Download the catalogAll titles available from Master Point Press
Below is a complete list of all titles from Master Point Press
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Authors
Safety Plays
Test your safety play! This book is designed to accompany Safety Plays, Book 3 in the Bridge Technique series. Why should you want to polish your safety play technique? There are two very good reasons. The first is that by applying them at the table, you will make more contracts than you did before. A more important advantage is that you will, perhaps, begin to approach each problem at the table as though it were a problem in a book. More often than you expect, you will reap a big reward for a little extra effort. The basic principles of safety plays are straightforward, but applying them is not always so easy. Rest assured that some serious challenges await you in these pages!
David Bird (Southampton, UK) is the world's most prolific bridge writer, with 150 bridge books to his name. Known for the clarity of his writing and explanations, he has won the American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year Award a record nine times. His celebrated humorous fiction series, featuring the cantankerous Abbot, has run for over 45 years.
Safety Plays (The Bridge Technique Series 3)
Short and full of practical examples, each book in the 'Bridge Technique Series' takes the reader through the most important aspects of card-play technique at bridge. Where appropriate, play is examined from the point of view both of declarer and defenders. Full of quizzes and chapter reviews, these award-winning books will also reinforce the bridge concepts you learn. At this price, what bridge player could stand not to have all twelve?
Marc Smith (Southampton, UK) is the author, with Barbara Seagram, of the world's best-selling bridge book in the past sixty years, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know. He has written many other bridge books and played successfully in several international championships. He is a popular online bridge teacher, conducting many classes at all levels of play.
Saints and Sinners
David Bird's witty stories about the bridge playing monks of St. Titus and their obnoxious Abbot have formed the basis of six previous collections, and appear regularly in bridge magazines throughout North America and the UK. This seventh book in the canon is presented in a new quiz format, so that you can try to solve the bridge problems before the monks encounter them. At the end of the book, an annotated Answers section allows you to rate your own game.
David Bird (Southampton, UK) is the world's most prolific bridge writer, with 150 bridge books to his name. Known for the clarity of his writing and explanations, he has won the American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year Award a record nine times. His celebrated humorous fiction series, featuring the cantankerous Abbot, has run for over 45 years.
Samurai Bridge
Undoubtedly the most unusual piece of bridge fiction ever published, Samurai Bridge takes the reader to a remote village in early 19th century Japan. At first, the characters may seem familiar - the heroic masterless samurai (a ronin), the evil town magistrate, the downtrodden peasants, the tea-house madam with a heart of gold, and so forth. But soon we realize that these people are different - they are all fanatical bridge players, and the climactic battle between the forces of good and evil will take place not in the dojo, but at the card table. There is plenty of swordplay and romance as the story moves along, interspersed with philosophical asides on the Zen of bridge and a fascinating account of bridge as played at the Imperial court. Sex, violence, mystery, and lots of bridge hands too, this is Seven Samurai as Charles Goren might have written it! The book is illustrated throughout with pen and ink drawings in the classic Japanese style.
Robert F. MacKinnon (Victoria, Canada) is a retired mathematician whose work has appeared in a number of bridge magazines. He has written two bridge novels, including the remarkable <em>Samurai Bridge</em>, as well as the best-selling (!) <em>Bridge, Probability and Information</em>. He conducts a blog on the mathematics of bridge on <a href="http://www.bridgeblogging.com">www.bridgeblogging.com</a>.
Santa Fe Precision
This book on Precision is quite different. It is a very simplified version, based on the system played by Rodwell and Meckstroth so successfully, but aimed at club players. Eric Rodwell has endorsed the system and the book. Dennis Dawson learned Meckwell Lite fifteen years ago when playing on teams with Rodwell and Meckstroth. He then used it while representing the US in the Senior World Team Championship, in which he won a bronze medal. Dawson’s students in Santa Fe wanted to learn the system, so he made some changes to make it easier for them to remember. That version is the basis of this book, which includes many examples from thirteen years of teaching the system. Reviews "A view of the most effective way to simplify the well-known Meckwell variant. The system is intended for journeyman players, but late sections are geared to advanced partnerships. The explanations are cogent and precise, supported by abundant example hands." -- The Bridge World, July 2020
Dennis Dawson (Santa Fe) is a professional bridge player and teacher, and is an ACBL Grand Life Master.
