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What a delight to encounter a really professional program for a microcomputer! Bridge Master is well conceived, smoothly executed, and aimed with accuracy at a worthwhile objective.

Four double-sided cassettes are supplied, with an instruction book and Begin Bridge with Reese, by Terence Reese. Two of the cassettes talk to your computer, and the other two talk to you, giving a smooth commentary to guide you through the intricacies of 55 bridge hands.

You can play each hand yourself, a subdued beep telling you when you try to play an unsuitable card, or you can let the computer play for you, taking the rounds at any pace you choose. The bidding of some hands is covered, though this is not introduced in the earliest hands.

For a learner, this offering is ideal. For those who already play, there is much value, rather on the lines of the old 'Auto Bridge' system, but much more extensive. True, there are only the 55 fixed hands, and each hand can only be played one way, but it would need a gargantuan feat of memory to recall the characteristics of each.

There was only one hint of trouble. It so happened that the first cassette was loaded after a program which had set PAPER BLACK, and that produced much mystification, as the bridge program does not set the required PAPER WHITE condition. A minuscule point, but with a program so perfect in other respects it rather stood out.

D.T.