David Bird

In this book, the pompous and self-important Abbot spots a chance to take part in that Holy Grail of Bridge - the Bermuda Bowl world championships. Casting all ethics aside, he pursues this dream. Partnered by the Parrot, with the Witchdoctor, Mbozi, Mrs Okoku and Miss Nabooba as team-mates, he travels to India's Chennai and faces many of the world's real-life players. Regular followers of David Bird's work will know what to expect - a first-rate mixture of amazing bridge, entertaining characters and sparkling dialogue.

This is a Human story of CourageDavid was born with a very rare medical condition known as a Vascular Anomaly causing a severe disfigurement to the right side of his head, face, eye and mouth. As a child growing up and right through to his teenage years and even beyond, he had to cope with the rudeness of people who were constantly staring, of verbal abuse and worst of all, intimidation. Life was hard for him and he felt lost and lonely. Several attempts at chatting up girls ended by him giving up all hope of ever meeting someone special, someone who would care for him and to treat him as a normal human being, but then just by fate he happened to go to a party... With the love of his dear wife, family, friends and an amazing charity called "Changing Faces", he began to gain self-confidence. His positive thinking has opened up a whole new world enabling him to give talks to groups of people about his experiences, this in turn has helped others to overcome their fears of coping with their facial and body differences. David's self-esteem has sky rocketed so much that it has changed his way of thinking to that of a very philosophical person. This is a true description, a story of verbal abuse, sadness, love and happiness, it's also an account telling of a life that was once never imagined This book will help YOU change your own outlook on disfigurement, to make you and your loved ones' lives better, and also of how ordinary every day people should react to people like himself. Read David's inspiring story and learn what it was really like to be a disfigured person in an age where people expect perfection, where disfigurement of any kind is frowned upon. Scroll up and grab a copy today

Using the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this is a handy pocket guide to intermediate-level conventions in bridge cardplay, such as Bergen Raises, Support Doubles, Puppet Stayman, Inverted Minor Raises, Forcing 1NT and more. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes the material presented in 25 More Bridge Conventions You Should Know by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 9781894154659).

The same authors' previous book, 'Declarer Play at Bridge: a Quizbook', was named the 2013 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. Building on the success of that title, this book gives the near-beginner a chance to practise the principles on which sound bidding is based, from the opening bid onward. This is not just a series of problems, however. Each section contains a brief introduction to its topic, and the ideas are reinforced with carefully explained solutions and helpful tips throughout.

Duplicate bridge is a different game. It's true that you can get by if you play exactly the same way as you would in a home social game or a team match. Duplicate pairs is a highly competitive game, though, and few contestants are happy just to 'get by'. They want to win - not just once in a while but regularly! To be successful at duplicate pairs, you must adjust your bidding. You must know when to compete vigorously, taking a risk in doing so. You must also know when it is right to bid conservatively. You have to understand which contract to choose in various situations. In the play and defence you meet similar dilemmas. Should you risk the contract for a lucrative overtrick? Should you risk giving away an extra trick in defence, hoping that you can beat the contract? This is a book that every novice bridge player needs to read before that first pairs game at their local club.

This is a practical guide to improving your game. It is a comprehensive guide to every aspect of playing bridge at both intermediate and advanced level. It offers world-class instruction and advice from David Bird, with more than 250 clear photographs and diagrams. It describes the history of world bridge championships, and the players who have popularized and developed the game we know today, including Terence Reese, Charles Goren and Omar Sharif. This is an expertly presented guide for players of all levels, written by one of the world's leading bridge writers. Biographies of the world's most famous players detail their contributions to the game, passing on their top tips for good play, alongside many entertaining anecdotes. Here is an essential source of reference points, with sample deals, tips and professional strategies for intermediate and high-level players. There is a history of the game of bridge that will interest every reader. This is a book with a practical focus on how to play bridge and improve your game, whatever your level, from skills to tactics, both in bidding and card play.

Using the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book provides a handy pocket summary of about two dozen basic concepts in defensive cardplay. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes most of the material presented in 25 Ways to Be a Better Defender by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 978 1897106 11 2).

David Bird, the world's leading humorous bridge writer, joins forces again with Ron Klinger, one of the world's best-known bridge teachers and authors. The result is a scintillating new collection of stories about the bridge-playing Rabbi. Where else would you find an unnervingly plausible account of a Rabbi gambling his holiday money in a high-stake rubber game against three wealthy Arabs? And where might you chance upon a parable such as the Synagogue team facing a team of Catholic priests and nuns (hired professionals!) as part of the St Benedict Commemoration celebrations? As readers of KOSHER BRIDGE and THE RABBI AND THE WEAKER SEX (previously KOSHER BRIDGE 2) will expect, the humour is sparkling and the bridge brilliant. Sit back, hold tight, and enjoy this vastly entertaining book.

