Bridge books reviewed - 1

This is a selection of some of the best bridge card game books around. Most are for sale over the internet at the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk book stores. We start off with a few bridge magazine subscriptions.                                 BRIDGE magazine is England's most popular bridge magazine. Edited by Mark Horton, it is the longest continuous running Bridge magazine in the world (established 1926). It has regular features from international experts and also covers bridge events from all over the world.         Other international bridge magazines avaliable from Amazon.com are International Popular Bridge Monthly , Australian Bridge, NZ Bridge, Bridge - Sweden, Bridge D Italia.           ____________________________________________                   NT Bidding, Stayman and Transfers Terrence Quested   "The definitive guide to No Trump Bidding, Stayman and Transfers". This bridge bidding book is packed full of new and old conventions, it is available direct from the publishers at Trafford.   "25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know" is a classic book of 25 basic bridge bidding conventions clearly defined by Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith.                   "Play of the Hand" by Louis H Watson, one of the first and formost authorities on contract bridge, is regarded as the classic sxposition of playing strategy. Practically all variations of play, both declaring and defence, are clearly illustrated. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk   "The Outline of Contract Bridge" by Louis Watson and Sam Sloan is aimed at the player who has not played for a while and is very rusty. It's best to read this book before "Play of the Hand" for the simple reason that it is short enough to digest. The section on The Play of the Hand is only 149 pages.                   SAYC - Standard American Yellow Card, is the most popular bridge bidding used over the internet. This book by Ned Downey and Ellen Pomer discusses it in detail and points out the one or two differences from commonly used Standard American. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk   Sally Brock takes all the famous BOLS series of bridge tips and puts them together in one book The result: a perfect pot pourri of advice for players of every standard written by the world's best bridge players. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk                   In "The Second Bols Book of Bridge Tips" by André Boekhorst there are tips from professionals of international ranks such as Mike Lawrence and Alfred Sheinwold of the USA, Gabriel Chagas of Brazil, Eric Kokish of Canada, Jose le Dentu of France, and representing the UK amongst others - Terence Reese, Patrick Jourdain, Sandra Landy and Hugh Kelsey. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk.                 In the late 1990's the Bols Royal Distilleries of The Netherlands sponsored the "Bols Brilliancy Awards" which were presented annually to both the reporter and the player of the year's most brilliant hand. In "Fit For A King" Sally Brock and Barry Rigal take a new look at all the hands nominated for these awards and, for added interest, include personal details/anecdotes and photographs of most of the stars.     . . Bridge Tips by World Masters Terence Reese   .         In a similar format, "Bridge Tips by World Masters", edited by Terence Reese, develops and enlarges the famous Bols bridge tips. Included are articles by Bob Hamman, Rixi Marcus, Gabriel Chagas, Tim Seres, Georgeo Belladonna, Bobby Wolff, Charles Goren, Howard Shenken, Jeremy Flint, Jamers Jacoby, Jean Besse, Pietro Forquet, Dorothy Hayden Truscott, Benito Garozzo, Jeff Rubens and many, many more.                               Eddie Kantar is undoubtedly the acknowledged expert on the Roman Keycard Blackwood convention. This fourth edition of his book is very complex and really only suitable for advanced/expert players. For example, he advocates playing 1430 when the stronger hand asks and playing 3014 when the weaker asks - wow!!     This is the fifth (and according to the author, the very last - but don't hold your breath!) edition of what is acknowledged to be the definitive book on a convention that every serious player uses. Completely revised and updated from the previous version, this newest version contains even more leading-edge ideas, and is full of examples, quizzes and practice hands. A must for the tournament player.                                   "Declarer Play the Bergen Way" teaches you about end-plays, avoiding losing finesses, developing long suits, making the most of your entries, when to count winners in a suit contract, squeezes, how to know whether to draw trumps first, and much more.       Marty Bergen .     In "More Declarer play the Bergen Way" Marty Bergen teaches you how to give yourself an extra chance to make the hand; when to draw only some of the opponents' trumps; how to win extra tricks with nines and tens; how to create entries when they are most needed; the right time to throw a loser on a loser and much more!                                 "At the Table" is more of a novel than a collection of deals. It's interesting because Bob Hamman has been the best bridge player for many years and has played in so many world championships and national events. History-wise the best part of the book is the Italian foot-tapping scandal at the 1975 Bermuda Bowl. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk                                         . . Romex System of Bidding George Rosenkranz   . "The Romex System of Bidding " by George Rosenkranz. The basic philosophy of the Romex system is to define the strength and the distribution of the hands as soon as possible. To achieve this, we place the relatively low maximum limit of about 17 points on the opening one-bid in a suit, which is predominantly used in its natural sense. By natural we mean that the bid bears a direct relationship to the strength and length of the suit named. Artificial bids of one notrump, two clubs and two diamonds are used to describe strong hands with specific distributions. Each of these categories is rather strictly limited, so that the negative inferences gained when these bids are not used allow responder to obtain a sharp picture early in the bidding. Thus the combined potential of partnership assets emerges clearly and with straightforward simplicity in the first rounds of bidding. The recurring nightmare of standard bidding is cleanly eliminated. No longer need you contemplate the uncertainty of the unlimited opening one-bid with its interminable forcing sequences. Gone is the frustration of waiting for opener and responder to limit their hand, which sometimes happens only at a level already too high and, alas, too late.                         