December 2005 - 47

WHAT'S NEW * WHAT'S COMING * WHAT'S HOT

Bridge Squeezes
For Everyone

Logical Gold Tips
to Winning Bridge

Bridge
Baron 16

By David Bird
$17.95
Softcover
256 pages
Rating: A
Reviewed by Brent
Manley

By Kathie Wei-Sender and Linda J. Green
$5
Softcover booklet
34 pages
Rating: C
Reviewed by Tim
Bourke

By Great Game
Products
$64.95
CD-ROM
Rating: A
Reviewed by
Paul Linxwiler

First class
The subtitle of this book, marked
with an asterisk on the cover,
is "Yes, Even You!" David Bird
understands that the subject is scary
to much of his potential audience.
Attentive readers will, however, lose
their squeeze anxiety - guaranteed.
Bird is a such a smooth writer,
that once you get into the book,
the topic seems elementary, at
least in the discussions of the
less-complicated squeezes. Be
warned, there is some difficult
treading in the back of the
book - vice squeezes, winkles,
compound squeezes, etc. Most of
the discussion, however, is aimed at
helping the reader see and execute
a squeeze when the opportunity
presents itself in actual play.
There is more than just talk about
squeezes and how to executive them,
however. Bird enhances each chapter
with examples of squeezes executed
by famous players in high-level
competitions. These nearly justify
the price of the book on their own.
There are also lots of very helpful
quizzes to solidify the principles in
your mind.
This book should be on the shelf
of all serious players.
Published by and available from
Master Point Press, 331 Douglas
Ave., Toronto ON M5M 1H2. Phone
416-781-0351. Also available from
the ACBL Product Store.

December 2005

Eye of the beholder
Logical Gold Tips to Winning
Bridge by Kathie Wei-Sender
and Linda J. Green is one of
those publications that reviewers
traditionally dislike but intermediate
to advanced players love. The
reasons for this disparity are based
on the same properties - it gives
rules about what to do rather than
the reasons why you should take a
particular action.
Looking just at the tips on
bidding, the booklet provides a
partial summary of a system that
has much in common with the
Standard American Yellow Card.
However, the material focuses
mainly on what could loosely be
called decision points. For example,
when to open, to reverse and
to double an opening bid rather
than overcall. I suspect none of
the advice would be considered
poor; rather it just seems that the
authors are trying to hard to provide
reassurance rather than give voice to
the thought processes behind their
recommendations.
Overall, my assessment is true
to the reviewer's code (C), whereas
many members of its target audience
will rate it much, much higher.
Available from the ACBL Product
Store.

Sweet 16
Bridge Baron CDs have been a
staple of the bridge-playing software
community for many years. Bridge
Baron 16 improves and expands on
its existing lineup of features. The
quality, as always, is good and the
range of features is extensive:
*	 You	 can	 play	 deals	 that	 are	 randomly created by the software, or
you can play deals from actual
tournament play that have been
matchpointed to allow you to
compare how you would have
done against the actual competitors. Several new tournaments
have been added to this edition.
*	 You	 can	 choose	 your	 own	 bidding	
system. Bridge Baron 16 offers
a large menu of popular bidding
systems, and you can even add
your favorite conventions to tailor
it to your tastes.
*	 You	 can	 learn	 about	 conventions	
or try problem deals that have
been created to improve your
declarer play.
*	 There	 is	 a	 deal	 generator	 that	
allows you to create a set of
hands for bidding practice. Bridge
Baron 16 also allows you to save
the deals so that you can go back
later and review them.
This list is not exhaustive, but
it's a good enough reason to make
Bridge Baron 16 an excellent choice
for those interested in playing deals
against reasonable computer opponents.
Available from Great Game
Products at 800-426-3748 or
www.greatgameproducts.com.
Also available from the ACBL
Product Store.
47
http://www.greatgameproducts.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2005
