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Book Reviews

#236 User is offline   jikl 

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Posted 2006-August-24, 17:27

Has anyone reviewed "Fair Play or Foul?" by Cathy Chua yet?

Sean
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#237 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-September-15, 14:59

How to Play Card Combinations by Mike Lawrence.

I first read it over 2 years ago, when I had been playing Bridge for all of 3 months. I thought it was ok back then. I liked it much more the second time.

The book focuses on how to play some common card combinations. This isn't a book about safety plays. Rather its about how to make your contract and how to play some combination so as to provide an extra trick.

A x x opposite J 9 x
A x opposite Q T

The reader is presented with the bidding and the declarers and dummies hands.
As the hand is played, you are asked questions about card placement based on the cards played, how they are played, and the bidding.

Excellent book for Intermediates.
I also found it amusing with some dry quips here and there about pards bidding or the opponents.
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#238 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-September-28, 07:01

All 52 Cards by Miles Marshall

Acording to the book jacket it was a classic in the early 60's. Compared to todays Bridge books on Deductive reasoning I don't think its stood the test of time. It has some good tidbits here and there, but overall I don't think it anything special. It's more advanced than "How to Read Your opponents Cards" so intermediates may not get much out of it. Advanced players maye consider it average, lets say C+ (by todays standards).
Maybe 40 years ago when there were no books on the subject it would be considered very good.



Inferences at Bridgeby Miles Marshall
This is more advanced than most Bridge books on deduction. Not just the subjects, but the hands are complex (various squeezes). The book broadly covers a range of topics, with around 35 quiz hands. Some interesting material where the reader is given a hand and the bidding and should choose an opening lead. Also hands where you must figure out whats going on based on a few tricks and the bidding. There is a long chapter on defense where you need to visualize the unseen hands and make assumptions.
There are also Marshall Miles ideas on bidding and signaling which not everyone will agree with.

Overall I thought it worthwhile (I rate it a ;), but not as good as some of the better books on Deductive reasoning (ex. Dormer on Deduction). I recommend this book after you have read several others first.
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#239 User is offline   hrothgar 

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Posted 2006-October-06, 10:44

"Building a Bidding System" by Roy Hughes

I purchased this book a couple months back and have been struggling ever since to write a useful review. Ultimately, my comments boil down to the following: I think that the book is well written and does a good job with the subject matter that it chooses to address. However, I kept finding myself wishing that the author had written a different book.

I'd like to start by focusing on the positives. Hughes has a clear expository style. He knows his subject well. Hughes identifies many of the key tension inherent in designing bidding methods. He illustrates his themes with cogent examples taken from top level competition. From my perspective, the easiest way to show the thought that went into Hughes book is to note how well example hands and themes from the book can be applied to a wide variety of the bidding discussions that occur on many of the online bridge forums. For example, one of the threads on the BBO forums is whether 2NT should be used as a quantitative invite over a 1NT openings. Hughes discusses this exact topic, stating:

"Sometimes we put too much emphasis on accuracy, at the expense of concealment. For example, basic bridge texts (Goren for my generation) advise raising 1NT to 2NT when holding not quite enough for game. Opener then goes on to game with extra values. Simple, logical – and wrong. The obvious upside to inviting is that we may bid and make game, while the obvious downside is that we may bid game and go down. But there are other disadvantages:

*We force opener to reveal more about his hand to the defenders
*We alert the opening leader that the contract is marginal
*We may go down in 2NT
*We alert the opponents to the possibility of a speculative double, given that
there are no reserves of strength
*We allow fourth hand to bid at the three-level
*We loose the possibility of using 2NT for something really useful

It is hardly as though the raise to 2NT gives opener the chance to make an informed choice between an ironclad 2NT with no play for nine tricks and an ironclad 3NT. Raising to 2NT increases your accuracy only a little. Vulnerable at IMPs, if you estimate 3NT at 30%-50%, you are better off just bidding it. Even if it turns out to be 30%, your mathematical expectation against par is a loss of about 1 IMP, a very modest investment." [Hughes, p.90]

In a similar fashion, during a recent thread on rec.games.bridge David Stevenson posted the following

"When I play a strong club, eg Precision, I play triple raises of a
major as weak, pre-emptive. No, I don't play they may have three card
support and 12 points, because opener will not know what to do with
highly distributional hands which might make a slam, and he will not
know what to do if fourth hand bids.

