[Chamaco]

ArcLight, on Sep 1 2005, 08:20 PM, said:

What are some of the classics that have NOT been translated to English?

Chiaradia's book on the Neapolitan club system is a TRUE Classic.
Its is not only a good system book, but also a book on hand evaluation.
Chiaradia was the "father" of the bidding school of the Blue Team.

I believe it was once translated in english, I ignore whether you can find it in your language nowadays.

[ArcLight]

Card Play Technique (or the art of being lucky) by Victor Mollo.

Excellent, clear, concise book on the play of the hand. This is more advanced (and I think a lot better) than Watson "Play of the hand". It doesn't cover beginner topics like 2 way finesses. What it does do is cover most of the standard techniques, from both sides. How to perform a trump reduction/coup and how to defend against one. Squeeze play and defense against Squeezes. Endplays and defense against end plays (warning signs to look for). A good (short) chapetr on opening leads, card reading, defense, etc.

What I especially like is the book is concise and clear, several pages of teaching, some examples (both double dummy and with just 2 hands exposed unlike Watsons book which is all double dummy ), and finnaly some problems at the end of the chapter, allong with a 1 page summary of the techniques and warning signs to look for.

This is a great book for intermediate and advanced beginners. Even if you are familiar with all the techniques, its a nice review, and chances are you will pick up a few pointers. Its 350 pages long and will take a while to go through as you have to think.

I rate it an A.


Note 1: the chapter on Squeezes is not enough, I recommend Reeses book "Squeeze play made Simple".


Note 2: I'm not saying Watsons "Play of the Hand" is no good, just that this is a lot better. The Watson book is probably better for beginners as it covers other basics.

[mike777]

Agree, was told by many very good players if you read just one Play book, read Card Play Technique. When I asked for a second choice, they told me, just reread this one, you need it .

[mike777]

Modern Constructive Bidding, Miles, 2005
18.95$ 215 pages

Grade=B

Miles version of 2/1 which is close to BWS (Bridge World Standard). Chapters also on NT bidding and Precision.

He points out his preferred style but also presents opposing points of view.

Miles strongly advocates playing 2/1 promising a 5 card suit and 1nt be 100% forcing.
Picture bids and his exceptions to 2/1 game force are clearly written but other parts come across as muddled.

For those players who want a good primer on BWS and current expert thinking on 2/1, read this book.

[SoTired]

mike777, on Sep 16 2005, 12:41 PM, said:

Modern Constructive Bidding, Miles, 2005
18.95$ 215 pages

Thanks... just what I was looking for. I have a friend who is retiring soon and wants to learn 2/1 and play more with me. I will buy 2 of these.

[Chamaco]

mike777, on Sep 16 2005, 05:41 PM, said:

Modern Constructive Bidding, Miles, 2005
18.95$ 215 pages

Book review REQUEST ! :-))

Did anyone read Miles' "Bridge from the top", which he quotes in "Modern constructive bidding "?

From the quotes it seems that in that book there should be quite a few of Miles' ideas about A Strong Club system built around the Blue Team Club framework.

I'd be happy if anyone could post a review about it.

[mike777]

Bridge from the Top Book 1, Miles, 1987
11.95$ when I bought it 19 years ago . 299 pages
Full of conventions and competitive bidding.

Book II, 1989, 260 pages, still only 11.95$

Forcing Club and Defense.

I have both books so they must have been OK, but not great.

I will read them both again and repost updated reviews.

[ArcLight]

Squeeze Play Made Easy by Reese and Jourdain

Terrific book! For some reason I found this clearer than most others. I wish it didn't have so many double dummy examples, but I just covered up the East and West hands. The focus on the book is on recognizing squeeze posibilities and learning to execute the squeezes, rather than just being presented with many problems (the Clyde Love book).

Reese writes that Squeeze possibilities exist in one out of every 6 or 7 hands. Most of those will be simple squeezes, not exotic ones. Frequently there will be another technique you can use, such as an end play. Still, it seems that being comfortable with the simple squeezes should allow you to make an extra contract every 20 hands or so. Thats a huge increase in made contracts.

The book also explains how to defend against Squeezes and what to look for.

Reese also writes that Squeeze play needs to be studied, it can't be picked up. He advises rereading his book after some months. I agree.

This is a great book, I highly recommend it. I also recommend David Birds "Bridge Squeezes for Everyone". I much prefer it to the Clyde Love book.

