Killing Defense at Bridge Pa

by Hugh Walter Kelsey

Book Overview

Killing Defence at Bridge is one of the great all-time classics of bridge. It carries the mark of a genius and was the first in a series of major books written by Hugh Kelsey, who became... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0395700310
• ISBN13: 9780395700310
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Length: 191 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Necessary for the Advancing Bridge Player

This classic bridge book is a must for every serious bridge player who wants to advance to the next level. It is not for beginners, and even intermediate players could find its concepts a bit too advanced. But for the bridge player who is seeking to reach the expert or near expert level, it is required reading. It focuses on the hardest aspect of bridge play, defense. The theme throughout is that counting the number of cards that declarer and partner hold in the four suits is a requirement for good defense. The hands are excellent examples of how to do this. The book is well written and interesting. It is one of the top bridge books of all time.

Advanced book

There are many very good books on Defense. This is still one of the best. A nice set of topics and problems. A few of the problems use bidding that wouldn't be mainstream today and thus are less likely to be solved. The book focuses on visualization, rather than preventing a Criss Cross Squeeze (though there is a chapter in squeeze defense).

Bridge defence, but not for beginners

This is a book for good defenders. If you don't defend well, you need to learn how to defend before you read this. Kelsey teaches you to practice defending well. And that means counting to 13, over and over and over again. And it helps. If you are indeed a good defender, this will help make you a very good defender. The 15 pages on opening leads helped me more than the rest of the book combined. Right after reading the chapter, I played in a bridge tournament. Declarer had bid both majors and dummy had picked hearts, a suit I held A-x in. I immediately led the low heart, stopping declarer from ruffing spades while maintaining control, and setting the contract. It was almost exactly the hand Kelsey had shown on page 61! That's the good thing about this book. There's plenty of examples that are very similar to what you'll find in actual play. It improved my defensive play noticeably.

Sharpen your defense - you can COUNT on it!

All too often, bridge books present hands that look as if they were "set up." In order to get the right answer, you simply eliminate the "obvious" play. Not so in this book. Kelsey's hands look like those ordinary hands you might face in your local club or home game. Kelsey demonstrates that by thoroughly counting a hand (points, cards, tricks), a player can much more easily arrive at the killing defense. That's the major lesson in this book - counting, and Kelsey does a magnificent job of teaching it!

A constant reference to sharpen defensive skills

Kelsey's innovative approach to Bridge defence will have even the most skilled defender reading avidly. The problems and his approach to solving them are unique. The descriptions of the plays and options make entertaining reading in themselves and the experianced player is able to smile wrly on identifying their own common errors. A reference book that is great to read from cover to cover or just open at any page and try the hand. All players will come back to this book to be reminded what they have forgotten or find new ways to teach old dogs tricks.