[ArcLight]

Psychological Strategy In Contract Bridge ~ The Techniques Of Deception And Harassment by Fred Karpin 1960


There are 3 parts to the book.

The first part shows various psyche bids through the ages, breaking them up by era. I found some of the psyche bids from the early days not worth consideration, such as opening 1NT with 0 HCP. Some of the "later day" (ie 1950's) lead inhibiting psyches (like Zia uses) are worth studying.

I would have liked a long chaper(s) on when to use each type of psyche. The only useful book on psyching I've read is Zia Mahmoods "Bridge My Way". I got nothing out of Pottages or Mollows books.

There were some chapters on weak 2s (relatively new back then) and weak jump overcalls. All this material has been seen else where, but its still valid.

The 2nd part is on Declarer False Cards.
- disrupting the defenders signaling
- playing a card so as to cause one of the defenders to think the other has a card
(you have KQx and cover LHOs opening lead to RHOs Jack with the K, making LHO think RHO has QJx)
- playing the "wrong" (too high) card to fool the defenders
plus lots of others

The 3rd part is on Defender false cards
- against NT, LHO has all the assets. Lead 2 from A Q T 6 2, making declarer think you only have a 4 card suit, and its safe to finesse into your hand
- ducking plays
- playing a hard thats higher than needed, to cause declarer to think the suit is split badly
plus lots of others


The 2nd and 3rd parts are found in other modern books on deception. They are still valid and well presented. The first part was of some interest (the part on modern day psyches like fake cue bids).

Overall its a pretty good intermediate level book.
Worth reading.

One of the things you don't see is how often psyches work out badly, or frequency of bid. If you have a reputation as a psycher, you may derive some benefit if it causes the opponents to bid unsoundly.

[starfruit]

Hi I'm not sure where I should post this question... But I figured since you guys might know of a solution.
I'm from Singapore, and unfortunately the amount of bridge book available here is very small.
I tried to purchase "Competitive Bidding in the 21st Century", "Win the bermuda bowl with me" and "Modern constructive bidding" from amazon, but unfortunately it seems like they don't ship books to Singapore.
Any ideas how I'll be able to obtain these books?

[Stephen Tu]

Quote

amazon, but unfortunately it seems like they don't ship books to Singapore

Sure about that? This page suggests otherwise. Probably just have to select some special international shipping option link at some point in the order.


Try also
www.postfree.cc (Australia based)
www.baronbarclay.com (U.S. based)
Both specialize in bridge books, I think they both ship international, don't know how much extra it will cost.

[starfruit]

Hmm... still didn't manage to purchase it online... can't figure out what's wrong

However I realised that my local Borders bookstore can help order books, so I shall resort to that for now.

Thanks for the help given though Stephen. Perhaps I'll try your links out when I need books which Borders can't provide.

[mike777]

hmm I am really surprised..this is a very common book.....you cannot get it on amazon? Heck if need be I will sell it to you if you have no luck.

Just pay for shipping...rest is free

[mike777]

Swiss Match Challenge by Jeff Rubens. 1992 234pp
Level=Int/Advanced
Grade=B

Reread this book after many years. You bid, play and defend in several Swiss Team Matches. At the end of each match you also see what the other table did. Interesting, fun book that covers the 3 major areas of bridge.

[starfruit]

mike777, on Jan 17 2007, 02:24 AM, said:

hmm I am really surprised..this is a very common book.....you cannot get it on amazon? Heck if need be I will sell it to you if you have no luck.

Just pay for shipping...rest is free

Thanks for the kind offer
I've got no idea why I can't get it even though they're stated as available lol
(It just keeps saying that those items can't be shipped to my country)

Not a problem for now though, since I can order the books from the store. . . until I can't find anything else interesting

[Simpleboi]

Hi,

I am from Singapore too.

Have you taken a look at PageOne at Vivocity? There are quite a number of bridge books there too, although i have taken quite a few, at this time more than borders and kino

I can lend some if interested

Take care

[starfruit]

!
Didn't know there was another location for books. . .
Ok thanks for the information. . .
I shall go take a look when I have the time

[DenisO]

It would be great if we had an index to all these great reviews - any volunteers?

I'm looking for a review of "Winning Card Play" by Kelsey - I think I've seen it here but I'm going to have to go through the thread page by page

[ArcLight]

DenisO, on Jan 24 2007, 09:33 AM, said:

It would be great if we had an index to all these great reviews - any volunteers?

I'm looking for a review of "Winning Card Play" by Kelsey  - I think I've seen it here but I'm going to have to go through the thread page by page

There is a search feature that works reasonably well.

