This year’s BOTY shortlist is as varied a collection as we’ve ever had. The jury will have a difficult job judging them against one another. The BOTY jury is as diverse as this year’s books: Tim Bourke (recused this year), John Carruthers, Dilip Gidwani, Fernando Lema, David Morgan, Barry Rigal, PO Sundelin, Ron Tacchi and Paul Thurston.
Descriptions of the books are taken directly from publisher/author blurbs.
Augie Boehm – Big Deal. The author shares tales and insights from his unique perspective as an expert bridge player and as a world-class musician. The book chronicles Augie’s life journeys and reveals the highs and lows of a life in and around the game of bridge, from the highest-level tournaments to the most-dubious bridge club in Times Square; from the carriage trade to luxurious cruise ships, to Sing Sing Penitentiary. You’ll find glimpses of Stephen Sondheim,Omar Sharif, the Rockefellers, bridge legends, and the colourful characters who populate the world of bridge. Boehm’s story encapsulates much of modern bridge history.
Ron Klinger – A Good Game of Modern Bridge. In Klinger’s latest book, you will find the methods and conventional bids which reflect current standards.The first half will enable the club player to glide comfortably into modern practice. The second half contains more sophisticated approaches suitable for the advanced player and perhaps even for the expert. Adopt those that suit you.
Julian Laderman – Bumblepuppy Days. The origins of the game of bridge have been shrouded in mystery . . . but no longer. Tracing the development of the game and the fascinating characters who played it from whist through to auction bridge and eventually to contract bridge, the author reveals the missing link, and demonstrates how the world’s most-popular card game came into being.
Krzysztof Martens – Professional Slam Bidding. Martens looks at slam auctions bid at the table by professional players. It contains over 150 deals in the slam zone bid by championship pairs, with his comments and proposed solutions, concepts, conventions, and agreements. Bidding in the slam zone is an art,requiring good hand evaluation, a well-prepared set of bidding tools, and a large number of additional agreements with particular emphasis on competitive auctions. Slam zone bidding consists of several stages, each of which requires considerable expertise. It also demands precision and a great deal of intellectual effort.
Anthony Moon & Tim Bourke – Guard Squeezes. This is the fifth book in a series of eight on squeezes. Guard squeezes are often missed at the table and introduce some fascinating positions. This book is the result of extensive research and analysis by the author into these positions. The first six chapters cover the 35 basic simple and double guard-squeeze positions and relate them to simple and double squeezes. The next six chapters analyse the corresponding showup guard squeezes. Chapter 13 analyses the rare guardstrip squeezes with a delayed-duck threat. Chapter 14 covers vice-guard hybrid secondary positions.
David Silver & Tim Bourke – The Canterbury Bridge Tales. A disparate group of travelers meets by chance at a motel while on the way to the Nationals in Canterbury, Florida. Naturally, they begin swapping stories. Sound familiar? Professor Silver returns in a new collection of short stories, in which literary parody is interwoven with Tim Bourke’s brilliant bridge deals. Murder, mystery, sex and the supernatural—and that’s just in the first three tales.
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IBPA – International Bridge Press Association Bullettin No.605 June 10, 2015