This is a book for the three million 'social' bridge players (in the UK alone) who know the rules and can play a reasonable hand, but want to refine their skills and improve their understanding of the game. The 121 tips range from simple to more advanced and all offer solid advice on how best to deal with a variety of situations.

Winning demands control of the bidding. Before a card is played you must fight for the high ground or hustle your opponents beyond their safe level. This book shows how to dodge their snares, resist their ploys but win the high stakes by forcing them to gamble - yourself delivering their misfortunes - and by your willingness to bet on certainty.

This book shows you how to improve your bridge at both a social and competitive level.

Clear examples explain the detail of modern Acol bidding. This will enable the reader to plan and reassess their campaign step-by-step and calculate with precision who holds which cards.

Guidance is also given on how and when to obstruct or bluff, how to pinpoint the best leads and steal the best contracts, and ways to think strategically under pressure.

Unique at-the-table charts - designed to foster partnership understanding used appropriately at home, club or class - summarise key bids.

Learn how to play bridge with this simple step-by-step guide.

While good bridge classes are, of course, of great value, this book is itself the complete tutorial. It will help you to learn properly without other help and give you a solid foundation on which to start playing this absorbing game.

Work at your own pace

Understand the key basic principles

Learn about the Acol system of bidding

Discover how to play a hand, both as declarer and in defence

Duplicate Pairs is the most absorbing and demanding form of Bridge: a true mental combat sport. Starting with the mechanics of the scoring system, through the key philosophies for success, to detailed tactical advice, esteemed author Paul Mendelson takes the reader through all the steps needed to improve your scores, boost your enjoyment and become a successful Duplicate Pairs player at club level and beyond. In the second part of the book, sit at Paul's shoulder and play a Duplicate Pairs tournament with him, observing the inferences taken, myriad components considered, and decisions made....

Seven years ago in Cape Town three young white South African schoolboys were abducted in broad daylight on three consecutive days. They were never heard of again. Now, a new case for the unpredictable Colonel Vaughn de Vries casts a light on the original enquiry; for him, a personal failure which has haunted him for those seven years and has cost him his marriage and peace of mind. A former British government agent, friend to De Vries, provides intelligence on this new case, but is any of it admissible? Struggling in a mire of departmental and racial rivalry, De Vries seeks the whole truth...

In bridge, there are thousands of rules, guidelines, and understandings - but which are golden?

Many players enjoy their game without knowing some of the most significant underlying facts about the game, making mistakes which ruin their scores. With some gentle and entertaining reading, all players can improve their game hugely, just by knowing the Golden Rules of Bridge.

From thirty years of teaching and playing, Paul Mendelson presents a book containing what he considers are the golden rules of bridge: the techniques and tips which occur most frequently and which provide the biggest...

The sensational second novel from Paul Mendelson