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Clever Plays in the Trump Suit

Available for download in an eBook Edition

by: David Bird

Paperback | ISBN 978-1-897106-72-3

Cost in Canadian Dollars  $22.95        Cost in Cost in US Dollars  $19.95        Cost in Cost in UK Pounds  £12.95

Categories: Intermediate | Declarer Play

About the AuthorABOUT THE AUTHOR         Critics’ ViewpointCRITICS’ VIEWPOINT         Reader’s ReviewsREADER’s REVIEWS         Download a SampleDOWNLOAD A SAMPLE (PDF)

About the Book

An intermediate-level discussion of declarer play, this book focuses on the power of the trump suit. Its subjects include trump timing – should you draw all the defenders’ trumps straight away, some of their trumps, or perhaps perform some other vital task first? – and situations where you need to unblock in the trump suit or to put a defender on lead with a trump. The reader will learn how to make maximum use of the entries provided by the trump suit, and how to perform a trump safety play or a trump avoidance play. Two other important topics are how to make your contract against a bad trump break and how you can survive a forcing attack on the long-trump holding. Later chapters explain how to play contracts with fewer than eight trumps at your disposal, and also how to conjure extra tricks from the trump suit. Every couple of chapters or so, there is a 9-problem quiz section.

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About the Author

David Bird

David Bird (Southampton, UK) is the world's most prolific bridge writer, with 150 bridge books to his name. Known for the clarity of his writing and explanations, he has won the American Bridge Teachers' Association Book of the Year Award a record nine times. His celebrated humorous fiction series, featuring the cantankerous Abbot, has run for over 45 years.

 

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Critics’ Viewpoint

An excellent book… as always with David Bird, the writing is clear and the style is light and enjoyable. All in all, a valuable addition to your library

— The Ontario Kibitzer    Date: 2014-03-25

‘Read this book in small doses and when you’ve finished, read it again. Your diligence will be rewarded and you will appreciate once again the beauty of this game.’

— Belleville Intelligencer    Date: 2012-07-25

‘A must-read book for anyone who wants to improve as declarer.’ Rating A.

— ACBL Bulletin    Date: 2012-05-01

‘Another thorough work from David Bird.’

— The Bridge World    Date: 2012-04-30

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Reader Reviews

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5heart rating

This is an excellent book on how to improve your play by properly managing the trump suit. In fact, I found it so important that I think a title of “Essential Plays in the Trump Suit” would better describe the material it covers. The writing is clear and the style is light and enjoyable. The format works well too – two to three chapters explaining a group of related topics followed by a quiz to help ensure you remember the material by working through examples. Some of the topics that resonated with me were: - Recognizing when to draw trump (and how many rounds to draw) - Recognizing and combining chances - Handling bad breaks - And playing in 7 (or fewer) card fits Very good book aimed at the intermediate+ group.

Reviewer: Ian Totman    Date: 2013-12-30

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