[mike777]

Ok just got 4 new bridge books in the mail. Will let you all know my thoughts over the coming months.

Just did my annual reread of Mike Lawrence's book on reading the Opp cards. Still the best bridge book I have ever read.

[ArcLight]

I have begun rereading books I read.
While How to Read Your Opponents CArds is excellent, Mike Lawrence has another less well known book - How to Play Card Combinations.
It covers a number of common situations like KJx in Dummy, or Ax opposite Qx.
Its similar to HTRYOC in that you have to use the opps bidding and play to place the cards to make your decision.
I consider it a sequel to HTRYOC.

I thought I Fought the Law by Mike Lawrence and Anders Wirgren was certainly worth reading. They spent a bit too much time up front showing how the LAW doesn't work that well at high levens in a number of situations. Their suggested method is generally easy to use and seems to work well.



I recently read 2 books by Jim Priebe.
- Thinking on Defense
- Matchpoint Defense

I had high expectations for Thinking on Defense, but was disappointed.
The premise is excellent - generate a few hands declarer might have and see if they fit in with the bidding and play. Also, don't just make the "obvious" book defensive play. Think deeper about whats going on. Can that play REALLY work, given what you know about the hands?

While some hands were quite good, and most were not easy, I found that the inferences the author drew from the bididng didn't always make sense.
I would love to read a good advanced book on defense. Too bad this wasn't that good. Cou;d have been a lot better.
I give it a C.

[I don't rate a book 'bad' if its not at my level, or it was too hard. I rate it bad because its not all that good ]


I liked Matchpoint Defense much more. Some good problems and points. There is a quiz of 50 problems at the end. The problem is the later half have bididng that is either bad, or not what you would expect. The author says you have to expect bad bidding and deal with it. I guess thats true, but it makes it hard to defend.

For example, there is a hand from 1971 where the opps open 2 Spades
It turns out to be a 7 card suit A J 9 x x x x
Not what you would expect today for a 2 spades bid.

On another hand, declarer makes a strong jump bid and turnsof with 15 HCP. It was a crappy bid, and teh author says you have to expect that.

I think of Eddie Kantars quip (from his excellent Modern and Advanced Bridge Defens ebooks)
Its hard to defend against a madman, becaus etheir bidding will throw you off. But they will ultimately give it back by ending up in more bad contracts.

Decent Book, I give it a B- or B



Eddie Kantars "Kantar for the Defense" is a great Intermediate level book.
100 problems, wioth card by card play and questiosn. You are not told what the key play is, but at some point you are asked the critical questions. The problems are not very hard (though I missed a number) and test your signaling and signal reading. 2-3 key points are summarized after each hand.
For intermediates its an A.

[rusty]

This thread is fantastic!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of it! Keep up the incredible work!

[effervesce]

Did anybody mention Oliver Segal's "Partnership bidding at bridge" ? I found it to be a very informative book on evaluating the 'offensiveness', 'defensiveness' of hands, how vulnerability and which seat in the bidding affects probabilities. Its geared towards the advanced player aiming to do better at bridge.

An electronic book can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/daniel_neill_2000...ingAtBridge.ZIP
made available free by the authors so there's no reason not to read it! =)

[helene_t]

Precision Today (Berkowitz/Manley)

The book introduces basic Precision for beginner/intermediates with a bagground in standard bidding. It will also be useful for players of a traditional Precision style who want to upgrade their style to a contemporary one (2♣ showing 6+, loose requirements for 1NT-openings). The last half of the book covers some treatments of interest for more advanced readers (transfer responses after 1♣, baby 1NT etc.).

Plusses: The book makes a clear distinction between what is universal and what is the authors' personal preferences. For example, when making inference after a 1♦ opening they qualify their statement with "if you play a 14-16 1NT opening" and in some cases mention consequences of alternative notrump ranges. The introductory part about the history of Precision is very funny. It's new to me that CC Wei learned bridge while sitting in a bomb shelter covering for Japanese air strikes and that he financed his Precision crucade by bying an old warship and turning it into an oil tanker. Apparenty WW II was good for something.

Minusses: Like most other Precision players (such as myself, lol), the authors are very arrogant on behalf on their bidding system and never miss an oportunity of mentioning how great the treatment under discussion is and how ineffectively the hands would be bid with standard methods. I sometimes found myself wondering when they were being serious and when they were just being sarcastic.

[helene_t]

I love this game (Sabine Auken)

Auken discusses the last 16 boards of the Venice Cup final 2001, in which Germany made a great come-back against France. From each of the 16 boards a point is distiled, which is subsequently discussed using examples from other events.