(I still have Kelseys 4 volume set that I'll eventually get to)

[mike777]

2004 World Bridge Championships, Istanbul. 336 pages.
Grade=A

A terrific book that only the numerous typos prevent it from getting an A+.
Must have book for any serious bridge player.
The analysis is wonderful.

I hear rumors that these books never make money. I only wish they do make money so they will create 2 volumes with more details of bidding systems and even more hands.

Great book that will provide hours of reading enjoyment for players at all levels.

[kenberg]

Many have already commented on Reese-Jourdain, and on Love. I like both books very much. R-J is more intuitive, L writes like a mathematician (which he was and I am).

Here is one piece of advice from Love, which anyone can learn and will often help even if the player finds the general study too much: Running your trumps, ALL of them, will often produce an extra trick. In many, many hands I watch my partner, the declarer, run all the trumps but one, cash the tops in the side suits, then the last trump, then give up the last trick. In quite a few of these hands, cashing the last trump earlier would cause a trick to simply fall into declarer's lap. Of course this isn't always right, maybe the tops in one of the side suits should be cashed first, but cashing all tops and then the last trump, hoping opponents will just toss wrong, seldom works.

I read Love a long time ago. It forced me to think about the play of the hand in a different way. This may be the most valuable feature of the book. I always enjoy Reese.

Ken

[Chamaco]

"Opening lead" by Tony Sowter.

Much better than any other opening book I had read before:
- Ewen's book
- Blackwood's book
- Lawrence's book (Opening leads)
- Lebel's book (The killing lead)
- other card play/defense books (e.g. Kantar books on defense, Mollo, Bil Root's books, Watson's play of the hand, etc etc)


In particular, it is especially helpful the section designed to explain when to make an aggressive lead or a passive lead

[ArcLight]

Uncontested Auction: Mike Lawrences Bidding Quizzes #1

Mike Lawrence has his own version of the 2/1 system, presented in his 2/1 CD and also in his 2/1 Workbook. 2/1 is complex and even with study you make not always make the right bids. (Lawrences methods have a few differences from those of Hardy)

This book has around 600 bidding sequences and hands and asks you what to bid. It explains why a bid is good and why others are bad. A great way to reinforce your understanding of the system. What makes the book valuable is it doesn't just show easy auctions, it shows someone in between hands. The reader learns how to interpret what an unusual bid can mean. The problems cover both declarer and responder bids, up to the 4 level.

Great book, I rate it an A (if you are interested in 2/1).

[ArcLight]

Building a Bidding System by Roy Hughes

A good overview of bidding methodologies and theory.
It covers:
relays - one side, asking for info
transfers -
dialogs - balanced transfer of info

Frequency of occurences of bids and useful bidding spce. Hence you should design the system with the more frequent bids having a lower value.

Slam Bidding, Constructive bidding, Destructive bidding.
Modern things like transfer advances and preempts. Their strengths and weaknesses.

It also has a short discussion of several popular systems (MOSCITO, SA, PRECISION, Polish Club). The author also presents a home made system.

Its a decent book, and I rate it a B.

To earn an A it would have had to have a section like "Common problems" or "what to look out for" when you design your own system. The book doesn't give me enough knowledge to design a system. It gives just enough knowldge to be "dangerous". I would like to have seen things like:

1) how Precision was refined and what its early problems were (and how system designers could avoid them)

2) be taught enough to evaluate a new system with holes. (either my own or someone elses)

A while back ZAR presented his ZAR Backbone bidding system. Some of the members here felt there were problems. I think some of the things they didnt like were:

a) an in bewteen bid (1D) halfway bewteen an opening bid, and a strong bid (like a 2 Club in SAYC).

the vulnerability to this system to interverence because you hadn't yet determined shape and fit

c) perhaps some NT issue.

It would be nice to have the author take us through some evaluative steps.

3) A "Check list" of evaluative steps to see if a sytem is robust.

What I'm asking is A LOT and would require another book.
The current book is good, but its just an introduction, like Building A Bidding System 101. I want to see BABS 201 and 301 and 401.

I've not seen any book like it. I found it far better than "Theory of Bidding" by Norman Squire.

[mike777]

Bridge Additions96 144 pages.
Matthew Granovetter

On sale for 10$ including shipping.
Grade=A-

A short book and a fast read.
Very short articles on a wide range of conventions, leads and carding subjects.
Great short articles on Robot Leads and the Nothing System .

