No comments about Bridge Basics 3: Popular Conventions (The Official Better Bridge Series).

1 comments about Play of the Hand in the 21st Century, 3rd Edition: The Diamond Series (Acbl Bridge).

1. Together with the other books in this series, one can get a good starter education in bridge.

5 comments about Watson's Classic Book on The Play of the Hand at Bridge.

1. Every accomplished bridge player has a copy of this book, but don't expect them to lend it to you. This is the oldest and most comprehensive guide to understanding the cards. There is a wealth of information on suit combinations, basic strategies, and other principles of declarer play. You won't be able to read it in a weekend, or even a month, so plan to take it slowly and study each chapter carefully. A bestseller for over 65 years. My mother gave me this book almost 40 years ago, and I still find valuable information in it.



2. There is no other book comparable to this book for learning, improving and reviewing. I bought this book 30 years ago and I still go back and read some of the advanced chapters. Although the book is a little wordy, it pays to concentrate on what Watson is saying, if you are really interested in being a good bridge player.



3. I have 40 bridge books. This one teaches you the 90% of bridge, and all the others the rest 10%. Top classic.



4. Easy to read, well organized, this masterpiece needs to be studied carefully, a must have for any serious player!



5. First, my mother tongue is French, I'm sure you will excuse my style. In the past, I read Mollo, Kantar, Grant... always on a quest to find a great and complete bridge book and never entirely satisfied... too simplistic, too advanced, hard to read, poor teaching skills...
   I wanted to find a book that was covering both the dummy play and the defense. Also, I wanted to revisit the very basics, to have a solid start, and then to go gradually into more complex techniques, covering virtually all aspects of the play, including the more advanced techniques. I was looking for the ultimate book: the Bridge Bible written by a brilliant teacher!
   
   When I was not really looking for a book anymore, I finally tried Watson's book. I hesitated at first, because I was told his style is a bit dry and too detailed. EUREKA!!! I regret not having started with this book the very first day I played bridge. This is the ultimate BIBLE! Not only it fulfilled all my above expectations, but it goes one step beyond, he is a genius, each chapter is a revelation. I did not learn techniques; I learned the principles underlying the techniques. It is like being thought secret knowledge by a wise guru, realizing how simple everything was in the first place. His style is clear, concise, and straight to the point, but he covers a lot of material. His summaries are ideal for fast and easy review. I don't have to mention how drastically my level of play changed.
   
   My quest is now over, I found the Grail, I now understand why Watson's book is recommended by most schools around the world. This is probably the only book you will every need about the play of the hand.

5 comments about Bridge Basics 1: An Introduction (The Official Better Bridge Series).

1. Mike Lawrence is quite simply the best bridge teacher-author ever. All of his books are of consistently high quality, including his 'Look over my shoulder while I play' books such as "Dynamic Defense", "Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence" and "Play a Swiss Team of Four with Mike Lawrence." These books are not only wonderfully instructive and well written, they are FUNNY. The vignettes at the table are described with such wry detail that the reader feels pangs of loss when these books end. Unfortunately, this book, which contains no bridge, and concentrates on describing humorous table vignettes, is NOT FUNNY. Disappointing, but I felt much better after only a few pages of "Card Combinations."



2. I have studied with all four of Audrey Grant's previous series: the Club, Diamond, Heart and Spade books and I think, for basic information, Bridge Basics 1 is the best. It is not only easy to read but easy to understand. With her charts and practice lessons, one can learn a lot about bridge without ever taking a class.



3. We have several books on beginning bridge, but this is the best one. It is easy to read and has excellent applications. By the time you read this book, and work through applications, you should be ready to play. I



4. As a bridge teacher, I use this book exclusively for my new students. Not only does it teach the basics, but involves the player in the play of the hand right from the start. If you want to learn the best card game in the world, reading this book is the right start.



5. I am a brand new bridge player and I found this book very easy to follow and understand. There are numerous examples and illustrations. Quiz answers are explained very clearly. I would highly recommend it for the beginner

2 comments about Bridge Basics 2: Competitive Bidding.

