This book is for you if you are serious about wanting to improve your duplicate skills. If you and your partner adopt most of the bidding methods recommended in the Guide to Better Duplicate Bridge and you regularly follow the guide-lines for declarer play and defence geared towards matchpoint thinking, you should find that your scores will improve significantly. Guide to Better Duplicate Bridge was first published in 1995 and this edition contains the standard methods which have proved successful in the past as well as recent developements, how they work, when they apply and why you can expect to obtain better scores by adopting them.

'One of the best introductory books I have come across is Basic Bridge. I recommend it to beginners and teachers alike' The European 'By far the best' Bridge Plus This is a definitive Acol textbook, equally valuable to rubber or duplicate bridge players. Set out as a course which can be used in conjunction with bridge classes or as a self-teacher, the book covers all the basic principles of bidding and play and is packed with exercises and quizzes on everything that has been taught. Recommended as the ideal textbook for learning the game, Basic Bridge will continue to be the standard beginner's guide to rubber and duplicate bridge for the foreseeable future. If you only ever buy one bridge book it has to be Basic Bridge.

In this book, the pompous and self-important Abbot spots a chance to take part in that Holy Grail of Bridge - the Bermuda Bowl world championships. Casting all ethics aside, he pursues this dream. Partnered by the Parrot, with the Witchdoctor, Mbozi, Mrs Okoku and Miss Nabooba as team-mates, he travels to India's Chennai and faces many of the world's real-life players. Regular followers of David Bird's work will know what to expect - a first-rate mixture of amazing bridge, entertaining characters and sparkling dialogue.

BRIDGE WORLD said of the first edition: 'is as good a quiz book as has ever appeared...Instead of examples of well-known ideas, the author presents truly practical situations...the questions emphasise those aspects of bridge play that are truly important at the table. Our quibbles with the analysis are minor, and we recommend the book as outstanding of its kind.'

Using the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book will provide a handy pocket summary of the popular 2/1 bidding system. In a concise but readable manner, it goes over the basic ideas for Standard players who want to make the switch. The contents are based on Thurston's 25 Steps to Learning 2./1 which was the American Bridge Teachers Association Book of the Year in 2003.

Conventions are a vital element of bidding in bridge. Unless they are easily and clearly understood they can be destructively dangerous. This book contains the most common conventions you are likely to encounter at the duplicate table, together with defensive measures you can take, plus countermeasures against each part of the defensive methods. Importantly, however, bridge continues to evolve. The material in the additional chapter covers the most recent developments in bridge bidding and will give you ideas for inclusion in your regular partnerships.

As Hugh Kelsey says in his introduction, the brilliant card player achieves his results with a combination of logic and flair. And although many people may think flair plays a disproportionate part, the expert player, in fact, produces his sometimes unbelievable results almost entirely by the application of logic. LOGICAL BRIDGE PLAY teaches you just how to apply logic to your card play in making the correct inferences and deductions, and in assessing the timing - the opportunity to become a master player is yours for the taking.

This latest edition of an outstanding book contains some new tips which reflect the changes in the game since the original publication in 1987. Learning from bitter experience at the bridge table is a slow, painful and often costly business. The 100 winning tips are designed to cover specific situations in bidding, play and defence - the sort of problems that arise over and over again in everyday play, providing a painless substitute for experience.

Detailing the fictitious exploits of the bridge-playing monks of St. Titus, this uproarious collection of adventures includes their involvement in the Gold Cup, the Hubert Phillips Bowl, the National intermonastery championship, and a mission to Africa to convert the Bozwambi tribe to the Acol system. Leading the way for a hugely entertaining series, this title is a tribute to the bridge and writing skills of two very distinguished authors.

Designed for those who have finished a beginner course and would like something easy to carry around for reference, this handy little book will fill a major gap in bridge literature. In a humorous, conversational style, it covers all the basics of Standard bidding as well as offering some ideas on play and defense. The book includes a scoring table and a useful glossary of technical bridge terms. Designed to fit in a purse or pocket, this book will be perfect for those times when you want to point to something and say "Look partner, it says here you should have done this!" and win your argument! This book is aimed at the same market as 'The Biggest Little Bridge Book in the World', which is published by a New York bridge club, and not readily available elsewhere. This guide is, however, much more comprehensive in its content.

'The most useful publication in the past twelve months. I unhesitatingly award my accolade to BRIDGE ODDS FOR PRACTICAL PLAYERS because every player should know the material it contains. This cannot be found elsewhere' THE TIMES Backing outsiders has ruined many a punter at the bridge table as well as at the race track. Few players have any idea of how to harness the odds to solve problems that constantly recur. Which is the best line of play? Is it better to finesse or play for the drop? Will the diamonds break? Can the chances be combined? What are the exact odds? Here is a simple guide to solving the problems that arise in assessing the odds in play at bridge. Keeping theory to a minimum, the authors show by means of many practical examples how to calculate the odds and how to come up with the right answer at the bridge table. Anyone who learns to apply the principles set out in this book need never again be accused of playing against the odds.

Bridge is a superb card game, perfect for keeping your memory sharp, played by millions around the world. This Fast Fact Finder is a guide and summary to the basics of bridge for the beginner and novice player, enabling players to check quickly important points in bidding and play. It is designed to be used in conjunction with Basic Bridge and Acol Bridge Made Easy, both by Ron Klinger. 'Many games provide fun, but Bridge grips you. It exercises your mind. Your mind can rust, you know, but Bridge prevents the rust from forming' Omar Sharif

Regarded as one of the best ever written on the topic of signaling in the game of bridge, this book will help you defend better regardless of your experience or skill level. It explains several ways to describe your holding which are commonly used by experts but not generally known.