[ArcLight]

True Bridge Humor by Mike Lawrence

This is the only Mike Lawrence book I've read that I thought was bad. There are a few funny quips, but by and large I didn'y find the situations all that humorous. At least it was short. Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence is funnier than this, and thats a fictional representation of events.

I rate it a D. Anyone want to buy my copy? I'll trade it for almost anything (like Mike Lawrences book on Scrabble) and throw in "The Theory of Bidding" by Norman Squire (from the Library of Albert Moorehead). I've also got "common Sense Bidding" by Bill Root and "Play of the Hand" by Watson to trade.


I'm finishing up Tony Sowters "Bridge" Improve Your Defense". Its a good book. Clearly written (Chamaco should like that!). Based on the first chapter on opening leads I will definitely buy Sowters book "Opening Leads in Bridge" recommended by Chamaco a few posts above.

[mike777]

Gee I love Root's and Watson's book. Reading workbook 2/1..ya I know 18 years old but never read it...I vote this the worst Lawrence book so far but not done yet so will withhold judgement. BTW I would rate both Root and Watson A+ and I am tough grader . How the heck did this Lawrence book set off a revolution in ACBL land? If I did not have both those books and read them many times I would trade in a second.

Both Root's "standard" bidding book and Watson's play book are classics and a must for any serious bridge player. Trade Now!

[ArcLight]

Roots Bidding book is good, I never said it wasnt. But I dont want it anymore. I (think) I know the material, and I never look through it anymore. (Roots books on Bidding Conventions and play are excellent).
Same for the Watson book because I have Mollos book, and a bunch of Reese books. I'll never look at the Squire book again.


I read Mike Lawrences 2/1 system book after doing his 2/1 CD so I got a bit out of the book. But it was kind of a hodge podge of things. I took 9 pages of 2/1 system notes in MS Word off his 2/1 CD and book. HIs Uncontested Auctions is a great book.

It would have helped A LOT had he had some kind of summary.

[Chamaco]

Quote

Roots book is good, I never said it wasnt.  But I dont want it anymore.

Are we talking of Root's books on bidding or of card play ?
I still like to open some pages at random of the card play books once in a while... and it sure is not worse than many quizbooks.
All in all, I'd say it still VERY useful, IMO much more than Watson's book.

But I consider Root's book on bidding more of a tool for novices/beginners than something I'd reread now.

Quote

I read Mike Lawrences 2/1 system  book after doing his 2/1 CD so I got a bit out of the book.  But it was kind of a hodge podge of things.  I took 9 pages of 2/1 system notes in MS Word off his 2/1 CD and book.  HIs Uncontested Auctions is a great book.

It would have helped A LOT had he had some kind of summary.

Yes, that's the problem of ML's books: lack of a systematic approach.
At first this drove me crazy.
But once I got used to it, it became just like reading tales: every hand is a different story, not a chapter of a bidding system.

ML is "teaching by examples", and in this respect, th "Uncontested auction" book is much better than the 2/1 workbook for a very simple reason: there are more example hands :-)

ML's books on bidding are hardly comparable with other systems books because he rather teaches judgment than the system itself.
In my view, his books might be compared to Marshall Miles' or Woolsey's books , but not to Bil Root's book on Modern bidding.

Just my 2 cents :-)

[ArcLight]

The No Trump Zone by Danny Kleinman

In depth coverage of the strengths and weaknesses of the different NT ranges. Not just obvious things like HCP, but what are the implications. What does this do to your other bids? What should an NT bid look like, pattern, rebid problems, implications. The author seems fair and reasonable in his arguments and presents both sides.

The author seems to know the history of Bridge and bidding and conventions very well, as he explains how things developed over time.

Although I don't agree with everything, the guy REALLY knows his stuff. This is a fantastic book for anyone designing a bidding system. Its a bit heavy and theoretical for non advanced players. He gives a lot of conventions, and his suggested improvements, even Cappelletti. (Ben should like this book!)
The downside is most partnerships will never use them, and thats more than half the book. A lot of food for thought and issues to consider.

Interesting book for advanced players or established partnerships.
I rate it a C for intermediates and an A for advanced players and system designers. This is probably of more use to them than Roy Hughes "Building a bidding system". Its a very good book, but a bit theoretical. I'd like to have seen more quizzes.