1. I learned a lot from this book; there is much information to be studied and digested. It is especially helpful for those who have been away from playing duplicate for a while. The title of the book, Competitive Bidding, says it all.



2. The field of bridge is full of wise old savants and we should listen to them and read their work. But if anyone is entitled to carry the bridge banner into the 21st Century, it must be Audrey Grant. Her BRIDGE BASICS 1, pre-requisite for this book, is good and sound -- and believe it or not, she spends a fair amount of time on telling people when NOT to bid. Newbies have to know that.
   
   And in this one, BRIDGE BASICS 2: COMPETITIVE BIDDING, Grant still teaches us kindly when not to bid. Under her system you might indeed miss a part-score once in a while; but once you've got a good hand and some rapport with partner -- or are in a position to torment you opponents -- this is a full-speed-ahead, friendly and very informative bridge book. The best bridge books struggle to impart wisdom, or perhaps better said informed judgment, instead of limiting themselves to "the rules," and this one is very good for that.
   
   I can heartily recommend BRIDGE BASICS 2: to anyone who loves to play bridge, whether the at-home type or the duplicate club type. I wish there were more up-to-date books like this. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future Ms. Grant will put her BRIDGE BASICS series into an omnibus volume.

5 comments about Why You Lose at Bridge.

1. Skid Simon writes about club bridge, and how to deal with various partners.

   We kibitz a rubber among Mrs. Guggenheim, The Unlucky Expert, Mr. Smug, and Futile Willy. A loong rubber.

   A reasonable player in any of the seats would have won the rubber for his side. Bidding is British style, but what the heck...

   The truth of the book is eternal, and the style sparkles with humor.

   The essence: play for the best result possible with this partner, not the best possible result.




2. S. J. Simon's Why You Lose at Bridge remains (since its original 1945 publication) the best text on improving one's partnership available anywhere at any price. Read it. Practice what you learned. Watch your partnerships improve. Read it, again ...

   If you have a standing partnership, read it together. Even the most capable professionals may well (re)discover ways to improve their game as they absorb Simon's words of wisdom. Improve your partnership, and your game improves. Simon sez ...




3. Entertaining and informative,especially for rubber bridge players.
   A bit old fashioned now but the message gets across loud and clear.
   A must for all bridge fanatics.



4. Everyone with any interest in bridge should read this book. The bridge hands are interesting and instructive, but the characters are what make the book great.



5. The bridge-bidder's arsenal is usually full of "gadgets": non-literal bids meant to convey or suggest information that might escape the normal bidding sequence. Even by the time this 1940s book appeared, "scientific" systems by leading bridge "experts" were all the rage. Who would disagree with scientific "experts"? After all, you can't fight progress.
   
   WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE dares to differ. S.J. Simon, author of this enduring little volume, shows us the genuine odds behind competitive bidding and play and explains things the highly regarded experts of his day didn't know -- or didn't want us to know.
   
   [Note: the following two grafs assume some bridge experience.]
   Would you almost automatically double a competitor's bid of "Six Spades" (12 of the 13 card tricks) if you had two "quick tricks" in your hand? Think about it, Simon warns. If the opponents have even a one-in-three chance of winning, your unthinking double will give them between four and six times the number of points for making contract considering vulnerability. Besides, when they hear your double the declarer will figure you for the two Aces and act accordingly. Watch out for the sure things that really aren't.
   
   And sometimes (usually, the author implies) the scientific gadgets aren't worth it. At one tourney, following tortuous symbolic bidding, one partnership came to a contract of four spades and went down one. How had the author and his partner bid that "impossible" hand? Like this: South - 1 NT; North - 3 NT. Simple and literal.
   
   After offering a bracing immersion in what I all "unlearning," Simon spends the second half of the book on the psychology of bridge, starting with the times a partner or opponent starts what he calls "trancing" -- mulling things over. Chapter Eleven, "The Logic of Luck," typically illustrates Simon's curmudgeonly attitude. We could almost blame him for the high-British-arch tone of his writing, except that he is always right!
   
