Many bridge books have been written over the years. The one judged to be the best of all time is 'Why You Lose at Bridge' by S.J. Simon.

Even Goren, himself, in his forward to the book says that, not only weaker players can benefit from ift but so can the more experienced.

Although bridge players don't always lose, they seldom win as often as they would like or even as often as they should. "Why You Seldom Win at Bridge' aims to put you in the winner's circle more often. Observe a good player in action for any length of time and you might not see many spectacular plays, but you'll also see very few mistakes. The better players make far fewer than we mortals. Consider tennis for a moment. The winner will almost always be the player who makes the fewest unforced errors. The same applies to bridge. Make fewer mistakes and win more often. It's the players who make the same blunders, time and time again who seldom win, and then bemoan their bad luck or blame the bridge gods. Covering those little things in the bidding, declarer play and defence that too may players mess up, is the thrust of this book.

The game of bridge has changed a great deal in recent years. This book will help you with those little things that you aren't doing well or aren't doing at all.

It's a win/win situation.

To discover which opening lead is best from a given West hand against a particular auction, the authors use computer software to generate 5000 deals that match the North-South bidding. (The West hand remains the same and the other three hands are chosen randomly).

The software then plays these deals automatically, seeing which of the 13 possible opening leads works best at both IMPs (rubber bridge/Chicago) and match-point pairs.

By analysing the results, the authors pass on to the reader the secrets of finding the best lead against notrump contracts on a wide range of different auctions.

If your answer is 'YES' to the following three questions, this is the PERFECT book for you: 1. Have you read A Bridge to Simple Squeezes? 2. Did you see merit in the structured approach introduced in that book for executing simple squeezes? 3. Do you feel that in spite of your great effort you are still not finding squeezes? In this book, Still Not Finding Squeezes?, the structured approach is applied to the 39 squeeze examples that David Bird and Tim Bourke created for their book, Test Your Bridge Technique: The Simple Squeeze. These examples will give you the experience you need to include squeezes in your arsenal.

Andrew Robson, world champion player, teacher and columnist, offers an insider's guide to the game of bridge for more experienced players. Broader in scope than The Times Bridge: Commons Mistakes and How to Avoid Them, Andrew has selected his best columns from The Times, which cover a wide range of themes. By explaining sample deals, aspects of the game are clarified and the reader's understanding of the game improves. Each deal begins with an engaging discourse before moving on to explain the technique. The book assumes a level of experience beyond that of beginner and targets those players as well as social players and club and tournament players. Chapters cover: Partnership: clarification, anticipation, communication. Andrew imparts the secrets of being a successful - and popular - partner. Double Trouble: when to double and when to keep quiet - that is the question. Opening Lead: how can you find the best lead, when you can't even see dummy? Some dramatic deals illustrate how to make the choice. Trick One: how to avoid making a fatal error on the all-important first trick. Finessing Fun: fascinating card-play tussles made simple. Guess Who? Which opponent has the crucial missing card - and why? Spot Cards: making use of all your assets is one secret of the winning player - ignore the lowly eights and sevens at your peril. Never say Never: when to break normal guidelines - and why. Mind of an Expert: Andrew gives away the secret workings of the world's best players. Experts Err: even the best make mistakes. Let's all learn from them. Freaks: we all love wild deals, and here are some of the wildest. Bridge around Britain: some say it's fading. Nonsense - as these deals will testify. Bridge around the world: New York, New Guinea or New South Wales - Andrew considers global bridge issues, and looks at some wonderful deals. Stars of the future: School Bridge, Youth Camp Bridge, World Junior Championships...we feature some of the best young players, and look ahead to a bright future for the game.

Former Canadian champion Paul Thurston writes a daily bridge column in the National Post, one of only two newspapers that is circulated throughout the whole of Canada. This anthology is a collection of some of his best and most interesting bridge articles - tips, oddities, and just plain interesting deals and stories. The perfect book for those long summer evenings at the holiday cottage!

Robert Tischman is just looking for a game of bridge, but when a mysterious woman persuades him to partner her in a two-session event at the Engima Club, he gets much more than that. This is a book that can be enjoyed on several levels: 1) as a fun read with lots of great bridge deals. 2) as a glimpse of what the game might be like if technology were applied to it with more imagination. 3) as an exposition of the author's ideas on encrypted bidding and encrypted signals - bids and plays where, in full compliance with the Laws of Bridge, partners can exchange information that cannot be deciphered by their opponents. Consumer warning: these methods, though fascinating and ingenious, are illegal in many bridge jurisdictions.

