Bridge CD-ROMs and DVDs (UK)

Click to get the frames link column	This is a the selection of some of the best bridge card game CD-ROMs and DVDs around. All are for sale over the internet at the Amazon.co.uk store. A much wider selection is available from Amazon.com
Click for the no frames page

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These eight items are also for sale at Amazon.com and are reviewed on the Amazon.com bridge CD-ROMs page.

Marty Bergen

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All of the following items are only available from Amazon.co.uk

"Play Modern Bridge" with Andrew Robson covers eight aspects of bridge. Andrew covers all the basic areas of the game, each concluding with a concise "If you remember just three things", which can also be acessesd seperately. The aspects are:

Bidding as Opener Bidding as Responder Using Trumps Opening One No trump and Responding Card Play Techniques Overcalling Double Opening Leads and Defence		The key features of this unique product: Over three hours of quality teaching Live format - with four keen students learning at a table Graphical representation of the hands for clarity Easy to understand illustrative Flow Charts and Diagrams Ideal for learning - with repeat viewing freeze-frame, and summaries

Click the links for previews of this DVD on clip1 and clip2 on youtube.

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"The Times Bridge" program lets you pit your wits against your computer. If you're a complete beginner, then a comprehensive set of rules is included, along with hints & tips on how to play the game from bidding for a contract, to playing tricks and scoring points. Its ease of play makes it a firm favourite for beginners, whilst the depth of strategy allows it to be a game that can be studied by the most serious card player. Features include:

Includes a comprehensive set of rules, hints & tips section
Hints button suggests the best strategic move for you to make
Includes a beginners and experts bidding system along with many advanced bidding options
Saves unfinished games so you can come back to it
Lets you examine your game using the Take Back and Review buttons
Try to outwit your PC with clever bids and strategic moves

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Bridge Master is an educational bridge program for improving your declarer play skills. The program presents you with a series of instructional deals to play. You are always declarer. The deals that you play are not randomly dealt. They are carefully constructed excercises designed to illustrate an important declarer play technique. If you take the correct line of play you will always make your contract. If you make any mistake as declarer, the program will defend perfectly and defeat your contract. Each deal is accompanied by an animated bridge movie that will explain the correct line of play as well as the thinking process that leads to the solution.

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Bridge Masterclass 2 with Omar Sharif plays Acol & Standard American (5-Card Majors) + Defensive signals. It is very fancy looking with many deal types. It can install onto a very small hard disk. A disadvantage is that both partnerships must use the same conventions but that really is a minor point. The CD has good lectures by Omar Sharif.

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Bridge Lessons with Andrew Robson

These interactive CD-ROMs enable you to practice your bidding and favourite convention along with Andrew Robson. These CD-ROM versions of Andrew's books allow you to attempt interactively numerous quizzes and follow the explanation of each deal card by card. Additional features are post-mortem analyses or highlighting of the deal's instructive points, as well as experimentation with the play and defence. For a demonstration of Andrew Robson's new interactive bridge software, click the link for a free download.

1-	Stayman & Transfer, Weak Two, Endplay & Squeeze
2-	Finesse, Opening Lead, Signal & Discard
3-	Double, Overcall, Slam

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Hand-held bridge computers

Programmed by Andrew Kambites, Saitek's "Pro Bridge Professor" is a special computer for training, having been developed with the specific purpose of helping you to improve your bridge game. The computer program has been written in a way that allows you to concentrate on your bidding, or on playing out the contract, or you can play complete hands and cover both. You can begin from any one of 600 illustrative hands that you can specify, or you can let the computer choose one of the hands at random from its library. These have been specially designed to demonstrate particular points of skill and are divided into three groups for your convenience: 1-112 beginners, 113-512 intermediate, and 513 to 600 advanced. The accompanying manual “Pro Bridge Professor - A Guide”, which is an important partner with the Professor. It explains all about these hands and how you can extract the most benefit from them. It also explains the basics of Bridge, so you can refer to it if you are not familiar with the game. The Pro Bridge Professor includes the following features:

Choice of hands at random for the element of surprise.
Repeat selection of the same hands for practice.
Sight of other hands on request to improve understanding.
Correct solution available on request.
Recall of current contract and number of tricks won.
Recall sequence of bids or playing for study.
Choice of positions at the “table”.
Purpose-designed computer, with large clear display, and easy-use key set.
Pleasant audio tones to support actions.
In addition the computer can be easily modified to offer a choice of popular ACOL, Standard American, or French bidding systems.

