[babalu1997]

augie boehm's matchpoints vs imps

well augie teaches me things because he always teaches with verbal reasoning which helps my memory.

i guess that is not veyr popular as his books do not sell well and he seems to have some kind of niche following. but i have several, if not all of his books.

matchpoints are easier for me to play, have always been, and i find myself bored and inattentive when playing partials in imps where it is not worth competing.

but because most play at the main bridge club-bbo is imps, i thought the book might improve my experience there, so far i have enjoyed reading it.

i also got kit woolsey`s match points and it is veyr nice to have all those strategies collected in one place.

[ArcLight]

Somehow we Landed in 6NT - David Bird

I think this is mainly for advanced player, or at least advanced intermediate. Half the book is on real life contracts and the other half from David Birds fictional/humorous books on Bridge (the Abbot, the Rabbi, the Witch Doctor, etc.) Most of teh hands require a less complicated squeeze (Single, Double, or Stip-Squeeze), but there are a few tougher squeezes.
I think you have to already be knowledgeable about a variety of topics (false cards, technique) to enjoy or get much out of the book. I don't think its a great instructional book. I still enjoyed it and give it a B+. Lots of examples.


Bridge Endplays for Everyone - David Bird
Its strats out very basic but by the end of the book has covered a number of interesting non-trivial hands. A good book for Intermediate level players. Even advanced players on the lower end of advanced will find many of the hands interesting. There are quite a few hands supplied, not lots of filler. I enjoyed it and recommend it for intermediates. For them I will give it an A. For Advanced players maybe its a B.

[FM75]

Minor rant warning...

There are two things in particular that most bridge authors and publishers have done very poorly with:

1) These are non-fiction. If they are to be taken seriously, they should have an index, as mentioned earlier.

2) Even worse, many (Bird's in particular come to mind) fail to have the hands and the text on the same or facing pages. That is truly inconsiderate to the reader. I think fewer fail this, but still far too many do.

Why after all these years of publication, has evolution failed?

(One book mentioned several times in this discussion has a hand with 14 cards in it. Never really did figure out how it related to the discussion in the text.)

[matmat]

Phil, on 2010-April-05, 15:25, said:

At a recent regional these books were about 35 dollars each.

I'll wait for them to come down.

I might be able to get these for you in Polish for less.

[ArcLight]

Wielding the Axe by Augie Boehm

The book is about penalty doubles. When to pass for penalties, when to X, what types of hands should consider a penalty.
Its an intermediate level book, and sort of a continuation of the authors other book "Demon Defense And Demon Doubling".
The book gives more examples of MP penalty doubles, and fewer IMP doubles. I was hoping for more analysis of IMP doubles, especially the dangerous ones like doubling a partial that makes resulting in a game bonus (plus more). The book wa sok, worth reading, but nothing special. I would recommend Demon Defense And Demon Doubling for intermediates over this, but its still ok.

The author goes on to state that he thinks there is more of a nee dto pass for penalties against hyper aggressive opponents, that collecting a number here and there will serve to get them to back off a bit. He does mention that he doesn't like Support Doubles in IMPs against aggressive opponents since he thinks the ability to punish them is lost to some degree. HE also lists some sequences to discuss with pard as to their meaning, so both of you are clear as to what they mean (take out vs penalty).

[ArcLight]

Take All Your Chances (Eddie Kantar)

Solid Beginner, Intermediate level book - (not for advanced players at all).

The basic theme is before taking a finesse look to see if there is a way to combine chances.
Ex: Before finessing the Q from AQx, play off the A and K from AJx opposite Kxx in cas eteh Q drops.

[inquiry]

I have moved this topic from general bridge area, and locked it down. Future reviews should be one book per topic.