The Official ACBL Encyclopedia of Bridge Hardcover – December 16, 2011

I have owned at least one copy of all the previous editions of the Encyclopedia, and refer to the 6th ed. often. I was quite disappointed with the format of this new 7th edition. It is quite a hefty book with 633 pages at 8.5" by 11". I think that most all of the same information is there, but is no longer organized alphabetically. You have to go to the index and then get referred from there. It feels too ACBL-centric, with separate chapters on the "ACBL Hall of Fame", the "ACBL Museum", the "ACBL How it Works", and other chapters organized around ACBL personalities. They have pictures of the players this time, and that is nice, but they separate the stars into the Hall of Fame chapter, and into a "Bridge at the Top" chapter. They arrange this second chapter in order by their masterpoint holdings, so it is very hard to find a specific person.The Suit Combinations chapter that caused me to buy the original encyclopedias is still there. Various editions of the Encyclopedia Have recommended selected bridge books for a good bridge library. I thought that the list lost much of its usefulness when he list swelled to 58 pages of titles in Ed. 6. I am glad to see that they have cut the list down to one page (52 books) in this edition. They still include many of the old faithfuls (Watson's "Play of the Hand", Simon's "Why You Lose at Bridge", and my all-time favorite Love's "Bridge Squeezes Complete". But newer authors are included, such as Bergen, Bird, Cohen, Pottage, and also Rodwell ("The Rodwell Files").One useful aspect of the new chapter organization is that the mathematical articles have been pulled together into one chapter. I had found a few errors in the tables in the 6th Ed, and those that I had found have been fixed. There is a whole separate chapter on squeezes! There is a chapter on "Bridge and the Digital Age". It was short and terse, but it was nice to see that the Encyclopedia addressed the changes to bridge caused by this computerized age.I think that the Index leaves much to be desired. In my first attempt to use it, I looked up Clyde Love, but he was not in the Index. When I scanned the included PDF file though, I found that he had been mentioned several times in multiple articles. The book includes two CDs. The first CD contains a full copy of the encyclopedia itself! It takes a little time to open an 18.6 MB PDF file, but once it is open, you can search around in it easily. Also they have gone to the work to make links work properly in the PDF file. The second CD contains a whole extra book as a PDF file of 399 pages, that gives all ACBL members that are Diamond Life Masters and above, many biographies, and all major tournament results. I have to admit that these two CDs, in addition to the encyclopedia itself, makes it a great value.

A wealth of information! No serious (or aspiring) Bridge player should be without it.

A wonderful book on all aspects of bridge. I was first confused with the structure (divided into sections, as opposite to a more encyclopedia-like alphabetic order), but the index is great for checking things out. It’s not just an excellent reference book but also suitable for reading systematically. The only thing I have been disappointed with it so far is the US-centered look, like the lack of descriptions of some conventions commonly used in Europe (say, Stenberg). But I accept this as a result of the book being the ACBL Encyclopedia. Maybe we’ll some day see a world encyclopedia of bridge.

A worthwhile volume that I seldom use: it comes with two CDs, each of which contains a file that would easily fit many times on the other CD. I generally use the file that contains the whole encyclopedia.

The historical review and characters of the game are presented in an interesting fashion.It will make you want to visit the hall of fame.Any expectation on this helping with game play, despite a large chapter on this, is misplaced.Unfortunately that is one of my desires so I was disappointed by the purchase.

I bought this with the idea of discarding my warped copy of the Fourth Edition, only to find that it has been heavily cut (633 pages of large print, compared to the 922 pages of smaller print of the Fourth Edition). Some of the 633 pages are taken up with photos and even cartoons. Too much valuable material has been cut, so I'm keeping theolder edition.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Bridge and more! It comes with a CD-ROM that has a PDF copy of the book.

This encyclopedia answers any of your questions. It's large and heavy so you can't just carry it around with you.

I gave this book as a gift after obtaining the previous edition #6. The reference material is arranged in a very accessible manner. Additionally, there are many comments of historical interest that is a useful supplement to the references.

This book lacks of current conventions in the very detail which we need in the tournaments. If we have those conventions in the much detail which will help players a lot. The Roman Kay Card convent has not explain thoroughly. I hope we may have new version to improve these.

A new version of the ACBL Encyclopedia, probably updated but only with USA news. The Book is divided into 3 parts, 1 - the book with traditional Bridge articles, - + 2 CD's - 1 CD with American Players Life Master and above (who cares in the rest of the world) and 1 CD with play problems. I guess it is convenient to have the Play Problems on a CD apart from the Encyclopedia but if one has already one or two past versions of the Encyclopedia, one does not really need the "reprint", the book may have minor updates, the solutions to play problems should not have changed and really - who cares about Life Masters where ever they live. . A total waste of money for my mind, I was looking for biographies on Australian, Swedish and UK top players ....... no - a whole CD of ACBL "life masters". I am spitting Pounds, I wasted my money!If this version is the first for a player, it is a good looking book and one should then keep in mind even if one intend to live a very long life, - it is the only copy one ever need unless one is a Life Master in the US. - Parochial!

It was a present that had been asked for and it came up to expectations. Although less detailed than a previous edition (by different authors) the 2 accompanying CD's made everything quick and easy to find.

Comprehensive but not easy to navigate