“A new breed of highly gifted players is actually able to play 3NT with 24 pts, 4 in a major with 25 points, 5 in a minor with 27 points, a small slam with 30 points and a grand slam with 34 points with a good chance of success.”
Oct 082003
The Play
I was going to devote this page to a list of recommended bridge books, but in truth there is only one I can recommend: Bridge Is a Conversation by Gerard Cohen. Though self-published — no prophet is recognized in his own time — this bids fair to become a classic. Gerard’s writing, like his bidding, dummy play, post mortems and defense, is consistently entertaining and even instructive, in a weird way. All items guaranteed sic.
Oct 082003
“Gerard’s tip of the night: DECLARER PLAY: Each declarer play is like a battle. Prepare for battle. Count your winning tricks, your loosing tricks. Make a plan of attack to better your chances of winning the remaining ones.”
Oct 082003
“Gerard’s tip of the night. PLAY LIKE THE EXPERTS: When making an opening lead against a slam, lead your ace unless there is a compelling reason not to.”
Oct 082003
“Gerard’s tip of the night: ABOUT LEADS: Non-standard leads usually show non-standard hands. Use non-standard leads with extreme caution.”
Oct 082003
“Experts of the game know how to manage gracefully such the situation they create, most other players don’t.”