A common form of pairs scoring in the game of bridge is by “matchpoints”. On each board, a partnership scores two matchpoints for each other partnership that scored fewer points with the same cards, and one point for each other partnership that scored the same number of points. Most players would agree that matchpoints is harder than IMPs (“international match point scoring”) – it is certainly different. Yet many players approach the two forms of scoring in the same way. In this book, the author explains the differences in approach, the whys and wherefores of the right way to bid, play and defend at matchpoint scoring for optimum results.

"Slam bidding is perhaps the most exciting part of bridge, but at the same time it is the most technically challenging. The rewards for success are high, but so are the penalties for failure. Using this book as a launching pad, the author introduces some useful agreements and conventions. After that, he addresses how to decide whether to try for slam, and how to investigate via cuebidding. More direct and advanced techniques, competitive auctions and a final quiz make up the remainder of the book. Studying this book will make for a smooth transition to becoming an effective slam bidder.

In the modern game of bridge, the majority of auctions are competitive, and every improving player needs to acquire the tools to handle this kind of bidding. This textbook covers the basic building blocks of competitive bidding (takeout and negative doubles, pre-empts, overcalls, competing over their no-trump openings and dealing with competition over your own, forcing pass auctions, the Law of Total Tricks). It describes a number of useful conventions and gadgets with which the reader needs to be familiar, and suggests other optional treatments for partnership discussion. There are reviews and quizzes, and the final chapter is a quiz covering all the material.

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. Designed for players who are familiar with standard bidding, this book covers all aspects of switching over to a 2/1 game-forcing approach. It is a comprehensive eight-lesson course, and includes dozens of full-deal examples that can be used to practise bidding and cardplay.