How to Play Card Combinations

Rating:
Summary: Take more tricks
Review: How to take more tricks as declarer or as defender by playing the odds. Helps you to spot problems that may arise later in the hand. Recommended for all levels.

Rating:
Summary: Humbling concept
Review: On first reading Mike Lawrence's book on card combinations, I was disappointed. In fact, the book only deals with how to play seven particular suit combinations (one chapter on each). The obvious disappointment is that, even after having fully mastered the book, one will ostensibly only have mastered seven suit combinations!

Yet, on further consideration, any disappointment was mitigated by two realisations:
1) At least one will have mastered seven suit combinations; that is, be able to play them perfectly in any of a number of situations - no trumps contracts, suit contracts, contracts where entries to dummy are at issue etc.
2) One expects that the logical discussion employed to analyse these particular hands can be gradually applied to other suit combinations.

The title "humbling concept" applies here, as Mr. Lawrence's book makes it clear how difficult a task it is to become a master of bridge. Let us say there are 200 suit combinations which actually are of interest. Then one would need to read almost 30 books of this size (227 pages) to master the topic thoroughly.

In conclusion, I suspect that if it were possible to discuss all (or even most) suit combinations thoroughly in one book, Mr. Lawrence might have written such a book. Instead, one should respect his decision to concentrate on seven suit combinations, and we can perhaps hope for other books to follow.

Rating:
Summary: Humbling concept
Review: On first reading Mike Lawrence's book on card combinations, I was disappointed. In fact, the book only deals with how to play seven particular suit combinations (one chapter on each). The obvious disappointment is that, even after having fully mastered the book, one will ostensibly only have mastered seven suit combinations!

Yet, on further consideration, any disappointment was mitigated by two realisations:
1) At least one will have mastered seven suit combinations; that is, be able to play them perfectly in any of a number of situations - no trumps contracts, suit contracts, contracts where entries to dummy are at issue etc.
2) One expects that the logical discussion employed to analyse these particular hands can be gradually applied to other suit combinations.

The title "humbling concept" applies here, as Mr. Lawrence's book makes it clear how difficult a task it is to become a master of bridge. Let us say there are 200 suit combinations which actually are of interest. Then one would need to read almost 30 books of this size (227 pages) to master the topic thoroughly.

In conclusion, I suspect that if it were possible to discuss all (or even most) suit combinations thoroughly in one book, Mr. Lawrence might have written such a book. Instead, one should respect his decision to concentrate on seven suit combinations, and we can perhaps hope for other books to follow.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and instructive discussion of card combinations
Review: This book presents excellent, thoroughly explained card combinations in context (for example, a variety of declarer-play problems in which dummy holds Qx of a suit and declarer holds Ax of the same suit, or vice versa). The reader "listens" to the author's train of thought as he plans the play of the hand. It is both fascinating and instructive to see the numerous correct ways to play the same suit combinations, depending on the hand in which they appear. This book is sure to improve anyone's declarer play (unless you're already Zia or Meckstroth), far beyond the how-to of the half-dozen or so suit combinations treated in a collection of about 50 hands. As in all of Lawrence's bridge books, the lessons average to expert players need to learn are clearly and cogently stated.