[NickRW]

Can anyone recommend a good book or url on MP declarer play. It ideally needs plenty of examples and absolutely has to be suitable for a beginner/intermediate player. Most texts on this subject that I've seen are more suitable for the advanced player or at least intermediate going on advanced improver.

Thanks in advance

Nick

[analysismi]

I'd suggest How to Play a Bridge Hand by William S. Root. Lots of examples of the basic techniques and the beginning/intermediate ones (end plays etc).

[y66]

The Bill Root book mentioned by analysismi has a chapter on Matchpoint Strategy. Looks like it covers what a beginner / low intermediate needs to know about this topic.

Richard Pavlicek covers the same ground, but somewhat more tersely and aimed at more advanced players, at http://www.rpbridge.net/6b00.htm.

[inquiry]

Without regards to the fact that this question was written in the BIL discussion group.

Match-Point Bridge (Master Bridge Series) By kelsey... ok this one has very difficult matchpoint problems that might be beyond advanced players much less intermediates, but the topics are sound.

Matchpoints by Kit Woolsey (probably out of print, but used copies must be available). Suitable for intermediates.

Understanding Duplicate Pairs By Ron Klinger. Haven't read it, seems to include bidding and defense as well as play.

100 Winning Duplicate Tips: For the Improving Tournament Player by Ron Klinger
(only 10 or so tips on declarer play, lots on bidding, leads, etc)


I would go with one of the first two (in fact i did).

[NickRW]

Thanks guys. In order:

The Root book - unfamiliar - so I'll check it out.

Richard's web page - looks good. Could use those examples as problem hands for the people I'm working with.

Kelsey's book - got one by him - it might even be the same one by the sound of it sold under a different title in the UK. Very difficult. Think experts would get 75% of those wrong at the table.

Woolsey's stuff - never read any - sounds good. Will check that one out too.

Klinger's duplicate pairs sounds good. And his 100 winning tips I have read and is a good book. It's in the local library - so maybe I should borrow it again.

Cheers

Nick

[blackshoe]

Woolsey's book is commonly mentioned as the best book on matchpoints, with Kelsey's a close second.

[csdenmark]

Something has gone really wrong in bridge if a beginner cannot find the excellent library of Charles Goren and/or he is not adviced to start there.

[blackshoe]

When did Goren write about matchpoint play?

[Stephen Tu]

I'll 3rd the recommendation for Bill Root's book. To me he is absolutely the best writer for beginners/ints. He covers all the ground one needs in his declarer play & defense book to probably beat 80-85% of club bridge players. And he does so in an easy to read and understand manner; the books aren't a chore to get through like Watson's.

Also good is Mollo/Gardner's "Card Play Technique".

For ints Woolsey/Kelsey are certainly excellent for MP strategy but I would not give them to a beginner until they felt they had digested all of Root's material.

As for Goren, his books were so-so to me. If you want old school for beginners, try Sheinwold's "Five weeks to winning bridge", but maybe skip most of the bidding as it's 4 cd major oriented. There are better choices than Goren IMO.

(As a beginner, I had no one locally to play against/teach me; I basically went to public & university libraries and checked out each book in bridge section and read them all).

[the hog]

I'll second Kelsey. This is by far the best MP book I have read. Woolsey isn't bad either.
Uh? Goren? Don't think so Claus.

[jdonn]

An old one that is never mentioned but is really really good for beginners to advanced players is Winning Declarer Play by Dorothy Hayden Truscott. She covers all the normal themes without missing anything, goes in logical order, and explains clearly with tons of good example hands.

Didn't realize you were asking about MPs, it's just an all-around book on play, doesn't cover matchpoints in particular.

[Stephen Tu]

Yeah D. Truscott's is very good too. Can't really read too many, although same themes tend to get covered you get different problems in each book to practice with. The main one to avoid is Watson IMO, although the actual material is good it's just not easy to read, very dull.

[blackshoe]

Watson is not easy to read, but there's a lot of good stuff in there.