Off-Road Declarer Play

"This book includes great deals and a clear, pleasant writing style that makes the analysis of each deal a pleasure to follow. This is a book for those who enjoy reading about bridge, as well as those who want to improve their play. It's ideal for players who want to widen their technical reach or sharpen up for their next tournament. Rating: A"

"David Bird is one of the most prolific bridge writers in the world. Best known, perhaps, for his magazine articles about the monks of St. Titus Monastery, Bird always writes in a clear and lively manner. His latest book, Off-Road Declarer Play: Unusual Ways to Play a Bridge Hand, is written in the same style. With the help of Australian Tim Bourke's collection of great deals, Bird describes techniques of dummy play that may not yet be familiar to intermediate players hoping to move up to the advanced level. Bird's examples will show you, among other things, how to survive a 4-1 trump break, how to protect your honours from being ruffed, how to score the low trumps in your hand and how to use a side suit as substitute trumps.  Each example begins with the complete hand diagram, offering readers the chance to experience the full thought process required to achieve the maximum from each deal."

"David Bird is on top form once again. The result is a treasure of a book, which will be an eye-opener to many."

"One of the more compelling features of this book is that many of the intriguing deals require solutions that are difficult only because you may never have seen or thought of these solutions before. This is a truly challenging and fun-filled set of deals. Thank you, Mr. Bird."

"This book differs from the author's usual offerings in that it took me more than one day to read! The book runs to 218 pages and, after the initial diet of deals within reach of the intermediate player, the difficulty level moves up to those you might find in Richard Pavlicek's monthly competitions. The author covers a range of declarer play techniques, with the focus on the out of the ordinary. Each chapter finishes with the quiz. Although the text and explanation that has gone before give you a clue to the solutions, you still need to think. I must confess that one or two of the quiz dals caught me out. Topics covered include: fighting your way to dummy, surviving a 4-1 trump break, use the entries when a defender has to duck and unusual ways to rectify the count. The author uses a large number of interesting and original examples to illustrate each theme. The bidding in one or two places I can best describe as rustic but I think one can live with that. As this is a textbook, I am afraid you will find little of the author's legendary humor. You will, however, find the narrative clear and accurate. Moreover, the style of presentation allows the author to cover a lot of ground and provide numerous examples. One cannot have eveything! Overall this is an informative and challenging book, one to get your teeth into!"