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.

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.