Scotland's Senior Moment
Do you ever expect to play in a world bridge championship? The 2012 Scotland Senior team surprised many by qualifying. The story of how they got to Bali, and what happened to them once they got there, makes for fascinating reading. A wonderful tale — the best underdog story since the Jamaican Bobsled Team. A must-read for any bridge player who wants to see what it is like to play in a world championship. — Mike Passell The authors give the reader a real sense of what is happening behind the scenes. I was left with the very nostalgic thought, "Wish I was there." — Barnet Shenkin This book covers aspects of playing in a world championship in a way that I have not read elsewhere, so it is that rarity these days, an original idea. — Brian Senior
Harry Smith (Scone, Scotland) has represented Scotland in both the Open and Senior Teams. As NPC, he captained the Senior Team to a European Bronze Medal in Dublin in 2012, and to the quarterfinal of the World Championships in Bali the following year, the story of which is told in Scotland’s Senior Moment.
Scramble Stayman
Don’t Settle for 1NT Partner opens 1NT (15 to 17). Your hand has less than invitational strength, lacks a long biddable suit, has a shape along the lines of 4-3-4-2 or 2-4-5-2 or 3-4-1-5. It might be this hand: ♠K 7 6 5 ♥J 10 2 ♦3 ♣Q 9 6 4 2 They tell you to pass that holding, even though in passing you will leave many fine major-suit fits on the table. This book argues you should hunt down those fits. Two times out of three, the contracts you scramble to will matchpoint better than 1NT, and they will gain an average of about one IMP per hand. Scramble Stayman examines (1) which types of hands qualify to scramble, (2) the scramble technique to use (beginning with 2 ♣, and overlaying standard Stayman) and (3) how the various scramble contracts score compared to 1NT, measured over thousands of hands. The book features a 100-board ‘match’ between one player staying in 1NT, and another scrambling to a (usually) better contract, which the scrambler decisively wins.
Doug Bennion is the creator of Barbara Seagram’s software, Practice Your Notrump Bidding and Practice Your Slam Bidding, published by Master Point Press. He wrote and published Bridge Buff, a popular early bridge-playing program, and Visual Deal, a popular early deal generator. He is also the author of several Bridge World articles.
Secrets Your Bridge Friends Never Tell You
You thought bridge was going to be eternally glorious, didn't you? Suddenly, out of the blue, you're going crazy! Confusion reigns supreme. Every partner is an expert with a barrage of new conventions. You are beset on every side with questions you fear to ask. Secrets Your Bridge Friends Never Tell You explores the bumpy, and exciting, journey a bridge player takes on the road from beginner, to intermediate, to the unlimited glory that awaits somewhere down the line. Undoubtedly, you will recognize part of your own journey. You will discover you were never alone as you suffered the constant ups and downs that proliferate in pursuit of this great game. With a humorous slant that delights, Secrets offers insights into such questions as: How do you find a partner? How do you keep a partner? Should you play with your spouse? Should you hire a pro? What happens when you get bridge burn-out? Find the answers here.
Cathy Hunsberger (Virginia) has lived in Oregon, California and now makes her home in Virginia where she lives with her husband Russ and son Stephen. She has been published in the ACBL Bridge Bulletin and is an active contributor to Unit 110's Bridge Times. Visit Cathy on the web at www.bridgeunlimited.net.
Shades of Grey
Readers first encountered the Pemberton Bridge Club, along with the ‘Jay’s Nest’ bridge columns, in Ken Allan’s first novel, Deadly Endplay. This time there is no mysterious death involved, but perhaps worse than that, for the bridge players, is the growing suspicion that someone in their midst is systematically cheating. As some of them begin to look for evidence, they confront the issues: When does dubious ethics become cheating? Can you prove cheating from hand records? And if you can, what should the consequences be? Finally, why do people cheat at duplicate bridge, a game that offers no monetary rewards? There are no easy answers, and the reader will appreciate the aptness of the book’s title.
