November 2023 - 32

PRODUCT Reviews
Bridge: A Love Story
By Zia Mahmood
$29.31 (£24),
328 pages, softcover
Reviewed by Chip Dombrowski
One of a kind
Zia is one of the most colorful characters of the bridge
world. From his native Pakistan to London to New York
and back to London, with stops all over the world, Zia has
made a splash everywhere he's gone. His exploits have left
him plenty of good material for a memoir. It is the story of
a life well lived.
High-level bridge is never more entertaining than when
a notorious outside-the-box thinker like Zia is present. He
offers dozens of example hands, many of which look rather
meek and uninspiring at first glance, asks the reader what
they would do at a given juncture, and then goes on to tell
how he perpetrated some completely unexpected and diabolical
action. Often they worked, sometimes they didn't,
but it's clear he thoroughly enjoyed himself either way.
Zia reminds us that bridge is something we play for fun
- and it certainly is when you play it like he does. Less so
sometimes for his bewildered partners when things go
awry, but surely they too look back and laugh.
Partners such as Bob Hamman, Michael Rosenberg,
Jeff Meckstroth, along with Pakistan's former president
Musharraf and some nameless fools from the bygone
money bridge clubs are also a fertile source of material.
The narrative is far from linear, jumping around in time.
The effect is like a series of coffee dates with an interesting
friend who always has a good story to tell, and each chapter
is whatever happened to come up in conversation that day.
Find out the answers to such burning questions as who
is the best player in the world; what does it mean when
partner plays a 9; and why were six showgirls seen leaving
Zia's hotel room in Portugal at 6 a.m. on the morning of
the final of an international event.
Zia also offers several tips and tricks on how you too
can confuse your partners with out-of-the-box bids and
plays. You might call these plays " sexy. " Zia frequently
does - sort of a recurring joke. If it never occurred to you
to use that word in conjunction with bridge, this might be
just the book to get you to see the game in a new way.
Available from andrewrobsonbridgestore.com.
32 | Bridge Bulletin | November 2023
Parrish the Thought Volume 2:
Modern Defensive Thinking
By Adam Parrish
$19.95, softcover; $16.99 eBook,
355 pages
Reviewed by Chip Dombrowski
Powerful defense
You need to work on your defense. We all do. Defense is
the hardest part of the game, as Adam Parrish notes in his
introduction to " Modern Defensive Thinking. "
This is a book you'll wish you'd read sooner. It thoroughly
breaks down the process of thinking through how to
make the right move on defense at every turn.
The concepts of what to lead and how to use signals
aren't new. Countless articles and lectures have covered
these basics. But if after reading and hearing them, you
still find yourself wondering, " OK, but what do I do with
that information? " Parrish can help.
Real-life hands aren't as neat as lesson hands. It's not
always clear, for example, whether you should be encouraging
or discouraging, or if attitude even applies in a
particular situation. Or, in cases where you need to give
a suit preference signal, what is the safe thing to do when
you don't really like either of the choices? Parrish considers
all types of problems like these with a strategic focus:
What are you trying to do on this hand, and what can you
do right now to support that strategy?
The two basic defensive strategies are active - working
to set up and take your tricks - and passive - letting declarer
do the work and waiting for tricks to come to you. Thinking
about which strategy to use begins with listening to
the auction and looking at your hand. As new information
emerges - when dummy comes down or when certain cards
appear - it's important to reassess the strategy. When to
change tactics mid-hand and when to cash out are important
strategic considerations Parrish addresses.
Standard leads and carding are assumed.
In his foreword, expert Steve Weinstein says: " There
are a lot of good books on defense out there, but I knew Adam's
clear style and thoughtful analysis would really add
something to the literature. I was right! ... I guarantee you
will walk away a better defender after reading this book. "
Defense is a partnership game. You might like this book
so much you want a second copy for your partner.
Available from Bridge Winners, bridgewinners.com.
http://www.andrewrobsonbridgestore.com http://www.bridgewinners.com
November 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November 2023
