Revised and updated edition of the handy pocket-sized guide to basic bidding conventions for bridge players. This pocket guide is based on the information in the standard bridge textbook 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know. Since that book’s original publication in 1999, it has sold more than 300,000 copies in six languages. It has become a much-valued learning tool and reference for everyone from social players to those who regularly spend time at their local bridge club. That book was thoroughly updated in 2022 (ISBN ISBN 978 177140 071 8) , while retaining the approach and features that made the original so popular. Every convention in the book was carefully revised to reflect the way it is used in the modern game. Three chapters (Landy, Grand Slam Force and Ogust responses to Weak Twos) were dropped completely in favour of Bergen Raises and the DONT and Meckwell defenses to 1NT. This new edition of the pocket guide has been updated in similar fashion.

Since its publication in 1999, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know has sold more than 250,000 copies in six languages. It has become a much-valued text and reference for everyone from social players to those who regularly spend time at their local bridge club. But bridge has changed in the last 23 years. Bidding has changed. Some of the conventions in the original book have fallen into disuse, while others have gained in popularity and importance. Many basic conventions have changed in subtle ways as bidding methods have developed. Today's players need to be in tune with what is happening and stay current. This new edition has been thoroughly updated, while retaining the approach and features that made the original so popular. Every convention in the book has been carefully revised to reflect the way it is used in the modern game. Students are now universally taught to play transfers in response to a strong no-trump opening, and the new edition reflects that change in several ways. Three chapters (Landy, Grand Slam Force and Ogust responses to Weak Twos) have been dropped completely in favour of Bergen Raises and the DONT and Meckwell defenses to 1NT.

Understanding Wine Technology has become the most favoured book of many students. This book is aimed at the person with no formal scientific training, yet who is interested in the science behind wine and wants to know the mechanism behind the complex transformations that take place. Scientific terminology has been kept to a minimum and an attempt has been made to use everyday words and phrases. Indeed, there are places where the scientist might raise the eyebrows, places where perhaps science has had to give way to an easy understanding of a complex principle. In this fourth edition Nicolas Quille, a well-qualified and widely-experienced French winemaker working in Oregon USA has brought the information up-to-date so that this book remains the mainstay for those who are studying for the Diploma of the WSET or for membership of the Institute of Masters of Wine. The text has also been expanded to include more information on the making of the major styles of the wines of the world, which should be of interest to those who are not engaged in study, but who have an enquiring mind and therefore want to know the mechanisms behind their production. Hugh Johnson writes in the Foreword: I'm not sure whether to call this book a primer, a memory-jogger or a lifesaver. Which it is depends on the reader. For WSET students it is essentially the first, then the second. For people like me it is the third- than rather belatedly the first. What we all need is a crisp exposition of how wine is made and why, easy to refer to when a funny smell appears, to cover the physics, natural history, legislation and finally the appreciation of wine. David's first edition has been my stand-by for years. I have my Peynaud, my Amerine & Joslyn, my Michael Schuster for going deeper in certain areas where necessary, but I wouldn't be without Bird in the hand. This fourth edition adds freshly-focused insight into the production of the principal styles of the wines of the world, making it equally interesting for those who are simply lovers of wine and for those who are serious students of the Master of Wine examination. New concepts such as Orange, organic, biodynamic and 'natural' wines have been added to the public's vocabulary - leaving many baffled and curious. Modern food legislation adds another obstacle course for the winemaker to negotiate. The detailed explanation of the mysteries of Hazard Analysis make this book particularly useful for wineries that are faced with the new problems of food safety legislation. Essentially, though, this is the classic Bird, much updated from the third edition and available once more to ease the pangs of students young and old.

David Bird, the world's leading humorous bridge writer, joins forces again with Ron Klinger, one of the world's best-known bridge teachers and authors. The result is a scintillating new collection of stories about the bridge-playing Rabbi. Where else would you find an unnervingly plausible account of a Rabbi gambling his holiday money in a high-stake rubber game against three wealthy Arabs? And where might you chance upon a parable such as the Synagogue team facing a team of Catholic priests and nuns (hired professionals!) as part of the St Benedict Commemoration celebrations? As readers of KOSHER BRIDGE and THE RABBI AND THE WEAKER SEX (previously KOSHER BRIDGE 2) will expect, the humour is sparkling and the bridge brilliant. Sit back, hold tight, and enjoy this vastly entertaining book.

Bridge is played around the world - and often regarded as the best of all card games. '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 In this book David Bird builds on TEN WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR BRIDGE and presents ten further ways to increase success at the bridge table. In the area of bidding, the Jacoby 2NT convention is described - the most popular way nowadays of showing a strong major-suit raise and investigating slam possibilities. When bidding slams, it is critical to identify the presence or otherwise of the six key cards (the four aces and the king-queen of trumps) Roman Key-card Blackwood allows you to do this. Two important variations (Kickback Blackwood and Exclusion Blackwood) are explained. The Lebensohl convention is covered also, both when partner's INT has been overcalled and when you are responding to a double of a weak-two bid. On defence, the important topic of disrupting declarer's communications is explained. The book will also show how you can become an 'awkward defender', the sort of player that no declarer likes to face. Finally, five important areas of declarer play are addressed: holding up in a suit contract, using the entries provided by the trump suit, how to block the defenders' suit at no-trumps, the various ways to avoid an adverse ruff or overruff and how to overcome a 4-1 trump break.

