Bridge Book Jeremy

Reading this book will make you a better bridge player

When Bridge Squeezes Complete first appeared in 1959, it unlocked the mysteries of squeeze play – until then the province of top experts only. Love explained clearly and carefully how squeezes work – from the simplest squeeze to the most complex. He gave rules for recognizing squeezes, and for executing them when they occurred, that every player r could understand. Love’s system of classifying squeezes has been used by most subsequent writers. In theory words, the book has lived up to the original foreword by Woodson and Norwood, who wrote, ‘We confidently predict that this work will become an all-time class.’ Indeed the book appears on most published lists of ‘the top ten bridge books ever written’.

However, even a classic, like a Renaissance painting, may need restoring eventually. The game of bridge has changed a great deal in the last fifty years, and contemporary theorists have built on Professor Love’s foundation to advance our knowledge and understanding of squeeze play. With respect and appreciation for Love’s original accomplishment, Linda Lee and Julian Pottage have revised the book to make it more accessible for today’s reader. They have reanalyzed every exercise using modern software tools, modifying and replacing where necessary. The bidding has been completely updated. Love’s original explanations have been expanded: very little is now ‘left as an exercise for the reader’. Finally, a substantial number of new examples have been added, especially in the areas of trump squeezes, entry squeezes and non-material squeezes.