Basic Bridge

This is well-written and thorough, as would be expected from this trio of experienced authors. Useful for beginners, but also for ensuring firm foundations for improvers and intermediates. There is a lot of detail, but the layout is clearer and less dense than in some of Klinger's other books. Several bidding sequences are laid out in table format, which is a very effective way of showing all the options. As usual, only one way to play the system is described without any mention of other options - Acol is an unregulated system and has varied over the years. However, it represents pretty standard "Basic Acol". A significant omission (common in basic bridge books) is any advice to opener and responder on what to do if opponents overcall and take away your bidding space; there is one paragraph on what to do if they double. Play techniques are a nice balance of theory, understanding and useful practical principles such as "second hand plays low", but also flag up some dangers in relying too heavily on the last-named rather than thinking through each hand on its merits. Five helpful "pre-bridge" games are described at the beginning (including what is now called Minibridge) which is a very good way of easing the beginner gently into the game. There are lots of good exercises, but no index. This stands alongside the books by Mendelson, Bridge for Complete Beginners , and the EBU Really Easy Bidding (The really easy bridge series : Standard English foundation level) as good guides for the beginner. Your preference between them will depend on personal style, e.g. Mendelson is more chatty.

This a great book but I think that people with some prior knowledge of bridge will get far more out it than those who are complete beginners If you are in that category Mendelson's "Bridge for Complete Beginners" may be more suitable. Klinger's book is very clear on the basic Acol system and there are plenty of examples of bidding and tips on card play. There are also and importantly plenty of exercises to test your knowledge. I have read several bridge books recently in an attempt to get up to a reasonable basic standard and this is by far the best in terms of clarity, layout and generally feeling it is helping me to make some progress in understanding the game.

Useful book , easy to read and understand . Used by the leader of our bridge group and good for follow up

It’s basic Brudge as it says on the cover! Useful

A real help in understanding the basics. Easy to follow and the exercises are invaluable.

Good condition and value for money.

I am taking formal bridge lessons and this book is my bible. It gives loads of practise quizzes (with answers) covering all aspects of the learning subject up to that point. I find it necessary to keep going over the old lessons so I don't forget them and this book is marvellous for that as it gives all possible examples that are covered. It also gives tips on how to play the hand well and certain techniques to evaluate a hand as declarer. Also tips for Defence play. Can't resist a glance at what comes next and even a simple understanding helps me in my next class lesson. You could actually learn first year Bridge with just this book alone.

Very pleased with this book. It came as described. delivery was good. The information and contents is exactly what I need to improve my bridge. Would definitely recommend

Great book!!!

I think it is essential to have some idea of the game of Bridge before trying to learn from this book. The bidding needs to be explained in more detail

This was more advanced than I wanted. Author knows his stuff, but I wasn’t ready