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Bridge for Complete Beginners

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Learn how to play bridge with this simple step-by-step guide.

While good bridge classes are, of course, of great value, this book is itself the complete tutorial. It will help you to learn properly without other help and give you a solid foundation on which to start playing this absorbing game.

Work at your own pace

Understand the key basic principles

Learn about the Acol system of bidding

Discover how to play a hand, both as declarer and in defence

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2005

171 people are currently reading
47 people want to read

About the author

Paul Mendelson

42 books46 followers
Paul Mendelson wrote stories at school when he should have been doing other things, but went on to become the, then, youngest ever playwright performed at the National Theatre, with his play, "You're Quite Safe With Me". This was followed by further work for theatre and, briefly, for television.

For twenty years, Paul has written on mind sports, such as bridge, poker and casino games, becoming the UK's best-selling author within his genre. He has contributed to magazines and newspapers worldwide, has a weekly bridge column in the Financial Times, and also writes interviews and features.

His debut crime novel, "The First Rule of Survival" was published in 2014, making the short-list of the CWA Golden Dagger for Crime Novel of the Year.
His second novel, "The Serpentine Road" was short-listed for several awards, including the CWA Gold Dagger again - an almost unheard of achievement - and received great acclaim in South Africa where it's political elements chimed with many that were in the news at the time.
Book 3, "The History of Blood" was published in July 2016, receiving accolades from reviewers in the national press in the UK, Eire and South Africa. It has been chosen as a Recommended Summer Read, Thriller of the Week and Thriller of the Month.
"Apostle Lodge" is his fourth novel set in Southern Africa, released for export on November 2017 and in the UK in February 2018, and it has received plaudits from around the world, hitting the top-ten Bestseller List in South Africa throughout the Christmas period.
Mendelson's fifth novel is set in England with a new detective.

Paul's novels now appear as audio books, Large Print books, and have been translated into French and German, with more languages to come, including Afrikaans (for the huge crime reading market in South Africa)

Each of the novels in the Vaughn de Vries series are set in Southern Africa, the novels allowing Paul's creative writing once again to come to the fore, and providing the perfect excuse to return to his beloved Cape Town to gain inspiration and time to write.

Paul lives in London (and, sometimes, Cape Town) with his two and four-legged family.

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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
Profile Image for Paul Denny.
4 reviews
December 23, 2017
Highly recommended

A very well structured approach to learning bridge in an enjoyable and entertaining way. Key points illustrated with example hands.
Profile Image for Randy Hines.
56 reviews3 followers
November 28, 2018
This book is well organized and a pretty direct way to become a solid advanced beginner at the game. It’s a lot to take in and memorize, so take it slow and play a regular amount on a good bridge app to actually get a taste for the concepts in practice. To be honest I tried to take this book off the shelf a few times over several years, but after I finally committed the finishing it I was inspired to continue learning and playing more.
Profile Image for Yan Couto.
59 reviews3 followers
September 13, 2020
Great introduction to bridge, clearly describing the rules, bidding and playing. The text is light and relaxed, which is motivating when learning this complicated game.
Used it as an introduction to ACOL, already knowing a little bridge and SA, and do not regret it.
Profile Image for Julie.
980 reviews
September 14, 2014
Very clear and easy to read. Didn't feel like he was dumbing it down. Liked his humor. Glad I read it-will help me when I start my bridge class.
8 reviews
April 8, 2016
One of the best books for complete beginners. It's easy reading to grasp the subject in a simplistic way, on a game that you can never master, but keep improving throughout your lifetime!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews

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