[jjsb]

well for my curiousity . U know i'm now lol . even if i'm french and those who answer that

1) how many book do u have in your collection?

2) tell me your 3 best books (in order if possible )?

3) what is the last book you have bougth?

4) what is ur best author?

5) have u been told by writter outside ur coutry ? if yes have u read some and what is your favourite?

6) any special comment about one book ? let me know

regards
syl

[keylime]

1. I have about 450 bridge books.
2. Anything by Rosenkranz.
3. The Godfrey Series, and Precision in the 90's
4. Toughie, but like Rosenkranz and Reese.
5. Reese (UK)
6. Rosenkranz's writings on slam bidding, controls and fit, and LTC is remarkable.

[eyhung]

1. Approximately 100-150, but those are only the books I take the trouble to own.


2. Books are good books for different reasons.  Some books are incredibly instructive, others are great references, others are a pure pleasure to read again and again.  While there are not the only categories I use to judge a book, you limit me to three, so I'll describe the best in each of the categories I mentioned.

Most instructive : Complete Book of Overcalls by Mike Lawrence.  This book is not just about overcalls.  It is about judgement.  Lawrence gives the reader hand after hand in context with an auction and not only gives answers, but also the reasoning behind them.  There is a huge difference between knowledge (what do I bid?) and understanding (why do I bid this way?), and this book, unlike many, provides this understanding.  Many of his other books focus on understanding as well, but I believe Overcalls is the best because it concentrates on a specific, frequently occurring area uncluttered by treatments and gadgets.  

Note: some of the treatments he does discuss are a little out-of-date, but again, the real utility of this book is not the treatments themselves, but in the judgement used to arrive at a bid.

Most frequently referenced: Modern Bridge Conventions by Root and Pavlicek.  Clear, concise, and beautifully presented guide to common, useful conventions as played by two national champions.  Less referenced now that I know the contents of the book inside and out, but it's a godsend for any intermediate player because it outlines not only the conventional responses, but does an excellent job on the followups as well.

Most enjoyable read : Right Through The Pack by Darvas and Hart.  A collection of exotic yet accessible hands, narrated by the cards themselves!  In each hand, the narrating card plays an unusual role, and there are 52 hands, one for each card.


3. The last book I bought was Washington Standard by Steve Robinson so that I could have a reference for expert agreements in a 2/1 system framework.


4. The best bridge authors are Mike Lawrence for judgement; Victor Mollo for entertainment; Bill Root for fundamentals; and Hugh Kelsey for advanced cardplay.  I do not find George Rosenkranz to have much utility unless you are a systems/conventions nut.  Reese is an excellent cardplay author but I think Kelsey is more comprehensive.


5. Victor Mollo and Hugh Kelsey were British, although Mollo was technically Russian.

Eugene Hung

[inquiry]

1) how many book do u have in your collection?
          89 -  but I have given away many books

2) tell me your 3 best books (in order if possible  )?
         PLAY - Adventures in Card play - Ottilik and Kelsy
                    Bridge Squeeze Complete - Clyde Love
   BIDDING - To Bid or Not To Bid - Larry Cohen
                    Partnership Bidding at Bridge - Robson/Segal
          FUN - Bridge in the Fourth Dimension - Victor Mollo
                    Any other Hideous Hog books by Mollo

3) what is the last book you have bougth?
         
          Marty Bergen's book on More Points Smointz

4) what is ur best author?
             Kelsey (although not in any of my top books (other than translation of Ottilik Book), by far most helpful author early in my reading with books like killing defense and more killing defense and logical bridge play. Some of his Master Series on bridge are very good as well. Also a strong vote for Victor Mollo, his books are dogged eared from reading and re-reading late into the night.

5) have u been told by writter outside ur coutry ? if yes have u read some and what is your favourite?  
              George Rosenkratz - Romex really interested me until frustration with ACBL rules forced me to precision. I haven't gone back even though I know the new system doesn't use the dynamic notrump.  

6) any special comment about one book ? let me know
              Partnership Bidding at Bridge by Robson/Segal. A must read for any serious student. You can get fit jumps elsewhere, but Robson and Segal really make you think about modern competitive bidding. Sadly the book is out of print, but you can find it used on the web, or you can download the book in PDF file format.
         

[Cave_Draco]

Interesting that the replies so far concentrated on bridge books,  .

Books in general... about 64ft, of which about 3ft are bridge books.

Only one book in the "must have" category... The Official Encyclopedia(sic) of Bridge.