In other words, I don't play this logic that triple raises may be
stronger opposite limited openings. Furthermore, none of the group I
used to play strong clubs with did. We just did not agree with the
logic, which we would consider the logic for novice players."

Later in the same thread he noted

"What do you respond to 1H with

AJxx
KQxx
x
xxxx

playing Standard? Playing Precision? I bet if you poll your Precision
players you will get a fair number bidding 4H. Fair enough: I am not
saying they are wrong, I am saying that is not what I do: I bid 4D."

Turning once again to Hughes, it was very interesting to note the following

"A preempt can force a decision at an uncomfortable level with little or no space for partnership consultation. Here are Meckstroth and Rodwell on their way to winning to the final of the 2004 Spingold.

Scoring: IMP


1 - (P) - 4 - (5)
P - (P) - X - All pass

Its hard to fault Demuy for the 800 penalty, since he might have lost a double game swing by passing. And yet it would have been even worse had 4 been destined to fail. You just have to give credit to Meckstroth and Rodwell. They exploited the limited nature of the 1 opening by jumping to game and forcing a unilateral decision, and then taking the practical action of doubling... At the other tableEast-West score a comfortable 450 via this auction

1 - (P) - 3N - (4)
4 - all pass"

In my mind, these quotes indicate both a strength and weakness of Hughes books. The themes that Hughes develops in “Building a Bidding System” are all going to be very familiar to anyone who has spent much time studying this topic. Hughes provides a nice survey, however, I suspect that most people who are interested enough in this topic to purchase the book probably don't need a survey. Furthermore, while Hughes provides good example hands to illustrate the different tensions between different approaches towards bidding he doesn't advance the discussion. Case in point: If you parse Hughes discussion about quantitative invites over 1NT openings, he doesn't prove anything. He asserts that the benefits the quantitative invite don't compensate for the costs, but he can't provide any real proof. (Please note, in my gut I agree with his argument, however, I still don't find this his assertions definitive)

In an ideal world, I would have liked to see Hughes dive a bit deeper into the topic... For example, I would have been very interested in seeing Hughes provide a detailed description of a specific set of methods, illustrate the design philosophy that underlies the system, and then try to quantity how well the implementation matches the design goals.

Personally, I'd give the book a solid A-. The high rating is primarily based on the quality of the example hands and Hughes skill in illustrating his points.
Alderaan delenda est
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#240 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-October-16, 11:36

2 less known Intermediate Plus books by Frank Stewart

1,001 Questions from Bridge Today - a collection of bidding sequences, and play of the hand problems. Also has some "fun" problems like matching up famous pairs, or what a famous players other occupation was. Even if you use 2/1 I think this is a good book. I really liked this one.

The Bidders Bible - based on standard bidding. Has some nice sections on visualizing what pard has for his bid. I ddin't realzie all the neat things one could do with SA. Other parts were less interesting to me as they not widely used anymore. This one is ok overall.


Both these books will make you think more about pards hand (visualizing) during the bidding. Both these books made me realize there were parts of fundamental bidding I didn't know, causing me to search out answers in other good books such as:

Paul Marstons "The Language of Bidding - 5 card majors/standard edition" - nice clear book on Standard Bidding with examples and Quizzes.

Eddie Kantars - Treasury of Bididng Tips


Advanced players will laugh "You mean you didn't know THAT?" but this is material I was never sure about (or had never seen and never knew).
You are far better off knowing fundamentals than a few extra conventions.
(Now I have a whole bunch of new mistake to make :-)




To address Flames concern (next post below)
>Its important when reading this book to know that many of the answer's arent clear cut and other experts will have different answers.
>Also there is a the time its was writen problem, some bidding styles have changed since 1990.

