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Tim
Bourke, the co-author of many books with David Bird, Martin Hoffman
and his own “Maastricht Challenge” has written a review of
“Simple Squeezes” for the ACBL magazine:
“Simple
Squeezes”
by Anthony Moon is the first of eight books planned on squeezes as
part of a retirement project. He believes that “Squeezes have always
been considered the domain of experts but many of the positions are
straightforward once the basic principles are understood. Once
a player masters the simple positions the possibilities are
endless.”
So you might ask “How does the author set out to help you master
this category of squeezes?” Well after some basic definitions, he
introduces the clever acronym TOWEL to describe what you want the
victim to throw in and to help remember the requirements for a
simple squeeze.
Then he examines each of the five basic cases of a Simple Squeeze
and these are supported by a number of examples of each, which helps
clarify what is going on - especially because the TOWEL acronym
features prominently in the explanations. Indeed my wife loved
the book because the examples were so clearly explained, especially
endings. This clarity is aided by the book being printed on 11.7” x
8.3” paper, which allows for the original deal and the ending to
appear on the same page.
The basics, including defending against squeezes, covers about 60%
of the book. The rest of the material looks at Simple Squeeze where
there is a an additional problem, usually related to a blockage or
to a difficulty with entries. The end conditions for these are
illustrated and then supported with at least one example deal on
which the ending would occur against best defense.
There have been over 30 books specialising in squeezes, this is one
of the clearest presentations of Simple Squeeze I have seen. It also
helped me create a few full deals featuring some of the more
exotically named squeezes, which was an enjoyable exercise.
Rating A++
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