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A complete refresher course for bridge players returning to the game in middle age, summarising the key changes to the game that have occurred over the last thirty years.

An expert bridge coach's guide for players who have finished their beginner lessons and are looking to move their game up to the next level.

A guide to the many ways of playing safe in contract bridge when your primary objective is to make your contract and nothing else matters.

Academic research into the sociology of bridge showing what it takes to be a top player or coach, and featuring interviews with the world's top bridge personalities.

In any Swiss Teams or IMP Pairs tournament, you will soon enough find yourself facing opponents who are frequent or consistent winners. How is it that when you earn your chance to challenge them, more of the IMP swings seem to go their way than yours?That''s the focus of this book, which reviews over 100 deals that generated swings in IMPs competitions. It examines how effective bidding methods and logical play or defense led to the outcome at the table. The deals illustrate many useful take-home messages. Here are a few:when playing for IMPs, the glass is never half empty, always half fullbe creative about pre-empting, especially in first and third seatalways be "slam aware"when the contract looks good, consider what could go wrong and play safelyin defense, think about how to maintain communication with partnerThe book is in quiz format, with each set of deals followed by a thought-provoking commentary.

Whether you are just setting out to discover the wonderful game of bridge, or have played for some time, your success will be limited without a sound understanding of the basic techniques of cardplay. In this series, two of the game's top writers explain clearly the various cardplay skills that you will need. Every booklet contains six chapters - each ending with a short Quiz.The topics covered in this second book, on Ruffing Losers, are: Ruffing in the short-trump handShould I draw trumps before the ruff?Preparing for the ruffShould I ruff high or low?When is it wrong to ruff?Planning the necessary ruffs

The motto of the Polish Club 2020 Expert system is: ''Bid aggressively with an offensive hand, keep quiet with a defensive hand.'' Non-vulnerable one-level light openings and responses are introduced here. But the main merit of the Polish Club, i.e. to ''keep an eye on the total strength of the bidders'', is still preserved.In comparison to other versions of Polish Club (including Polish Club 2020 Standard), the meaning of the 2C opening has been changed. The Precision approach has been dropped, and replaced by the major two-suiter. This treatment, added to weak two-suited openings, makes the system''s two-level openings very aggressive. And this brings IMPs and matchpoints!The spectrum of conventions in uncontested and competitive auctions is richer than in any other version of the Polish Club system. Some novel ideas (such as Cheap Transfer) are universal enough to be applied in any bidding system.

Val''s bids are sometimes outrageous, but he always bases them on logic. He believes in following his logic wherever it may lead, not in following a bunch of ''rules''. Val takes more risks than most players. His goal is to push opponents out of their comfort zones and help his partner find the best lead, even if at some risk. He makes as few bids as possible to reach the final contract, never describing his hand more than necessary.You will find yourself trying to guess what action Val is about to take next, and you''ll wait for the outcome with bated breath. Your imagination expands as you gasp, then smile at the sheer audacity and cheekiness of some of his bids.Add some spice to your bridge game by choosing a few of Val''s approaches to incorporate into your own game. Learn how to be the lion in your bridge jungle!

In his first book, Optimal Hand Evaluation, the author introduced a number of corrections to the Goren point count to reach "optimal" hand evaluation accuracy. That first book focused on non-competitive bidding situations where no further adjustments were needed as a result of the opponents'' bidding. This book now deals with this specific topic.First, it challenges the very premise of the Law of Total Tricks and compares the results of its application "at the table" by world-class players to the effectiveness of the Optimal point count. Then, it reveals how to precisely quantify:ΓÇó The point-count adjustments that should be applied to hands that are short or long in a suit bid by the opponents.ΓÇó Which point-count adjustments should be made to honors.ΓÇó How adjustments translate a hand''s Offense to Defense ratio.ΓÇó What adjustments apply to balanced hands.This book begins with an overview and two-page summary of the Optimal point count. The full rationale and statistical support data justifying the point count can be found in the first book, as well as over 100 example hands illustrating its accuracy.

This bridge guide explains in simple terms the techniques that experts use to count suits, high cards and distribution around the table. The authors discuss how, as declarer or defender, it is possible to use the knowledge obtained from counting to gain more tricks.

A witty and informative look at the world of bridge - its language, its history, and some of its techniques.Are pigeons more intelligent than some bridge players?What do a wooden man, a grandfather, a daydreamer and a donkey have in common?Did Zia really go nine down in 3NT?Interesting, Educational and Amusingsuggests the modest authorBrilliant, Fascinating and Hilarious!writes the seasoned publicistDestined to be ranked as a classic, alongside its prequel, Oliver Twist

Since 1975, Barnet Shenkin has had the opportunity to play with and against some of the best bridge players in the world and in this book, he recounts his favourite hands and stories. The book climaxes with the US team's record-breaking world title win in 2000, which Barnet covered as a journalist.

Combining bridge stories with historical fiction, this book takes the reader to a remote village in early 19th century Japan. Although the characters may at first seem conventional, they are all fanatical bridge players, and the final battle between good and evil takes place at the card table.

Each book in this series allows players to learn a new convention, then practice using it either on their own or with a favorite partner.

Bob Smithers is dead, although few in the tournament bridge scene will shed any tears. Art Fraser, the ambitious Buffalo police lieutenant assigned to the case, knows the bridge world well. But Smithers made enemies easily, both at the bridge table and away from it, and Art has plenty of potential murderers to investigate. Even his own bridge friends have to be treated as suspects, and he begins to uncover a complex tangle of jealousy, ambition, sex, and deceit amongst people to whom bridge is far more than just a game. Then a second body shows up

"Notrump openings, and the constructive auctions that follow them, are two of the most neglected areas in bridge literature. Following on from his popular articles behind notrump bids and rebids in a variety of situations, emphasizing the ideas and concepts rather than attempting to teach a series of rigid rules. A must for any duplicate player.

A collection of cartoons about bridge and golf.

This is an author who has been there and seen it all. As a multiple world champion, and former president of the World Bridge Federation, no one is better placed to discuss the big issues that face the game today. He can talk authoritatively about cheating at the top levels of the game, destructive bidding systems, sponsorship, professional players, and the other big issues - and he does. He opens the closets of the bridge world, and shows us the skeletons inside that no one wants to talk about. Wolff names names: as the title implies, he has always been prepared to call a spade and let the chips fall where they may. Wolff describes his own life and career in bridge with a brutally honest and emotional appraisal. This book will receive major review attention, and will be as controversial as one would expect a book from this author to be.