The opponents have doubled your contract and you have to decide how best to play the hand. Are you aiming to make your doubled contract? Is there a possibility of doubled overtricks? These are attractive objectives, but often they are not realistic. Should you accept that you will not make your contract and limit your losses as best you can? Obviously it is better to go one down than three or four down and it is important not to panic just because of the double. If you have sacrificed against the opponents' game or slam, which would have made, it is vital that your loss does not exceed the value of their contract. This quiz book contains problems taken from major national and international championships. In most cases you have the opportunity to outperform the actual declarers. No matter how you do, seeing the logic and technique behind the right play will no doubt improve your own standard.

Master the game of Go with this expert guide. Go is a two-player board game that first originated in ancient China but is also very popular in Japan and Korea. There is significant strategy and philosophy involved in the game, and the number of possible games is vast--even when compared to chess. This is the first comprehensive strategy guidebook in English to cover the entire game of Go by illustrating the nuances and finer points of Go strategy. Its 203 problems and their commented answers demonstrate to players of all level of skill not only successful moves, but also the incorrect moves and why they are wrong. This enables players to identify strengths and weaknesses in their games. From opening play to the endgame, Winning Go is an essential tool in helping serious players master the sophisticated sequence and flow of advanced Go play. Useful Go strategies include: The opening (fuseki) The middle (chuban) The endgame (yose) Clever moves (tesuji) Life and death (shikatsu) Winning corner skirmishes (joseki) Accurate counting Players will learn about not only creating good shapes, but also how to avoid or take advantage of bad ones, along with the right and wrong order of moves. This makes Winning Go the ideal choice for a first problem book because it enables both players and teachers to improve upon their Go game. From opening play to endgame, Winning go is an essential tool in helping serious Go players master the sophisticated sequence and flow of advanced Go play.

With 32 pegged chess pieces and a gamebook that a) teaches you how to play and b) makes you look smart, this chess set by Brass Monkey is perfect for newbies and experts alike. Bonus: everything stores away into the box (that is also the game board), so it's perfect for traveling. * Features unique 'peggable' style chess pieces that fit (and stay put) in the holes of the included chessboard. * Perfect for traveling (or playing during deep-sea fishing expeditions). * Includes a gamebook that teaches beginners how to play...and gives experts something to make fun of. * Everything (including the chessboard) packs away into the display-worthy box. * Box measures 7.8" square (by 2.8" deep if you're curious).

Fifty thought-provoking questions about players' pasts will spark sweet memories and lively discussion.

Kirkus Review says: "Bergmann divulges ruthless strategies and sneaky advice for winning the classic board game. A sharp-eyed guide to dominating the playing board." This book will teach you how to: (1.) Take control of the board by preventing opponents from obtaining monopolies while acquiring your own. (2.) Double the amount of cash at your disposal. (3.) Become sneakier and harder to play against while identifying weaknesses in your opponents. (4.) Invest in properties that can do the greatest damage to your opponents with the least cost to you. (5.) Trade to leave opponents deep in debt with monopolies they can't afford while securing your own position. These are the most important things it teaches. Altogether, there are 18 strategies. They were all created to hunt down and eliminate luck from your game as much as possible, and to allow you to win as close to 100% of the time as the dice will allow. In other words, they work no matter which properties you buy, with some variation of course. Most Monopoly strategy books rely on probability, but using probability is essentially relying on luck, and luck is not a strategy. (To read more about why using probability is just relying on luck, see description on back of book.) The strategies in this book do not rely at all on probability. They are completely different. This book was written to be reasonably short, easy to understand, and fun to read. If you purchase a copy, please post a review. Thanks.

Is your roleplaying in a rut? Flip the table and try something new! Proactive roleplaying will re-energize your players – and your game.

Most adventures in traditional TTRPGs start out the same way: Something bad happens and your players have to muster their courage to stand against it. Whether it’s rescuing the little dog that was kidnapped by the local troll, stopping an assassination attempt at the archduke’s wedding or recruiting an army to disrupt the construction of a world-ending ritual site, the party will always find a way to save the day. After all, what kind of heroes would they be if they let the dog, duke or entire population die? Saving the day is fun, but it starts to get repetitive after a while. If you’re using a “bad guys try to do stuff, good guys try to stop them” engine to drive all your sessions, you’re taking all the agency out of your players’ hands. Bad stuff happens, good people have to try to stop it, roll, rinse, repeat.

There’s a better way to play (and prep) your sessions. The Game Master’s Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying shows you how to convert your TTRPG gameplay from predictable action/reaction cliches to player-driven narratives that put all the choices (and most of the prep work) in the hands of your players. The goals are theirs. The decisions are theirs. Everything that happens in the world you’re building together occurs not because you planned it, but because the PCs are following their own paths, rather than Game Master breadcrumbs, to the scene of the next adventure.

The proactive approach ensures every battle has tension, every faction has a function and every session is high-stakes (and an absolute blast), putting the players and their characters in the driver’s seat so you can sit back and simply put giant goal- (and soul-) crushing roadblocks in their way.

You’ll also find:

• Foreword by Ginny Di with an afterword by Jeff Ashworth
• Writer’s block-breaking charts
• Case studies from decades of sessions
• Templates for goal-driven NPCs and factions
• A modular adventure setting and much more!

The Game Master's Handbook of Proactive Roleplaying is compatible with your favorite 5th edition Fantasy Tabletop RPGs!

The O'Kelly variation of the Sicilian Defence (1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 a6) is a wonderful system for those who enjoy playing Sicilian positions but don't want to get bogged down in heavy theory. The O'Kelly relies far more on an understanding of general strategic ideas and middlegame planning than on rote memorisation of opening moves. One of the benefits of the O'Kelly is that White's natural continuation of 3 d4, although very frequently played, permits Black confortable development and an easy game. In Play the O'Kelly Sicilian, highly experienced chess author and coach Andrew Martin guides the reader through the complexities of the O'Kelly and carves out a repertoire for Black. He examines all aspects of this fascinating opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. * A complete repertoire for Black against 1 e4. * All key variations analysed in detail.

As readers complete each section of dots in this fun activity book, beautiful animal portraits are revealed -- so intricate they're ready for display The 20 puzzles in this book are much more sophisticated than the one-dimensional images created in childhood connect-the-dots books. Tonal shading and expressive line work build as each numbered section is finished. Dot-to-dot puzzles have also been proven to increase short-term cognitive acuity, hand-eye coordination, and concentration skills. Whether readers are filling time on a rainy day, using the puzzles for a party game, or learning the principles of drawing, "1000 Dot-to-Dot: Animals" is fun for all ages.

Paul Rodney Turner (a.k.a. "BATman") invented the Billiard Aim Trainer (BAT).He has studied the teachings of great masters of pool and snooker, as well as being personally trained by World Champions, Allison Fisher (right) and Gerda Hofstatter (left), top touring pro Max Eberle, and Master BCA instructor, Jerry Briesath. Paul started playing pool in 1973 at the age of 10 on a seven-foot particleboard pool table in his family's garage. Fascinated by the art and geometry of billiards, Paul studied the books of legendary snooker and billiard greats and had hopes of one day becoming a professional snooker player, but then in 1983, as if being called for a higher purpose, Paul put away his snooker cue and traveled East to study the ancient mystical teachings of India. It is that experience that Paul now draws on when explaining the more subtle aspects of billiards, like mind management and gamesmanship. Join Paul on a journey of championship billiards and self- discovery as he reveals the essential ingredients of what makes a great pool player and a great human being.