If you are a middling player and are keen to advance, this book will show you the way forward. David Bird has taken ten key areas in bidding and play and has applied his considerable skills as a player and critic to prove how results can be gained. The topics covered range from bidding the opponents' suit and battling for the part-score to support doubles and redoubles, and splinter bids and fit jumps. The essential points to remember are summarised at the end of each chapter and there are problems to solve which will show how much you have taken on board. Why wait any longer? Your opportunity to become a better player is here!

This expertly presented book gives all the information needed to begin playing cards, with advice on the rules and strategies of each game. The bulk of the book is 200 card games, covers fun and classic games for families and friends. Special sections on poker and bridge guide you through all the basic information needed to begin playing. For every card game there is an explanation of the type of pack required, ideal age, playing and scoring, and plenty of diagrams of sample games. This beautifully presented guide is a great resource for all card game enthusiasts. Suitable for beginners and advanced players alike, this practical book will teach you everything you need to play a variety of exciting games* Learn how to play classics such as Baccarat, Cribbage, Go Fish, Gin Rummy and Kaluki * Similar card games are grouped, so it is simple to find fun and challenging family games as well as advanced games * A special focus on poker gives rules and winning strategies, skills and tactics, with useful tips for players at all levels as well as expert guidance for professional players * Clearly explained with more than 1200 easy-to-follow photographs and illustrations

The pompous and self-important Abbot returns from his heroics in the Chennai Bermuda Bowl to discover that his fellow monks have taken little interest in this adventure. It is no easy matter for him to once again endure the aggravating ups and downs, familiar to us all, of life as a bridge player. The Abbot plays matches and duplicate sessions against a range of colourful opponents. How can it be that a battle-hardened veteran of the Bermuda Bowl cannot always sweep such moderate opposition aside? Claude Yorke-Smith, his overbearing brother from Devon pays the monastery a visit. The Abbot spends a week in the Convent of Hilda's and is shocked by the severe attitude of the Mother of Discipline. In the final part of the book, the Abbot is visited by his partner from Chennai, the Parrot. How will the bridge players of Hampshire react to such a feathered and outspoken opponent? Other Abbot titles by David Bird: Miracles of Card Play; Unholy Tricks; Doubled and Venerable; Cardinal Sins; The Abbot's Great Sacrifice; Heavenly Contracts; Celestial Cardplay; The Abbot and the Sensational Squeeze; Divine Intervention; The Abbot, the Witchdoctor and the Disastrous Double; The Abbot, the Parrot and the Bermuda Bowl.

Collins Cambridge IGCSE (TM) Additional Maths Student's Book - Second Edition is written by an experienced author team to provide in-depth coverage of every aspect of the revised Cambridge IGCSE Additional Mathematics 0606 syllabus, for first examination from 2025. Exam Board: Cambridge Assessment International Education For examination from: 2025. This resource also covers the Cambridge O Level Additional Mathematics 4037 syllabus. Cover the entire curriculum with confidence with clear references to what students will learn at the start of every chapter and content fully updated for the revised syllabus and assessment. Build upon the IGCSE Mathematics course with exercises designed to test students' initial understanding and prepare them for Additional Mathematics content. Consolidate understanding with tried and tested questions in extensive practice exercises and detailed worked examples, with hints on how to tackle tricky content. Develop confidence working without a calculator with clearly labelled questions and exercises. Help students to prepare for examination with review questions at the end of every chapter, including Cambridge questions from past papers. Support students in developing problem-solving skills with flagged questions and a Problem-solving in Context feature that require students to apply their skills and understanding. Emphasise the relevance of maths in the real world with Why this chapter matters, showing maths in everyday life or its place in historical developments. Deliver a fully international course with international examples, contexts, names, currency and locations. Assist English as Second Language learners understand complex mathematical terminology with clear key term definitions, gathered in a glossary. Challenge students to stretch their skills and understanding with flagged extension questions in both the practice exercises and the chapter review questions. Support students in assessing their own understanding of the content through a progression checklist at the end of every chapter and answers to all questions at the back of the book. We are working with Cambridge Assessment International Education towards endorsement of this title.

The card-play exploits of the monks at St Titus have a special place in bridge literature and their fame has now spread round the world. This collection of highly entertaining and absorbing stories from the monastery includes a further hilarious interlude with the missionary monks and the celebrated bridge-playing parrot in the Bozwambi jungle.

David Bird is acknowledged as the world's best when it comes to humorous bridge fiction. As the bridge cruise traverses the Far East, the bridge organiser, Richard Knight, visits Pat Pong - the notorious red-light district of Bangkok - and is enticed by three attractive Thai girls into a bridge game. Other hilarious adventures take place in a drug den in Hong Kong, in backpacker land in Bali, in a Shinto monastery in Kyoto, and in the Double Bay Club in Sydney. A mixture of top-class bridge, exhilarating narrative and a host of true-to-life characters.

