Card games: Bridge Books
Master Point Press The Pocket Guide to Declarer Play at Bridge
Book SynopsisUsing the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book provides a handy pocket summary of about two dozen basic concepts in declarer play. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes most of the material presented in 25 Ways to Take More Tricks as Declarer by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 978 189415 447 5).
£12.32
Master Point Press The Pocket Guide to Defensive Play at Bridge
Book SynopsisUsing the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book provides a handy pocket summary of about two dozen basic concepts in defensive cardplay. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes most of the material presented in 25 Ways to Be a Better Defender by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 978 1897106 11 2).
£999.99
Master Point Press Last Call in the Menagerie
Book SynopsisJust about every bridge player over forty has read Victor Mollo's Bridge in the Menagerie, a book that is on any list of the all-time top ten on the game. Towards the end of his life, Mollo continued to write stories about the same well-loved characters (Hideous Hog, Rueful Rabbit, Oscar the Owl and the rest), but they appeared in various magazines around the world, and if you weren't a subscriber, you didn't get to read them. This is the fourth and final collection of these lost Menagerie gems, collected for the first time in book form. Previous titles in this series: Bridge in the Menagerie; The Hog Takes To The Precision; Diamonds are the Hog's Best Friend; Swings and Arrows.
£17.92
Master Point Press Tips on Competitive Bidding
Book Synopsis20 years ago, bridge writer Mike Lawrence published a series of short pamphlets for intermediate players with advice on various aspects of bidding and card play. Long unavailable, this material has now been revised, updated, and republished in three anthology volumes, each comprising about 10 of the original booklets. Mike Lawrence is acknowledged as one of the two or three best writers in the world for intermediate players, and there will be a ready audience for this series in its new format. The second volume in a three-volume series, 'Mike Lawrence Bridge Tips', based on bridge tips for intermediate players first published twenty years ago. All the material has been completely revised and updated.
£18.32
Master Point Press Planning the Defense
Book SynopsisTen years after their award-winning Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand (August 2009, ISBN 978 1897106 51 8), Seagram & Bird tackle the hardest part of the game: defence. Using the same step-by-step approach, they guide the reader through the minefield of signalling, making a defensive plan and, above all, counting – points, tricks and distribution.
£15.95
Master Point Press Barbara's Bridge Tips
Book SynopsisAn expert bridge coach’s guide for beginners who are looking to move their game up to the next level. This book is for readers who have finished their beginner lessons, and are trying to move their game up to the next level. The tips cover all aspects of bridge -- bidding, play and defence. Advice and examples are drawn from material Barbara Seagram has developed for her students over the last twenty years -- it's like having your own personal bridge coach sitting beside you!
£15.95
Master Point Press 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know
Book SynopsisSince 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.
£17.95
Master Point Press Bridge with Another Perfect Partner
Book SynopsisBridge with a Perfect Partner, by P. F. Saunders, was published in 1976 (Hyperion Books, 978 07063508 2 1). Many read and delighted in Saunders’ articles in London-based Bridge Magazine, and Saunders’ character “Wilson”, according to the flyleaf of the book, is “… an austere character, whose scholarly discourses are enlivened by frequent flashes of mordant wit.” The anonymous narrator comments, “He is very kind in explaining, when I go down in a contract, just how I could have made it and, when he goes down, just how my bidding misled him.” We’ve all played with partners like that, though few of them have had Wilson’s devastating, articulate wit. In this sequel, one of the world's top bridge journalists takes the reader through a brilliant series of deals, collected from tournaments all over the world. The style is highly reminiscent of Sanders' original and will give its readers just as much pleasure.
£999.99
Master Point Press Playing No Trump Contracts
Book SynopsisForty years ago, in 1980, Robert Berthe and Norbert Lébely put the finishing touches to two books that would revolutionize the teaching of bridge cardplay: the first two books in the Step by Step series (Pas à Pas in the original French). Based on an innovative yet clear and easily understandable teaching approach, involving the reader in a series of questions and answers, the series would allow hundreds of thousands of readers over the years to absorb easily techniques known to be arduous and complex. Now available in English for the first time, this edition reflects the updates made by Lébely in 2020. He did the revision alone, as Robert Berthe had passed away in 2016. The first part of the book teaches the techniques, by the leading the reader 'step by step' through a series of examples. The second part consists of problem deals where what has been learned can be applied and reinforced.
£15.95
Master Point Press Playing Suit Contracts
Book SynopsisForty years ago, in 1980, Robert Berthe and Norbert Lébely put the finishing touches to two books that would revolutionize the teaching of bridge cardplay: the first two books in the Step by Step series (Pas à Pas in the original French). Particular care has been taken with this revision of the second volume, which is devoted to play in suit contracts. In the years since the original publication, the authors changed their minds on how best to teach declarer play when a trump suit is involved. They abandoned the traditional method of counting losers, which is difficult and not very intuitive, to focus on counting winners, much like the technique used at notrump. Again, the first part of the book teaches the techniques, by the leading the reader 'step by step' through a series of examples. The second part consists of problem deals where what has been learned can be applied and reinforced.