It compares new methods with old, including the pros and cons of upside-down versus standard signaling. It explains how to draw inferences, not only from partner's signals, but also from what he fails to do. Even if you are an expert and think there is nothing about defensive signals you don't already know, you will probably see a few situations you haven't thought about and discover how other experts handle them.

Originally published in 1995, this book has been unavailable for more than 20 years.

For those needing to grasp the fundamentals of sound bidding and play, Ron Klinger's BASIC BRIDGE is the answer. GUIDE TO BETTER ACOL BRIDGE is intended for the large majority who are ready to advance beyond the basics. While GUIDE TO BETTER ACOL BRIDGE emphasises better bidding, each chapter contains examples of play, which highlight areas of winning declarer technique and defence. At the end of each section, a revision test enables the reader to measure the rate of progress. The book can be used by teachers conducting courses, or as a self-teacher.

Join the millions of people worldwide who have discovered the joy of bridge Killing Defence at Bridge is one of the great classics of bridge. It carries the mark of a genius and was the first in a series of major books written by Hugh Kelsey, who became internationally recognised as a leading authority on the analysis of bridge. He coupled this incisive thinking with a brilliant skill with words and made the most complex techniques in bridge sound simple and easy to grasp. Killing Defence features a foreword by Ron Klinger, one of bridge's leading teachers.

The army of enthusiastic followers of the bridge-playing monks of St. Titus, and their sometimes less than admirable Abbot, will have a field-day with this wonderful collection of stories David Bird has surpassed even himself with this sixth collection. His inimitable combination of scintillating bridge and humor will swell the ranks of the cognoscenti with equally delighted new recruits. Any bridge players who are not already happily enrolled, should join now!

This is the most important technical bridge book published since Larry Cohen's To Bid or Not to Bid (60,000 copies in English alone), and may well reach an even bigger audience. There are two aspects to this book, both unique. First, Rodwell describes and explains a host of innovative ideas in cardplay, strategems that can be used as declarer or defender. Second, under the heading 'Common Mistakes', Rodwell talks about the mental side of the game: areas that mark the key differences between an average player and a successful one. The first draft of this book has been in existence for more than fifteen years, but it is only now that Rodwell is prepared to allow his 'secrets' to become public knowledge.

First published in 1955, this comprehensive survey of declarer play and defence has been very hard to find for the last decade. It is perhaps the single most-requested out-of-print bridge book, and is widely regarded as the best intermediate-level book on card play ever written. Gardener's technical expertise and Mollo's witty writing style combine to provide a unique instructional experience. This new edition has been updated and modernized by Bridge Magazine editor Mark Horton and also includes a new foreword by Gardener's daughter, Nicola Smith, herself a multiple world champion.

DEADLY DEFENCE covers every important aspect in bridge to make good bridge players into excellent defenders. It deals with opening leads (how to convey maximum information), defensive play when playing second hand, third hand and also when you are first to play to a trick, how to use signals more effectively and how to think on defence like an expert.

265 hands to practice responding and rebidding after an opening bid, or overcall, of 1 no trump. Includes a thorough discussion of both the concepts and mechanics of Stayman and Jacoby Transfer.

In bridge, there are thousands of rules, guidelines, and understandings - but which are golden? Many players enjoy their game without knowing some of the most significant underlying facts about the game, making mistakes which ruin their scores. With some gentle and entertaining reading, all players can improve their game hugely, just by knowing the Golden Rules of Bridge. From thirty years of teaching and playing, Paul Mendelson presents a book containing what he considers are the golden rules of bridge: the techniques and tips which occur most frequently and which provide the biggest edge against your opponents, and offer the biggest scoring advantages. He explains the thinking and logical reasoning behind each element - bidding, declarer play, defence - to ensure that readers remember and understand why they do what they do. These tips and techniques will transform your results and enjoyment of the game, whether you play social rubber bridge or Chicago, club teams events or duplicate pairs. If you play an Acol-based system or any of the many natural bidding systems available, knowing the Golden Rules will improve your score and frustrate your opponents, leaving you in the best spots and them with the tough decisions.

Checkers, backgammon, chess and Go. Poker, Scrabble and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across fourty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against "modern rationalism" and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon programme so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt; the Indian origins of chess; how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programmes better than any human player and what that means for the games-and for us. Funny, fascinating and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history and how play makes us human.

How many times have you found yourself defending and wriggling with anguish at having to discard apparently certain winners? Hugh Kelsey's target here is to help you to avoid such pain - and other agonies that a competent declarer may inflict. By developing your insights into the hidden possibilities in the lie and play of the cards, this book will make you a sought-after partner and a respected (and feared!) opponent.

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.

This book shows you how to improve your bridge at both a social and competitive level. Clear examples explain the detail of modern Acol bidding. This will enable the reader to plan and reassess their campaign step-by-step and calculate with precision who holds which cards. Guidance is also given on how and when to obstruct or bluff, how to pinpoint the best leads and steal the best contracts, and ways to think strategically under pressure. Unique at-the-table charts - designed to foster partnership understanding used appropriately at home, club or class - summarise key bids.