As for Winning Card Play, I think I posted a review on that one.
If not ...

Winning Card Play by Hugh Kelsey

Covers card play technique, similar to Victor Mollos "Card Play Technique".
Squezes, Trump Coups, Elimination & End Plays, Defense against all these

Well written, good examples, worth reading. Good overview. I'd read it in conjunction with some other books on card play such as Mollos book, and the Card Play Made Easy series (by Klinger)

[mike777]

First off let me say that Mollo/Gard....Card play tech.. I think is the number one all time book on BASIC expert card play(1955)? If you read only one book on card play read this one.

[helene_t]

WJ2005 by Jassem.

The book sucks. The important things are the needles dispersed in the blah-blah-blah haystack. It's an annoying read, probably due to bad translation.

You're much better of downloading the WJ2000 book.

[ArcLight]

Three books by Martin Hoffman


Hoffman on Pairs Play - 60 interesting hands, where the reader must use clues or correct technique to make the contract. Some hands are presented double dummy and the reader must find the mistake. 2 summary points after each hand. Excellent book, one of the best I've read. Most of the hands are solvable of for an Intermediate plus level player. They require drawing inferences. The card play is not especially complex, so don't worry about missing the Backwash squeeze.

More tales of Hoffman - the Sequel to Hoffman on Pairs Play. 60 hands, same format. I was disappointed as the hands / clues were in general not as good. Theer were still some good hands, but also some "less good" ones and some complex ones. The book is still worth reading, but not the classic the first one is.

Defense in Depth - pretty good book. 60 hands, you are on defense. It seemed like the theme of the book was "how can I break up the squeeze" as taht must have come up in at least a quarter of the hands. Solid Intermediate Plus / Advanced book. Worth reading


Martin Hoffman also has 2 other books
- Inspired Cardplay
- Over Hoffmans Shoulder

Has anyone read them? What are the hands like? Are they like Pairs game and More Takes of Hoffman?

[ArcLight]

Washington Standard by Steve Robinson

A well organized, well presented book on 2/1 using Steve Robinsons methods. They may not be the best, and they may not be "standard" but the book is well presented. The reader can find many problem areas and reach agreements on many common problems and sequences. Things like what does it mean if the opponents bid over our Jacoby 2NT response. That alone is worth far more than using "the best" methos and conventions. The author presents his suggested signaling methods (he likes Smith Echo - and gives some good examples).

I enjoyed the book, just because it was well layed out and nicely presented. I probably won't use his methods, but if a person I wanted to play with did, this book would be invaluable in helping me get up to speed and agree on common problem areas.

This is not just a 2/1 book, its a complete system, with the authors suggested conventions.

Its worth reading for anyone above Beginner level that is interested in playing 2/1

[ArcLight]

Cuebidding at Bridge by Ken Rexford

I was eagerly looking forward to this, but just didn't get around to reading it for a few months. After reading the first section I am quite disappointed


There are some interesting ideas, but also lots of basics left out, plus ambiguous sequences. What I wanted was a clear self contained system hand book on using Italian Style cuebidding. Bells and whistles can be included in later chapters. Maybe I am mistaken, but what is presented includes some of the authors favorite conventions on top, such as serious 3NT. I don't know what is "standard" and what are the authors pet treatments. Do all top experts use Serious 3NT? Did Garozzo and Belladonna use it along when they used Italian style cue bidding? (I doubt it)

I want the opinions of a true expert, not someone who has just been playing for a long time and has ACBL attendence points (i.e. Master Points). I want to learn the cue bididng systems used by strong players, without esoteric treatments that can lead to confusion or bad results. Those can be introduced in later chapters, but don't include them as part of the base system.
A non expert can still explain a method, but when he starts venturing his own opinion, he is doing an injustice to his readers.

Here is an auction that he does not cover
1♥ - 3♥ [4+ hearts, 10-12 support points, a Limit Raise]
4♣ - 4♦

what does 4♦ mean?

4♣ bypassed spades, opener does not have a spade control.
What does 4♦ mean? Does it show the spade control, and deny the diamond control?
This is not explained in his book.
Will this come up? Its very likely.


An example is given of a 2/1 bidding sequence where 2NT comes up and the author says the partners will have to agree when its natural and when its part of his system. (2NT in his system is a special bid that denies 2 of the top 3 honors in the trump suit)

Doh!
If these methods are going to add confusion to basic, common sequences, then you are really asking for some morale damaging disasters.
Have fun explaining your bad results to your team mates. "we made 2 extra slams" you can say. "Yes, and you had 2 other disasters to offset them".