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

There are plenty of bridge books for serious players, and also numbers of books for raw beginners. However, very little has been published for the player who has completed the basic course and is now ready to add a few 'bells and whistles' to his or her game. This book conducts a thorough review of all the bidding ideas and concepts that are encountered in a beginner's course on bridge, and takes the reader beyond them, gently but firmly, to the second stage. The reader's ideas on bidding will be refined, and a number of useful conventions suitable for this level of player are described and recommended. The material has been written by two very experienced bridge teachers, and includes features such as end-of-chapter reviews and quizzes to help reinforce the concepts.

Want to learn to play bridge? Let Mary Ann Dufresne and Marion Ellingsen get you started. You won't find a clearer, simpler presentation of the basic guidelines. Plus, the authors tell you all about their winning bridge strategy: bid a major whenever you can! Unlike many beginner books, We Love the Majors doesn't oversimplify the game for ease of consumption. This is an honest presentation of the modern game-complexities and all-but expressed in terms everyone can understand and apply. Want to teach beginning bridge? You couldn't ask for a better student text. Students and teachers will find hundreds of examples, homework to test student knowledge and practice deals to play. The book includes an introduction to Stayman, transfers, and modern guidelines for competitive bidding. When looking for the right bid, We Love the Majors!

In this book, Ken Rexford introduces the strong club relay system with canap bidding that he played successfully for years. His approach is novel, but it is also one that is easy to learn and play. Most importantly, the entire system fits within the ACBL General Convention Chart. As with his first book, Cuebidding At Bridge, Ken Rexford spends much time explaining the theory and thinking behind canap sequences, so that the reader will understand the approach rather than simply memorizing a list of conventions. The author also includes a basic scheme for converting your system from Precision to Canap, or even from Standard all the way to Canap, all in easy steps. For those who are intrigued but intimidated by Canap, this extra material should help to ease the transition.

You thought bridge was going to be eternally glorious, didn't you? Suddenly, out of the blue, you're going crazy! Confusion reigns supreme. Every partner is an expert with a barrage of new conventions. You are beset on every side with questions you fear to ask. Secrets Your Bridge Friends Never Tell You explores the bumpy, and exciting, journey a bridge player takes on the road from beginner, to intermediate, to the unlimited glory that awaits somewhere down the line. Undoubtedly, you will recognize part of your own journey. You will discover you were never alone as you suffered the constant ups and downs that proliferate in pursuit of this great game. With a humorous slant that delights, Secrets offers insights into such questions as: How do you find a partner? How do you keep a partner? Should you play with your spouse? Should you hire a pro? What happens when you get bridge burn-out? Find the answers here. Critics' Viewpoint Cathy combines humor and insight as she shines light on a part of our bridge world that is seldom talked about. Secrets is informative and fun. -- Marty Bergen, ten-time National Champion, author of Points Schmoints!

Rules are made to be broken, and the world of bridge is no exception. This is the first of a planned four-book series on cardplay. It deals with situations where the player who is on lead - defender or declarer, at the start of the deal or in the middle - needs to do something that involves ostensibly 'breaking the rules'. Not, obviously, the rules of bridge itself, but the well-tried adages that every player needs to be taught - the rules of thumbA" that work in a lot of cases. Knowing when to break those rules is one of the marks of an expert player.

Patrick Jourdain's Problem Corner has been a popular regular feature of Bridge Magazine in the UK for many years.

This collection of challenging declarer-play problems has been selected from the best of the material that has appeared in the magazine, and will be welcomed by advanced players.

You began by learning to count points, but that only got you so far. Then, someone introduced you to a new idea, Losing Trick Count. Better in theory, sure. But how do you use it? A response shows at least 6 high-card points, but how many losers? How many of these mysterious 'cover cards'? What's the range? Plus, something just seems wrong with the whole thing! How can A 3 2 be just as good as Q 3 2? That cannot be right! Counting Goren high-card points is much easier, and is a very reasonable gauge for bidding square hands. When things start to get distributional, however, you know that you need a better way to evaluate your hand. The concept of winners, losers, and cover cards really seems to be the right path, allowing you to escape from counting points into the world of counting TRICKS! In Winners, Losers and Cover Cards, Ken Eichenbaum reveals not only the secrets an expert would use to better evaluate the real power (or weakness) of your hand, but also how to use this knowledge to your advantage in a myriad number of ways. The author explains a fresh take on popular conventions and treatments, within the context of real auctions facing you at the table, and introduces novel methods, allowing you to maximize the benefit of your new understanding.