Ken Allan (1940-2018), the author of the Pemberton Bridge Club mysteries, was an expert bridge player with many Regional wins. He also wrote extensively about his other passion, vegetable gardening.
Shadow in the Bridge World (2022 Edition)
The Shadow is a mysterious expert (at bridge, as well as many other sports) whose passion for anonymity means that you have never heard of him. The author is his friend, and under strict rules of concealment of the Shadow's identity, has been allowed to share these fascinating and instructive anecdotes with the world. Originally published more than 30 years ago, this edition is revised and expanded, with the addition of a new chapter. Reviews of the first edition, Shadow in the Bridge World: Fred Gitelman - "Shadow In The Bridge World is my all-time favorite work of bridge fiction. Mike, my original bridge mentor, has created a highly entertaining book that is packed with fascinating deals, great stories, and wonderful characters. Expect to do a lot of laughing out loud when you read (and reread) this book!" Mike Passell - "I recommend Shadow to every bridge player. Both the writing and bridge hands are first rate. This is the only bridge book I have ever read from cover to cover. I thoroughly enjoyed it." Rhoda Walsh - "Shadow is superb! The characters are enchanting and the hands to die for...I truly couldn't put it down." Edgar Kaplan/The Bridge World - "Intriguing characters... Most of the deals that matter are on an advanced level. This is a book for sophisticated bridge players who long to step temporarily out of their everyday existences." Phillip Alder "If you like reading bridge books containing entertaining but difficult hands that really happened, you'll want to buy Shadow In The Bridge World, (this is) a shadow with substance." Linda Lee "I was prepared to hate the Shadow after he was described as both wealthy and accomplished at all he does, but it was impossible to do so. Wiss and the Shadow just have too much fun together; their bridge is just too good and too interesting." Bill Gates - "Shadow is a very clever book, full of amazing bridge hands. If you like to read and you like bridge, you will enjoy this."
Mike Dorn Wiss (BC, Canada) is a Canadian bridge expert, teacher, professional player and writer. He has authored "Hermit". Canada's first full-length Science Fiction play produced by an equity theater, and numerous bridge articles for the Ontario Kibitzer and the ACBL Bulletin. He has taught bridge in his own club, at country clubs and other locales, as well as both privately and online. He divides his time between summers in Victoria, Canada and winters in Thailand, assiduously avoiding any hint of the snows under which he was weaned in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
Shark's Pointers
The original 'Shark's Pointers' article appeared in 1975, in a small Boston-area newspaper. Thirty years later, the idea re-emerged as a series of bridge columns and lectures in Massachusetts Then during the pandemic, Shark's Pointers went online, and it is these latter talks and the advice they contain that have now been collected into this book. Written in an over-the-shoulder style, this book can be read for fun or profit or both: you will learn more about bridge if you care to, or you can just enjoy the anecdotes and the great deals.
MARK AQUINO (Boston, MA) is a Grand Life Master and a retired Engineering Manager from Procter and Gamble. An avid bridge player, teacher and administrator, he has served on the boards of the USBF and the ACBL. He is married and has two sons, one daughter, two granddaughters and one grandson.
Should I or Shouldn't I? Drawing trumps at bridge
To draw or not to draw… (trumps, that is)? You might be forgiven for thinking this is an easy question to answer, and on many deals it is. But there are also a large number of situations where it’s all too easy to make the wrong decision. As declarer, you (usually) have the majority of cards in the trump suit, but managing them to best effect isn’t always quite so simple. In this book, Marc Smith (a regular columnist for BRIDGE Magazine) looks at those less straightforward deals where you can’t just ‘draw trumps and claim’. Perhaps you need ruffs in the short hand, perhaps a crossruff is the way home, perhaps you have entry problems, or (shudder) a less than robust trump suit. Maybe you need to guard against a bad break, either in trumps or in a side suit. Or perhaps you need to play the early part of the hand with an eye to the endgame, planning a throw-in or squeeze. All these eventualities and more are discussed, as the reader is shown step by step not only how to handle these issues in the play, but how to recognize them at the table and become a significantly better declarer as a result.
