November 2012 - 26

Book Reviews

Luckily for those who appreciate fine play, he and coauthor David Bird have put together an impressive collection of Brogeland's best efforts. Many of the deals are
spectacular, but every one is noteworthy in some way. The
list includes Brogeland disasters that resulted from a daring style of play that pushed him to the edge on more than
a few occasions.
As editor of Norway's leading bridge magazine, Brogeland knows how to write, and involvement by Bird in any
project guarantees high quality. You would have to look far
and wide to find a collection of deals better than this.
Published by and available from Master Point Press
(masterpointpress.com) and bridge supply houses.

Getting Into the Bidding:
A Bridge Toolkit
By Bill Treble
$19.95 Softcover, 224 pages

Rating: B+

Reviewed by Sue Munday

Defensive maneuvers

Noting the effectiveness of being
able to muck around in the opponents' auction and handle the opponents' interference in your own auctions, Bill Treble surveyed defensive bridge bidding literature and concluded,
"What seems to be lacking so far is a one-stop shopping
experience that covers the entire realm in a fair amount of
detail but at a pace that won't cause the reader to experience a sense of overload." Getting Into the Bidding is his
fine response to that gap.
With pauses to define concepts such as "support" versus
"preference," and "free bid," Getting Into the Bidding is
deliberately aimed at a much less advanced audience than
The Contested Auction. The lessons start with basic hand
evaluation, including a brief discussion of losing trick
count, then cover the fundamentals of competitive bidding
(takeout, negative, responsive, support and card-showing
doubles, preemptive strategies and overcalls).
Treble moves on to survey a variety of ways to compete
over opponents' notrump openings, dealing with competition over your own (lebensohl), forcing pass auctions and
a number of "bells and whistles" a partnership might want
to explore. Each chapter ends with a quiz, and Chapter 10
is a final exam covering all the material presented in the
first nine chapters.
Treble strives to keep the writing lively, trying a bit too
hard here and there. While the book strays a little off topic
with discussions of non-competitive actions such as thirdseat openings and Drury (and two-way Drury), all in all, he
does a good job executing what he set out to do: assembling a toolkit of useful conventions and treatments that
26 Bridge Bulletin November 2012

an advanced-beginner or intermediate partnership would
do well to consider adding to its bidding arsenal.
Published by and available from Master Point Press
(masterpointpress.com), Amazon and bridge supply
houses. Also available as an ebook from bridgewinners.
com and ebooksbridge.com.

A First Book of Bridge Problems
By Patrick O'Connor
$15.95 Softcover, 119 pages

Rating: A

Reviewed by Brent Manley

Excellent primer

For many new players, the art of
taking tricks can be mysterious. There
are many textbooks on the subject of
declarer play, some better than others,
particularly when it comes to beginners.
Falling into the "better" category is the book by Australian Patrick O'Connor, who is adept at explaining key
situations faced by bridge neophytes. The explanations in
the book's 50 problems are clear and easy to understand.
The following is a situation that might be mishandled by
newer players.
ࡕAJ9
ࡖ865
ࡗ532
ࡔKQ73
ࡕK32
ࡖKQJ73
ࡗ8764
ࡔ2
South opens 1NT (15-17) and is raised to 3NT. You
(West) lead the top of your heart sequence. Declarer ducks
but wins the second round of the suit and plays the ࡕQ.
Do you cover with the king? Look at the full deal to find
your answer:
ࡕAJ9
ࡖ865
ࡗ532
ࡔKQ73
ࡕK32
ࡕ 10 8 7 4
N
ࡖKQJ73
ࡖ 10 9 2
W E
ࡗ8764
ࡗ9
S
ࡔ2
ࡔ A J 10 6 5
ࡕQ65
ࡖA4
ࡗ A K Q J 10
ࡔ984

http://www.masterpointpress.com http://www.ebooksbridge.com http://www.masterpointpress.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2012