The ultimate collection of bridge stuff, with something for everyone from the beginner to the expert. Humour, mystery, quizzes, history, biography -- it's all here. Over fifty world-class contributors, including Eddie Kantar, Alfred Sheinwold, Ron Klinger, Phillip Alder, Albert Dormer, and many more. Illustrated throughout, including elegant Fougasse cartoons such as this one.

William S. Root, winner of many national bridge championships, premier bridge teacher, author of classic bridge books, and recently elected to the Bridge Hall of Fame, is one of America's foremost bridge personalities.
        
As a player, Bill Root has won all three of the most important American trophies (the Vanderbilt, the Spingold, and the Reisinger) a total of thirteen times. He has represented the United States in the Bridge Olympiad; in the Bermuda Bowl; and on exhibition tours to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He is rated a World Master by the World Bridge Federation.
        
As a bridge teacher, Bill is considered to be one of the best of all time and has helped tens of thousands to enjoy the world's most popular card game. He has been the director for the National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament and has served as Card Games Authority for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers, making him the modern-day Hoyle for the 120 million card players in America.
        
His many best-selling bridge books include Commonsense Bidding, How to Play a Bridge Hand, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand (all of which won the Book of the Year title awarded by the American Bridge Teachers' Association.) He also coauthored the popular Modern Bridge Conventions with Richard Pavlicek.

The beauty of great card play at bridge is something we can all admire, even if we can't all aspire to the heights reached by top-class players. Some of the greatest players seem almost to operate instinctively, and most of us probably feel that we could never hope to play at that level. Perhaps, though, if we understood more about their thought processes, it might be possible. The author presents 50 problems in play and defence taken from tournament play, giving the reader a chance to solve them for himself before any discussion takes place. Each problem is analysed, sometimes in great detail, to show how the logic of the situation, when looked at correctly, can lead players at any level to the 'right' solution. But in each case, the reader may be left feeling that the neat, elegant solution is 'easier done than said'!

The BOLS Bridge Tips competition started in 1974, and took place off and on for more than 20 years. During that time, virtually all the world's greatest writers and players contributed their ideas to the series. For the first time ever, the entire collection of BOLS Bridge Tips are gathered here in one volume, edited and organized for easy access by the average player. Included too are biographies and photographs of all the contributors. Not sure what to lead? Can't decide the right bid? Want to make more contracts? Get pointers from the all-time greatest names in bridge -- Reese, Rodwell, Zia, Flint, Goren, Hamman, Wolff, Schenken, Garozzo, Belladonna, Chagas and many more -- they're all represented. All the advice is here in a perfect potpourri for players of every standard.

For intermediate players and up. For most bridge players, defence is the hardest part of the game. In this book, acclaimed British author Danny Roth takes his readers through the most common causes of errors on defence: taking tricks too early, not cashing out when necessary, not using all the information available from the bidding and play, not making the most of the defensive trump holdings, careless discarding, and many more. He explains how to recognise the dangers, and how to handle each of them correctly. The situations he describes are encountered every day; careful study of the examples in this book will make the reader a better card player, and improved scores will certainly follow.

For intermediate players and up. For most intermediate bridge players, declarer play is both fascinating and challenging, but too often they are left after a hand is over with the sinking feeling that they could have done better. In this book, acclaimed British author Danny Roth takes his readers through the most common causes of errors on play: mishandling communications, making errors involving trumps, failing to take advantage of all possible chances, and many more. He explains how to recognise the danger signals, and how to avoid the pitfalls. The situations he describes are encountered every day; careful study of the examples in this book will make the reader a better card player, and improved scores will certainly follow.

Move over Victor Mollo and David Bird! Fans of the Hideous Hog, the Abbot, and the Rabbi will find a new hero among the halls of Mohican College (the last of the community colleges to be established). Tales out of School is a collection of humorous bridge stories from the witty and satirical pen of David Silver. It will delight readers with the adventures of his alter ego, the hapless Professor Silver, as he struggles towards his own version of excellence despite a malevolent and incompetent administration and a D-grade student body. And as with Mollo and Bird, Silver's selection of fascinating bridge hands makes his stories even more enjoyable. If you enjoyed A Study in Silver, you will love this one too! David Silver For more than twenty years, David Silver's wickedly witty bridge writings have appeared in the page of such publications as The New York Times, the ACBL Bulletin, The Kibitzer, and Canadian Master Point. A retired professor of English, he lives in Toronto with his wife, Barbara.