Marc Smith (Southampton, UK) is the author, with Barbara Seagram, of the world's best-selling bridge book in the past sixty years, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know. He has written many other bridge books and played successfully in several international championships. He is a popular online bridge teacher, conducting many classes at all levels of play.
Six Steps to Winning Declarer Play
Do you want to play the hand better than you do now? Too many players have trouble deciding how to set about a contract as declarer. Do they worry about losers or winners? Do they draw trumps or not? Should they be guarding against bad breaks? There are so many things to think about, it’s easy to get sidetracked. In this book, you will learn about the right questions to ask yourself as declarer when dummy appears. In each of the 52 example hands, the author goes through the same six questions, and shows you how to arrive at answers that will help you develop the best plan for the hand. The examples range from relatively simple to fairly complex, but gradually you will learn to answer the questions for yourself and then use the information to play the hand to best effect. Everyone who reads this book and applies what they have learned will become a better declarer.
JAY APFELBAUM lives in Philadelphia and works as an administrative law judge. He is married with two daughters and two grandchildren. He regularly plays with his wife, April, at local bridge clubs and tournaments. Jay is a Grand Life Master. His first regional victory came in 1973 at a knockout event in Richmond, Virginia. He won the Blue Ribbon Pairs in 1976. Since then he has won many regional events and placed in the top ten of a number of national events.
Sixpack: Adventures with Keycards and Queecards
Six keycard RKCB has come of age! As soon you identify a double fit, don't ask for keycards… just "launch" and tell. You can find out about all six keycards — and two "queecards" — below the game level. Part I of the book lays out a set of basic rules for any casual partnership to apply quickly and easily. Part II gets more advanced and complex, but operates along the same principles. Apply Sixpack throughout your notrump structure and expand it to a wide range of standard bidding situations. With many examples and four extensive quizzes for partners to practice the convention together, Sixpack gives the reader the experience and confidence to use the convention effectively at the table.
Allan DeSerpa is a professor of economics at Arizona State University. He continually dabbles in bridge bidding theory and, every ten years or so, he writes a book. Other titles include The Mexican Contract (1980) and Principles of Logical Bidding (1997). His motivation for writing Sixpack? He woke up one morning and decided that the sixth keycard deserved more respect.
Slam Bidding Conventions
Slam Bidding Conventions The Winning Bridge Conventions Series An Honors eBook Bridge students quickly discover that basic bidding will only get them so far. To improve it is necessary to master a certain number of bidding conventions, and be prepared both to play them and to play against them. Each of the books in this series covers a number of useful conventions, explaining them carefully along with numerous examples and quizzes to help the reader understand what is being learned. Included in this ebook: Serious 3NT Cuebidding Controls Roman Key Card Blackwood (with Specific Kings) Kickback Key Card (Kickback) More titles in the Winning Bridge Conventions Series Competitive Doubles Conventions after a Notrump Opening Conventions after a Major Suit Opening Competitive Bidding Conventions Useful with Strong Hands Conventions Useful with 2/1 Defensive Carding & Opening Leads
Patty Tucker (Dunwoody, Georgia) is an ABTA Master Bridge Teacher and cofounder of Whirlwind Bridge and Atlanta Junior Bridge. Her success at the bridge table culminated in her victory in the 2000 Baldwin Flight A North American Open Pairs with long-time bridge partner Kevin Collins. Patty and Kevin were married in 2006.