Bridge players are taught numerous rules to help them make good bidding decisions, rules that involve things like point count, losing trick count, the Law of Total Tricks and a host of other evaluation methods. But eventually everyone discovers that there are more situations where these rules don't apply than where they do. This book fills a gap in bridge literature by discussing how to make decisions in the bidding, especially in competitive auctions. Think about your own game. Are you sure you know when it's right to be aggressive and when to pull back? When to bid on and when to double the opponents? When to push forward for a slam and when to be content with reaching game? This book goes through the factors you need to be aware of in your hand and in the bidding around you (partner's and the opponents') that will help you get these decisions right more often. Filled with real-life examples, practical advice and helpful quizzes, this book will help any reader become a better bidder.

Selecting the best line of play in a bridge hand as declarer is not easy. Most novices know something about basic odds and percentages, and can often find a line that offers a reasonable chance of success. However, the expert will skilfully combine options, so as to take advantage of more than chance. Rather than putting all his eggs in one basket, he will 'stay alive', squeezing out every extra chance. In this book of intermediate bridge problems, Eddie Kantar shows the reader how to do this - there is always a line of play that will allow you take all your chances, and bring home your contract.

This book was first published in 1959 and quickly became one of the classic textbooks for the playing of bridge. The original version has been out of print for some time and the book is now being republished in its first revision in 50 years. In its new modernised form, bridge players will find the ideas much more accessible, while handy end-of-chapter quizzes reinforce the concepts.

Originally published in 1980, this book quickly became recognized as a 'must-read' for any would-be bridge expert, and has never been out of print. Now, almost 30 years later, the author has revised, updated and expanded it to take into account modern developments in the theory and practice of competitive bidding. Anyone serious about improving their game needs to own a copy of this book. Alfred Sheinwold's review of the original edition: 'If you read only one bridge book this year, this should be it.'

Larry Cohen is one of the most successful American bridge players of the last 20 years. In My Favorite 52, Cohen presents a collection of his favorite personal bridge moments, using an intimate 'over-the-shoulder' presentation, taking the reader through more than 60 deals (no, not just 52!). Each deal is important to him in some way, or technically interesting, or just plain fun.

The book's interactive style allows the reader to follow bidding and play, and even to make their own decisions at key points. Read this book for fun, or study it in depth and learn from it - whichever you choose to do, you will find it hard to put down.

The stories and anecdotes in this collection have one thing in common: in every case, the contract is 6NT! The first half of the book features the world's finest players at work, tackling all manner of 6NT contracts - some commendable, some truly awful. You will have a chance to plan your play in these contracts yourself before seeing what fate befell the original declarer. The second half of the book contains humorous short stories, featuring many of David Bird's well-loved characters: the bridge-crazy monks of St. Titus Monastery, the nuns of St. Hilda's Convent, and the Rabbi and his entourage. There is further action from Cholmeley School, from the missionaries whose main task in life is to convert the Bozwambi tribe to the Acol bidding system, and even some tales involving Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the much-maligned Sir Guy of Gisburne. Although some of these stories have been published in bridge magazines around the world, none of them have previously appeared in book form.

BRIDGE GAME SUMMARY Easy Reference & Game Companion Bridge Game Summary provides a brief overview of the bridge game. It is a great game table companion for all bridge players. Need help bidding? Or, responding to a bid? Just check the "bidding" section. Want to know what card to lead? Check "playing the hand" section. Need a reminder of the most popular bridge conventions? They are all there when you need them. Need to know how to write the score and how many bonus points are awarded for a grand slam? Check "keeping the score" section. Bridge Game Summary combines the easy reference of color tables with a brief explanation of how to play the game. It's the best of both worlds for beginners and casual bridge players alike.

This book addresses the thought processes that novice declarers must develop and practice. The carefully chosen examples here will help advancing players to recognize the key features of a bridge hand and take appropriate action.

At one time the game was even bigger than baseball. Today bridge is played by more than twenty-five million people in the United States alone, with Bill Gates, a sitting Supreme Court justice, and the guys from Radiohead among its devotees. In this spirited homage, Edward McPherson recounts the colorful history of the game and his attempts to master its mysteries in time to compete at the North American Bridge Championships--despite being barely able to shuffle cards, let alone play competitively. Insightful, funny, and steeped in respect, "The Backwash Squeeze" is an affectionate view of a grand game by an outsider trying to make his way into the inner circle.

Prison life has a silver lining for Tim - bridge. An expert player, he finds that his ability earns him unlooked-for respect amongst his fellow-prisoners. This is a bridge novel filled with unusual characters and great deals - and a bridge game that gives new meaning to the term 'cut-throat'!