The Joy of Bridge: Everything You Need to Know to Enjoy Your Game

A compendium of the key elements of bidding, declarer play and defence, amusing hands and bridge stories, written for the social bridge player, but with much for more experienced players too.

Brush up your knowledge on the key areas of your game, so that, wherever you play – kitchen, local group or club – you will be more likely to succeed.

Eschewing most conventions, everyday bidding problems are solved logically and clearly, declarer play techniques, from the ubiquitous 3NT to tricky little part-scores, are broken down into the crucial areas for consideration, and defensive decisions are made easier by knowing exactly the target for which you are striving.

For forty years, Paul Mendelson has lectured live and online and, along with his easy-to-follow guidance, The Joy of Bridge shares a selection of his infamously entertaining stories and hands. Paul’s aim is always to encourage bridge players, at any level, to stop trying to remember what to do, but simply to think instead so that solutions to problems become readily apparent and play becomes easier.

Paul Mendelson has written for the theatre and television, has been the bridge columnist for the Financial Times for over a quarter of a century, and is the author of fifteen non-fiction titles concerning mind-sports such as bridge and poker, as well as being a crime novelist whose first novel, The First Rule of Survival, was short-listed for the CWA Golden Dagger Crime Novel of the Year in 2014. His second novel, The Serpentine Road, was long-listed for the same prize in 2015. Both have been translated into several languages and a television adaptation is in preparation. His two subsequent books are The History of Blood and Apostle Lodge.