[blackshoe]

I have a friend who, I have just discovered, just started taking bridge lessons. Her birthday is in December. I'm tempted to give her a copy of one or more of Why You Lose At Bridge, Bridge In The Menagerie, Introduction to Declarer Play, or Introduction to Defense, the latter two the new edition by Eddie Kantar and Barbara Seagram. Too soon? Too much?

[P_Marlowe]

blackshoe, on 2024-April-10, 22:13, said:

I have a friend who, I have just discovered, just started taking bridge lessons. Her birthday is in December. I'm tempted to give her a copy of one or more of Why You Lose At Bridge, Bridge In The Menagerie, Introduction to Declarer Play, or Introduction to Defense, the latter two the new edition by Eddie Kantar and Barbara Seagram. Too soon? Too much?

Why you Lose at Bride, Bridge in the Menagerie are great.
They are fun to read, and you can enjoy it, even if you skip the technical part, maybe the Menagerie is better than the other.
Similar I also enjoyed Tickets to the Devil, .... and there was a Youth book, which had some gentle introduction to bridge, the
main hero was helping an (blinded) uncle to play bridge.

I would wait with Defense / Declarer books, but maybe you can play with her in 1-2 sessions.

Do not over do it.

[Douglas43]

Philip an d Robert King's literary parodies like Play it again Slam are very good, not sure if they are still in print though?

[mycroft]

Odd, I would do the opposite (of Marlowe).

I love Mollo (look at my name) and Simon is possibly the best book to teach you how to play the game, rather than the cards. You can see my opinion of that from the number of times I reference it here.

But the more you know the game, the more both books will make sense. "Just starting lessons", though, too much will go over her head.

Plus those books have the problem (endemic to all "the classics") of converting the auctions to modern. And in particular with new players (who are still in "this is what you do, because this is the only thing that was taught"), even worse. On the hand where there's a 4 card major opening, or the play relies on 16 points being in opener's 1NT hand (or worse yet, 12-14!), she will be lost to start, never mind not understanding the point being made.

A modern(!) "introduction to declarer play" and "introduction to defence" would be great - but hard, dry reading. Looking at my collection, I'm wondering if a collection of newspaper columns, like Frank Stewart's "2 Minute Bridge Tips", would work better? Digestible, can spark a longer explanation conversation, but can be put away once "the brain is full".

If I was willing to deal with "but the bidding is wrong" explanations, I'd still look at "5 Weeks". Still the best beginner book to explain "why" rather than "what". Another one you'd probably have to lend from your own (*).

Now, *lending* her Mollo - with some discussion around "read this for the story and the people - you will come to recognize the people, and you have to look for them at the table. Don't worry too much about the bidding, but try to see how the play works." to show the joy, as well as the challenge, of the game, might work.

But note: "don't let mycroft near the novices" - BB. For exactly this reason - I can't think down far enough to talk with "just starting lessons" level. Which, of course, is why my warning, but ICBVeryW.

(*) I used to haunt used bookstores, and I'd pick up "lending copies" of several books, because there were those that I was pretty certain they'd ask if they could keep. "5 Weeks", the K/S bible, Watson, Simon, "Bid Better, Play Better"...Would probably add "How to Read your Opponents' Cards" if I could find another copy.

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2024-April-11, 10:15, said:

Would probably add "How to Read your Opponents' Cards" if I could find another copy.

You can't have mine
A book that helped me a lot.
Although as you say, I really wish he had taken even two pages (it would have been enough) to explain his granitic assumptions about "standard" carding and bidding.

In this respect I really appreciated the current foreword to "Card play technique, or the art of being lucky" which makes the bidding accessible to a modern audience.

[jdiana]

December is still a long way off, in bridge lesson terms. You may want to wait and gauge her level of interest in, say, November. Unfortunately, I've known a few people who started to learn bridge but decided it wasn't for them.

Even if, as I hope, she's still enthusiastic, she might like to read a bridge-related book that doesn't feel like homework. Two possibilities are The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats: A Newcomer's Journey into the World of Bridge, by Edward McPherson; and Bumblepuppy Days by Julian Laderman. (You might have to settle for a used book - I'm not sure either one is still in print.)

[blackshoe]

P_Marlowe, on 2024-April-11, 00:54, said:

Do not over do it.

Yeah, that's why I started this thread. I tend to get over-enthusiastic.

[blackshoe]

jdiana, on 2024-April-13, 17:31, said:

December is still a long way off, in bridge lesson terms. You may want to wait and gauge her level of interest in, say, November. Unfortunately, I've known a few people who started to learn bridge but decided it wasn't for them.

Even if, as I hope, she's still enthusiastic, she might like to read a bridge-related book that doesn't feel like homework. Two possibilities are The Backwash Squeeze and Other Improbable Feats: A Newcomer's Journey into the World of Bridge, by Edward McPherson; and Bumblepuppy Days by Julian Laderman. (You might have to settle for a used book - I'm not sure either one is still in print.)

I have both of those. I suppose I could lend her one of them. Waiting is… :-)

[mycroft]

More Fun bridge: David Silver's bridge humour books (Tales out of School, etc.) are good, and somewhat more modern bidding than Mollo's (first) books.

I love "Tops and Bottoms" collected by the Granovetters. Sort of a "Right Through the Pack" but a little less "textbook" and a little more "bar story". Of course, if she doesn't mind a bit of "textbook" with her fun, you can't go wrong with "Right Through the Pack".

And yeah, December is a ways away. My comments on "a bit too soon" above might not apply if she gets into it after the lessons.