This is a guide to bridge, its history, playing on the computer, basic bidding, card play and defence, with 250 illustrations. It has coverage of the key basic principles, progressing to information about bidding and how to play a hand, both as declarer and in defence. It offers world-class instruction and advice from David Bird, with more than 250 superb photographs and diagrams. It describes the fascinating history of world bridge championships, and the players who have popularized and developed the game we know today. It discusses bridge computer programs and playing bridge with opponents across the world via the Internet. It includes anecdotes and tips from world-famous players such as Ely Culbertson, Charles Goren and Omar Sharif. Bridge is one of the world's most popular games for centuries, and is well-respected as a strategic game that can be as competitive and technical or as fun and sociable as the players decide. Here is a clear and effective tutorial for beginners, covering all the basic principles of bridge. The book features a full history of bridge for enthusiasts of every ability, from its original roots in 17th-century whist to contract bridge, the game we play today. The heart of the book focuses on the rules, skills and tactics of bridge. Under David Bird's expert tuition, players will learn and improve their game, achieve their desired levels of skill and knowledge and, above all, increase their enjoyment of the game by playing bridge to their full potential.

Using the same format as The Pocket Guide to Bridge, this book provides a handy pocket summary of about two dozen basic concepts in declarer play. In a concise but readable manner, it summarizes most of the material presented in 25 Ways to Take More Tricks as Declarer by the same author team (Master Point Press; 2004; ISBN 978 189415 447 5).

David Bird and Ron Klinger made a great hit with KOSHER BRIDGE, which was enthusiastically applauded world-wide by the leading bridge critics. In THE RABBI AND THE WEAKER SEX, the retitled KOSHER BRIDGE 2, the cast returns in splendid form and the Rabbi, kindly and considerate, maintains an essential balance between the hilariously warring factions and the excellence of the bridge ensures that readers will be properly instructed while being immoderately entertained. If you did not read the first book you can start with this one. We guarantee you will come back for more.

Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand, by the same author team, (978 1897106 51 8), was named the 2010 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. Building on the success of that title, this book gives the near-beginner a chance to practice the principles on which sound defensive play is based, from the opening lead onwards. This is not just a series of problem hands, however. Each section contains a brief introduction of its topic, and the ideas are reinforced with carefully explained solutions and helpful tips throughout.

The previous book by this same author team, Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand (978 1897106 51 8), was named the 2010 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers' Association. Building on the success of that title, this book gives near-beginners a chance to practice the principles on which sound declarer play is based: count your winners, count your losers, make a plan. This is not just a series of problem hands, however. Each section contains a brief introduction of its topic, and the ideas are reinforced with carefully explained solutions and helpful tips throughout.

Winning Notrump Leads was a ground-breaking and very well-received book that used the power of computers to determine which opening leads work best against a variety of auctions at notrump. Using enhanced software, the authors now turn their attention to suit contracts. They generate millions of random deals, retaining those that match the chosen auction, for example 1S-2S-4S. By playing these deals automatically against each of the 13 possible opening leads from a given hand, they are able to discover which lead is most likely to beat the contract (also the best lead at matchpoint pairs). The authors provide insightful commentary to each result, answering timeless questions such as: When should I lead a trump? When is a doubleton a good opening lead? Should I lead differently against a partscore? Should I make an aggressive or a passive lead? Should I lead an ace against a small slam? Which leads work best against a grand slam? By using the number-crunching computer power available nowadays, there is no longer any need to rely on general opening-lead guidelines passed down by our ancestors. We think you will be surprised by many of the discoveries made during this investigation! DAVID BIRD (top) and TAF ANTHIAS were contemporaries at Cambridge University, both reading mathematics. They carried out research and development on software systems for over 30 years at IBM's UK Laboratories. In the 1970s they formed a successful bridge partnership, winning a number of national events. David is now one of the world's top bridge writers with 116 books to his name. Taf moved on to the USA, where he became a vice president of Cisco Systems. They have joined forces on this ground-breaking book.

In this hugely entertaining book David Bird describes the most spectacular and amusing disasters suffered by the world's top players. There are two reasons for studying such disasters - you can learn from them and (yes!) you can enjoy them. In common with the previous books in this mini-series, you will be directly involved in the action at various stages, invited to make your own choice of bid, lead or play. This is excitement in itself, for the hands are all taken from top-class matches.

For more than three decades, David Bird's tales of the bridge-crazy monks of St Titus have appeared in magazines around the world. In this eleventh collection in book form, the pompous and self-important Abbot travels to the Upper Bhumpopo mission in Africa. He plays against the Witchdoctor, the Parrot, Mrs Okuku and Miss Nabooba, Mhozi and Mjubu - characters that are familiar from earlier books in the series. Regular followers of David Bird's work will know what to expect - a first-rate mixture of excellent bridge, entertaining characters and sparkling dialogue.

To discover which opening lead is best from a given West hand against a particular auction, the authors use computer software to generate 5000 deals that match the North-South bidding. (The West hand remains the same and the other three hands are chosen randomly.) The software then plays these deals automatically, seeing which of the 13 possible opening leads works best at both IMPs (rubber bridge/Chicago) and match-point pairs. By analysing the results, the authors pass on to the reader the secrets of finding the best lead against notrump contracts on a wide range of different auctions.

David Bird has surpassed even himself and his inimitable combination of scintillating bridge and humour will swell the ranks of the cognoscenti with equally delighted new recruits. If you are not already happily enrolled, join now!