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| The Big Match Batsford £13.20 inc p&p from the Mr
Bridge Mail Order Service In the world of cinema it often happens that a new film is a remake of some classic from two or three decades ago. In the same way Julian Pottage's latest book, Win the Big Match, follows a theme used in several books written by the great Hugh Kelsey in the 1980s. You, the reader, are playing in a Gold Cup final and are tested on sixty-four deals. There is an opportunity to 'score up' after each set and to see if you eventually win the match. Pottage is an accurate analyst with the valuable knack of recognising an interesting deal. I found his selection of deals first-class. They were fairly difficult to solve, mind you, and average club players might find themselves out of their depth. Test yourself on Deal 15. (Only the North-South hands are initially displayed in the book.)
How would you play the spade game on a trump lead? Pottage explains that you have eight top tricks, including
one for the Although the book was technically excellent, I did not get
much added pleasure from the setting. Your partner, Pat, is deliberately
left amorphous so the reader can visualise either a male or female. Every
time I read such as 'If Lucy has three diamonds' I had to look back to
the bidding table to see if Lucy was West or East. I preferred Kelsey's
use of a mere 'East' or 'West'. Also, details such as 'Suzanne dips into
her bag for some pumpkin seeds and pops a few into her mouth. Then she
ruffs with the David Bird | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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