£999.99
Master Point Press Bridge's First Hippie
Book SynopsisFascinating autobiography of the controversial three-times world bridge champion who brought the sensibility and dress sense of 1960s San Francisco to the staid bridge scene. Peter Weichsel has won three world bridge championships, twenty-five North American titles and became a member of the Bridge Hall of Fame in 2004. He has been part of great teams (C.C. Wei's Precision Team in the 1970s, and the Aces later on), and has won everything it is possible to win in the game. But that's just his bridge career. This autobiography tells the story of the man behind those accomplishments. Weichsel has always marched to his own tune, from his Jewish immigrant years in New York to experiencing the 60s culture in San Francisco and living through periods as a sports betting baron, a pool shark, and even a mob hit target. There's great bridge in here, of course, and lots of it. This is a man who has spent almost 60 years playing with and against the best in the world, and he pulls no punches when it comes to partners and opponents -- or, indeed, his own failings. The chapter on cheating at bridge, at the very top levels, will be of particular interest in view of the upheaval in the world game that this problem continues to cause.
£16.95
Bridges First Hippie Book Two
Book Synopsis
£18.95
Master Point Press Confessions of a Bridge Addict
£21.33
Master Point Press Eddie Kantar Teaches Modern Bridge Defense
Book SynopsisIn 1974, Eddie Kantar wrote Defensive Bridge Play Complete (Wilshire Books), a book which has only recently gone out-of-print, and is a consensus nominee as one of the ten top bridge books ever written. But the technical theory of the game has come a long way in the last 25 years. This book covers the basic concepts of bridge defense for the modern novice player, and will undoubtedly be the standard teaching tool and reference work for the next quarter-century. Kantar's various beginner books have sold hundreds of thousands of copies, not least because of his unique style and the humour that he introduces into the learning process. Designed to be used by bridge teachers, or by students learning on their own, it contains a host of features that help the student to grasp the material: clearly laid-out concepts, margin notes, practice hands, chapter-end quizzes, key-point summaries at regular intervals, and an index.
£24.72
Master Point Press Pocket Guide to Bridge
Book SynopsisDesigned for those who have finished a beginner course and would like something easy to carry around for reference, this handy little book will fill a major gap in bridge literature. In a humorous, conversational style, it covers all the basics of Standard bidding as well as offering some ideas on play and defense. The book includes a scoring table and a useful glossary of technical bridge terms. Designed to fit in a purse or pocket, this book will be perfect for those times when you want to point to something and say "Look partner, it says here you should have done this!" and win your argument! This book is aimed at the same market as 'The Biggest Little Bridge Book in the World', which is published by a New York bridge club, and not readily available elsewhere. This guide is, however, much more comprehensive in its content.
£999.99
Master Point Press Bridge: 25 Ways to Win with 2/1
Book SynopsisAnother title in the best-selling '25' series, using the same popular format. Over the last fifteen or so years, the 2/1 Game Forcing bidding method has gained substantial popularity, but for various reasons it is not taught in beginner classes. This book is therefore designed for players who are familiar with Standard bidding and are interested in switching to the 2/1 method. It covers basic concepts as well as the differences between 2/1 and Standard auctions, and includes a discussion of more advanced ideas and conventions that fit particularly well with 2/1 methods. Existing books on this topic (notably by Max Hardy and Mike Lawrence) are too advanced and/or too technical for this level of player.
£19.31
Master Point Press Bridge: 25 Ways to Take More Tricks as Declarer
Book SynopsisAnother title in the best-selling '25' series, from award-winning author and master teacher Barbara Seagram, and using the same popular format as earlier books. Other titles in the series have revolved around bidding; this one deals with the play of the cards as declarer, a major topic in beginner and intermediate bridge lessons. As usual in this series, basic ideas on the strategies and tactics available to declarer are covered comprehensively in the early part of the book, while in later chapters, more advanced players will find ideas and topics that challenge their own understanding of the game.
£19.21
Master Point Press The Pocket Guide to 2/1
Book Synopsis
£11.67
Master Point Press The Rodwell Files: The Secrets of a World Bridge
Book SynopsisThis is the most important technical bridge book published since Larry Cohen's To Bid or Not to Bid (60,000 copies in English alone), and may well reach an even bigger audience. There are two aspects to this book, both unique. First, Rodwell describes and explains a host of innovative ideas in cardplay, strategems that can be used as declarer or defender. Second, under the heading 'Common Mistakes', Rodwell talks about the mental side of the game: areas that mark the key differences between an average player and a successful one. The first draft of this book has been in existence for more than fifteen years, but it is only now that Rodwell is prepared to allow his 'secrets' to become public knowledge.
£24.18
Master Point Press Defensive Play at Bridge: A Quizbook
Book SynopsisPlanning the Play of a Bridge Hand, by the same author team, (978 1897106 51 8), was named the 2010 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. Building on the success of that title, this book gives the near-beginner a chance to practice the principles on which sound defensive play is based, from the opening lead onwards. This is not just a series of problem hands, however. Each section contains a brief introduction of its topic, and the ideas are reinforced with carefully explained solutions and helpful tips throughout.
£14.89
Master Point Press Diamonds are the Hog's Best Friend
Book SynopsisJust about every bridge player over forty has read Victor Mollo's Bridge in the Menagerie, a book that is on any list of the all-time top ten on the game. Towards the end of his life, Mollo continued to write stories about the same well-loved characters (Hideous Hog, Rueful Rabbit, Oscar the Owl and the rest), but they appeared in various magazines around the world, and if you weren't a subscriber, you didn't get to read them. This is the second collection of 'lost' Menagerie stories from one of the best-loved bridge writers who ever lived.
£999.99
