December 2017 - 30

Product Reviews
The Language of Bridge
By Kit Woolsey
$19.95, softcover, 308 pages
Reviewed by Sue Munday

Bull's-eye

While Kit Woolsey regularly
writes a popular column on the
Bridge Winners blog, it's been
a while since he put out a book.
"Partnership Defense in Bridge"
(1980) and "Matchpoints" (1982)
are hailed by students of the game as
seminal works in their respective areas
of focus.
In "The Language of Bridge," the
world-class expert approaches bidding
with the same thorough intensity with
which he dissected matchpoint play
and defense.
"The translation of bridge bids into
English is Bridge English, or what I call
'Bringlish,' for short," Woolsey says by
way of introduction. The bidding foundation he uses is a fairly standard 2/1
card (1NT semi-forcing), and with that
dictionary in place, he explains how

Larry Cohen Teaches Bridge:
The Video Series
By Larry Cohen
$19.95 each, streaming video or DVD,
approx. 1 hour
Reviewed by Chip Dombrowski

I want my Bridge TV

Learning from books is hard for
many people. Especially when it comes
to something as complex as bridge,
there is a challenge in getting the in-

30 Bridge Bulletin December 2017

a partnership achieves
the goal of every auction:
exchanging information
that will lead to the optimum contract.
First, what are your
bid choices; why do you
choose one bid over
the alternatives - what
exactly is it you are saying
to partner? What do you
expect to hear? What do
you want to hear? And when partner
bids back, what is he saying - what do
you envision his hand to be? What does
he need from you?
Woolsey steps through auctions,
translating each call. Chapters examine key concepts such as:
⦁ Strain and level (target)
⦁ Captaincy ("Practicality takes
priority over making the book bid.
Remember, the captain's job is
to get to the right contract, not to
describe his hand accurately.")
⦁ Negative inferences
⦁ Anticipating how the auction may
unfold

Constructive bidding (partscore
or game?), slam bidding, competitive sequences and preempts are also
discussed. The final chapter turns the
table and puts the reader on defense.
Don't be fooled. This isn't simply
another bidding book, not by a long
stretch. Nor is it meant for beginners
or casual players, unless they commit
to plumbing the layers of thinking by
rereading it, then rereading it again as
they progress in their bridge journey.
"The Language of Bridge" commands
the whole bridge brain, encompassing
imagination, logic, inferential thinking,
evaluation, memory and all the mental
skills that make bridge the one-ofa-kind mind sport it is. For a serious
intermediate/advanced player, this
book is a game-changer.

formation through to our 21st-century
brains. If the typical bridge book leaves
you wondering, "Why can't Larry Cohen just come to my house and give a
seminar?" there is good news: Now he
can. Sort of.
Cohen has released the first four
installments of a new video series that
so far focuses on defense: "Third-Hand
Play," "Opening Leads," "Signals" and
"Second-Hand Play." Each video lesson is about an hour long. Content is
available on DVD, though it's faster and

easier to watch
online through
Vimeo, which
requires either
creating a free
account or - yet
another shortcut -
logging in through
Facebook. In just
a few clicks, Larry can be in your living
room at any hour.
Aimed at a beginner/intermediate
audience, Cohen covers the rules and

Published by Bridge Winners Press
and available from bridgewinners.com.
(Also available from Bridge Winners
Press, the reprint of Woolsey's "Matchpoints.")
http://www.bridgewinners.com
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of December 2017
