Advanced Conventions, January 3, 2006

Terrific reference book. Covers Forcing No Trump, responding to preempts, Snapdragon Doubles, Unusual v. Unusual, Puppet Stayman, 1430 RKC, Q bidding, and many others. The good thing about this book is that it covers ALL aspects of each convention, from the first bid to all follow-up bids and responses.

I suppose this book fulfills its purpose of providing an exposure to basic bidding conventions, and, from this perspective, its a good starting point. However, since it does cover so many conventions, the explanation and examples and not as in depth as a serious bridge player would like to see. I gave this book 4 stars because I think that it is a good reference book that should be in your bridge book library because it serves as a starting point for developing a bidding system. Serious players will want to go into more depth regarding the conventions that they decide to employ and should refer to other, focused books for comprehensive explanations.

Section 1 Learn these firstChapter 1 Cappelletti Defense to 1NTChapter 2 Flannery Two DiamondsChapter 3 Bergen RaisesChapter 4 Responding to Three-bidsChapter 5 Four-Suit TransfersChapter 6 Gambling 3NTChapter 7 D.O.N.T. Defense to a Strong 1NTChapter 8 NamyatsSection 2 More complicatedChapter 9 More About StaymanChapter 10 Exclusion BlackwoodChapter 11 IngbermanChapter 12 Weak Jump ShiftsChapter 13 Support DoublesChapter 14 Fit-showing JumpsChapter 15 DOPI, ROPI and DEPOChapter 16 Puppet StaymanSection 3 Sophisticated stuffChapter 17 Inverted Minor RaisesChapter 18 Leaping MichaelsChapter 19 The Forcing 1NTChapter 20 Ace-and-King (Italian) CuebiddingChapter 21 Unusual over UnusualChapter 22 SOS and other RedoublesChapter 23 Pick-a-slam 5NTChapter 24 Snapdragon DoublesChapter 25...