One well-produced book is “The Power of Positive Bidding” by Wladyslaw Izdebski, Dariusz Kardas and Wlodzimierz Krysztofczyk (Weidenfeld & Nicolson). It is subtitled “Bidding Secrets of the Italian Champions.”

The authors point out that Italy has easily the best record in European and world team championships in recent years. They believe that the primary reason is the Italians’ bidding. The various methods are explained and highlighted with many deals from those tournaments.

The second chapter compares the different meanings for a two-no-trump opening. A lot of tournament players have abandoned the strong, balanced interpretation, and the authors argue that this is a mistake, because if you are forced to open at a lower level, you give the opponents an opportunity to disrupt the auction.

In this deal, West’s oneclub bid was natural but unlimited. North threw in a very weak one-diamond overcall, and despite West’s powerful one-no-trump rebid and East’s use of Stayman, East-West sold out to three spades. To make matters worse, that contract was unbeatable. South lost only one spade, two hearts and one club.

At the other table, West opened two no-trump, East used Stayman, West denied a major, and East signed off in three no-trump. After North led the diamond jack, West won with his king and carefully played the clubs (ace, overtake the 10 with dummy’s king, and cross later to the eight and nine) to end with 11 tricks: one spade, four hearts, one diamond and five clubs.