   WHY YOU LOSE AT BRIDGE is a tremendous book for bridge beginners, perhaps even more so for intermediates and even the more experienced players trying to cope with a new partner. Of course, this WAS the 1940s so the author assumes that major suits (Hearts and Spades) can be bid upon with only four of them in hand as opposed to today's more prevalent "five-card major" approach. And I have to wonder: what would Simon have made of today's bidding in general?

2 comments about Bidding in the 21st Century: The Club Series (Acbl Bridge).

1. Audrey Grant is absolutely one of the finest writers of Bridge instruction. I have used her books for 6 years and this new revision is again improved from previous editions. The book is for beginners but I can assure you that players of many years can and will benefit from the concepts put forth in her new book.
   Dave Drewes ACBL certified teacher



2. ACBL is revising its long run four volume "Bridge Series" and the first volume about bidding features some questionable changes and is missing some very useful information.
   
   It is doubtful that novicesshould be told that only 25 points are needed for a 3NT or 4 of a major suit game contract. Beginners need extra points to make up for their lack of card playing skills.
   
   Also, they need 16-18 HCP to open 1NT but should be told that 15-17 may be enough later.
   
   More serious is the lack of strict standards for opening one of a suit. All 13 point hands don't qualify. E.g. Ax-Kxx-QJxx-QJxx should not be opened nor should QJ-QJ-QJ-Axxxxxx. Neither hand has enough quick tricks, which come from combinations of A,K and Q in the same suit. Also, unguarded honor cards should not be counted as full point value, but the author fails to mention any of these concepts stressed by Ch.Goren.
   
   The book lacks any index or indications in the glossary about where to find various consepts and ideas, but which was part of the earlier book.
   The pink summary pages was an asset in the previous book but now missing.
   
   The discussion of strong and weak two bids is too superficial.
   
   Aside from the above criticism the book is very attractive and good.

5 comments about Bridge For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)).

1. Over Memorial Day weekend of this year, I decided to learn to play bridge after never playing the game at all. I took several on-line lessons and other learning tools. The next week I bought Bridge for Dummies (BFD). I read the book cover to cover a couple times, highlighted appropriate passages and quickly learned the game.
   
   Within a month I was playing online confidently based on what I learned in BFD. I had people comment that there was no way I was only playing for a month. After another couple weeks I played duplicate bridge at a local club and finished second my first time playing live.
   
   I highly recommend this book to everyone wanting to learn to play bridge. If this book has one weakness, occasionally you will find instances where bidding strays from SAYC. But simply print out the 4 page SAYC brochure and tuck it in the book.
   
   Bridge is by far the best game of any type I have ever played and this book gave me a foundation to grow from.



2. This book is not bad, but unfortunately is not clear, and not fun to read.
   It goes in to details too quickly.
   
   It appears to be aimed at a person becoming an Intermediate Player



3. I am a big fan of the 1st edition of this book and was pleasantly surprised to find that the 2nd edition is a marked improvement. The new hand diagrams are a big improvement. Mr. Kantar has done quite a bit of rewriting of the material and the 2nd edition seems more tightly organized than the 1st edition. The new "cheat sheet" is an improvement as well. The strengths of the 1st edition -- the author's engaging style and humor, the clear presentation of bridge basics, and the steady, logical progression of material -- all remain intact.



4. This book by E.Kantar is a mix of good and bad teaching and most novices would be better off with almost any other for beginners.
   
   Kantar fails to stress that all 12 HCP hands with the same hand pattern are far from equal and thus do not qualify for an opening bid of one. A hand with four quacks(Q+J)is not equal to one with three Kings nor to one with three Aces even though each has a nominal 12 HCP count. Some, but not all, new books will tell students that an opening bid should also have two quick tricks, which are Aces, Kings and Queens in combinations.
   
   Ch.Goren, the preeminent bridge teacher of old, urged students to count quick tricks as part of opening one bid requirements. There is no need nor a good reason to dumb down bridge teaching today.
   
   Also, Kantar does not credit points for long nor short suits for opening bids,as is common in nearly all new books, so that 5,6,7,8 and 9 card suits are treated as equal and all requiring 12 or 11 HCP to open.
   