Most bridge players pride themselves on their ability at post-mortem analysis -- figuring out what should happen on a given hand with best play and perfect defense. But sometimes it's not so easy. Andrew Diosy has collected 52 bridge hands, graded into increasing levels of difficulty, where the obvious answer is usually wrong. As you look further into each hand, you find that there are more layers of complexity, as each move by declarer or the defense has its counter-move. Which side will come out on top?

Many of these hands will leave insomniac readers staring at the ceiling, desperately echoing the book's title: 'There must be a way...'.

Using the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book provides a handy pocket summary of about two dozen basic concepts in declarer play. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes most of the material presented in 25 Ways to Take More Tricks as Declarer by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 978 189415 447 5).

Another title in the best-selling '25' series, using the same popular format. Over the last fifteen or so years, the 2/1 Game Forcing bidding method has gained substantial popularity, but for various reasons it is not taught in beginner classes. This book is therefore designed for players who are familiar with Standard bidding and are interested in switching to the 2/1 method. It covers basic concepts as well as the differences between 2/1 and Standard auctions, and includes a discussion of more advanced ideas and conventions that fit particularly well with 2/1 methods. Existing books on this topic (notably by Max Hardy and Mike Lawrence) are too advanced and/or too technical for this level of player.

Seagram and Bird's previous book Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand (ISBN 978 1897106 51 8; August 2009) was named Book of the Year in 2010 by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. It introduced the basic concepts of how to go about making a plan as declarer for beginning and improving players, and is a popular text for bridge teachers. This sequel extends the plan to more complex situations, and covers ideas such as safety plays, avoidance play, trump control, dummy reversal, and endplays. It will appeal to players who have a good grasp of the basics of declarer play, and are looking to improve from there.

Paul Thurston's bridge textbook 25 Steps to Learning 2/1 (December 2004; ISBN 9781894154468) was an instant bestseller, winning the 2003 American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year award. In a tantalizing postscript to that book, he promised a sequel, one that would cover 'the rest of the story' for those who wanted to add modern sophistication to their 2/1 bidding. Here at last he delivers, and the long wait has been worth it. The book describes an understandable and playable version of today's most popular system, something that has been missing from bridge literature until now. 2/1 game forcing ('two-over-one game forcing') is a bidding system in modern contract bridge structured around various formulaic responses to a one-level opening bid. Many improving bridge players enjoy the benefits of the 2/1 system.

In this book, Miles addresses the complex arena of competitive bidding methods for the more advanced player. He discusses current thinking, and recommends methods which will continue to be playable as bridge enters its second century. This book will appeal to fairly serious players only. There are two earlier books on this topic by the same author, 5 and 10 years old respectively, and therefore superseded by this new work.

Like the author's first book (A First Book of Bridge Problems, named Book of the Year for 2011 by the American Bridge Teachers Association), this sequel comprises 50 problems in declarer play and defence for the beginning or near-beginning player, presented in approximate order of difficulty. The problems are slightly more advanced than those in the first book. 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. 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.

The author begins this thorough discussion of a neglected but vital topic by examining the real purpose of defensive signalling, and the basic kinds of signals that are available. He goes on to recommend a comprehensive set of signalling agreements, and analyzes more complex situations in the light of these agreements. Most of the chapters are followed by a quiz, and the answer to each signalling problem includes a full 52-card diagram to demonstrate the effectiveness of the recommended signal. The book finishes with a chapter that looks at the signalling methods of eight world-class pairs, with examples of their methods in action. A book any player who is looking to improve will want to read.

Bridge is not difficult once you have jumped the first hurdle, but that can seem imposing to anyone who hasn't a clue about Bridge or card games in general. This book strips away the mystery and presents the basics in a wonderfully clear and concise way. It explains everything that is needed to understand the game. In less time than you would imagine you could be playing the wonderfully entertaining game of Bridge with your friends and family. Written in a way that is very easy to follow, this book provides the reader with a very hands on approach to learning the rules and flow of the game. It is a brilliantly simple read and it provides the information a player needs to get started playing.

Rate your bridge with this quiz book on declarer play and defence. The author presents a series of card play problems, and assigns the reader to a score based on how close to the optimum solution they get. Readers can expect their scores to improve as they work through the book, inevitably learning as they go.