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.

Nine lesson plans based on five card major openings.

Better Bridge with a Better Memory 'goes beyond ... wide-ranging advice ... and investigates one specific technique in detail. The method demonstrated is mnemonics, and the author shows how that approach, already widely in use in naming agreements and providing clues to their details, can be applied to every phase of the game. As is often the case in Klinger productions, many examples used to demonstrate the case at hand have unrelated interesting points, and the discussions thus provide a welcome variety of topics.' - The Bridge World.

David Bird is acknowledged as the world's best when it comes to humorous bridge fiction. As the bridge cruise traverses the Far East, the bridge organiser, Richard Knight, visits Pat Pong - the notorious red-light district of Bangkok - and is enticed by three attractive Thai girls into a bridge game. Other hilarious adventures take place in a drug den in Hong Kong, in backpacker land in Bali, in a Shinto monastery in Kyoto, and in the Double Bay Club in Sydney. A mixture of top-class bridge, exhilarating narrative and a host of true-to-life characters.

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.

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.

This is not a book for beginners, and will not bore you with rehashing things you already know. Some of the topics are somewhat controversial, and as always Marshall Miles urges his own, often original, point of view. Some of the topics discussed include: Game invitations after a raise of opener's major Fast arrival and picture bids When the opponents double a transfer or Stayman Mini splinters Rubens advances of overcalls Playing in the opponents' suit The Kaplan Interchange, and many more. As he often does, Miles ends the book with an "It's Your Call" bidding quiz, with detailed discussion of options and the rationale for his own choices. Marshall Miles (California), though now in his eighties, is still regarded as one of the world's leading bidding theorists. His long and successful playing career includes a World Senior Teams Championship in 2004, and his book How To Win at Duplicate Bridge is considered among the all-time classics on the game.

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.

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.'

In the November 2001 Venice Cup final, Germany trailed France by 47 IMPs starting the last set. In this book, world champion Sabine Auken tells the thrilling inside story of their comeback world title win, every bid and every card. She also uses each of the sixteen deals from that final session as a starting point for discussion, and distills from each of them general principles and advice that will help anyone looking to improve their own game. Among the topics covered here are the rationale for her own system agreements (the pros and cons of mini-notrump openings, multi-purpose two-bids, the merits of forcing club systems, etc.) and carding methods, as well as team chemistry, table presence and even dressing for success!

Since mid-nineteenth century when Charles Goren popularized the point -count system of hand evaluation and bridge bidding, a system that became known widely as "Standard American," there have been significant advances in the art of bidding, advances that have been time-tested and proven effective. Unfortunately "Standard American" did not keep pace.
Early point-count standards undervalue many hands. Furthermore, many traditional bidding rules became obsolete and fell by the wayside as new ideas were created, time-tested and adopted by the most innovative players. Prominent among the new methods are five-card majors, limit raises, preemptive two-level openers, the Stayman convention, and a reconstruction of the entire notrump bidding scheme.
Standard American 21 presents an integrated, modern contract bridge bidding system. The entire system can be adopted quite readily by players of intermediate skills and beyond. Here for the first time bridge players have the tools to achieve real precision bidding from part-score through game and slam.

The Fun Way To Serious Bridge is for anyone who wants to learn and understand the fundamentals of the mind-stimulating and challenging game of bridge -- and enjoy every minute of it! Harry Lampert combines his skills as a bridge player and teacher with his artistic talents to bring you a totally new FUN way to learn the game. The magic of his superb cartoons and simple, informative language will help you to absorb the principles of serious contract bridge -- and remember them. You'll laugh and learn every step of the way from opening bids to strip and end plays. Whether novice or seasoned social player, this unique book will make good bridge a simple "trick." You'll learn all about:

* Opening bids, suit bids, response and no trump bids, and how to force bids
* Competition and the reasons and ways behind it
* Big hand bidding such as Blackwood Convention, grand slam force and Gerber Convention
* Patterns of play including how tricks are won, the finesse, establishing a long suit, when to pull and delay trumps and entries.
* Defensive and advanced play -- plus much more!

This book covers the basics of Two-Over-One Game Force, a popular variation of Standard American bidding. It shows how a small modification can make it easier for the partnership to get to the best game contract and explore the possibility of slam. Using a response of 1 NT as a forcing bid can improve the results. Bidding is color-coded in this well organized book. Summaries, exercises, and sample deals illustrate the ideas.

Following the LAW, the sequel to To Bid or Not to Bid, was published in 1994, and took the basic concepts explained in the first book to a higher level of sophistication, while giving many practical examples from expert play of how to use the Law of Total Tricks correctly. Both books are must-reads for every improving bridge player.

Squeezes are an aspect of bridge declarer play that many intermediate players think they will never grasp. Yet while squeezes can be extremely complex, the basic principles of squeeze play are not. This is the first comprehensive book on squeeze play since Clyde E Love's classic 'Bridge Squeezes Complete', and much more approachable. Using the same straightforward, conversational style with recaps and quizzes that characterised the 'Bridge Technique' series, this book will make squeezes understandable to many readers who have been afraid to attempt to learn them.

First published in 1988, this book has been out of print for several years. It's a mystery and a bridge textbook all in one, and accomplishes both exceptionally well. Based on the author's own experiences, and set in and around a Manhattan bridge club, the story includes many real-life characters whose names will be familiar to readers. First in a set that includes I Shot my Bridge Partner.

Finally, a book for every bridge fan -- never before has there been a comprehensive history of the game, filled with anecdotes about famous players, key tournaments, strategies, scandals, and a little instruction for good measure." "Evolving at some point in the 18th century from a card game known as "whist," bridge has undergone countless variations, and acquired a massive following of clubs and organizations in the ensuing centuries. "The New York Times Bridge Book" is aimed not only at the bridge-playing community but also an armchair audience fascinated by the role of cardgames in world history.

This remarkable book is based on the close observation of the solutions by the Italian Champions to bidding problems. Acute judgements produced astonishing results, which Wladyslaw Izdebski and a leading bridge coach, Wlodzimierz Krysztofczyk, have analysed to create an exhilarating text. No competent bridge player will want to miss the opportunity of following this exciting work.