Adventures in Card Play (Master Bridge Series) [Paperback]

Geza Ottlik (Author), Hugh Kelsey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005 | Series: Master Bridge Series

Geza Ottlik had a remarkable talent for discovering and analyzing strange and fascinating aspects of card play in bridge. This brilliant book is the result of his collaboration with Hugh Kelsey—whose skill at high-level analysis of bridge problems was equalled only by his ability as an instructive writer. Adventures in Card Play is universally regarded as one of the all-time great classics of bridge.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugh Kelsey, one of the great bridge writers and analysts, was the editor of the Master Bridge Series for many years. Geza Ottlik was a famous Hungarian novelist and bridge analyst.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cassell (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304368075
• ISBN-13: 978-0304368075
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.2 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #828,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Desert Island book, September 12, 2000

By 

Vin de Silva (Claremont, California USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in Card Play (Paperback)

This is one book I shall take onto the desert island with me -- at least, I would if I hadn't given away all of my copies to various bridge-playing friends.

I first picked up "Adventures on Card Play" many years ago, at the same time that I was learning about squeezes and throw-ins and other beautiful techniques in card play. Simple squeezes, strip-squeezes, criss-cross squeezes, ... I thought I'd seen it all. After all, how many different ways can there be to play a hand of cards?

Kelsey and Ottlik's wonderful, glorious book showed me just how wrong I was. Each chapter (with delicious chapter headings like "The Fiercer Trump Sqeezes") is a banquet in itself, hand after hand of richly ingenious card-play manoeuvres. It's stunning, exuberant entertainment. Just like Raymond Smullyan in his remarkable "Chess Mysteries" books, Kelsey and Ottlik have the ability to squeeze nectar from a stone. Uncanny.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The play of the cards at the highest level!, June 3, 1999

By 

John Brady "jdblaw" (Jacksonville, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in Card Play (Paperback)

Based on a series by Ottlik published in The Bridge World, this book features the most difficult play problems and deepest analysis of the play of the hands in all of bridge literature! The book is more for entertainment than instruction, because no one plays hands as difficult as these this well consistently, even at the championship level! Lots of squeezes with and without the count, dummy reversals, and throw-ins, and Ottlik is especially fond of elopement plays. Not for beginners, and casual players will find the play difficult to keep up with. More experienced players will likely absorb some of what's going on: Stunning exhibitions of declarer play!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sistine Chapel of Bridge Books..., September 7, 2001

By 

Jay T. Segarra (Ocean Springs, MS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adventures in Card Play (Paperback)

The most sublime bridge book ever written is an extensive exploration of a core of intricate themes in card play. Covered are entry squeezes, trump squeezes, entry-shifting squeezes, elopement, throw-ins, dummy reversal, and backwash squeezes. There are also three chapters on a unique subject, squeezes, finesses and throw-ins against cards that do not immediately lead to any material gain, yet are necessary to set up a later trick. In reading these chapters, one feels that universal secrets are being revealed, like observing the birth of stars through some powerful telescope. A life-enriching experience that begs for an annual re-rereading!