To bid in a controlled auction to a successful slam is one of the great pleasures of bridge. Understanding Slam Bidding teaches you the important modern conventions, but more importantly, it shows you how to think so that you can tell whether a card in your hand is just what partner wants, or is waste paper. If you take the time to study this book you will find yourself bidding successful slams with fewer points than is normally considered necessary, and you will avoid bidding slams that are doomed to fail when you have lots of points but no fit.

'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.

No matter how good your bidding system or your partnership understandings, such advantages will vanish if you fail to make an accurate assessment of the value of your hand. As the bidding proceeds, you need constantly to make adjustments to your initial evaluation. The authors show you how to do that. They provide guides which allow you to judge whether your hand fits well with your partner's, whether the danger of a misfit exists, whether your high cards lie well or badly in relation to the opponents', how high to bid, when to try to outbid the opponents and when to choose to defend. This stimulating book reveals the methods used by the experts to reach a precise appraisal of the partnership assets - here is your chance to do just as well.

Most of the contracts that you play are suit contracts. The presence of a trump suit provides more choices and also more dangers. This third book in the Card Play Made Easy series deals solely with trump contracts - and aims to impart skills that are not too difficult to recognise and to put into practice. The topics include how to create more winners and how to eliminate losers, how to spot the defenders' plans and how to thwart them and how to choose the best line when you have a number of options. Chapters 1-7 end with a collection of declarer problems on the relevant area and the recommended line of play for each. After the final chapter there is a lengthy quiz on all aspects of the book, plus the solutions. After studying the advice and deals in these pages, you are bound to become a more successful declarer.