[hallway]

I would like to add a question or two to Syl's Poll -

Could the readers please cast their minds back to the days when they too were Novices   and tell us which of your books you found :-

(i) helped you the most to understand  the fundamentals of the game

(ii) pathed the way for you to lift your game from Novice to .......(wherever you are today)

Thank you
Maureen

[inquiry]

None of my answer #1 books are meant for novices. Victor Mollo's books were still fun to read.

I think a novice would want, something like the following

L. Watson ==> Play of the hand, really a classic

Kelsey ==> 1) Bridge Logic, and 2) Killing Defense

Any good systemic bidding book that is not too complicated. Today, maybe the ACBL Club system book by A. Grant

From my experience, you may need to read, and re-read each book a total of three times before you grasp what they have to tell you.

And stay away from "Adventures in Card Play" until you THINK  you are an expert. Then use this book will show you why you are probably wrong... Another work about Adventures in Card Play, my experience is people either LOVE it or HATE it. There is a lot of story telling going on in here that turns people off. And the hands, while remarkable, are fairly esoteric and lots of people think they could never find such a play at the table. But by the fourth reading, it really does seem possible you could find such plays.

Finally, I forgot to List Sontag's Power Precision book. I really enjoyed his writing style, and reading about his system and the personalities he talked about in the Calcutta tournament. This book is not a good one to learn how to play bridge from, however. System fanatics and people just interested in a good story might find it fun... .I did, but I am a system fanatic.

[Cave_Draco]

Quote

I would like to add a question or two to Syl's Poll -

Could the readers please cast their minds back to the days when they too were Novices   and tell us which of your books you found :-

(i) helped you the most to understand  the fundamentals of the game

(ii) pathed the way for you to lift your game from Novice to .......(wherever you are today)

Thank you
Maureen

Reese & Dormer... "Bridge". I actually read "The Play of the Cards" first but "Bridge" covers simple bidding too.

[eyhung]

Quote

I would like to add a question or two to Syl's Poll -

Could the readers please cast their minds back to the days when they too were Novices   and tell us which of your books you found :-

(i) helped you the most to understand  the fundamentals of the game

(ii) pathed the way for you to lift your game from Novice to .......(wherever you are today)

Thank you
Maureen

(i) Basic fundamentals were the Root books (Commonsense Bidding, How to Play a Bridge Hand, How to Defend a Bridge Hand, Modern Bridge Conventions).  I believe they may have republished a lot of the material in a book called the ABCs of Bridge.

(ii) Novice to Intermediate -- anything by Root or Kantar
    Intermediate to Advanced -- most books by Lawrence
    Good books for advanced players -- anything by Kelsey or Woolsey
    Good books for expert players -- Adventures in Card Play and Bridge with the Blue Team

I also want to mention that I agree that Robson/Segal is a very special book, but it is horribly organized.  Great material, but not for intermediates!

Eugene

[Orla]

Hi Maureen,   ;D

Oooooohhh yes. A plug for my favourite book!!!

When I discovered the internet, I found bridge - I started playing over at Yahoo.
Living in Germany, I had to wait  until Christmas before buying any bridge books. 'Till then everyone had to put up with my knowing absolutely nothing(which they all did, because I had met really super  people over there.)

One of the books I bought was: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Bridge. It explained the  basics of  the game in simple terms, idiot proof. I guess you cannot build up on the game if you don't understand it. It was amazing, within a week, people were commenting on how much I had improved.  I am still building.  :    ;D
The crib sheet was a life saver for those big hands.
In blasphemous moments, I have referred to it as my "Bible"!!!

I also have found the book: Modern Bridge Conventions by Root and Pavlicek to be helpful.

One book which I really like is: 100 Tips for Better Bridge  by Paul Mendelson.

Orla  ;D  
(had problems with inverted commas, so I left them out  > )

[Cave_Draco]

Mehta's biography of Feynman...

Any Liddell Hart book...

None of which is bridge related, but...

"Diversity is the mother of confusion."

[byroner53]

In answer to Hallway (Maureen's) question as to which book helped me most to understand the fundamentals of the game, I should like to refer to "Common Sense Bridge" by Rixi Marcus. (cost 4/6d)
Those of you having had the misfortune to be my partner, may find this hard to believe.   :

This is a super addition to an already brilliant site.  Well done John   ... Charlie

[keylime]

I have found memories of the first bridge book that I ever got my hands on: Win with Romex, published the same year (1975) as my birth...

[Codo]

1) how many book do u have in your collection?

About 30

2) tell me your 3 best books (in order if possible  )?

"Bridge with the blue team"
"A switch in time" by the Granovetters
"The kings tales"

3) what is the last book you have bougth?

