Bridge books reviewed - 48

"BRIDGE: Groundwork in Play and Defence" by Danny Roth. In all three aspects of the game of bridge - bidding, play and defence - the winning player is the one who can foresee problems well before they arise. The sooner a potential difficulty is alerted, the more chance there must be of being able to avoid it. This book invites the reader to use their eyes to solve new examples of play and defence. Whilst the book is aimed primarily at tournament players of above average calibre, intermediate players will learn much by following through the author's "roll-call" process.

"Bridge Saga (The Story of the World's Greatest Players with the Hands that Made Them Immortals)" by Victor Mollo. Most bridge player recognize the names of Belladonna, Garozza, Omar Sharif, Jean Besse, Bob Hamman, Eddie Kantar - the great players whose exploits have resounded in bridge columns worldwide. Here in this book Victor Mollo tells the inside stories in the bridge lives of these colorful personalities. Dramatic hands which caused the vital, big swing in major world tournaments are set forth and explained with all the dramatic flurry of which Mollo is capable. The author has known these bridge greats personally for over twenty years, and he speaks about them as intimates. This book will engage the interest of every bridge player.

Unavailable at Amazon co uk.

"Simple Squeezes part 1" by Anthony Moon is the first book in a series of eight on Bridge Squeezes and introduces the subject. It is aimed at experienced players who are ready to improve their playing ability and wish to understand more about these fascinating positions. Each position is shown as a diagram showing the cards remaining and how the position is played. There are then several examples taken from actual play, which are drawn from several sources--the author's own experience, friends, books and newspaper articles. These examples show how the basic position was reached and the preparation needed to achieve it. The key requirements for a squeeze are explained in simple terms and each type of threat encountered is described and named. The five fundamental attributes and requirements for a squeeze are developed and explained and their relevance in executing a simple squeeze is developed. There is also a chapter with basic advice on how to defend against squeezes; this complex subject is further developed in the later books in the series. The author has been fascinated by squeezes and his extensive research in this area has uncovered some unique findings. He has also played with some of the world?s best players over the last forty years. In 1975 he represented Colombia in the 26th South American Championship. This second edition describes 34 positions and includes 93 example deals. Simple squeezes are fairly common and represent approximately half of those encountered at the table.

"Bridge Books In English 1886-2010 - An annotated Bibliography" by Tim Bourke and John Sugden. Interest in Bridge book collecting has steadily increased over the last decade or more, and relatively common older books, which the editors could formerly find several times a week on the shelves of secondhand bookshops, are now rarely seen. The switch to internet trading has been only partially responsible, but has had a number of unfortunate consequences, besides the excessive inflation of asking prices for many works. Chief amongst these is the inability to handle a book before buying. Even for sellers of the best repute, describing books for sale is a tedious business, and many resort to formularised descriptions of condition backed by their reputations. Collectors need to know what questions to ask, before bidding or purchase, and seeing an image of the item may not be enough. While the possibility of return for refund offers partial protection, it does not cover the increasingly significant postage or shipping costs. This work provides the information. In 1905 and again in 1913 Jessel published works on Card Games and Gaming, which partially concerned Bridge. They are a valuable source, but were not comprehensive nor totally accurate. Fast forward to 1975, and Parris produced a limited bibliography covering 553 works, published in the British Isles 1920-1969. For lack of precedent, a remarkable effort. He was followed in 1984 by Sachen in America with a Reference Guide including 605 books. Both these were annotated. And there the options end. Apart from the increasingly extensive lists of titles including in the ACBL's Encyclopedias, which are prepared by one of the editors of the present work, there has until now been no comprehensive source detailing what exists.

"The Roth-Stone System; Al Roth on Bridge" by Alvin Roth. This system was developed by Alvin Roth and Tobias Stone in 1953. Roth modified the system considerably in 1958. The main features of the system are: Sound opening bids in first and second position; 5-Card Majors in first and second position with a 1NT Forcing response; Jump raise of major by responder shows shortage in other major; Splinter Bids; 3♣ response to major opening shows strong support; Jump shift responses are weak; 3NT response to opening at one level is Baby Blackwood; Strong NT; Stayman; Stayman Two Diamonds; Two-Way Stayman over 2NT opening; Texas Transfers; Gerber; Strong 2♣ opening forcing to game with 2♥ the negative response and 2♦ positive; Weak Two Bids; Negative Double; Responsive Double; Weak Jump Overcalls; Unusual NT;

• One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started.
• Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the authors' many years of experience.
• Tests in the book and online to keep track of your progress.
• Extra online articles at www.teachyourself.com to give you a richer understanding of bridge.

Topics include:
Elimination play; Preserving defenders' communications; The cross-ruff; Using clues from the bidding; Holding up in defence; Bidding conventions used in duplicate bridge; transfer responses; negative doubles; responsive doubles; Preserving declarer’s communications; Keeping the danger hand off lead; Dummy reversal; Promoting trump tricks in defence; Safety Plays; Playing a forcing defence; Counting the hand; More bidding conventions used in duplicate bridge; Deceptive Play.

"Play My Card" by Bill Roney and Max Hardy. It is 136 pages and contains more than 100 ACBL Convention Cards, prepared by expert pairs and players. It presents a consensus of ideas regarding: Natural Bidding, Scientific Bidding Systems, Forcing Club Systems, Carding and other ideas. It also includes Capsule Definitions of Conventions used by the experts. If you are in to the Game of Bridge, this is the book for you!

Unavailble at Amazon.co.uk

"How to Play the Blue Team Club" by Omar Sharif. The famed screen star details and simplifies the Bridge System of the Italian World Champions so that just about anybody can play this wonderful game to great effect. The book is about the famous Blue Team Club in Italy and it explores and simplifies, but not at the expense of necessary detail, how the team came to world prominence. If you play play bridge or are just interested in the game, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and useful book with well illustrated pages.

"Precision Bidding and Precision Play" by Terence Reese. In 1976 a bombshell exploded in the world of tournament bridge. A team from Nationalist China, chosen from just a few hundred enthusiasts, finished second to Italy in the world championship - ahead of North America, which counts on five million tournament players. A year later China repeated this remarkable achievement. That was the beginning of a revolution in bridge. The Chinese players were using a new bidding system called 'Precision', devised by C. C. Wei, who promotes bridge as a hobby. Players all over the world, including the USA and British international team, have taken up the system. Many observers are convinced that a mass movement is on the way and that players at every level will change from standard methods to Precision. In his book Terence Reese, Britain's leading authority on the Precision system, has written a version which is easy to learn yet worked out in sufficient detail to be adopted in tournament play at the highest level. Many of the bidding examples include points of play, which accounts for the book's title.

"Practical Bidding and Practical Play" by Terence Reese gives the reader the opportunity to sit at the author's elbow from the moment he picks up his cards and considers how to bid them makes this a 'must' for every bridge enthusiast. Every hand contains a lesson or two and permits one to follow every step in the thoughts and modus operandi of this world master. Most bridge books fall short at the practical stage. You can read descriptions of techniques of bidding and play and still be at a loss when problems arise at the table which do not readily belong to any accepted types. Terence Reese is well aware of this and his experience in the game and in writing books about bridge shows in the orientation of this book to ease the player through the difficult transition from theoretical competence to skilful reasoning and insight.