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 new -- and recommended -- books.

Bridge books published in 2009:

The Devil's Tickets: A Night of Bridge, a Fatal Hand, and a New American Age  (General interest)
By Gary Pomerantz. A thoroughly researched account of the 1929 murder of John Bennett, who was shot by his wife, Myrtle, after he mangled the play of a 4S contract. The story includes many anecdotes and an ensemble of 1920s characters, including Ely Culbertson and Fightin' Jim Reed, the U.S. senator from Kansas City who successfully defended Myrtle at trial.

Celestial Cardplay  (General interest)
By David Bird. Another entertaining book in the author's series about the bridge-playing Abbot and monks of St. Titus. Like Bird's other books, this one offers well-written stories, humorous characters and excellent bridge deals. 

Bridge Behind Bars  (General interest)
By Julian Pottage. A bridge novel set in a prison, with unusual characters and many interesting deals.

Planning the Play of a Bridge Hand  (Beginner)
By Barbara Seagram. This book teaches the basics of declarer play, including suit establishment, finessing and ruffing losers. It also focuses on how declarer forms a plan for the entire hand. 

Take All Your Chances at Bridge  (Intermediate)
By Eddie Kantar. Great advice, lots of examples and an entertaining writing style from this prolific and popular author.

Improve Your Declarer Play at No-Trumps       Improve Your Opening Leads   (Intermediate)
By Ron Klinger. Two new titles in the Master Bridge Series from one of the bridge world's most popular teachers and authors.

The Complete Book on Overcalls in Contract Bridge  (Intermediate to advanced)
By Mike Lawrence. A new reprint of a classic that is considered by many to be a must-read for anyone who wants to improve competitive bidding. 

2-Over-1 Game Force  (Intermediate to advanced)
By Audrey Grant & Eric Rodwell. All the basics of Two-Over-One system and the Forcing Notrump convention, with color-coded bidding charts, summaries, exercises and examples.

My Favorite 52  (Intermediate to advanced)
By Larry Cohen. Fifty-two bridge hands that are amusing, instructional and sometimes spectacular. They were originally presented in Cohen's CDROM software with the same title. 

A Bridge to Inspired Declarer Play  (Intermediate to advanced)
By Julian Laderman. A thorough discussion of the thought processes that declarer uses to plan the play. Named 2009 Book of the Year by the American Bridge Teachers Association.

The Setting Trick: Practical Problems in Bridge Defense   (Intermediate to advanced) 
By Ian McCance. A book of problems in defensive cardplay by a top Australian expert. The deals come from real events, providing the reader the unique experience of being up against a declarer who will not always play perfectly.

Right Through the Pack Again  (Intermediate to expert)
By Ron Klinger. An homage to the classic by Robert Darvas, with 52 clever stories, one from each card in the deck. Named 2009 Book of the Year by the International Bridge Press Association.

It's Your Call  (Intermediate to expert)
By Marshall Miles. One of the game's leading bidding theorists, Miles offers innovative ideas and clear advice on how to solve common problems at the table.

Bridge Squeezes Complete: Winning Endplay Strategy   (Advanced to expert)
By Clyde Love. This is a new edition of the time-honored, expert-level treatise on squeeze play. It's definitely not light reading, but worth the time and study for serious players.

Patrick Jourdain's Problem Corner  (Advanced to expert)
By Patrick Jourdain. A collection of challenging declarer-play problems from the author's regular column in BRIDGE Magazine in the UK,

Games, magazines and software:

Learn to Play Bridge I & II 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 special, 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 20 is the newest update of one of the top-rated and 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. Winner of five World Computer Bridge Championships. 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 (published in 2008). 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.