Pamela and Matt have another winner here. It's all about how serious players should go about developing a successful partnership, resolving such issues as:

* Does a reverse or 2NT by Opener after partner's 2/1 show extra strength>

* Which bids (including pass) are forcing?

* Which doubles are penalty and which are not, and if not, what are they?

In all, they list 70 such issues which a solid partnership needs to resolve, as well as an extensive checklist of conventions and treatments which could be used or rejected. The best part of the book, however, is a set of three chapters by Larry Cohen on the care and feeding of partner, developing system notes, and reviewing hand records to sort out misunderstandings and ambiguities. Naturally, they show a number of good hands, too. This was the best:

Against 4S, West led the C9 to the A and East returned the D7. South gave this a lot of thought before playing the Q. West (Matt) was thinking, too. If he played the DK, South might lead a spade to the A in order to pitch a diamond on the CK. Since this would drop his stiff K, Matt considered ducking, hoping South would ruff a club to take the trump finesse, after which a diamond ruff and the HA would defeat the contract and perhaps win him the Bols Brilliancy Prize. Fearing the consequences if his brilliancy backfired, he chickened out and played the DK. Declarer did drop Matt's stiff K and made his contract, but Matt won the match anyway. There are two possible morals to this tale. Take your choice:

* If you think a bid or play is right, go ahead and make it, and be willing to take the heat if it turns out wrong (Matt).

* Steady play wins bridge tournaments; brilliancies win brilliancy prizes (Pamela).