Sleeping on the Couch
All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the United States Bridge Federation Junior Program. Here is what some of Dave’s friends who appear in the book had to say: "I don’t bid like that because if I do I will end up sleeping on the couch." - Mike Passell "When they travel to tournaments, Dave chooses their hotel by the comfort of the sofas." - Chris Compton "If Dave had just bid 3NT and made it, he could have avoided the couch." - Bob Hamman "If he slept on the couch that often playing precision, I don’t want to imagine where he would have slept playing 2/1." - Jeff Meckstroth "The guy plays like he didn’t get a good night’s sleep." - Eddie Wold "Annie deserves a bed of her own." - Kate McCallum "I have played against Annie and Dave quite a bit. My advice to Dave is to keep your enemies close and your couch closer." - Bobby Levin "Dave has a great teaching style for the juniors. But you can only carry 'do as i say, not as I do' so far. " - Michael Rosenberg "Dave who?" - Judy Hummel “For forty years I’ve been telling you to be more practical and you do this to me?” - Jack Oest "Even bridge bums occasionally sleep in a bed." - Alan Sontag "Perhaps Dave should play backgammon instead." - Kit Woolsey "Mostly hopeless." - David Grainger "Dave, it is time to come to bed now." - Anne Brenner
David Caprera is a lawyer in Denver, Colorado, married to Anne Brenner, his partner in life as well as bridge. He is on the USBF board, the District 17 disciplinary chair, coach of the USA under 26-2 junior team, and he writes a monthly column, "Sleeping on the Couch." His 17,000 master points aren't worth a damn without a national championship and his dream is that some day he wins the "Italian-American, pony-tailed tax specialist playing with the Francophile, retired pathologist, senior mixed BAM."
Somehow We Landed in Six Notrump
The stories and anecdotes in this collection have one thing in common: in every case, the contract is 6NT! The first half of the book features the world's finest players at work, tackling all manner of 6NT contracts — some commendable, some truly awful. You will have a chance to plan your play in these contracts yourself before seeing what fate befell the original declarer. The second half of the book contains humorous short stories, featuring many of David Bird's well-loved characters: the bridge-crazy monks of St. Titus Monastery, the nuns of St. Hilda's Convent, and the Rabbi and his entourage. There is further action from Cholmeley School, from the missionaries whose main task in life is to convert the Bozwambi tribe to the Acol bidding system, and even some tales involving Robin Hood, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the much-maligned Sir Guy of Gisburne. Although some of these stories have been published in bridge magazines around the world, none of them have previously appeared in book form.
David Bird (Southampton, UK) is the world's most prolific bridge writer, with 150 bridge books to his name. Known for the clarity of his writing and explanations, he has won the American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year Award a record nine times. His celebrated humorous fiction series, featuring the cantankerous Abbot, has run for over 45 years.
Splinter Bids
With this handy little book, you can: Learn a new convention, or extend your knowledge of it Learn and practice by yourself using the unique quiz format Practice with your partner using the specifically selected example hands, and compare your results with the recommended auctions.
Linda Lee (Toronto, Canada) is a retired project management executive who now spends much of her time playing bridge and writing about the game. A multiple Canadian champion who has represented her country several times at the world level, her blog <a href="http://linda.bridgeblogging.com">http://linda.bridgeblogging.com</a> is one of the most popular bridge blogs on the net. Her books range from beginner texts to a revised and updated edition of Clyde Love's classic <em>Bridge Squeezes Complete</em>.
Squeezes Made Simple (The Bridge Technique Series 9)
Short and full of practical examples, each book in the 'Bridge Technique Series' takes the reader through the most important aspects of card-play technique at bridge. Where appropriate, play is examined from the point of view both of declarer and defenders. Full of quizzes and chapter reviews, these award-winning books will also reinforce the bridge concepts you learn. At this price, what bridge player could stand not to have all twelve?
Marc Smith (Southampton, UK) is the author, with Barbara Seagram, of the world's best-selling bridge book in the past sixty years, 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know. He has written many other bridge books and played successfully in several international championships. He is a popular online bridge teacher, conducting many classes at all levels of play.
Standard Bidding with SAYC
What is Standard Bidding? This is an increasingly hard question to answer, but the proliferation of bridge on the Internet in pickup partnerships makes it imperative that someone does so. Perhaps the most popular natural system for the hundreds of thousands of online players worldwide is the Standard American Yellow Card, or SAYC. In this book, for the first time, SAYC is fully described and explained. This will be an invaluable to aid to anyone wanting to learn and understand SAYC, or anyone who simply knows the basics and is eager to fill in the missing pieces in their repertoire.