Most responses to strong club systems fall into two groups. In North America it is normal to use natural responses to one club, but the Europeans favor artificial responses, usually showing controls in some fashion. ''Godfrey's Stairway to the Stars: a step-by-step guide to modern strong club bidding'' is a lively book by two North American player-theorists, George Rosenkranz and Phillip Alder. They suggests a European style with a Mexican flavor - ROMEX.     George Rosenkranz Phillip Alder         Unavailable at Amazon.co.uk                               "Godfrey's Bridge Challenge" is George Rosenkranz and Phillip Alder's effort brings the Romex system to life through lively anecdotes, instruction and quizzes. This book will improve your judgment and effectiveness, especially your slam bidding. Unavailable at Amazon.co.uk         . . Natural Precision Rick Brown .                   If you've never played the Precision Club system, you will find "Natural Precision" by Rick Brown easy to read and simple to learn. While it's not a primer for a novice, anyone with a good understanding of any natural bidding system has the background necessary to learn Precision from this book. This book which was reprinted in 1998 and now contains 93 pages.                                     "Precision Today" will be your invaluable tool for learning to play the same accurate bidding system that has served North American, Italian and World Champions for decades. David Berkowitz's book is ideal for a partnership just starting out with Precision Club - or for the experienced precision pair who wish to add a few gadgets to their system. Unavailable at Amazon.co.uk.                       . . Precision Bridge Eric Jannersten . .     "Precision Bridge" by Eric Jannersten was origionally published in 1972. Eric Jannersten is one of Europe's leading bidding theorists and this book gives a complete description of the basic precision club system. The book is 224 pages which includes a 75 page advanced section featuring Italian methods.               . Precision's One Club Complete Cathy Wei & Judi Radin .   Ever since Katherine Wei brought out the original book "C. C. Wei's Precision System" in 1970 her ideas have influenced many of the world's great bridge players. The original book by Cathy Wei has been revised and updated with the help of Judi Radin and published in 1981 under the title "Precision's One Club Complete".                       Precision in the 90's   Eric Jannersten         In the years from 1970 to 1997 there were no significant publications detailing the advances in expert thinking on Precision. This book "Precision in the 90s" by Barry Rigal, published in 1997, combines a detailed outline of basic Precision with a survey of how the world's top players have modified and improved Precision to make it an even more forceful tool. The book will prove an invaluable asset to both beginner and expert in the Precision Club bidding system. It will give the beginner an idea of how Precision works and stimulate the expert to find new ideas and approaches.                             "Power Precision" by Alan Sontag is a revolutionary bridge bidding system, utilising a strong 1♣ opening, from a World Champion Player. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk.           "Precision power bidding: The bulldog system of contract bridge bidding," by William John Hanna and Douglas Steen. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk.                   "The New Awakening: An Improved Bidding System In Bridge" by Bob Gish presents the Precision club player with a wealth of new ideas to improve their bidding.   "The Phoney Club: Cleveland Club System" by David Marsh-Smith describes a bidding system based on an artificial club opening, allowing the bidders to make an easy distinction between four-card and longer suits.                   "Clobber Their Artificial Club " by Randy Baron, Ken Champeney and Kit Woolsey explains how to determine when it is best to interfere with strong club auctions. Or buy from Amazon.co.uk .                   Since its publication in 1992, "To Bid or Not to Bid" as sold over 50,000 copies. Undoubtedly the best selling bridge book of the 1990s, its lucid exposition of the Law of Total Tricks has made it a book that literally every serious bridge player simply has to read.   "Following the Law", the sequel to"To Bid or Not to Bid" was publishes in 1994, and took the basic concepts explained in the first book to a higher level, while giving many practical examples from expert play of how to use the Law of Total tricks correctly. Both books are must-reads for every improving - advanced bridge player.                         Imagination and inference are necessary in bridge, but so is a knowledge of the probabilities and the calculation of percentages. "Probabilities & Alternatives in Bridge", by Gianni Barracho and Antonio Vivaldi, shows you how and when to make such calculations and when to let imagination, deduction and inference take over. The book covers key elements of bridge probabilities such as the Principle of Restricted Choice and the theory of vacant places, and has deals to illustrate how to use them.                           Ib Axelsen Villy Dam .                     "Matchpoint Tricks" by B. Axelsen and Villy Dam is a collection of declarer play problems at duplicate pairs, the most common form of competitive bridge. How do you manufacture that vital overtrick? Can you do it legitimately, or if not, can you give the opponents a chance to go wrong?                                 Ron Anderson       "Preempts from A to Z" by Ron Anderson and Sabine Zenkel is aimed mainly at intermediate to expert players, although some of the material could be useful to lower level players. As the title implies, this book covers pre-emptive bids from the traditional weak two bids through five level minor suit openings. The book is very detailed, and all aspects of each bid and response are clearly described. Discipline is discussed in detail! In the second part, all of the conventional modern pre-empts are reviewed including weak two bids, 3 level natural preempts, Bergen preempts, various conventional preemptive systems, and defenses to artificial preempts.                                       go to the Bridge shop, Bridge CD-ROM's or Bridge book review index or page: - B1, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, B7, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 , 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 89, 98, 99.       Visit Bridge Books website for a list of bridge books categorised by content and level.