To Open, or Not to Open: Featuring the Rule Of 20 Book

I loved To Bid or Not to Bid, so I rushed out to buy this sequel, hoping I'd learn better how to apply the law in real bidding situations. (For anyone who doesn't know, Following the Law, like To Bid is a non-fiction book dealing with contract bridge).

There was some of what I hoped for in this book--a bit more specifics on how to apply the adjustment factors described in To Bid. The big problem for me was that author Larry Cohen spent a great deal of time defending the basic principles behind "the LAW." Because I bought into the LAW from reading To Bid or Not to Bid, I was hoping for less justification for the LAW and more application. I've got the choice of bidding two spaces rather than letting them play at two hearts if it looks like we've got sixteen trump, but what about bidding three hearts when we've got sixteen trump? Letting them play at 2 is not going to be good, but going down two doubled at 3 isn't going to be good either.

Larry Cohen is a mega-bridge champion who can also write. Following the LAW has good information and I'm glad I picked it up. I just wish Cohen had given more detail on how to follow the law in close situations, and spent a little less time justifying his basic ideas (I know Cohen and the LAW came under attack from others, so justification made sense from his perspective... it just wasn't what I, or perhaps other players at my level, need most.