   Such teaching is not helpful to novices and as a long time techer I would not use or recommend this book to novices, but more experinced players might find it worth reading.
   
   Another shortcomming of this book is a lack of adjustments for unprotected honor cards. E.g. Axxxx,QJxx, QJ,QJ is not a 13 HCP count and should not be opened by a novice.
   
   Another problem with the book is that all illustrations are ideal for the situation at hand, while most hands in real life are less perfect.
   
   This second edition has only six more pages of instructions than the first and with just 372 pages of bridge, not 408 as claimed.Mr. Kantar is known as one of the best players in the country and the world. But lesser
   players have written far better books for novices.
   
   Stig Holmqui



5. This is the best book for Dummies I have ever read.
   Kantar presents material in an order that makes sense. It is the first time I understood what I was doing in Bridge. As soon as I read some information on playing, I went to my software program, Bridge Baron (also excellent), and immediately played several hands by myself, making every contract with ideas Kantar had given me; even making contracts with what I used to think were awful hands. Kantar seems to be a born teacher. You can easily see that he loves his subject and very much enjoys imparting knowledge to others. This book is worth every penny! It is one of the best Christmas presents I received this year.

3 comments about Bridge At A Glance.

1. This is a very concise yet thorough review of bidding presented in a pocket guide. It is a must have for the novice to intermediate player who is still unsure of the bidding process. It also provides a quick summary for declarer play as well as defense play in a trump or no trump hand. I love it!!!! Highly recommended!



2. GREAT CONCEPT BUT A FEW OF THE PEOPLE IN MY CLUB FOUND IT CONFUSING TO USE AND THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT THAN THE ONES IN AN EARLIER BOOK BY AUDREY GRANT



3. I have been sumarizing bidding options for a quick review before a game in my computer. There is no longer a need this is a great reference. It also fits exactly in your convention card holder so that between rounds you can easily check up on something that you have a question about. Wonderful for the beginner or intermediate player. Advanced player would have to much ego to pull it out in public but get it for private review in the potty stall or at home because it is a great review. great to have for at home rubber games with family or friends that are learning. Good gift for that partner that can't get on the same page with you. HaHa. Play more bridge and bid it up!!!

5 comments about 25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know.

1. This instruction book on Bridge Conventions is written simply enough for everyone to learn. It is divided into three sections, so, as you progress in your learning, you advance from one section to the next. Fun learning with this book.



2. This is a book that describes twenty five modern Bridge conventions that every current Bridge player should know and use.
   
   Each convention is described and explained clearly. One of the best features of the book is that at the end of each description of the convention is a sheet of example bridge hands that illustrate the convention. The reader can make his own answer to the questions, then check to see if he really understood the explanation. It is a good way to learn.
   
   I think this is a very good book for every bridge player to learn and use the modern conventions.



3. Easy reading, with good explanations of why you should use that convention. Great examples at the end of each chapter. As a beginner I highly recommend this book.



4. If you are looking for a bridge book that covers the most common conventions out there in the "bridge world"...this is the book for you. This book covers all the essentials to learn and understand the most popular bridge conventions. It does it in an easy to understand and precise manner. You will feel confident after reading and studying. The one feature missing.....doesn't give you the opportunity to practice much on each convention. You will have to play to learn that. But this book is worth the price to increase your playing power.



5. I know of no book that conveys the most popular bridge-playing conventions as painlessly as Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith's remarkable TWENTY-FIVE BRIDGE CONVENTIONS YOU SHOULD KNOW. They are all there, patiently explained, with examples drawn from appropriate circumstances and topical quizzes following immediately.
   
   Generally, the book starts with the basic conventions like Takeout Doubles and Blackwood and progresses to the more esoteric ones like Reverse Drury and Roman Key Card. We might argue about the exact order these conventions appear; Ms. Seagram is BIG on the Jacoby Transfer and its big brother, the Texas Transfer. Should people really learn those before they learn about Cue-bid Raises and Balancing? But that is a small wrinkle in such an excellent presentation; if you and your partner prefer to skip a lesson or two and come back later, this book will serve well anyway. Deserves a place on every good bridge-player's shelf.