Commonly Used Conventions in the 21st Century: The Spade Series (Acbl Bridge Series, 4)

I'm a big fan of the ACBL bridge series books, particularly the first few books on bidding, play of the hand, and defense.However, the conventions books lacks the clarity of these earlier books.On the positive side, this book includes a nice array of conventions (e.g. transfers, stayman, weak-two bids + strong 2 clubs) suitable for a learning bridge player, and goes into them in a reasonable amount of depth.However, this book spends so much time rehashing the "standard" bidding guidelines (e.g. things like 12 points to open, 6 points and 4+ cards to change a suit) that the actual presentation of the conventions gets lost in the material. It's almost as if the author tried to merge the entire contents of the bidding book into this one. For instance, 40 pages is spent on a chapter discussing responses to 1 of a minor, and not a single new convention is introduced in this chapter (though brief mentions of conventions brought up in earlier conventions are present)! It's all rehashing the material already given in the Bidding book. Surely this space might be better used introducing Blackwood (which is not discussed in this book in any depth) or control-showing cuebids.FWIW, I think the pattern this book has is it feels compelled to give endless examples of the "basic bidding" system. Surely, this is not needed -- anyone reading this book will be familiar with the material covered in the Bidding book. Instead, just a brief statement of what a given bid means in a given context should be sufficient.

Many years ago, my wife taught me to play bridge and for a time we had two couples to play with and we used to play twice or sometimes four times a month. However, first one of our friends passed away and very soon another one fromthe different couple also passed away, Somehow we never looked for other partners and stopped playing bridge.When I retired in June 2010 I decided I was going to relearn the game and started taking classes on bridge,I had several books, but I started buying new ones, and this book I bought from Amazon :"Commonly Used Conventions"has helped me tremendously to complete my classes and relearn the game. Even to professionals or to people that areplaying bridge and have done it for a long time, I would recommend reading this book. It is well written and helpsto remember the conventions that will allow you and your partner to learn what kind of cards are you holding and thepossibilities of going to game better.

If you want a book to look up conventions, this one is not for you. There is no index, and the 2-page Table of Contents does not mention most of the conventions that are discussed.For example, if you want information on splinter bids, you won't find them listed in the Table of Contents. However, there is a discussion of splinter bids in the Appendix under "Other Conventions", where Splinter bids are listed as a "Supplement to Chapter 3" on major-suit openings and responses. Later in the Appendix there is another discussion of splinter bids - this one as a "Supplement to Chapter 5" on minor-suit opening bids and responses. This discussion begins by referring you to an earlier discussion ("see page 308"), but there is nothing on that page dealing with splinter bids.The easiest way to find a brief reference to a convention in this book is to look in the Glossary, which follows the Appendix. Here there is a one-sentence description of a "splinter bid" but no reference to the more extended discussion earlier in the book.Despite the difficulty in finding information about conventions, this summary of selected conventions is useful if you are willing to read it (not consult it from time to time) from start to finish, as though taking a course (in fact, the book is designed as a textbook for an ACBL-approved course). There are lots of examples, and sample deals. For a book that is much easier to read, and much better organized, try "25 Bridge Conventions You Should Know", by Barbara Seagram and Marc Smith.

As an intermediate bridge player I decided to purchase all of Audrey Grant's bridge series. When I opened this last one and read the chapter titles I thought that it will be too basic for me. But as I read, I changed my opinion. This book brings together many concepts from bidding, play & defense and goes into more depth about the various conventions (Stayman, Jacoby transfer, etc.) than is usually found in other books. I recommend it highly if you are willing to take the time to study it.

Good book easy to follow. Good exercises to help you learn the conventions.

Although I have only skimmed this book because I am currently reading and exploring the companion book on bidding, if this is as good as the volume "Bidding in the Twenty-first Century," it is worth every penny. This series sets out all the recent guidelines for bridge players. Easy to follow and has many opportunities to try out what you have just learned. It is coordinated with computer bridge hands, but I have not yet tried it. I have heard that they are very well done.

Excellent book, after you have become an above avg. bridge player i.e. Bidding, Defence, etc.

This entire series of Bridge Books/Lessons is fabulous!!!! If you are a brand new beginner, the first book is the place to start...but now as perhaps an advanced beginner/intermediate player, this edition is a great tool...and I refer to my previous books quite often. thank you!!!

My problem is not with the body ofnwork, but I received two copies, both of which were bound incorrect so the cover kept falling off. I returned both copies, and was issued a refund. This book was part of a complete set by Audrey Grant, and was a birthday gift. So I am really disappointed with Amazons quality control.

This is a book can be used for beginner, intermediate or even advanced player for reference from time to time. and price is right.

excellent book for learning how to play bridge

Like this as there are lots of test questions

Really enjoy this one of a series.