Author: Barbara Seagram and David Bird
Year published: 2014
Rating: 8/10
Review: Experts agree that one essential aspect of declarer play at bridge is making a plan. They also agree that four of the main ways to get more tricks are:
- Discarding losers
- Ruffing losers
- Taking finesses
- Establishing suits
But exactly how do you get better at these things? Some people learn well by simply learning rules (e.g. "high card from the short side first") but many people learn well by example. Declarer Play at Bridge: A Quizbook offers 60 problems suited not for complete beginners nor for those who have mastered these fundamental methods, but for those who are in-between. Most such people will call themselves "advanced beginners" or "low intermediates".
In Declarer Play at Bridge: A Quizbook, Barbara Seagram and David Bird do not offer brilliant plays; there are no squeezes or coups. Instead, there is a lot of practice at the fundamental ways of taking tricks: Methods you will use on every hand you play.
Each problem takes up two pages; the explanations are careful, basic and easy to follow, but a bit repetitious; the wording is sometimes redundant. But this is not necessarily a bad thing: A lot of learning happens through repetition. In addition, for each problem the authors offer a short "Point to remember" such as "Sometimes it is possible to combine two chances of making the contract" or "When you are setting up a suit in the dummy, you sometimes have to use an entry in the trump suit to reach the established cards. This may mean that you cannot draw all the trump before establishing the side suit".
Declarer Play at Bridge: A Quizbook is a good book. It's not really a book to read straight through, but one to dip into for a few problems at a time.
About the Authors: Barbara Seagram and David Bird are two of the most popular bridge writers in the world. Seagram is a bridge teacher in Toronto; she co-authored 25 Bridge Conventions you should Know, which is the best selling bridge book of the last half century. David Bird is the author of more than 100 bridge books, including the series "Bridge with the Abbot".
No comments:
Post a Comment