Reviews for Moments of Truth at the Bridge Table

The average rating for Moments of Truth at the Bridge Table based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-05-31 00:00:00 Carl Ekstein The bombs were falling on Britain when S. J. Simon sat down to write Why You Lose at Bridge and I imagine he was finding it a challenge to keep his mind occupied, what with his regular partners getting drawn into war work. (A pity, really, as bridge is such a wonderful distraction. When you're playing a hand, particularly a dicey one in a contract that you bid, nothing else matters. Not even the blitz.) So here's his advice on how to play a smarter game, set down before computers could calculate the odds of making this or that contract with x number of HCPs. More art than science, in other words, although mathematics is not neglected. A lot has changed since 1940, in bridge and in the world at large. Simon's casual anti-Semitism and knee-jerk misogyny stands out, at least for this reader: "Mrs. Winklestein always fiddles with her diamond ring when she is bluffing." "A bad bid with a good partner -- three Diamonds is correct. With Mrs. Guggenheim, however, the bid is pardonable for she is quite capable of bidding three No Trumps over a three Diamonds . . ." The other bad player examples he comes up with are generic males: Mr. Smug, Futile Willie, The Unlucky Expert. Why name Mrs. Guggenheim (a total dolt) and Mrs. Winkleman, I can't help wondering? Did he have a problem with Jewish women at the bridge table? Nevertheless, Simon's analysis helped me think more strategically.The last time I played bridge was in 1974, but I was determined to get back up to speed for the cruise. I read it alongside a more up-to-date manual Bridge Basics 1: An Introduction, then started lurking on Bridge Base Online, watching master players, soon graduated to playing a few games against the robots before bed. When I boarded the ship in Hong Kong, I was ready. In the first duplicate tournament I played, my partner and I took first! Nobody was more surprised than I was, and I never again matched that high, but I will continue to learn from Simon and may venture back to BBO to play real (virtual) humans, from time to time, now that I'm back on dry land.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-04-27 00:00:00 Gabriel Hernandez You don't need to be a bridge expert to follow SJ Simon's discussion of common beginner's mistakes. This is one of my favorite books and is filled with humor and wisdom that does not apply only to bridge hands. One of his main themes is the importance of simplicity in bidding and handplay.