Some examples of topics she discusses:
- Team building and cohesion
- Why she wears fashionable clothes at bridge events.
- Her pet peve: The abuse of the word "standard" to distinguish some arbitrary treatments (standard carding, standard bidding)
- When to show count and when to show attitude
- Advantages of the weak 1NT openig
- etc.

The book is suitable for good intermediates and advanced players.

Auken is a non-conformist in many (most) of those areas, and as such the points she makes are interesting. But overall, I didn't like the book. She covers too many topics. And the style of writing is annoying. I was left with a feeling (I might be wrong) that the book would have made a better read if she'd written it in German.

[mike777]

helene_t, on Mar 29 2007, 03:27 AM, said:

I love this game (Sabine Auken)

Sabine discusses the last 16 boards of the Venice Cup final 2001, in which Germany made a great come-back against France. From each of the 16 boards a point is distiled, which is subsequently discussed using examples from other events.

Some examples of topics she discusses:
- Team building and cohesion
- Why she wears fashionable clothes at bridge events.
- Her pet peve: The abuse of the word "standard" to distinguish some arbitrary treatments (standard carding, standard bidding)
- When to show count and when to show attitude
- Advantages of the weak 1NT openig
- etc.

The book is suitable for good intermediates and advanced players.

Auken is a non-conformist in many (most) of those areas, and as such the points she makes are interesting. But overall, I didn't like the book. She covers too many topics. And the style of writing is annoying. I was left with a feeling (I might be wrong) that the book would have made a better read if she'd written it in German.

yep..Ihope i reviewed this book....last year


number one book of last year for me...easy...

Biggest problem?....this was an easy choice...general interest book...loads of fun.....

Big problem since this was an easy number one choice for me....many poor "other choices"



......reading 4 new 2007 books...this first one seems 4 stars so far..I hope,

[pdmunro]

I am reading Paul Mendelson's "100 Tips for Better Bridge". I think it's great. It has a very attractive set-out: large pages, one tip per page, each tip illustrated with a couple of deals, and cards are offset from the text in boxes. Paul is an expert from England and he writes well, with humour added. The book is for intermediate-advanced players. It has sections on bidding, play and defence. It seems a bit quirky that he would give personal background on most of the deals, but it works: most bridge books I only dip into occasionally, but I find I'm reading this one all the way through. For me, it's a kind of revision. Also, I'm looking for ideas for lessons. I would include it in my list of 4 must-have bridge books for intermediates.

[rusty]

I've never read any of the world championship books. I'm curious to know if they teach you anything about the newer bidding and lead conventions. Do they cover them in detail, or do they just skim the surface?

I'm willing to start with one year, and am wondering which years do you recommend I read and why?

Thanks.

[paulg]

The books in my library can be seen on my site. I also highlight the eight that I would take to the desert island (c.f., Desert Island Discs).

Paul

[mike777]

Leading Questions in Bridge. Sally Brock. 2007. $17.95. 176pp.
Level=Intermediate
Grade=A+

The first great book of 2007. It will be tough to beat this one for book of the year.
A great, short, and fast read on opening leads. Chapters on leading your longest and strongest, partner's suit, unbid suit, what cards in a suit you should lead, trump leads, leading stiffs and leading Aces among others. When should the opening leader be active or passive?

So much information that is presented in a very readable and enjoyable form. I intend on rereading this book in a couple of months. Buy this book!

[ArcLight]

Kantar for the Defense, vol 2 by Eddie Kantar

Excellent. Must read for all advanced players. Worth reading for Intermediates as well. The hands are quite a bit harder than the first volume. Lots of subtleties, and pitfalls. Nice summary of points and lessons after each hand.

Lots of questions on carding agreements, figuring out shapes, tricks, honor location, blocking suits.

[helene_t]

effervesce, on Mar 29 2007, 08:00 AM, said:

Did anybody mention [Andrew Robson/]Oliver Segal's "Partnership bidding at bridge" ? [......] An electronic book can be found at
http://www.geocities.com/daniel_neill_2000...ingAtBridge.ZIP

Probably the best book on bidding theory I ever read.

In-depth coverage of contested auctions after we opened with a natural bid in a suit or made a simple overcall in a suit. The book is concise: theory and illustrative examples, but very little pep talk. Suitable for advanced players. It doesn't really matter what system you play (Precision, Acol, SA .....) since the principles are general. Whenever some of their proposed methods get influenced by the system, they discuss that in details.

The author's main point is that you need to describe your hand as accurately as possible so that partner can make an informed decision if opps compete further. This is especially true when you have a primary fit for partner's suit, in which case opps are likely to have a fit as well. The authors emphasize the significance of a double fit for the combined O/D ratio of the two hands and recommend using many bids in a new suit as fit-showing. In general, according to the authors, O/D ratio is more important than overall strength.

