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My club has a library but most of the books are 50 years old or more. Most of the bidding described in older books is based around rubber bridge. Duplicate bidding strategy is totally different. What are some good books on modern bidding theory? Not just systems or conventions, but principles?
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Books on modern bidding
#2
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Posted 2025-November-21, 05:45
"Partnership bidding at Bridge" by Robson & Segal is incredible.
#3
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Posted 2025-November-21, 17:23
I think the two most important books for helping players adjust their mindset are old(er) classics:
Larry Cohen's To bid or not to bid on the Law of Total Tricks
and
Kit Woolsey's Matchpoints
(which is as much about play as about bidding, but still relevant).
Both of these books are now slightly outdated, but they both are a vital part of shifting a player into the mindset that -100 is a better score than -140 and starting to realize the vast consequences of that simple fact of arithmetic.
Don't worry too much about constructive bidding for club players - all better constructive bidding will do is get them into thin games and slams that they will misplay and go down in (even though they should make). The big improvement to their results will come from having the courage to come into (and, sometimes, the wisdom to stay out of) competitive auctions.
Larry Cohen's To bid or not to bid on the Law of Total Tricks
and
Kit Woolsey's Matchpoints
(which is as much about play as about bidding, but still relevant).
Both of these books are now slightly outdated, but they both are a vital part of shifting a player into the mindset that -100 is a better score than -140 and starting to realize the vast consequences of that simple fact of arithmetic.
Don't worry too much about constructive bidding for club players - all better constructive bidding will do is get them into thin games and slams that they will misplay and go down in (even though they should make). The big improvement to their results will come from having the courage to come into (and, sometimes, the wisdom to stay out of) competitive auctions.
#4
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- Location:Italy
Posted 2025-November-22, 14:24
"The Contested Auction" by Roy Hughes is a valuable tool for competitive auctions, as is his previous "Building a Bidding System" for uncontested auctions.
The approach is more suggesting ideas than supplying a correct answer, which may not be to everyone's taste.
Both are slightly beyond the average club player. But then the average club player never reads books anyway, except when they are new to the game. I have a good book for relative newcomers (end of first year), but it's in Italian and has a dubious legal situation.
The approach is more suggesting ideas than supplying a correct answer, which may not be to everyone's taste.
Both are slightly beyond the average club player. But then the average club player never reads books anyway, except when they are new to the game. I have a good book for relative newcomers (end of first year), but it's in Italian and has a dubious legal situation.
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