Ned Downey is the owner/operator of the Maui Bridge Club, in Kihei, Hawaii and an ACBL accredited Star teacher. He teaches regularly in his club and on board cruise ships.
Standard Modern Precision: Second Edition
Play the system national champions play Over the last 20 years a consensus bidding system among American national champions has been chosen and is now the lingua franca for hundreds among the pro circuit, top junior players and strong tournament players. This book will introduce you to the system, called Standard Modern Precision (or SMP), with lots of examples, quizzes and real-life hands bid by actual world champions. Part 1 covers the basics, and provides a working knowledge of the system so you can start playing and winning right away. A partnership may choose to continue on to Part 2 (The Full System) or Part 3 (Optional Gadgets). Also included are step-by-step instructions for setting up hands to practice on Bridge Base Online and a cheat sheet for reference when bidding. It’s time to start winning with the high-octane system that more tournament players are using, just like the pros.
Daniel Neill has been helping bridge students reach their potential for 15 years through his website www.bridgewithdan.com. When not competing nationally, he provides insight into experts’ thoughts as a popular vugraph commentator on Bridge Base Online. His interest in showcasing unique or complex bidding styles has led to a library of over 80 systems and treatments, serving as a valuable resource to both students and seasoned players alike.
Startup Bridge - And Beyond
I've Got Your Back! Nothing is scarier than not knowing what to expect—as we all know, knowledge is power. I'm here to inform you, encourage you and help you (and your partner) help yourselves. Use this book as a way to get into the mysteries of bridge and its most challenging form, duplicate. Sure, knowledge of basic bidding protocols is necessary, but so is knowing what to expect, how to develop a partnership, what's going to happen as you play in various events, and how to deal with mistakes and setbacks. Use this book like an extended glossary—it will give you the barebones start which will allow you to make an educated move to more information when you want it. Never forget: bridge is for fun!
LYNN BERG (Florida) has been a member of the ACBL for over 55 years. In that time she has been a player (Sapphire LM), a club manager and director, a director and teacher on cruises, a Tournament Director, a unit and district official, head of ACBL's Education Foundation, a teacher and a bridge writer. She contributes monthly to the ACBL Bridge Bulletin and is currently club manager for the Deland Bridge Club. She also enjoys reading, knitting, gardening, cooking and any kind of travel. She likes to say, "If I am in the room, someone is having a good time!"
Stayman Auctions
With this handy little book, you can: Learn a new convention, or extend your knowledge of it Learn and practice by yourself using the unique quiz format Practice with your partner using the specifically selected example hands, and compare your results with the recommended auctions.
Linda Lee (Toronto, Canada) is a retired project management executive who now spends much of her time playing bridge and writing about the game. A multiple Canadian champion who has represented her country several times at the world level, her blog <a href="http://linda.bridgeblogging.com">http://linda.bridgeblogging.com</a> is one of the most popular bridge blogs on the net. Her books range from beginner texts to a revised and updated edition of Clyde Love's classic <em>Bridge Squeezes Complete</em>.
Still Not Finding Squeezes?
If your answer is 'YES' to the following three questions, this is the PERFECT book for you: 1. Have you read A Bridge to Simple Squeezes? 2. Did you see merit in the structured approach introduced in that book for executing simple squeezes? 3. Do you feel that in spite of your great effort you are still not finding squeezes? In this book, Still Not Finding Squeezes?, the structured approach is applied to the 39 squeeze examples that David Bird and Tim Bourke created for their book, Test Your Bridge Technique: The Simple Squeeze. These examples will give you the experience you need to include squeezes in your arsenal.
Dr. Julian Laderman is a retired mathematics and computer science professor (Lehman College, City University of New York). He is a two-time winner of the American Bridge Teachers’ Association Book of the Year Award, winning for A Bridge to Simple Squeezes in 2006 and A Bridge to Inspired Declarer Play in 2009. His book on the history of bridge, Bumblepuppy Days, received the Alan Truscott Memorial Award from the International Bridge Press Association in 2016. For many years he wrote the bridge column for The Bronx Journal.