Some of these sequnces may indeed be controversial. But most aren't. I saw similar techniques in Marstons book as well.
I don't know that bidding styles using Standard American have changed so much, but if you use 2/1 than certainly some of these sequences will not be applicable.

One of the nice features of these books is they have a series of questions where you are presented with 5 hands and a bidding sequnce and must pick the right hand. Then the author explains what the other hands would bid. This is nice because if you first try and imagine what the correct hand looks like, it will GREATLY help your visualization during live bidding.

Ex: pard makes a couple of bids, what can you tell?
- are they balanced?
- weak, intermediate, strong?
- anything weird happen, like a weak response all of a sudden elicits a strong response?
- a delayed jump, what hands can they have? Not have?


This is important. Its not system. Its picturing pards hand.
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#241 User is offline   Flame 

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Posted 2006-October-16, 13:07

ArcLight, on Oct 16 2006, 12:36 PM, said:

1,001 Questions from Bridge Today - a collection of bidding sequences, and play of the hand problems. Also has some "fun" problems like matching up famous pairs, or what a famous players other occupation was. Even if you use 2/1 I think this is a good book.

Its important when reading this book to know that many of the answer's arent clear cut and other experts will have different answers.
Also there is a the time its was writen problem, some bidding styles have changed since 1990.
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#242 User is offline   helene_t 

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Posted 2006-October-16, 13:44

hrothgar, on Oct 6 2006, 06:44 PM, said:

"Building a Bidding System" by Roy Hughes
[...]I think that the book is well written and does a good job with the subject matter that it chooses to address. However, I kept finding myself wishing that the author had written a different book.
[...] The themes that Hughes develops in “Building a Bidding System” are all going to be very familiar to anyone who has spent much time studying this topic. Hughes provides a nice survey, however, I suspect that most people who are interested enough in this topic to purchase the book probably don't need a survey.
[....] In an ideal world, I would have liked to see Hughes dive a bit deeper into the topic... For example, I would have been very interested in seeing Hughes provide a detailed description of a specific set of methods, illustrate the design philosophy that underlies the system, and then try to quantity how well the implementation matches the design goals.

This is very similar to my impression.

I expected a book with that title to go into depth with the issue of how to ensure the playability of a bidding system. I'm still wondering how to make a CABSD (Computer Aided Bidding System Design) tool.
The world would be such a happy place, if only everyone played Acol :) --- TramTicket
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#243 User is offline   Flame 

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Posted 2006-October-16, 18:46

Can anone review Washington Standard by Stever Robinson ?
If possible compare between this book and other 2/1 books.
Thanks
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#244 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-October-25, 12:39

The Lebensohl Convention Complete by Ron Anderson


How to use it against interference over NT, Reverses, Preempts

Excellent. Full of great examples. This is a GREAT book!


Having all the examples and quizes really helps.
Don't rely on someones notes, buy this book if you want to use Lebensohl.

The best part of this book is its the ONLY material I've ever seen on handling artificial interference over an NT opener.

Classic Lebensohl is great over natural overcalls, but it needs to be adjusted against artificial interference (DONT, CAPPELLETTI, LANDY, BROZEL, etc.)
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#245 User is offline   bid_em_up 

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Posted 2006-October-25, 13:13

ArcLight, on Oct 25 2006, 01:39 PM, said:

The Lebensohl Convention Complete by Ron Anderson


How to use it against interference over NT, Reverses, Preempts

Excellent. Full of great examples. This is a GREAT book!

I thought so too.

