Eddie Kantar (1932–2022)

I first read this book when I was a beginning player hoping to become an intermediate one. My regular partner and I studied it together and integrated it into our game one chapter at a time. We both felt that it had been written for the person who'd been playing for a while (not a complete beginner), but was motivated to learn more. Our scores improved dramatically (we went from last in club games to placing regularly in a matter of two months).

This book covers all aspects of defense: show more opening leads and communicating with your partner through defensive signals. There are quizzes at the end of every chapter, and the book is clearly written with excellent example hands. Eddie Kantar has a sense of humor, which makes reading the book much more pleasant. My only complaint about this book is that he refers to upside-down carding only in a side note; it's not easy for the budding intermediate to translate standard carding to upside-down in the later chapters. show less

This was an okay intro, though it turned out to be too basic for me, and I ended up skipping sections I knew. Eddie Kantar is apparently very well thought of, but I found his writing a bit eclectic. He'd occasionally be making some not-so-dry jokes in the midst of set of tips, and it was more jarring to read this as a result. I wouldn't really recommend this guide, but it begins my exploration into bridge books because they had it at the library!

Kantar provides a numbered list of tips in a variety of categories, all related to declarer play. The categories include how to play different card combinations, how to interpret opening leads, how to place missing cards, and even how to execute a simple squeeze. There's minimal discussion, but still a bit of his trademark humor.

Winner of The Bridge Book of the Year 2009
Winner of the International Bridge Press Association (IBPA) Book of the year Award 2010