Books published by Master Point Press

Germany staged an improbable comeback in the final session of the 2001 Women's World Bridge Championship to score a narrow victory over France. The author tells the story of that gold medal win. She also uses the hands from that session as a starting point to talk about the game of bridge, and gives advice that helps improving players.

50 problems in declarer play and defence for the beginning or near-beginning bridge player, presented in approximate order of difficulty.

52 new bridge-themed crosswords featuring the world'smost popular card game

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.

The Polish Club bidding system is based on an ambiguous 1C opening, limited one-level openings, 5 card majors and a Strong No Trump. The concept makes it possible to find partner's total strength on a lower level than in all-natural systems. In the Standard version, a 2C opening is Precision, 2D is Multi, and remaining two-level openings are weak Polish two-suiters.One of the key original features of the system is the concept of the artificial reverse ("odwrotka" in Polish), which occurs in the sequence: 1C - 1H / 1S - 2D - ? The convention lets players quickly find the fit in the major and determine whether the hands are worth slam investigation.The latest version of the system, Polish Club 2020, has been devised on a questionnaire among potential users of the system. It adapts most popular treatments used in various contemporary bidding systems.A 1D opening is now almost always 5-carded, and the two-level opening bids are more aggressive than in earlier versions. Introducing modern conventions to uncontested and competitive auctions makes the system popular among expert players.

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.

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.

"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.