The ABCs of Bridge [Paperback]

William S. Root (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 1998

William S. Root, winner of many national bridge championships, premier bridge teacher, author of classic bridge books, and recently elected to the Bridge Hall of Fame, is one of America's foremost bridge personalities.
        
As a player, Bill Root has won all three of the most important American trophies (the Vanderbilt, the Spingold, and the Reisinger) a total of thirteen times. He has represented the United States in the Bridge Olympiad; in the Bermuda Bowl; and on exhibition tours to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He is rated a World Master by the World Bridge Federation.
        
As a bridge teacher, Bill is considered to be one of the best of all time and has helped tens of thousands to enjoy the world's most popular card game. He has been the director for the National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament and has served as Card Games Authority for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers, making him the modern-day Hoyle for the 120 million card players in America.
        
His many best-selling bridge books include Commonsense Bidding, How to Play a Bridge Hand, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand (all of which won the Book of the Year title awarded by the American Bridge Teachers' Association.) He also coauthored the popular Modern Bridge Conventions with Richard Pavlicek.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

William S. Root, winner of many national bridge championships, premier bridge teacher, author of classic bridge books, and recently elected to the Bridge Hall of Fame, is one of America's foremost bridge personalities.
        
As a player, Bill Root has won all three of the most important American trophies (the Vanderbilt, the Spingold, and the Reisinger) a total of thirteen times. He has represented the United States in the Bridge Olympiad; in the Bermuda Bowl; and on exhibition tours to South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. He is rated a World Master by the World Bridge Federation.
        
As a bridge teacher, Bill is considered to be one of the best of all time and has helped tens of thousands to enjoy the world's most popular card game. He has been the director for the National Intercollegiate Bridge Tournament and has served as Card Games Authority for the Association of American Playing Card Manufacturers, making him the modern-day Hoyle for the 120 million card players in America.
        
His many best-selling bridge books include Commonsense Bidding, How to Play a Bridge Hand, and How to Defend a Bridge Hand (all of which won the Book of the Year title awarded by the American Bridge Teachers' Association.) He also coauthored the popular Modern Bridge Conventions with Richard Pavlicek.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (November 10, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609801627
• ISBN-13: 978-0609801628
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #385,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

97 of 103 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good book for new players, February 27, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Redondo Beach, California) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The ABCs of Bridge (Paperback)

I've always thought William Root's books were very good, so I was glad to see his new offering. I'll be using in a small class for beginning players. It is so important to get new players off on the right foot, and it is far too easy to scare them away with too many gadgets or an unreadable book. The system the book teaches is a fairly standard modern system, although my opinion is that limit raises in majors should now be viewed as standard (the book mentions limit raises, but advises people to begin with forcing raises). That's a pretty small and debatable issue in an otherwise excellent book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good introduction to Bridge, February 17, 2006

By 

V. Natarajan (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The ABCs of Bridge (Paperback)

This is a good introduction to bridge, which covers enough bidding and card play (i.e. declarer and defensive play) that you can at least get to the table and understand the basics of all facets of bridge. Needless to say, as an introduction to a complex game, it won't make you an expert, but that's not its goal. My only objection to this book is that a feature of its bidding system is outdated (it treats raises to the three level as game-forcing instead of limit-raises).

For an introduction without outdatedness, there is Eddie Kantar's "Bridge for Dummies". The disadvantages to Kantar's book are that it's a bit longwinded, and that it does not contain quizzes to help reinforce understanding.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars for beginners, August 19, 2006

By 

Winnie (Elmira, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The ABCs of Bridge (Paperback)

very useful for beginners and all players could benefit from reading it again