From: pollock@eggo.usf.edu (Wayne Pollock)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Reading List for new duplicate players
Keywords: books
Date: 5 Jan 93 22:29:41 GMT
Organization: University of South Florida at Tampa

("You mean somebody *asked* for his opinion!?!  The fools, the poor fools...")

    Books for matchpoint strategy:

Granovetter, M. (1988). Murder at the Bridge Table. Ballston Lake, NY,
Granovetter Books.  This is a fun to read murder mystery and matchpoint
strategy primer all in one.  (The author has written 2 other murder mysteries,
one for IMP strategy and one for teams strategy.)

Woolsey, K. (1982). Matchpoints. Louisville, Kentucky, Devyn Press.
This is only for bright (or "advancing" beginers and better) beginers, but I
found it a remarkable book with a weath of information.  The first few
chapters tell you have to make matchpoint decisions at the table, and this is
the hardest part of the book to understand.  The rest is solid advice on
overcalls, preempts (but as were many books, this was written before the
penalty for undertricks was increased in 1986), the law of total tricks, etc.

Wei, C. C. and R. Anderson (1978). Match Point Precision. New York, Monna Lisa
Precision Corp.  This book is all about a complex version of Precision, not
standard americian, but never-the-less it contains useful information about
matchpoint strategy and making the most of limit bids.

I don't know of any other books, good or bad, that only teach matchpoint
strategy; most of the other books are written for rubber bridge, and usually
have a chapter grafted on at the end entittled "matchpoint strategy".
I recommend Woolsey's book even if you find it hard to read the first time.

	Books for beginners:

Lampert, H. (1980). The Fun Way to Serious Bridge. New York, Simon & Schuster.
Lampert, H. (1985). The Fun Way to Advanced Bridge. Louisville, Kentucky,
Devyn Press.  These two books are very good, the second is exceptionally good.
The author's humorous approach and great cartoons make the learning easy and
enjoyable.  If you already know the basics of standard americian, then maybe
only the second book will be useful to you.  It covers advice on opening
leads, defensive signaling, declarer play techniques, and some modern bidding
methods (weak two bids, negative doubles, and the like.)  Highly recommended.

Kearse, A. (1990). Bridge Conventions Complete. Louisville, KY, Devyn Press,
Inc.  This book is not for reading, but serves as an execellent reference for
all bidding conventions (in the flyleaf it states: "If it's not in this book,
then it's not legal to play!").  Since a few conventions have been invented
since this book was published, I might recommend you wait for the next edition
of the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, which I suspect with contain
everything in this book, and a lot more besides.

Mollo, V. and N. Gardener (1971). Card Play Technique (or the Art of Being
Lucky). London, Faber and Faber.

Watson, L. H. (1958). Watson's Classic Book on the Play of the Hand at Bridge.
New York, Harper & Row.

Of the last two books, the Mollo book is much more readable and interesting,
but it is not as through, and it contains a fair number of errors that can
make it hard to learn.  Watson's book is very through, teaching what you need
in small, easy steps.  But it's a bit dry to read.

Kelsey, H. and M. Glauert (1980). Bridge Odds for Practical Players. London,
Victor Gollancz Ltd. Hugh Kelsey has written dozens of execellent bridge
books, and Victor Gollancz deserves a plug because the quality of their books
is exceptional, not only in content but in construction.  (Check out their
"Master Bridge Series" of books!  Since they are printed in England, it costs
a bit more to get one of the books in the US.)  Anyway, this book is both a
reference book, and a book which shows you how to play with the odds.  This
book may be difficult for beginners, but the same authors make a small
pamphlet "Mastering Bridge Percentages" which I see listed in the catelogs all
the time; maybe that will be more useful.

-------------

Gee, I could go on and on.  But these should be enough to answer your
questions and to keep you busy for awhile.  If you need any more advice
(never forget what free expert advice is worth! :-) you can email me or
post to this group, which never seems to get many basic bridge questions.

Good luck!

Wayne Pollock (The MAD Scientist)
Internet:	pollock@eggo.csee.usf.edu