Contrast this with Ron Klingers Classic Cue Bidding to Slam. It has lots of examples, and covers some of the variations, such as cue bidding 1st and 2nd round controls. The only problem is it doesn't have more than a few pages on this, and more coverage is needed.

In Alan Moulds excellent Step by Step Slam Bidding, he covers judgment, which is not covered in this book. In the Rexford book, the author seems to try for slams that are a bit thin. Maybe his declarer skills are equal to those of Belladonna and Garozzo, mine are not.


I don't know who this book is aimed at.
Its certainly not for beginners or intermediates.
Is it for Advanced players, or experts? The advertisement on the back says "Advanced". I don't see how it will help them. Its not a complete system. Its got gaps and ambiguous sequences. It will give some spectacular results, and also some disasters. Is it worth using if its marginally better than the traditional aces first method? If the book was more complete, and covered many more meat and potato sequences I could consider it of some use.

I have read almost 200 Bridge books. This is one of the least useful I've read, in the bottom 10%
(I also really dislike Julian Pottages books). I don't even want it on my book shelf.


I will trade it along with my 2nd copy of Alan Moulds excellent book Step by Step Preempts (unused), and Kantar on Kontract (unused) for books I have not read such as:

- Hand Reading in Bridge by Danny Roth

- Find the Mistake by Eric Jannersten

- Bridge Odds for Practical Players by Hugh Kelsey

- Over Hoffmans Shoulder by Martin Hoffman

- Inspired Card Play by Martin Hoffman

- Washington Standard by Steve Robinson [read but don't own]

[slightly curious about the Rubens books]

- Useful Space Principals & Transfer Advantages of Overcalls by Jeff Rubens

- Journalist Leads by Jeff Rubens

[Chamaco]

Quote

Cuebidding at Bridge by Ken Rexford

IWhat I wanted was a clear self contained system hand book on using Italian Style cuebidding. 

Check out this (access from Dan Neill's site):
http://www.geocities.com/daniel_neill_2000...ddingToSlam.zip

It does not cover "Turbo" though, but still it is a pretty comprehensive coverage

Quote

I don't know what is  "standard" and what are the authors pet treatments.  Do all top experts use Serious 3NT?  Did Garozzo and Belladonna use it along when they used Italian style cue bidding?  (I doubt it)

In most cases they did not need it, because they played a strong club system, where usually one of the 2 partners had a limited hand.

Serious 3NT *can* be useful also in *some* sequences of a strong club system, but where it really becomes really important is in a 2/1 scheme where opener can still have a very wide-range of strength.

However, even in a 2/1 context, the "Turbo" scheme is worth exploring.

[ArcLight]

Thank you for the link to Belladonna's very nice article on cue bidding.
Its much better than the book.
Look at this excerpt from Belladonnas article:

3a) Two No-trumps
a1) with a fit in a MAJOR
- if bid immediately after partner’s raise, it shows minimum strength and/or a bad trump suit and says nothing about side controls, even those bypassed
- if bid after cue-bids it’s a counter-cue-bid

At least Belladonna is giving a rule when 2NT is showing the poor trumps. In teh Cuebidding at Bridge book the author says "the players will ahev to decide for themselves". I would prefer the advice and experience of experts (such as Belladonna) to present their rules rather than leave it to me.

Here is another good example, thats not in the Rexford book

1H-2C-2D-2H-3D-3H cue-bid in S and C (at least one 1st-round, else S and C Aces are missing)
(S Kx H Qxxx D Kx C AKxxx)


And another - this is what I mentioned in my first post

1C-2H-3H-4C-4D 1st- or 2nd-round control in S. Bidding squeeze in D, control of which is not guaranteed. (S AKx H Axxx D xx C QJxx)
1S-3S-4D-4H 1st- or 2nd-round C control. Bidding squeeze in H, control of which is not guaranteed. (S QJxx H xx D Qxx C Axxx)


Who "invented" Italian cue bidding? The Blue team? Did it evlove slowly? With iterative refinements?

[Flame]

ArcLight, on Feb 22 2007, 08:24 PM, said:

Washington Standard by Steve Robinson

How did you get the book ? did you by it directly from steve ? how much did you pay for it ?

[SoTired]

You can get it from Barclays at http://www.baronbarc...s/NEWBOOKS.html

or autographed from the author by sending a check for $25.95 to Steve Robinson, 2891 S. Abingdon St. #A2 Arlington, Va, 22206

Steve's email address is robinswr at-sign-goes-here erols.com