Mike Lawrence's Bidding Quizzes I: The Uncontested Auction

Although Mike Lawrence has another title called the 2/1 workbook, this book is actually more of a workbook than the one titled workbook, in my view. And its an excellent and essential one. Hundreds of hand sequences are given, you guess what you would bid and the author tells you his recommendation and why. Working through these hands will give you a firm foundation for the 2/1 system, its strengths AND weaknesses. I emphasise the latter because Mike Lawrence does not (like some authors) choose hands that are easy for the system or inevitably overemphasize its strengths. In this book, as in all of Lawrence's bridge books, he reminds you that bridge is not an exact science, and there will always be hands that are awkward to bid in any system, and there will never be a substitute for good judgment and some educated guesswork. I would have given 5*'s if the format had been a bid more felicitious. For instance, if the hands and prior bidding were on one page and the recommendations and analysis on the facing page, the reader would more easily be able to make his or her response without seeing the author's recommendations. But this is a minor point which does not detract from the value of this book in teaching 2/1 Lawrence style.

You learn by doing, not just reading. There are around 600 bidding sequences and hands. You make your bid and see what the author thinks. He explains the strengths and weaknesses of some of the likely choices. You learn how not to wrong side NT contracts (missing stoppers, or exposing pards stopper). Not only is your knowledge of 2/1 bidding tested, but so is your judgement. There may be 2 roughly equal bids available, and the author will explain why one is slightly better than the other. The way to get the most out of the book is to keep a record of quizzes you got wrong, then come back to the book in 6 months and see how you do. Note: This book uses Mike Lawrences version of 2/1 not Max Hardys, so there are a few differences.