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 enlarge | Author: Eddie Kantar
Publisher: For Dummies
Category: Book
List Price: $16.99
Buy New: $1.77
You Save: $15.22 (90%)
New (42) Used (23) from $1.77
Avg. Customer Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 11948
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 388
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0471924261
Dewey Decimal Number: 795.413
EAN: 9780471924265
ASIN: 0471924261
Publication Date: September 25, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: SHIPS TODAY!! BRAND NEW BOOK
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| Customer Reviews:
 Clear & methodic approach January 9, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is my second book on bridge. I started with "It's Bridge Baby" which I would recommend to a complete novice to the game and/or card playing in general.
Bridge for Dummies is not the comprehensive authority on bridge but it is a solid foundation and intermediate step to solid play based on good fundamentals. I highly recommend it.
Excellent Book For Novices January 6, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book contains bidding, play of the hand, and defense. Kantar is a clear writer. The type setting for the hands has been improved in this new 2006 edition. It's a much better book than the Idiot's Guide to Bridge. An absolute beginner would probably need help from another player or teacher to get through this book. The trouble with most begining bridge books is that they only have bidding. The play section is first and the book keeps it simple and clear. I like that the No Trump section uses 15-17 HCP and Jacoby Transfers.
Bridge March 23, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Great book for novices and beginners. Very easy to understand and use as a reference.
Hard to go wrong with this one February 10, 2006
26 out of 26 found this review helpful
BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES is a good and generous book and I have no trouble saying it excels over most similar beginners' books.
Why? It's CONCISE. Kantar, a world-class authority and bridge player, takes the reader who doesn't even know that Aces top Kings and introduces the fundamentals of play. IMHO I don't think he goes too fast for the beginner, but the book is . . .
EFFICIENT. Kantar teaches the elements of play before the elements of bidding. He does this by teaching play at notrump (so the tactical elements of a trump suit are not at issue) and generally assumes a 3NT (notrump) contact, which is worth game. And it works quite well; play at bridge is difficult but probably less difficult than bridge bidding. Later on, we can take the strategic and tactical material we use at notrump and apply them to contracts at one of the four suits (Kantar defines trumps as "wild cards," perhaps not strictly according to Hoyle but helpful nonetheless.)
COMPREHENSIVE. Kantar goes all the way through trump suits, booking slams (contracts to take all, or all but one, of the card tricks), and other recognizable situations. He has an amiable, at times amusing way of introducing tips and necessary bridge terminology. He's also . . .
MODERN. He assumes the use of 5-card majors and will allow an opening with eleven high-card points (HCP to initiates) in a hand at any position if the bid suit is good enough. Weak two-bids, too, of course.
I'm not crazy about advocating the 11 HCP opener in all positions but this is a very small wrinkle in this engaging and useful book.
Notes on production: It is certainly true that the text of BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES is only in black-and-white and does not show red for the red suits of diamonds and hearts, but then neither does the daily bridge column in the newspaper. The FOR DUMMIES series needs to keep costs down, after all. At the time of this writing (July 2008), Amazon has BRIDGE FOR DUMMIES at an attractive discount, so this is a great way to get more book for your buck.
Ditto: Great approach to teaching a sophisticated game February 9, 2004
36 out of 36 found this review helpful
I am also new to bridge, and have also tried several other books on the subject. The three that I tried previously started with covering hand evaluation and bidding. By the time I get to the sections on "Responding to Responses at No Trump", I was getting lost. Kanter's approach is just the opposite. He teaches the mechanics of playing the hand first, THEN teaches how to evaluate the hand and bid. This is a great approach because once you learn how the play should be done, you are in a much better position to understand WHY you should evaluate and bid the way a hand demands you should. I've only studied the first 65 pages or so, but can already see a dramatic improvement in my bidding and my play. I can't wait to continue to study this great book. Overall, a terrific approach to teaching this great game. I can't wait to read some of Kanter's other books as well. Addendum: I continue to read and carefully study the chapters on play which preceed the chapters on bidding. There is lots of great material here. Don't let the "For Dummies" title fool you. This is a great book by a great teacher. Addendum 2: Here I am 6 months after buying this book, and am I glad I did. I'm playing online regularly, and am gearing up for my first NABC in July! I'm still a novice, and there is a tremendous amount of learning and practice ahead, but this book has been a tremendous first step. I think that of all the beginner books that I've read on ANY subject, this has been the best in terms of preparing me for the next level.
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