My Favorite 52 - Softcover

Cohen, Founder And Executive Director Larry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897106483 ISBN 13: 9781897106488

Publisher: Master Point Press, 2009

Synopsis

Using an intimate 'over-the-shoulder' presentation, this book takes us through 50-plus bridge deals from the authors own experience - deals that were important to him in some way, technically interesting, or just plain fun. A former computer programmer and options trader, Larry Cohen was for many years a full-time bridge professional and part-time golfer. Now retired from serious competition, he travels from his home base in Boca Raton, Florida, to fulfill his numerous lecturing engagements, and he writes regularly for several magazines. He has twenty national championships to his name, as well as two world championship medals. He is perhaps best-known for his classic book, To Bid or not to Bid, which at the time was the best-selling book on the game since Charles Goren's heyday (it has since been surpassed by 25 Bridge Conventions You should Know).

About this title

About the Author:

Larry Cohen (Boca Raton, Florida) won his first National Championship at age 22 and went on to collect 25 more titles before retiring from competition in 2009. Director of the prestigious Bridge World Master Solvers' Club and a frequent contributor to bridge magazines around the world, he is a popular bridge lecturer on land and at sea. His book To Bid or Not To Bid: the Law of Total Tricks is one of the all-time bestsellers on the game. Aside from bridge, his passions are playing golf and watching sports, especially his beloved Yankees.

Linda Lee (adaptor - Toronto, Canada) is a World Life Master. The author of four previous books, she conducts a popular bridge blog. Her most recent book was Barbara Seagram's Beginning Bridge (with Barbara Seagram).

Review:

Reviewed by Brent Manley

Delicious

As a consumer, I like to savor life's pleasures - especially good food and good books. That's my complaint about the new work from Larry Cohen: I couldn't put it down, leaving me feeling that it would be "used up" too quickly.

I guess my only option is to read it several times. Life is tough.

My Favorite 52 is unusual because it was originally published as interactive software. Linda Lee of Master Point Press adapted it to the softcover version. In most cases, the book comes first.

Bridge players who prefer to study the game away from the computer should be overjoyed at the availability of this treasure trove from Cohen's vast archive of interesting deals. In fact, there are more deals than the title promises, but the alliteration was irresistible, not to mention the utility of having 52 in the title of a bridge book.

It's the content that counts, after all, and Cohen manages to include a ton of instruction as part of his description of deals from real games, most of them in high-level competition (he played each one or was dummy). Each of the 52 has multiple parts, and Cohen offers a clock symbol to warn the reader to stop and think before proceeding. The book is nearly as interactive as the software and is ideal for someone striving to improve.

Cohen "retired" last year from major tournament play, saying he will concentrate on teaching and writing for the foreseeable future (he will continue his column in this magazine). He will be missed at tournaments, but if Cohen has more time for writing, that can only be a good thing for his many fans. --The Bridge Bulletin, February 2010

About this edition

• Publisher: Master Point Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1897106483
• ISBN 13: 9781897106488
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 263