridge game to the next level with "Bridge Is a Conversation."

THIS 146 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Auction Tactics, by Bryant McCampbell. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1417905360.

An in-depth 'over-the-shoulder' look at top-level bridge. While describing almost 200 deals that he played in World and European Championships, one of the world's best players, Boye Brogeland, discusses bidding and cardplay, as well as his approach to the mental side of the game. A fascinating glimpse into the thought processes of a champion bridge player, as well as a look at state-of-the-art bidding methods, some of which are described here for the first time. Boye Brogeland (Norway) has won both the World and European Championships, and is a regular participant in North American tournaments. David Bird, who lives near Southampton, England, has written more than 100 books on the game. Despite spending much of the year travelling, he still finds time to write new stories every month for a host of magazines around the world, usually featuring his best-known characters, the monks of St. Titus Abbey. He is also a regular commentator on BBO broadcasts of top-level competitions.

Over-the-shoulder descriptions of hands played at duplicate bridge by a new author. Wry, amusing and thought-provoking, containing plenty of good bridge, good writing and good fun. For improving and intermediate club and congress players.

This book comprises 50 problems in declarer play and defence for the beginning player, presented in approximate order of difficulty. The emphasis is on planning the play at the first trick. The idea is to present bridge hands as the reader would encounter them playing at the table. Unlike in a textbook, where topics are introduced systematically, there is no clue as to what type of play is required. Experienced players recognize certain standard situations without having to work them out. This does not apply to novices who spend a lot of mental effort on them. The aim of the book is to get novices to develop their recognition of these situations.

Want to begin teaching bridge, but aren't sure where to start? This comprehensive and easy-to-follow teacher's manual was designed by the authors of We Love the Majors, Mary Ann Dufresne and Marion Ellingsen, to compliment their reader-friendly beginner's book. The teacher's guide contains six complete, detailed lesson plans, including hand diagrams, that teachers can easily customize to suit their students' levels of "interest and experience." This guide puts all the information you need to share your love of bridge right at your fingertips!

Weak two-bids are well ensconced in the bridge world and are now part of any beginning program of lessons. They are, however, in that class of "most abused" conventions. An understanding of all the important tools that are at your fingertips will serve you well in making these decisions at the table. This book will walk you through the solutions to the problems you meet every day in offensive and defensive situations, delving into the more intricate aspects of the weak two-bid.

Originally published in 1989, this book quickly became recognized as a 'must-read' for any would-be bridge expert, and has never been out of print. Now, more than 20 years later, the author has revised, updated and expanded it to take into account modern developments in the theory and practice of competitive bidding.

This book investigates the underlying logic of the game of Bridge, and how this logic dictates the bidding structure found during the game.