"Step by step"  Nr. 4

4) what is ur best author?

Mollo

5) have u been told by writter outside ur coutry ? if yes have u read some and what is your favourite?  

Actually the authors in in this are all from foreign countries. Maybe because we life in Germany in a bridge diaspora?!

6) any special comment about one book ? let me know

You don`t need to understand "Bridge with the blue team" to have fun.

Kind Regards

Roland

[guido]

>1) how many book do u have in your collection?
     Approx. 900 book plus various magazines

>2) tell me your 3 best books (in order if possible )?
      a) Design for Bidding by Norman Squire
      Killing Defense by Hugh Kelsey
      c) Il Nuovo Fiori Napoletano by Chiaradia

>3) what is the last book you have bougth?
       Il Nuovo Fiori Napoletano
       (I finally found a copy after years of searching)

>4) what is ur best author?
     Kelsey

>5) have u been told by writter outside ur coutry ? if >yes have u read some and what is your favourite?
      Well, my top 3 list are all non-US, so.... <grin>
           

>6) any special comment about one book ? let me know

      Le Dictionnaire des Maniements de Couleurs
      by Roudinesco deserves mention as the
      greatest technical work

Paul Friedman (guido online)

[Neil]

On books for novices....

Watson's "Play of the Hand" is undoubtably the classic on card play although it is quite heavy to plough through and fairly dogmatic in style. I quite recently purchased "How to play a Bridge Hand" and "How to Defend a Bridge Hand" by William S Root and found them to be excellent and broader than Watson. Explanation is crystal clear and the book is set out as a course with example hands followed by exercises.

My favourite book is Mike Lawrence's "How to Read Your Opponents Cards". When I read this it was like the light switch going on. Again, theory and examples followed by exercises.

[JRG]

This is really just an answer to the novice.

Nobody seems to have mentioned my all-time favourite on card play for the beginning to intermediate player:

Card Play Technique by Victor Mollo and Nico Gardener
ISBN 0-571-11759-7

It is written with a touch of British humour, is extremely well organized, and (though I tend to dislike books with quizzes at the end of chapters) has REALLY good quiz hands at the end of each chapter.

The book does not cover everything you will ever want to know about card-play but it covers everything you need to know to be a competent declarer and defender. If you master what is in the book, even though they are basics (for example, finesses), you will be a better player than many so-called advanced players.
====
For the poll...

I gave away almost all (200+) of my bridge books when I moved to Costa Rica last year. I kept only 14 books (6 in Spanish because I am trying to learn Spanish). So I tried to keep books that I consider classics (like the above mentioned book).

Classics:
Victor Mollo & Nico Gardener: Card Play Technique (My number 1)
Louis H. Watson's: The Play of the Hand at Bridge
Clyde E. Love: Bridge Squeezes Complete
Robert Darvas & Norman De V. Hart: Right Through the Pack (my 2)
S. J. Simon: Why You Lose at Bridge

My number 3, I'm not sure I consider it a classic (at least not yet!):
Kit Woolsey: Partnership Defense in Bridge

Notice that all of these are on play, not bidding. Unfortunately, books on bidding seem to become outdated extremely quickly. I thought that

S. J. Simon: Design for Bidding was a great book. It discussed principles of bidding.

The Last Book I Bought
Larry Cohen: La Ley de las Bazas Totales en Bridge
(because it is a translation into Spanish and I want to read Spanish)

What is my country? England (where born), South Africa & Canada (where I lived) or Costa Rica (where I now live).

Years ago when I tried to play it, I liked "Blue Team Club" (I don't remember the authors - I think Yallouze (sp. ?) was one of them - perhaps another Forum member can post them). Also, anything by Terence Reese (the unfortunate Bridge scandal affected his reputation, but regardless of one's opinion on that, he was a hell of a writer).

My current favourite book (i.e. the one I am rereading and attempting to digest) is

Marshall Miles: Defensive Signals

This is a relatively small book, but with a lot of information. Best, he explains why he thinks one type of a signal is better than another and attempts to back up his opinions with facts.

My apologies for not sticking to the poll question format.

[JRG]

Whoops, I got the author of Design for Bidding wrong (it was one of the ones I gave away). It is really Norman Squire (see other posters).

[Cave_Draco]

I find it interesting that several people have mentioned Clyde E. Love... a fine book for bedtime reading, ZZZZZZZ,  ;D.

BLUE always seemed one of the less useful mnemonics. I remember the mnemonic but... Both, Lower, Upper, Entry?

I am curious as to whether a correspondent from Ann Arbor can confirm the strange properties of C-space in that locale?