Great summer reading from MPP

♠ Q J 10 9 8 5 4 2   ♥ —   ♦ A K Q 8 6   ♣ —

Do not adjust your glasses.  This hand was actually dealt to me!

So begins Larry Cohen’s My Favorite 52, new this summer in book form from Master Point Press.  What is the correct opening bid?  I’m not going to tell you the answer.  But you can find Larry’s answer by visiting www.ebooksbridge.com to view a FREE sample (including this chapter and the next) and to upload your new eBook.  All four of our new summer titles, available in hard copy by July 1st, are now for sale on our eBook site.  Here are the details:

1. My Favorite 52 by Larry Cohen

Larry Cohen is one of the most successful American bridge players of the last 20 years.  In My Favorite 52, Cohen presents a collection of his favorite personal bridge moments, using an intimate ‘over-the-shoulder’ presentation, taking the reader through more than 60 deals (no, not just 52!).  Each deal is important to him in some way, or technically interesting, or just plain fun.  The book’s interactive style allows the reader to follow bidding and play, and even to make their own decisions at key points.  Read this book for fun, or study it in depth and learn from it – whichever you choose to do, you will find it hard to put down.

Read Judy Kay-Wolff’s review of the book here.

My Favorite 52 was originally published as interactive software, and won the American Bridge Teachers Association ‘Software of the Year’ award in 2005.  Adapted by Linda Lee, this is its first publication in book form.

Larry Cohen (Boca Raton, Florida) won his first National Championship at age 22 and went on to collect 25 more titles before retiring from competition in 2009.  Director of the prestigious Bridge World Master Solvers’ Club and a frequent contributor to bridge magazines around the world, he is a popular bridge lecturer on land and at sea.  His book To Bid or Not To Bid: the Law of Total Tricks is one of the all-time bestsellers on the game.  Aside from bridge, his passions are playing golf and watching sports, especially his beloved Yankees.

Linda Lee (adaptor – Toronto, Canada) is a World Life Master.  The author of four previous books, she conducts a popular bridge blog.  Her most recent book was Barbara Seagram’s Beginning Bridge (with Barbara Seagram).

Bobby Wolff (foreword – Las Vegas) is one of the all-time great American bridge players. He started winning world championships in the 1960s with the famous Dallas Aces. Since then he has accumulated 11 world titles, 10 solver and bronze medals in world competitions, and over 30 National titles. In 1994 Wolff was unanimously elected to the WBF Committee of Honor, and he is a member of the Bridge Hall of Fame. His ‘Bridge with the Aces’ column, which has been appearing daily for over 25 years, is syndicated in more than 130 newspapers worldwide and featured daily on www.bridgeblogging.com.

 

2. Patrick Jourdain’s Problem Corner by Patrick Jourdain

Patrick Jourdain’s Problem Corner has been a popular regular feature of BRIDGE Magazine in the UK for many years. This collection of challenging declarer-play problems has been selected from the best of the material that has appeared in the magazine, and will be welcomed by advanced players.

Patrick Jourdain (Wales), who is President of the International Bridge Press Association, is one of the world’s best-known writers on the game. This is his third book.

 

3. Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand by Barbara Seagram and David Bird

Do you get that terrible sinking feeling when you first see dummy?  Does your mind go blank as everyone waits for you to play to the first trick?  If so, you’re not alone.

Beginning bridge players are taught some of the basic techniques of declarer play: suit establishment, ruffing losers, the finesse, and so forth.  The hard part is learning what to do when.  In the dreaded moment following the opening lead, the typical novice declarer has no idea where to start.  Yet the key to success is simple: before playing from dummy at Trick 1, make a plan.

In this book, two of the world’s best bridge teachers/authors explain how to go about making a plan as declarer, using a simple step-by-step process.  Readers will learn how to decide what to do on a given deal, both in notrump contracts and suit contracts.  By the end of the book, even the most inexperienced declarer will be comfortable with more advanced material, such as entry management and counting the hand.

Barbara Seagram (Toronto, Canada) is one of North America’s best-known bridge teachers and has more than 250,000 copies of her books on bridge in print.  These include the bestselling 25 Conventions You Should Know and most recently Barbara Seagram’s Beginning Bridge.

David Bird (Southampton, UK) is one of the world’s best-known bridge authors, with more than eighty books to his credit.  Recent titles include Somehow We Landed in 6NT and 25 Ways to be a Better Defender (with Barbara Seagram).

4. The Pocket Guide to Acol Bridge by Mark Horton and Barbara Seagram

The original Pocket Guide to Bridge has sold more than 30,000 copies since its publication in 2002.  Thousands of bridge players have found it an indispensable and handy guide to bidding – something that can be tucked into a purse or pocket and easily used for reference at the table during lessons and practice games. This new version employs the Acol bidding system for readers in the UK and other places where Acol is played, and will doubtless be as popular as the original.

Mark Horton (UK) is one of the world’s best-known bridge journalists and professional players. He is the editor of BRIDGE magazine in the UK.

Barbara Seagram (Toronto, Canada) has more than 250,000 copies of her books on bridge in print. These include the bestselling 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know and most recently Barbara Seagram’s Beginning Bridge.