North of the Master Solvers’ Club – the bridge writings of Frank Vine 

Perhaps a good starting point is to explain the rather odd title of this book. For those readers who do not see the American Bridge World magazine, the Master Solvers’ Club is their equivalent of Bridge Magazine’s Marks and Comments. Invariably you are shown the South cards, given the bidding to date and asked for your answer to that most difficult of questions: “What would you bid?” A panel of experts then give their bids, together with reasons, and you are able to compare your reasoning with theirs.

Frank Vine was a leading Canadian player who wrote a series of articles for various publications. In one such article he describes his meeting over coffee with “North” – the player whose bidding in the Master Solvers’ Club got you into your predicament – a player who, in his own words is neither too aggressive nor too conservative, and all you know for certain about him is that he is an expert. Having read this article you may end up feeling quite sorry for North.

The book is divided into three distinct sections. In the first (the Coldbottom Chronicles) we meet Professor Cornelius Coldbottom, the sage of the Wentworth Bridge and Social Club. He is always happy to dispense his advice and bridge philosophy to lesser mortals (that is, everyone else) but although this seems to work for him, others are less fortunate. The characters here are interesting and the stories are great fun to read. In a way they are reminiscent of the “Mr. Playbetter” characters introduced many years ago by Terence Reese, and Vine certainly possesses some of the acid wit that made Reese’s stories so readable. They also pass my personal test in that, by the end of them, I was really hoping that the eponymous hero would triumph in his encounters with his deadly rivals, the Blue Team from Stoney Creek.

The second section (entitled Comment) comprises a series of fairly brief articles giving the author’s views on many areas of the game. These include conventions, signalling, huddling (i.e. hesitating) and whether the great players of previous years were better than today’s experts. He is certainly not afraid to ruffle a few feathers and is openly critical of both other writers and the American bridge establishment’s approach to matters such as the proliferation of conventions. There is also food for thought regarding the Principle of Restricted Choice.

The third section, a series of parodies (which include the North of the Master Solvers’ Club piece from which the book takes its title) is also amusing, and includes his own take on both magazine features and works of literature – did you know what a fine player Cyrano de Bergerac was?

These articles, by a writer who possessed more than his share of wit and who was also quite content to poke fun at other players, make fascinating reading. The length of the articles means that this a book that is great for dipping into when you have five minutes to spare. Although I have read a lot of bridge books, the material here was all new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.