Reviews of products by Chris Hasney

Simplicity Bridge

reviewed by Steve Bruno
Rating: ★★★★★ (Date Added: Tuesday 03 March, 2009)

If bridge is going to survive as a recreational activity, it will be saved by Chris Hasney and visionaries like him. Chris successfully teaches someone who literally does not know the difference between a spade and a heart how to play winning bridge in one hundred sixty-three pages. He uses language a non-bridge player can understand. He instills a sense of fun into the entire process by using terms such as "Monster Mash" to describe hands with freak distribution. He lists and elaborates on almost every element of bidding, declarer play and defense that a new player will need to master in order to be successful and does so efficiently and with flair. Not only that, but, at the end of each chapter, he suggests a bibliography which is divided by tiers of difficulty and sophistication.

Chris' target audience is the non-bridge player who wants to learn how to play bridge. This hypothetical player could be young or old. He could have interest in tournament play or his interest could be limited to home or club play. Chris is not trying to save tournament duplicate bridge. He is attempting to save the game of bridge itself, without the trappings of master points or trophies.

This no-nonsense and simplistic (hence the name) approach to teaching the game is just what the doctor ordered. But don't think Chris' discussions of vital subjects such as slam bidding, defensive carding and declarer plays such as squeezes are cursory. Although they may not be able to immediately completely comprehend them, he is able to delve into the finer points of the game in a way that enables novices to appreciate their beauty and availability.

I'm not greatly familiar with e-books and their format, but Simplicity Bridge could have been aided by improved graphics. Chris uses several tables which help explain concepts, but they are somewhat stark and geeky at times.

If your life depended on teaching someone how to be a good bridge player within a limited amount of time, Chris Hasney's Simplicity Bridge would be your magic bullet.