Holiday gifts for bridge players

If you're looking for gifts for your friends and relatives who play bridge (or who would like to learn), here are some recently published -- and recommended -- books.

Bridge books published in 2012:

Clever Plays In The Trump Suit  (Intermediate)
By David Bird. An instructional book on declarer-play with a focus on managing the trump suit -- unblocking, endplays, safety plays, avoidance plays, entry management, playing Moysian fits and other techniques.

Defensive Tips for Bad Card Holders   (Intermediate)
By Eddie Kantar. From one of the bridge world's most popular authors comes a collection of 578 tips that will improve defensive play. This new edition is based on Kantar's 2004 book, but has been completely revised and updated to reflect modern bidding. It also includes many new tips. 

The Complete Book on Balancing    
The Complete Guide to Takeout Doubles   (Intermediate to Advanced)
By Mike Lawrence. These are major updates of two titles that have become classic. The revised and expanded editions include modern treatments and hundreds of examples. The emphasis in both books is on hand evaluation and judgment, and Lawrence is a master at explaining these concepts in a clear, readable style.

Defend or Declare? 72 Deals to Test Your Bridge Skill  (Intermediate to Advanced)
By Julian Pottage. A sequel to the author's popular Play or Defend: 68 Hands to Test Your Bridge Skill, which was named 2004 Book of the Year by the International Bridge Press Association. This title adopts the same format, where you're asked to analyze all four hands of a deal and decide whether you want to try to make the contract or try to defeat it.

The Contested Auction  (Advanced to expert) 
By Roy Hughes. A thorough, expert-level discussion of every type of competitive auction, with recommendations for useful conventions and agreements. Winner of the 2012 Book of the Year Award from the International Bridge Press Association.

Bridge books on Kindle  (All levels)
New titles and old classics formatted for the Kindle, Amazon's e-reader. 

Games and software:

Learn to Play Bridge I & II  (Beginner) are two self-teaching software programs that make great stocking stuffers for anyone who wants an easy introduction to the basics. Best of all, both are totally free from ACBL. You can download them from the link above (both setup programs fit onto one CD) and give copies to everyone on your list. Print out copies of ACBL's quick-start How to Play Bridge page to go with your gifts.   

aBRIDGEd game (Beginner) is a box game that's as close as you can get to "real" bridge, without the complexities of bidding. The set includes color-coded cards and simple rules that can be learned in 20 minutes. It's a great introduction to bridge-style card play and bidding principles for children and adults.

Bridge Baron 23 (All levels) is the newest update of one of the most skilled bid-and-play software programs on the market. It features seven sophisticated levels of play, plus a deal generator, double-dummy solver, ACBL tournament deals, challenge hands, flow-chart bidding tutorials and a wide range of conventions. Available for Windows and Mac.

Need more ideas? You'll find other books and gift suggestions on these shopping pages just for bridge players:

Karen's Bridge Library Bookstore features short reviews of recommended bridge books, along with an updated listing of the newest books and software. Books are grouped by skill level and can be purchased at discounted prices from Amazon.com by following the links.

The Holiday Shopping Page on the above site offers ideas and links for a wide range of bridge-themed gifts, including clothing, jewelry, bakeware and glassware, party accessories, software packages, electronic games, magazine subscriptions and other specialty gifts.

Great Bridge Links offers a full directory of specialty products and online shopping sites for bridge players. You'll find links to unusual and hard-to-find gifts here, along with some special discounts.