Customer Reviews

Two-Over-One Game Force

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being unsatisfied with my level of understanding of the two over one bidding system (after a friend taught the basics to me), I read this book, which everyone told me was the authority on the subject. I found in this book a fairly complete description of a system a level or two more sophisticated than what I had previously played. Max Hardy tries to convey a great deal of information to the reader, so the text is somewhat dense and must be read slowly and carefully. Furtheremore, despite its length, the book doesn't always cover certain situations in as much depth as I would like. On a possibly related note, Max Hardy assumes that the reader has a good knowledge of standard bidding. Hence, my earlier disappointment at the lack of depth in some cases may reflect more my own lack of knowledge than any deficiency on Max Hardy's part (this is the first book I have read describing an entire bidding system).

In short, if you're interested in learning two over one, you really should read this book. Eventually. If you're a fairly inexperienced player, first finish learning standard bidding and then be prepared for a slow but informative read.

Max Hardy's book is considered, by most bridge teachers and experts, to be the bible for the 2/1 game force bidding method. It comprehensively covers every aspect of an entire bidding system encompassing 2/1 GF, 1NT forcing and all of the supporting conventions necessary to make up a bidding system to address all hand possibilities. Quite frankly, it isn't easy to read, because each paragraph contains a nugget of knowledge which must be carefully digested by the reader. But, it's a must read for anyone who wants to keep up to date on the most exciting innovations in bridge bidding over the last decade. After having read through the entire book twice, I keep my copy at my bedside, and fall asleep reading a randomly selected section. Each time, I discover another nuance which enhances my bridge bidding repertoire.

Two Over One Game Force by Max Hardy is for all competitive duplicate bridge players who want to learn this system or effectively defend against it. Since two over one is probably the most used bidding system in North America today, an understanding of the principles is essential. Though this book is ten years old, it is still the best text for learning and for reference for any partnership wishing to develop and advance their two over one knowledge. I found it to well written and concise. As with any system, it will require many hours to absorb and many hours of practice to attain proficiency, but it is a more natural system than Precision or other big club bids. It allows a game forcing bid at a low level, thus giving a partnership room to explore for the right game or slam. Expect to spend a lot of time with this volume, and to constantly return to it, but it will greatly improve your ability to find your best contract. Isn't that what it's all about?

I believe I am a fair bridge player. Wished to learn a more advanced system than 5 card majors, which I currently play. English is not my mother language but am used to it as I work in an international environment. Found the book content well structured and written but concise. It takes too much effort and concentration to go thru the descriptions of the biddings. It lacks templates and tables that would facilitate the visual memorization of the steps. E.G: most of the hand points required by a bidding are represented in letters rather than in numbers. So are the suits declared during the auction rather than using symbols. Would recommend a new edition with more tables and less words which shall not necessarily imply... less pages and therefore lower price!

No question, Max sure knows his 2/1gf system...wish I could say the same for me after wading through it...I'm sure if you wanted to spend many hours sifting his text, you'd be a super 2/1 player, but in my estimation, the book needs two things: a better format, and example bids with each paragraph...I know that would lengthen book, but you have to IMAGINE the bidding from each little paragraph to get the sense of what he's saying. From his book, I conclude that 2/1 is too complex for me...too much memory work involved. Too bad, many people in Zone Bridge Club on the internet think highly of the system. Of course, I'm no expert...which is why I selected Max's book...to become one.

The granddaddy of the 2/1 system. A must read for all modern bridge players. Even if you deside not to play the system at least you will know what most others are playing. Very readable. Covers a wide range of bidding topics. Well thought out.

Clearly, this is a great book for either the expert or the novice (previously stuck in the world of SAYC) trying to move into the world of better bidding.

I am writing this review as a counterweight to some of the other reviews that find something here to praise. Credentials: I have played with 2/1 since the early seventies, when it was called Walsh, after one of its primary developers; occasionally playing the system but far more often against it. I have never cared for this approach to bidding, so it makes it easier for me to be critical of one of the system's principal advocates.

I suspect that most bridge players who pick up this book are motivated by pressure from your peers to adopt 2/1. Newer players may be following the advice of others who tell them they need to understand the system to compete against it. If so, you probably don't have much choice but to learn enough of it to argue the system's merits, or lack thereof. Hardy's 2/1 book is not particularly good for either objective. It would be better to look to a writer who has a better sense of what is essential and what is not. The primary virtue of Hardy's book is actually shared by any system book - if you and your partner have both read it, you will know what your own bids mean and sometimes what your partner or opponent is doing, unlike the majority of players, who only think they do.

If you read a good book on bidding systems like the book on Romex by George Rosenkrantz - the book is superb, the system is quirky - or Kaplan and Sheinwold [on the K-S system], or even the original Four Aces book published in 1932, you will find out a lot more about actual bridge than you will in Hardy's book. The two over one system is sort of like a sleek hull that has acquired an accretion of barnacles to the point that the vessel barely makes headway. Max Hardy loves every barnacle.

If you are not committed to playing 2/1, you can step back and see that the gimmicks attached to gimmicks really are an indication that the fundamental idea behind 2/1GF does not work very well. The cost to accuracy in bidding caused by adopting a strong two-over-one response is much higher than inexperienced players usually realize. The limit hand of 10-12 points occurs opposite an opening bid far more often than a game forcing bid. The Walsh-Hardy method does not bid these as well as old-fashioned standard techniques.

Accurate game decisions occur when you can assess side-suit fits. Everyone understands this when they consider help-suit or short-suit game tries over a simple major suit raise but most players forget the principle when their partner has a limit raise. Even players who avoid the complexities of 2/1 tend to use some sort of bulk-strength-showing bid like invitational jump bids or Bergen raises, rather than using a technique that reveals which cards are "working" or what values are duplicated.

Supposedly, the cost of the system is compensated by the freedom to make low-level exploratory bids on those rare occasions when two opening bids accrue to the same side of the contest. Even this strength of the system is suspect: Partners who take this idea seriously tend to meander about with good hands, revealing helpful information to the defenders, rather than honing in on their own goal quickly. Two-over-one tends to assign systemic meaning to simple jump bids in forcing auctions [usually a splinter raise or a fragment bid], so it is difficult for either partner to unambiguously show that their hand has extra values without an improved fit. The notion that "fast arrival" can clarify the issue is mistaken. The partner of the fast arriver may have substantially more than a simple game force but be un-inclined to show it because their partner has pre-empted them. Most system players have discarded strong jump-shift responses to play Bergen raises and pre-emptive jumps so they cannot really clarify when they have an extraordinary hand.

If you have the option, I recommend that you avoid this system. If you cannot avoid the system, I recommend that you avoid this book.

Today's most popular bidding style thoroughly explained.