And, for the information it contains, the book is reasonably priced. I think I got it for around $7 new a few years ago.
Is the word "pass" not in your vocabulary?
So many experts, not enough X cards.
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#246 User is offline   vang 

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Posted 2006-October-26, 02:00

Martens books

Krzysztof Martens has recently authored five interesting books (in english):

Extra Length transfer bids - 107 pages
The Martens system - 232 pages
Hand evaluation - Bidding decisions - 146 pages
The World of transfers - 241 pages
Dynamic declarer play - Virtual European Championships part 1 - 230 pages

You may find a review at http://vangonbridge....tens-books.html
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#247 User is offline   mike777 

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Posted 2006-October-30, 12:56

Matchpoint Defense, Jim Priebe, 18.95$, 199pp., 2006
Level=Intermediate/Advanced
Grade=B

A solid book on defensive play. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Discussions on leads, signals and playing the field. Unfortunately the last half of the book is basically a quiz book and not a lesson book. I got very little out of the last half of this book.
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#248 User is offline   Flame 

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Posted 2006-October-30, 16:49

mike777, on Oct 30 2006, 01:56 PM, said:

Matchpoint Defense, Jim Priebe, 18.95$, 199pp., 2006
Level=Intermediate/Advanced
Grade=B

A solid book on defensive play. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Discussions on leads, signals and playing the field. Unfortunately the last half of the book is basically a quiz book and not a lesson book. I got very little out of the last half of this book.

You can read few pages of the book here
mp defence
Its great that somebody finaly wrote abook about this topic which might be the hardest field on the bridge game.
I remember reading it and thinking the analysis of the hands isnt complete, reading it again now it seems fine so i dont know my my previous problem was.
Hope more authors will write about mp defence.
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#249 User is offline   the hog 

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Posted 2006-October-30, 22:41

Flame, on Oct 31 2006, 08:49 AM, said:

mike777, on Oct 30 2006, 01:56 PM, said:

Matchpoint Defense, Jim Priebe, 18.95$, 199pp., 2006
Level=Intermediate/Advanced
Grade=B

A solid book on defensive play. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Discussions on leads, signals and playing the field.  Unfortunately the last half of the book is basically a quiz book and not a lesson book. I got very little out of the last half of this book.

You can read few pages of the book here
mp defence
Its great that somebody finaly wrote abook about this topic which might be the hardest field on the bridge game.
I remember reading it and thinking the analysis of the hands isnt complete, reading it again now it seems fine so i dont know my my previous problem was.
Hope more authors will write about mp defence.

Eh??!! Try Kelsey's "Killing Defence at Bridge". This covers MPs, Imps et al. Perhaps you know the book by the author:
Oswald Sitting, "Sitting on De Fence"
"The King of Hearts a broadsword bears, the Queen of Hearts a rose." W. H. Auden.
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#250 User is offline   Flame 

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Posted 2006-October-31, 01:39

The_Hog, on Oct 30 2006, 11:41 PM, said:

Flame, on Oct 31 2006, 08:49 AM, said:

mike777, on Oct 30 2006, 01:56 PM, said:

Matchpoint Defense, Jim Priebe, 18.95$, 199pp., 2006
Level=Intermediate/Advanced
Grade=B

A solid book on defensive play. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. Discussions on leads, signals and playing the field.  Unfortunately the last half of the book is basically a quiz book and not a lesson book. I got very little out of the last half of this book.

You can read few pages of the book here
mp defence
Its great that somebody finaly wrote abook about this topic which might be the hardest field on the bridge game.
I remember reading it and thinking the analysis of the hands isnt complete, reading it again now it seems fine so i dont know my my previous problem was.
Hope more authors will write about mp defence.

Eh??!! Try Kelsey's "Killing Defence at Bridge". This covers MPs, Imps et al. Perhaps you know the book by the author:
Oswald Sitting, "Sitting on De Fence"

I think mp defence deserve alot more, i also think it doesnt get it because its too hard to write about.
declarering at mp isnt as hard, you can calculate the chances and play the best chance even if this isnt the safty line to make, however at defence you cant see the cards and need to calculate the precentage based on what partner might have, this is almost impossible.
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#251 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-October-31, 08:03

>declarering at mp isnt as hard,

I'm not sure thats correct.
First you need to estimate what the par score is.
If its 2 Spades making and you are in 3 hearts vulnerable, you should play for 1 down, not to make your contract.

If you are in 2NT and it looks like the field is in 3NT you must play teh hand anti-percentage.

I think its harder to play MP because you must think what others will do, not just about your own hand.