Hugely entertaining descriptions of the most spectacular and amusing disasters suffered by the world's top players There are two reasons for studying the most famous bridge disasters from the top level of play. Readers can both learn from them and, combining learning with laughter, they can enjoy them. Readers will be directly involved in the action at various stages, invited to make their own choice of bid, lead, or play. This is excitement in itself, for the hands are all taken from top-class matches. Here is a wonderful chance to laugh, sympathize, and learn under David Bird's expert guidance.

The third book in the series featuring the bridge-playing monks of St. Titus, whose humor enhances the bridge deals, which are always of considerable technical interest Terence Reese's and David Bird's sparkling stories about the exploits of the bridge-playing monks of St. Titus continue to delight readers the world over. Their huge success lies not only in their being extremely funny, but also in their being instructional, as they are crammed with gems of bridge bidding and play. Bridge enthusiasts who have not yet encountered the Abbot and his monastic team should make their acquaintance without delay.

UNHOLY TRICKS by Terence Reese and David Bird is a further collection of bridge tales involving the eccentric monks of St Titus. In addition to their usual rubber bridge games - and they play for surprisingly high stakes at the monastery - the monks become involved in duplicate matches against nuns, visiting Italians and even the local police.

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.

'Nazi Dreamtime' is the story of extreme-right ultra-nationalists in Australia before and during the Second World War. Some native-born Australians were attracted to the ideology of Nazism, believing it to be applicable to Australian political and cultural life. They felt the 'German revolution' was a European experiment that Australians ought to learn from, and to an extent emulate.

These Nazi enthusiasts and their fellow travellers were charitably described by one renegade amongst them as 'well-meaning dreamers'. Their ranks included tourists, appeasers, political agitators, propagandists, writers, poets, mystics, aesthetes, academics, soldiers and outright cranks. Some were obscure figures; others enjoyed a high public profile. Many thought that Aboriginal concepts of dreaming could be merged with national-socialism to form a 'blood-and-soil' white dreaming - a Nazi Dreamtime under the Southern Cross. Berlin's aggressive foreign policy in the late 1930s failed to shake their faith, and even the war would not dislodge some from Hitlerism. Only the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945 terminated the dream that had become a nightmare, although the idea still lingered.

This expertly presented book is a fabulous guide for players of all levels. It is a clear and effective tutorial for beginners, an essential sourcebook of reference points, sample games, tips and professional strategies for intermediate and high-level players, and a fascinating history of bridge and the great champions for enthusiasts of every kind. In the introduction, the principles of bridge and its continued evolution are discussed, and the first chapter goes on to detail the colourful history of the game. The practical heart of the book then focuses on how to play bridge and improve your game, from basic through to intermediate and advanced-level, both in bidding and cardplay. This teaching course is designed to develop skills and competence - the importance of good bidding, card play and defence, rules of the game, and strategies for successful play. With more than 700 superb photographs and artworks, the book combines a reference manual, a stunning history and a comprehensive course in one beautifully presented and expertly written volume. It details the amazing history of the World Bridge Championships, and the players that have popularised and developed the game we know today; it covers bridge on TV and video, as well as bridge computer programs and playing bridge with opponents accross the world via the internet; and includes anecdotes and tips from world famous players such as Ely Cuthbertson, Charles Goren, Rixi Markus and Benito Garozzo. Players of all levels are able to learn and improve their game, achieve their desired levels of skill and knowledge and, above all, increase their enjoyment by playing bridge to the fullness of their potential.

To discover which opening lead is best from a given West hand against a particular auction, the authors use computer software to generate 5000 deals that match the North-South bidding. (The West hand remains the same and the other three hands are chosen randomly).

The software then plays these deals automatically, seeing which of the 13 possible opening leads works best at both IMPs (rubber bridge/Chicago) and match-point pairs.

By analysing the results, the authors pass on to the reader the secrets of finding the best lead against notrump contracts on a wide range of different auctions.

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.

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!

Readers of David Bird's humorous bridge stories will give a delighted welcome to this new addition to the celebrated series. As ever, the irascible Abbot makes his acerbic presence felt and the long-suffering fraternity diverts itself with much entertaining and excitingly interesting bridge. For more than 30 years, David Bird's tales of the bridge-crazy monks of St Titus have appeared in magazines around the world. In this tenth collection in book form, the pompous and self-important Abbot hosts a tricky visit from Monsignor Vecchio, a representative of the Vatican authorities. Everything must be done to ensure that the visitor, a very moderate bridge player, finishes well in the monastery duplicate. In another story, the Abbot visits the Convent of St Hilda's and is not overjoyed to be put in partnership with the 80-year-old Mother of Discipline. Regular followers of David Bird's work will know what to expect - a first-rate mixture of excellent bridge, entertaining characters and sparkling dialogue.