Bridge books reviewed - 20

"Win the Bermuda Bowl with Me" is an over-the-shoulder look at the thought processes of one of the world's best players as Jeff Meckstroth takes the reader through the highs and lows of winning the Bermuda Bowl - the world bridge teams championship. Written in the style of Terence Reese's classic Play Bridge with Reese , this book gives readers a chance to make their own decisions at critical stages in each deal, and compare their solutions with the authors. The narrative does not follow any specific world championship event, but all the deals are ones that Meckstroth actually played in Bermuda Bowl competition                                               We have all seen bridge experts make plays that are simple and elegant, yet brilliant - with an instinct and insight apparently out of the reach of the everyday player. But they don't have to be. Study the hands in this book by Prakash K. Paranjape, all of which are taken from actual club and tournament play, and you'll see how the logic of each situation leads to a play that is "easier done than said". Then apply these ideas to your own game. Amaze your partners. Mystify your opponents. Play better bridge.                   Most bridge books ignore the fact that bridge is a game between opponents, simply teaching players how to strive for theoretical perfection in bidding and play.  Dan Romm isn't interested in that - he's interested in winning, which is something he has done for more than forty years against the best players around.  Romm also isn't very interested in tournaments - mostly he plays for money; he plays with and against world champions, and is a consistent winner.  He treats bridge as a four-person competition, not as a one or two-person mathematical exercise.  In "Things Your Bridge Teacher Won't Tell You" psychology, deception, and misdirection are among a host of (legal!) tactics that the reader can learn to use himself, on the way to winning more often.                   "How You Can Play Like an Expert" by Mel Colchamiro is a light-hearted book offering tips for advancing players who want to make expert-level decisions. Its advice comes with bridge tales, quizzes and some useful bidding guidelines.                       Robert Darvas Paul Lukacs .       "Spotlight on Card Play: A New Approach to the Practical Analysis of Bridge Hands" by Robert Darvas and Paul Lukacs is a new reprint of the classic 1960 masterpiece. This well-organized book presents common play problems and then leads the reader to each solution through a series of questions and answers where an alalysis is given.                                           In "Pathways to Better Bridge Defense" Danny Roth shows you how to become a better defender. So you tend to get dealt very bad hands. I know exactly how you feel! But, facing the facts of life and recognizing that it is not your fault, you are going to have to accommodate this failing and improve your defense. It's the hardest part of the game; even in international competitions the standard of defensive play is, to put it kindly, modest. Yes, you will get plenty of reports of brilliancies involving spectacular switches, deceptions, unblocks and discards of honors. But for every one of those, there are countless others in which the display would disgrace any beginners' class. I am going to assume that you are a regular club or tournament player who knows the basics of defense but who comes unstuck when it comes to situations where you have to work the hand out in detail. This book will help you to improve dramatically in this area.                   "Step by Step Signalling" by Mark Horton explains the more popular signalling methods and then puts the reader through a series of problems that get progressively more difficult. The book is aimed at the improver - advanced player                   In “Step-By-Step Discarding” Danny Roth covers the complex field of what to discard and, perhaps more importantly, why.   "Step by Step: Pre-empts" by Alan Mould extensively covers aspects of pre-empts at the two, three and four level.                   "Step by Step Cardplay in No Trumps" by Robert Berthe and Norbert Lebely is an excellent intermediate-level guide to playing NoTrump contracts, with concise explanations and numerous example hand and poeoblems.   In "Step-By-Step: Planning the Defence" English and British International Raymond Brock explains the most important principles of defence and shows how partners can cooperate to the maximum.                       Step by Step Slam Bidding .       "Step by Step Slam Bidding" by Alan Mould is an intermediate level book covering various aspects of slam bidding. Topics include Blackwood, cue bids, splinters and quantitative slam tries.   "Tales from the Bridge Table" by John Clay is a guide to the essence, history and origins of the game of bridge. It examines its social and psychological functions, as well as discussing its rules and providing tips on winning.                   "Secrets of Winning Bridge" by Jeff Rubens contains detailed discussions on hand evaluation, matchpoint vs IMP play, and many topics that are only touched upon lightly in many other bridge books.                   "The Complete Book on Hand Evaluation" by Mike Lawrence is one of the best books ever written on this sometimes complex and controversial bridge topic. The author gives good advice on everything from basic counting to expert-level inferences from the bidding.   In "Hand Evaluation in Bridge" English international Brian Senior explains how to judge your playing strength and make the appropriate bid to convey this to your partner.                   "The Mammoth Book of Bridge" by Mark Horton includes hundreds of illustrated hands and covers a wide range of topics - from bidding systems and conventions to declarer-play tips to a history of the World Bridge Championships. The book also includes information on bridge software and advice on playing duplicate, IMPs and online sites.               "Winning Contract Bridge" by Edgar Kaplan is an excellent book with timeless advice from one of the game's greatest players and authors. It is in reality two complete books in one volume - a basic course for beginners and less experienced players and an advanced section with insights into expert-level strategy and psychology.               "The Losing Trick Count: A Book of Bridge Technique" by Dudley Courtenay was originally published in 1935. It is a detailed manual of the timeless techniques used by leading contract bridge tournament players. There are numerous examples of expert bidding and play, with an interesting selection of hands from tournament play.                                     "Imagination and Technique at the Bridge Table" by Patrick Jourdain and Martin Hoffman is a collection of difficult defensive problems with unexpected twists. The problems and analyses demonstrate how to assess the situation, picture the unseen hands, and decide if an unusual solution is needed depending upon the bidding and play so far.                   "Bridge Master: The Best Of Edgar Kaplan" is a collection of Kaplan's very best articles from Bridge World magazine, published after his death in 2004.           In the competitive bridge auction, the successful player wins by choosing superior bidding weapons. In "Stronger Competitive Bidding" by Marshall Miles (buy from Amazon.co.uk) coping with preempts, enemy bidding over your NT opening, bidding over their NT opening, especially the super-weak variety, dealing with their artificial openings, psychic bids - these and much more are covered.                   "Bridge Squeezes Complete" by Clyde Elton Love is a classic, expert-level treatise on all types of squeeze play. The book is definitely not light reading but it's worth the time and study for serious intermediate - advanced players.       Man vs Machine Marc Smith       "Man vs Machine - The Bridge Match of the Millennium" by Marc Smith is the story of Zia Mahmood playing a match against the computer program recognised as the best in the world, Matt Ginsberg's GIB. The bridge was of a very high standard, surprising the cynics, and the result was in doubt until the very end.                       go to the Bridge shop, Bridge CD-ROM's or Bridge book review index or page: - B1, B2, B3, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24,       Visit Bridge Books website for a list of bridge books categorised by content and level.