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Saitek's Pro Bridge 610 is a hand-held bridge computer that you might use, for example, during a railway journey. It is 9 inches by 6 and weighs just over one pound - a handsome-looking machine. The small size, so great for portability, inevitably means that some people (particular the elderly) will find it fiddly to use. The designers have worked miracles, given the space constraints, but the screen can display only two hands at a time. After setting Acol, Standard American, or French bidding, you can play random deals, choose any of 1,000,000 pre-dealt hands, or input a deal of your own. Features include: -

A new dimension to Bridge & More Games!
Powerfully strong 64KB program housed in a new portable unit.
A choice of game mode: Rubber Bridge or Team of Four
Choice of the major bidding systems: American 5-card major, ACOL, French 5-card major
User-select dealing method: by random, by deal number or edited deal
Large back-lighted LCD to display all information
Ability to view all four hands if desired
Memory function retains interrupted games – switch the unit on again and pick
up where you left off!
Powered by 3 x AA batteries (Alkaline batteries are recommended)
Optional Adapter (not included)

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The hand-held "Bridgemate Game" enables you to play contract bridge against the computer anywhere, anytime – no need to make-up a party of four as the computer will play the other 3 hands. Bridgemate uses the ACOL bidding system and six conventions. Features include: -

Great fun to play and a useful memory training aid
Each hand is dealt randomly using artificial intelligence
Extra large screen with full card display
Easy to use keys with on-screen information
Up to 4 units can be interconnected and will interact with each other
Allows input of newspaper bridge problems and then helps to solve them
Teaching and hint functions
Take back, re-play and auto bid features
Remembers game position when turned off
Pocket size makes it an ideal travelling companion
Uses 3 x AAA batteries (not included)

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Bridge DVDs

"Play Modern Bridge" is a learning Bridge DVD from Andrew Robson with a running time of over three hours. It is aimed at the less experienced and also those who have played for longer but who wish to update their approach. There are eight classes:

Bidding as Opener
Bidding as Responder
Using Trumps
Opening One No trump and Responding
Card Play Techniques
Overcalling and Doubling
Opening Leads and Defence

Andrew Robson covers all the basic areas of the game of bridge. Each lesson concludes with a concise 'If you remember just three things', which can also be accessed separately.

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"Learn to play bridge with Zia Mahmood", arguably the world's No 1 player. Zia and his co-presenter Michele Handley, the young England Ladies Internationalist, take away a lot of the mystique surrounding bridge and make it accessible to beginners. Learn about:- Bidding - Zones - Conventions - The No Trump World - Declarer Player - Defence - Opening Leads - Discard - Signals - Ducking - How to be a Winner. Also many hints for experienced players who want to improve their. And tips and words of advice from Zia's friend Omar Sharif Running time 100 minutes.
DVD IS PLAYABLE IN ALL REGIONS WORLDWIDE INCLUDING THE USA

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In this DVD "Play Bridge With Omar Sharif", Omar Sharif and Dorothy Hayden Truscott demonstrate a variety of bridge techniques. The DVD includes how to establish an early game plan, advantages of a short suit and the drawbacks of negative bridge. You also get to play 15 challenging hands with Omar Sharif as your partner.

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In this 3-hour DVD "Try Bridge with Shaw Taylor" the presenter and his fellow players allow you into their thoughts as they progress through the fascinating card game of bridge. Advice and useful tips take the novice, who may only have seen a pack of cards once, to holding their own in any reputable school. This DVD was originally released as a VHS tape in 1984. Shaw Taylor is better known as predenter of the 'Police 5' TV series.

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In the UK, Acol, featuring a weak no-trump and 4-card major suit openings, is the most popular bidding system. For beginner's books on bridge and the Acol bidding system see review page B6, and for more advanced books on Acol bidding see review page 14.



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	go to the Bridge shop or USA bridge CD-ROMs 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.