The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge

The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge (OEB) presents comprehensive information on the card game contract bridge with limited information on related games and on playing cards. It is "official" in reference to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) which authorized its production and whose staff prepared and/or supervised its various editions.

The first edition of the Encyclopedia was published in 1964 with Richard Frey as Editor-in-Chief; it was the only one with an edition revised for an overseas market (The Bridge Players' Encyclopedia, 1967). The seventh and latest edition was published in 2011 following intermediate editions in 1971, 1976, 1984, 1994 and 2001. The Executive Editor for the first six was Alan Truscott, bridge editor of The New York Times. For the fourth through sixth editions, Henry Francis succeeded Frey as Editor-in-Chief. Frey and Francis were also successive editors of the ACBL monthly membership magazine. Numerous contributing editors to the Encyclopedia were listed in each edition as were members of Editorial Advisory Boards.

The redesigned seventh edition, in preparation since 2006, was released in November 2011. Editor was Brent Manley, with primary assistance from Mark Horton, Barry Rigal, and Tracey Yarbro. This is the first edition to depart from the traditional alphabetical listing of individual entries and present a compilation of entries grouped into chapters, such as Bidding, Conventions and Card Play. Numerous photographs are included, together with two CDs; one containing the full printed version of the Encyclopedia and the other with biographies and tournament results.

Each year since 1982, the American Bridge Teachers' Association (ABTA) has "recognized one or more books as contributing significantly to the teaching of contract bridge". In 1984 the Encyclopedia received a "Special Award", with all other candidates being deferred until the following year for consideration.

In 1994 the ACBL commissioned a poll of well-known players and writers, who chose the Encyclopedia as one of the 20 best bridge books of all time.

The article on bridge in The Canadian Encyclopedia, published in 2006 and last edited in 2013, lists the Official Encyclopedia as further reading, the only book specified.

The first edition is described in the bibliography of bridge books compiled by Tim Bourke and John Sugden as follows: "A massive work that is an essential reference for any Bridge player. The work derives some of its structure from both The Whist Reference Book by William Mill Butler, and Ely Culbertson's, The Encyclopedia of Bridge. A wonderful work from any angle."

In 2011, Philip Alder writing in the New York Times described the seventh edition as a "must-buy".