How to Play a Bridge Hand: 12 Easy Chapters to Winning Bridge by America's Premier Teacher

Root's book is concise and effective, there is no superfluous flowery statements in this book and everything presented here is what you need to winning bridge. A polished book, you will like it, but be sure you have some very basic bridge knowledges before reading it!

"How to Play a Bridge Hand" is the definitive primer on declarer play. No, it does not teach advanced play technique like backwash squeezes or smother plays. What it does is provide a novice to intermediate player an overview of every aspect of dummy play. The discussions attempt to identify every common card play situation, and the quizzes reinforce this material. If it seems dry at times, that's only because Root apparently wanted to pack as much teaching into as little space as possible - and he succeeds admirably. This is a must-read book for anyone wanting to begin to improve their dummy play.

As one who considers himself in the upper novice category of bridge playing, I find this book to be a great tool to learn various techniques for playing bridge hands. There is no bidding in the examples unless it is required for play decisions. There is also no discussion of defense. The book has 12 chapters which each feature an 8 hand quiz at the end. The quiz hands usually focus on the concept covered in the chapter, but also branch out into ideas covered in previous chapters. Basic techniques such as trump play, entries, end plays, and squeezes have their own chapters. As the forward points out, this book is not for rank beginners, nor will the expert get much out of it. For the other 90% of us, it's a great resource to have!

A splendid effort from Bill Root. Covers every aspect of play with tips on strategy, technique, and psychology. Covers suit combinations, communications, entries, trump control, ruffing, counting, card reading, squeezes, and end plays. 1990 Bridge Book of the Year.

Bill Root's "How to Teach a Bridge Hand" is for most bridge players from novice to advanced, but not for experts. It covers the basics of dummy play, with clear presentations. You won't find strip squeeze and entry-shifting squeeze in this book, but you will find the book useful for those hands frequently appearing at the table