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Bidding Challenge Master Point Press, US$15.95, ISBN No. 1 894154 45 2 Authors who put superlative words in a title risk having them shot down. On this occasion, Kelsey took little risk as the book contains a superb collection of fifty-eight deals containing instructive points for declarer and the defenders. As Ron Klinger points out in the foreword, it is almost impossible not to learn something from the book. I am impressed by the accuracy of the analysis, all worked out with no aid from computer programs like Deep Finesse. It was also well researched, with Kelsey juxtaposing hands played well with those on which a chance went I am sure that most of us at some time or other have convinced ourselves that we can bid as well as the experts and are just waiting for the recognition that we so rightly deserve. Well, now is the time to prove it by diligent application in the reading of Larry Cohen's new book, Bidding Challenge. Cohen is a former computer programmer and options trader, and possibly most well known in this country as the author of the definitive treatise on the Law of Total Tricks, To Bid or Not to Bid. He is also one of the world's leading players, and in partnership with David Berkowitz he has performed regularly in the Invitational Pairs event named formerly Cap Volmac, but latterly Cap Gemini after the new sponsors. In these contests sixteen top pairs from around the world play a Butler style event, that is to say the best and worst scores on each hand are thrown out and the remaining six results averaged to give a datum, about which your score can be match-pointed. So it's teams really, although it's a pairs event! All the hands in this book come from these prestigious events and you are invited to bid them with your favourite partner. The datum for each hand is given so you can assess your score as you go, and usually virtue is rewarded by a happy lie of the cards. In keeping with the practice adopted in all good bridge magazines the hands are also presented separately, here at the back of the book in tear-out form, so there is no way you can cheat. How would you do on this layout, vulnerable, and with West the dealer?
If you got to a slam - and I bet you did - then hard cheese and you
lose 12 IMPs as the datum was +530. So 5 This is a fascinating book written in a chatty style, and you feel as if you
end up knowing some of the leading protagonists and how their minds work.
It also highlights just how difficult this game can be, with so many of
the world's leading players ending up with egg on their face from time
to time. (As a reviewer I had to bid the hands by myself and that was
difficult enough at times.) If there is any fault to be found at all it
lies in the fact that there are so many slam hands, or quasi-slam hands.
But then I suppose there is nothing intrinsically exciting about playing
in 2 If you want to improve your bidding and learn some new tips, then buy this book. Or maybe you might just want to prove without doubt that you are a star in the making. Dave Huggett |
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