IBPA Master Point Press Book Of The Year Award

The short list for the award has just been announced.  If you want to find it on the International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) web site – good luck to you.  The IBPA website is only for members so don’t even bother going there.  Your best shot is to google IBPA Book of the year and you can get to the IBPA bulletins through the back door.  So if you want to see the member only bulletin that would be my suggestion.

Anyway the books for this year are:

Wielding the Axe – the vanishing art of the penalty double by Augie Boehm (self published).  The content appears to follow the name from the description (I admit I haven’t read it but if you want 25 lessons and a final exam on the topic – enjoy).

Right Through the Pack Again by Ron Klinger (also self published).  I did read some of this book and found it pretty good but it just isn’t the original as far as I am concerned.  Still entertaining.  I am thinking about writing a book called Right Through the Pack – NOT AGAIN – no no.

The Setting Trick by Ian McCance.  We published this one and it is a nice book of defensive problems ranging from intermediate to expert.  It turns out that Ian is very well known and popular in Australia which we didn’t fully understand when we decided on the book.  It was the quality of the problems that attracted us.

The Devil’s Ticket by Gary Pomerantz, Crown.  This is a story about the Culbertson and the Bennett’s (of the murder).  The book is well written and entertaining and is designed for bridge players and others.  It has got a lot of publicity from inside the bridge community as only mainstream books get.  I think this is because the bridge establishment is so thrilled when "someone else" published a bridge book.

Frank Stewart’s World of Bridge, Vivisphere.  I haven’t seen this book but Frank is a good writer.  This book appears to be his opinions about the game – kind of a long op ed piece. 

North of the Master Solver’s Club by Frank Vine, a truly delightful collection of humorous stories about the game.  I loved it (I know I am biased but I definitely don’t say that about all of our books).  North by the way is the chap who sits North when you (south) are given a bridge problem.  One of the stories deals with the often maligned North’s point of view.  I would pick this book for any prize.

The winners will be announced in Brazil but I think (I am never right) it will be either The Devil’s Ticket or the Frank Vine book.