This is the 3rd in the American Contract Bridge League's series of bridge books for beginning and advancing players. Successfully used for over 20 years, this edition has been updated to reflect modern theory. Lessons include Opening Leads vs. Notrump Contracts, Opening Leads vs. Suit Contracts, Third-Hand Play, Second-Hand Play, Defensive Signals, Developing Defensive Tricks, Interfering with Declarer, Making a Plan, and the new bonus lesson on Negative Doubles.
Defense is the hardest part of playing bridge, but that doesn't mean that it's impossible to learn. The authors explain how to make a plan as a defender: how to work out from the auction and play what declarer probably has, and which of the strategies available to defenders is likely to be successful.
So you tend to be dealt very bad hands. I know exactly you feel! But, facing the facts of life and recognising that it is not your fault, you are going to have to accommodate this failing and improve your defence. It is a hard part of the game; even in international competitions, the standard of defensive play is, to put it kindly, modest. Yes, you will get plenty of reports of brilliances involving spectacular switches, deceptions, unblocks and discards of honours. But for every one of those, there are countless others in which the display would disgrace any beginners' class. I am going to assume that you are a regular club or tournament player who knows the basics of defence but who comes unstuck when it comes to situations where you have to work the hand out in detail. This book will help you to improve dramatically in this area. -- Danny Roth.
Written for complete beginners, this book is based on material that Barbara Seagram uses in her own classes to introduce hundreds of new players to the game every year. The book will take readers to the point where they can enjoy a social game with friends or begin to explore their local bridge club.
A treasury of meditations for living from your heart--from a top teacher at the #1 online meditation service Insight Timer"Heart Minded offers us guidance on the sacred journey home ... to the heartspace where love is always and already right here." -Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance"Heart Minded is all at once a centering meditation, a practice, and an olive branch extended to the depths of your soul." -Pixie Lighthorse, author of Prayers of HonoringIn our noisy world, it can seem impossible to turn off our busy minds, which are so often flooded with worry and unending lists of tasks. So, when you feel overwhelmed and afraid, how can you return to grounded connection?"When we turn toward our hearts, we arrive like a bolt of lightning in the present moment, and all our arguments against ourselves and life go quiet," teaches Sarah Blondin. "No matter where you are, you can touch this place in yourself to feel free and alive."With poetic brilliance and skillful instruction, this renowned teacher brings you Heart Minded, a treasury of meditations and spiritual teachings to help you tune into your feeling heart. As the students of her popular online trainings can attest, these simple and powerful practices can instantly bring you into a deeper connection with yourself and others.In this new paperback edition, Heart Minded presents a full course in living a life guided by the wise heart. Open to any page for a reminder that, beneath your burdens and troubles, you are fundamentally whole and free.
Set in the fictitious world of Westeros, the hit television series Game of Thrones chronicles the bitter and violent struggle between the realm’s noble dynasties for control of the Seven Kingdoms. But this beloved fantasy drama has just as much to say about the successful strategies and real-life warfare waged in our own time and place. Winning Westeros brings together more than thirty of today’s top military and strategic experts, including generals and admirals, policy advisors, counterinsurgency tacticians, science fiction and fantasy writers, and ground?level military officers, to explain the strategy and art of war by way of the Game of Thrones saga. Each chapter of Winning Westeros provides a relatable, outside?the?box way to simplify and clarify the complexities of modern military conflict. A chapter on the doomed butcher’s boy whom Arya Stark befriends by World War Z author Max Brooks poignantly reminds us of the cruel fate that civilians face during times of war. Another chapter on Jaqen H’ghar and the faceless men of Bravos explores the pivotal roles that stealth and intelligence play in battle. Whether considering the diplomatic prowess of Tyrion Lannister, the defiant leadership style of Daenerys Targaryen, the Battle of the Bastards and the importance of reserves, Brienne of Tarth and the increased role of women in combat, or dragons as weapons of mass destruction, Winning Westeros gives fans of Game of Thrones and aspiring military minds alike an inspiring and entertaining means of understanding the many facets of modern warfare. It is a book as captivating and enthralling as Game of Thrones itself.