Are you in a routine hand, go for the over trick.
Are you in a harder to find game/slam, then take the safety play.


Good books on match points

Kelsey - Match Point Bridge
Woolsey - Match Points
Jannersten - Winning Pairs Technique is ok

the Kambites book (Duplicate Pairs for You) had a good 30 pages, but most of the book wasn't applicable

Matchpoint Tricks (Axelsxn) is nothing special.
Klingers Card Play Made Easy #1 has one nice chapter on MP hands
Klingers 100 Winning Duplicate Tips has good overall advice
Tony Sowters Bridge: Improve Your Defence has a chapter on MP defense.
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#252 User is offline   Trumpace 

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Posted 2006-October-31, 12:18

ArcLight, on Oct 31 2006, 09:03 AM, said:

>declarering at mp isnt as hard,

I'm not sure thats correct.

If you are in 2NT and it looks like the field is in 3NT you must play teh hand anti-percentage.

I think its harder to play MP because you must think what others will do, not just about your own hand.

Off Topic: I don't agree with your 2NT comment. If the rest of the field is in 3NT, just play to make 2NT and hope they go down. What would anti-percentage even mean here?


Back on Topic: Whether it is Matchpoints/ IMPS/ Rubber, I would recommend reading S.J Simon's "Why You Lose at Bridge" first, especially the chapters about ignoring odds and doubling. The book is mainly about rubber, but I believe reading this would immensely help even the MP/IMP players.
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#253 User is offline   hrothgar 

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Posted 2006-October-31, 12:35

Trumpace, on Oct 31 2006, 09:18 PM, said:

ArcLight, on Oct 31 2006, 09:03 AM, said:

>declarering at mp isnt as hard,

I'm not sure thats correct.

If you are in 2NT and it looks like the field is in 3NT you must play teh hand anti-percentage.

I think its harder to play MP because you must think what others will do, not just about your own hand.

Off Topic: I don't agree with your 2NT comment. If the rest of the field is in 3NT, just play to make 2NT and hope they go down. What would anti-percentage even mean here?

Arclight didn't express himself as clearly as he might have, but his basic point is fairly well known.

Assume that you are playing 2NT.
Furthermore, you have reason to expect that the field is going to play 3NT
2NT +1 is going to be a bottom (Avg -- at beast)

If 3N makes, you're headed for a bad score. Therefore, you need to be loking for ways to protect your position. One obvious example is to take a safety play to guaruntees making 8 tricks even if it means sacrificing the chance at making 9 or even 10...
Alderaan delenda est
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#254 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-November-01, 07:36

>Arclight didn't express himself as clearly as he might have, but his basic point is fairly well known.

I've been know to do that on more than one occasion...

Posting and emails are not as good as phone or in person discussion.
People demand/expect much more precision in posts email than is needed in voice discussions.

I'm rereading all Marty Bergs books- they are certainly fun.
What I like about Better Rebidding, Understanding 1NT Forcing, and Hand Evaluation is he gives lots of examples rather than just a lecture and 3 examples.

He never wrote "Is it Forcing" and I think that would be more useful to Intermediates/Beginners than anything else.
I've only seen that covered in more tahn 1 paragarph in Paul Marstons excellent and clear "The Language of Bidding" and Eddie Kantars OLD "Bridge Bidding Made Easy"
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#255 User is offline   ArcLight 

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Posted 2006-November-16, 15:44

Winning Card Play by Hugh Kelsey

Similar in scope to Victor Mollos excellent "Card Play Technique".
It covers all the usual suspects -

Declarer Play - Squeezes, Trump Coup, Eleimination, End Play, Ducking etc.
Defense - defense to above techniques, forcing, hold ups, et.c
Deception
Carding

Very good general coverage of many aspects of card play. Sort of an Advanced version of Watsons Play of the Hand, but shorter and more fun to read.
(Kelsey DOES have a sense of humor!)

Its not a fast read as it has lots of examples. Recommended for Intermediates.


(I read this book based on Helene's recommendation. )
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