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If you have read hundreds of Bridge books, you surely don't need my advice. You would agree with me though, that these books are real classics, and that every literate bridge player should have  them (yes, there is something for me if someone orders them here!). What follows is a really short list, and that's not because these are all the books that I know of. This is not a bookstore's page. These are my recommendations!

The big difference between card play and bidding is that there aren't many card-play systems. So I only recommend here bidding books that are mostly system independent. 

If you play bridge for fun, and you are led to this site by mistake, you are very lucky. Continue to ignore all the nerds' books and enjoy Mollo's masterpieces!

 * European residents can (and should) order the books from the Greek page that links to Amazon.co.uk in order to save time and money (shipping costs, red tape, taxes etc.)

Card play

William Root  How to Play a Bridge Hand

Not as comprehensive as the one by Watson but equally well written and easier to read (even its fonts are nicer and larger). Very useful to beginners and intermediate players.

 

Watson   The Play of the Hand

A classic. The most comprehensive book on the play of the hand. A must for beginners and intermediate players, but also very  useful to advanced ones.

 

Mike Lawrence  How to read your opponents' cards

A very useful to beginners and intermediate players book. Even if you don't succeed in thinking like Lawrence, you discover the point that makes the difference between a good player and an expert.  Plus, it is written by the best Bridge book author!

Clyde Love  Bridge Squeezes Complete

What it says. The fact that it doesn't include  Chimpansqueeze and the likes makes it more serious and useful.

Mike Lawrence Card Combinations

42 pages on the combination Axx - JTx, and that's not too much, believe me! A book for all audiences.

Hugh Kelsey  Killing Defence at Bridge

Now, that's defence! It includes some extreme cases, but that's not a bug, that's a feature. For advanced and expert players.

 

Geza Ottlik - Hugh Kelsey  Adventures in Card Play

Unbelievable book. If you think that you are an expert, just read it and think again. A very difficult book, but surely it's worth having. For players with a long experience (so that's too late for them to quit the game). 

 

Bidding

Top

Mike Lawrence Overcalls

The book on overcalls.

Mike Lawrence  Balancing

The book on balancing.

Mike Lawrence  Hand Evaluation

This is a book from Mike Lawrence, period.

Fun

Top

Robert Darvas - Norman De V. Hart  Right Through The Pack

The classic you read about in other classic bridge books. This brilliant fantasy features each card in the deck telling its own fascinating story.
First published in 1947, voted one of the top three bridge books of all time in the December '94 ACBL Bulletin.

Victor Mollo  Bridge in the Menagerie

Stories from the Griffins Club. Excellent characters, British humour and incredible hands (most of them have become classic). This is the first book in the series and it should be the first you will read.

Victor Mollo  Bridge in the Fourth Dimension

More stories from the Griffins Club.

Victor Mollo  Destiny at Bay

Even more stories from the Griffins Club.

Victor Mollo  Masters and Monsters

Even morer stories from the Griffins Club.