Danny's Bridge Books 

Available from Masterpoint Press

Persistent Human Bridge Errors (2007). Chthonic is back. And this time, in an attempt to teach humans a little about the game of bridge, he's written his own wickedly funny book: Persistent Human Bridge Errors, assisted by his human editors Danny Kleinman and Nick Straguzzi. 232 pages, $16.95. Order from Masterpoint Press.

The Principle of Restricted Talent (2005). An anthology of humorous stories featuring Chthonic, the bridge-playing robot. The stories draw unmercifully funny portraits of human bridge players, as Chthonic's bridge brilliance and abrasive and ill-concealed contempt for his human creators leave them all in his wake. A particular target is the pompous Director of the Cybernetics Research Institute, whose opinion of his own bridge expertise differs greatly from that of his protégé. Some of these stories have appeared in The Bridge World magazine, where the characters are established as firm reader favorites. International Bridge Press Association Book of the Year, 2005. 205 pages, $18.95 Order from Masterpoint Press

365 Winning Bridge Tips (2005). Can you learn from the errors of others? Here is a collection of problems, mostly very simple ones, that gave a variety of players, mostly "intermediate" but including occasional beginners and experts, some trouble. You won't find bidding problems worthy of the Master Solvers' Club (a monthly Bridge World feature), declarer-play problems fit for "Test Your Play" (another Bridge World feature) or problems to challenge defensive maven Eddie Kantar. Instead you will find the kinds of "bread and butter" problems that arise several times a session each time you trudge to your local duplicate bridge club or travel to a sectional or regional tournament. 288 pages, $22.95 Order from Masterpoint Press

The Notrump Zone. Notrump openings, and the constructive auctions that follow them, are two of the most neglected areas in bridge literature. Following on from his popular articles in the ACBL Bulletin, Danny discusses the principles behind notrump bids and rebids in a variety of situations, emphasizing the ideas and concepts rather than attempting to teach a series of rigid rules. 221 pages, $18.95 Order from Masterpoint Press

 

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Bridge Scandal in Houston (revised edition). This book investigates the cheating accusation made by Lew Mathe, Don Oakie, and the then-leadership of the ACBL (Lou Gurvich, President, and Lee Hazen, Counsel) against Richard Katz and Larry Cohen based on their performance during the aborted 1977 Houston Trials to determine the U.S. Team that was to compete for the World Championship later that year. 146 pp., $25

Bridge Internationalists, Famous and Infamous. Studies of the Italian Blue Team of 1966, and the British pair Terence Reese and Boris Schapiro in 1965, as they performed in World Championships, with an eye towards determining the illicit information that may have passed between partners. 145 pages, $24

Understanding Bidding: Volume 1, Foundations. 177 pages, $30
Understanding Bidding: Volume 2, Ramifications. 149 pages, $25
Two collections of essays on bidding and bidding theory.

Advice to the Bridgelorn. Essays primarily dealing with the play of the cards, including many letters to "Miss Lonelyspades" and "her" (often tart) replies. 153 pages, $26

The Bridge Weird Anthology. A collection of bridge writings from 1976 to 1981, containing humorous material, including many "Kantdu for the Defense" columns by "Erwin I. Kantdu" parodying defensive maven Edwin B. Kantar. 160 pages, $27

Drumming Bridge Basics into Your Head. Essays for "experienced beginners" and intermediate players. 156 pages, $26

Bridge in the Real World. 217 pp., $36
Bridge in Theory And Practice. 190 pp., $32
It’s a Bidder’s Game. 192 pp., $32
Review, Please. 416 pp., $69
Bridge in the Tower of Babel. 358 pp., $60
Newbridge. 438 pp., $73
Building Better Bridge. 210 pp., $35
PASS is a Four-Letter Word. 354 pp., $59)
Bridge You Don’t Learn on Your Daddy’s Knee. 322 pp., $54
Bridge Fifty Years After. 180 pp., $30
Bids Are For Contracts. (mainly bidding) 192 pp., $32
Contracts Are For Tricks. (mainly play) 130 pp., $22
Bridge 95. 304 pp., $50
Bridge For Dummies, Defenders and Declarers. 256 pp., $43)
Bridge For Smart Players. 226 pp., $43
Bridge in the Devil’s Own Year. 276 pp., $46
It’s Not The End Of Bridge. 232 pp., $39
These books differ from each other in content, but not in format or general nature. Each is a potpourri of short pieces about all aspects of the game, with discussions of bidding theory, systems and conventions, interesting deals, plus occasional empirical studies and book reviews. They are listed in the order they were written.

Slam Bidding (revised edition). In 1990, Jeff Goldsmith taught bridge classes at Cal Tech, and Danny was invited to be a guest lecturer. Since Jeff knew Danny for refusing to play Blackwood, he suggested Danny talk about slam bidding. Danny lectured extemporaneously, but gave a copy of the written material (this book) to Jeff, who said it was the best book he'd ever read on the subject. 76 pages, $13

Doubles: Sputnik and the Ax. An examination of penalty doubles versus takeout doubles and how well each works in different auctions. 54 pages, $9

Rough and Tumble Teams. This book combines the format that Jeff Rubens used for his "Swiss Match" book with the characters popularized by S.J. Simon in Why You Lose at Bridge. It contains eight 8-board matches. The eight players (Simon's four, three of Danny’s invention, and "you," the reader) do not compete in fixed teams, but cut for teammates after each match, and play for money rather than masterpoints. Most of the deals and problems arose in actual "IMP" games. These deals were chosen because real players (usually slightly below expert level, but in a few cases, top experts) messed them up. 166 pages, $28

Weak Two-Bids (booklet). A new view of this popular treatment. 28 pages, $5

Master Solvers Archives 1985-1987. 228 pp., $36
Master Solvers Archives 1988-1990. 234 pp., $36
Master Solvers Archives 1991-1993. 206 pp., $36
Master Solvers Archives 1994-1996. 164 pp., $28
Master Solvers Archives 1997-1999. 180 pp., $28
These five volumes contain detailed solutions to all the problems that have appeared in the Master Solvers' Club, a monthly feature of The Bridge World magazine, in the years indicated, plus analyses of the magazine's periodic "You Be the Judge" problems. The first three cover the era of BWS85 and tell the panel's choices. The last two cover the era of BWS94 and also contain solutions to problems posed quarterly by Marshall Miles to a panel of which Danny is a member.

Bridge at the Turn of the Century. Essays on bridge, including Master Solvers Archives 2000-2001. 208 pp., $34