The authors also propose some interesting system modifications. One is the use of 2♥ as a support transfer by opener after partner showed spades and opps overcalled 2m in the sandwich position.

Some minor complaints:
- I'd prefer to buy the printed book instead of downloading it
- A reference sheet with all their proposed methods would be nice
- Many typos, some of which make the text difficult to understand
- The humor is a little too dry for my taste.

[skjaeran]

I read Roy Hughes new book "The Canadian Bridge Warriors" - a Sami Kehela - Eric Murray biography last week. Just received it from Masterpoint Press.

The book is very well written and is entertaining. Lots of good stories and humorous anecdotes. You really gets under the skin of two of the biggest personalities of the bridge world. Well done Roy!

[skjaeran]

David Bird: Off-Road Declarer Play - Unusual Ways to Play a Bridge Hand. Another new book from Masterpoint Press.

In 14 chapters, each covering a separate topic, Bird presents double dummy deals to teach the different technics. The hands are composed extremely well. Each chapter is rounded off with a quiz - 2-4 single dummy problems covered in the chapter.

The book is in Bird's well-known style.

I've read 3/4 of the book this far. I've spotted two minor mis-analyses (side points, the main problem is correctly solved) in the quizzes and only one typo! For such a book that's impressive.

I strongly recommend the book for those who need to improve their declarer play on their way to becoming true experts.

[Flame]

The finner arts of bridge by victor mollo
Great book lots of fun to read.
Deals with non technical espects of the game.
Recommanded to any adv+ player, weaker players will enjoy but the book assume a certain level of play and defence and take it a step further.

[blackshoe]

helene_t, on Apr 20 2007, 06:29 AM, said:

Probably the best book on bidding theory I ever read.

[snip]

Some minor complaints:
- I'd prefer to buy the printed book instead of downloading it
- A reference sheet with all their proposed methods would be nice
- Many typos, some of which make the text difficult to understand
- The humor is a little too dry for my taste.

I agree with Helene's assessment.

On the complaints:

I have 2 copies of the printed book.
A reference would be nice, yeah. If I had time... we'll see. Don't hold your breath.
I've noticed a marked drop in editing quality in many books in recent years, particularly in "electronic books". Not very professional, IMO.
They're English.

[cherdano]

Jeff Rubens, The secrets of winning bridge

Rubens covers a lot of topics - adjusting hand valuation during the bidding depending on location of honors, difference tactics at many different kind of scorings (including some you may have never heard of), both for bidding and play, etc. When to make a safety play in a slam at matchpoints.

A friend of mine highly recommended this book, but I didn't like it very much. It is full of general rules, and when Rubens gives examples, they are always so extreme that I find them hardly valuable. For example he explains that at IMPs, you should look for the safer contract, and then gives an example auction where responder holds ♠A62 ♥K8 ♦AQJ7 ♣KJ95 opposite a strong 1NT opening (15-17). Well, unless you are afraid of misunderstandings, I think it is obvious to look for a minor suit slam here instead of just blasting 6N. I think one can learn more if an expert shows me a hand where he explains "this may be a borderline case, 6N could be right opposite ..., but..."
In other parts (about safety plays vs playing for overtricks at matchpoints), he is using a lot of math, which always tires me (despite being a mathematician): but then he doesn't even go through with it consistently and correctly.

Maybe I am slightly unfair to the book, as according to Rubens' claims in the introduction, all the topics he is covering had hardly been treated in the literature before that, and as he is intentionally just showing the principles instead of guiding the reader concretely. So as a book to learn from, it's just not my taste; if you just treat it as a collection of essays on some general strategies at bridge, maybe you can get something out of it. And if you are a reader of the bridge world, you may already know whether you like Rubens' writings.

[mike777]

Canada's Bridge Warriors: Eric Murray and Sami Kehela. Roy Hughes. 2007. 336pp. $23.95
Level=General Interest
Grade=A

Murray and Kehela were the most successful bridge pair Canada has ever produced. Entertaining book full of many bridge hands from over 30 years of play.

Two points I found very interesting. Despite the fact they lived within walking distance of each other they never socialized together since they felt this may harm their game by making it stale. The second point is that they quit playing top level bridge at a very young age. They lost some of the enjoyment of the game. Kehela lost some enjoyment in the game from the proliferation of systems and conventions, particularly artificial weak bids with potentially many meanings that made the game less fun to play at the world level.

"In an Olympiad, you are playing three matches a day. You don't know whom you are going to be playing. Who has the time or inclination to prepare defenses to dozens of conventions that you may never have to face? You need a full time coach to prepare methods for you. Kokish does that for his clients."