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Finesses
Revised Edition
Third Printing $4.95
WATSON'S
Classic Book on the
PLAY of the HAND
BRIDGE
at
By LOUIS H. WATSON,
Edited and Modernized by
SAM
FRY, Jr.
A—vailable at last is the book the experts follow
the definitive book on play which every player,
average or advanced, has heard about and few
have owned. Watson on Play is known as the
wisest book on the subject ever written. First
published 24 years ago, Watson's opus remains
—
the classic in the field the most comprehensive
and unbelievably lucid book on playing strategy
and technique ever.
Not just a few, but all the experts agree (see
back of jacket) that when Louis H. Watson
died at the age of 29, he was the greatest com-
bination of bridge player, analyst and writer who
ever lived. He had often been a tournament
winner, and with this book he became a famous
author.
Why is this book so valuable? Everything you
need to know to become an expert at play is here
from the opening lead to squeezes. In crystal-
clear, simple language Watson explains how to
maintain a winning psychology, how to plan
(continued on bac\ jacket flap) plies Co.
VAY
3, N. Y.
STERLING PUBLISHING CO., Inc. Jlogues
TROPHIES
419 Fourth Avenue New York 16, N. Y.
IN
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Digitized by the Internet Archive
2010
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WATSONS
PLAY
at
BRIDGE
WATSON'S
PLAY
Classic Book on the
HAND
of the
BRIDGE
at
By LOUIS H.WATSON
World-Famous Bridge Authority
Edited and Modernized by SAM FRY, Jf.
STERLING PUBLISHING CO., Inc.
New York
Revised Edition
©
Copyright, 19^8
by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.
The Sterling Building, New York 10, N. Y.
Copyright, 1934,
By Lewis Copeland Company, Inc.,
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part ofthis book may be reproduced,
in anyform, withoutthe written
permission ofthe publishers
Manufactured in the United States of America
INTRODUCTION
I had the great good fortune to be the good friend and frequent
tournament partner of Louis Watson. But despite the kind mention
of me in Louis' original introduction, I had very little to do with
the original publication of this book; a few chats, some rereadings,
some hands furnished and that's about all.
As a matter of fact, callow youth that I was at the time and
flushed with my first bridge trophies, I had never even deigned to
read the larger portion of Part I. That has turned out happily now,
for what might have been an editorial chore for the past few weeks
became a delight and a pleasure. I was amazed by the lucidity of
Louis' presentation, his insight and his thoroughness and above all
his up-to-dateness, vintage 1958.
The changes that I had to make were few and far between.
Virtually nothing Louis said about the play of the hand in 1934
is untrue today; Louis said much more and said it much better
A
than anything done on the subject since. few modernizations of
phrase or terminology, a tiny clarification or two, some corrections
—
of typographical errors that's just about all I did in editing Part I.
One warning to the average and advanced player. You'll get
a kick and perhaps even learn a good deal when you read Part I.
But don't be upset, as I soon learned not to, whenever Louis seems
to stop a bit too short in the early part of the book, in analyzing
a particular hand or situation. He's deliberately not clouding the
issues, at this point, for the benefit of the less advanced. He'll
get to it later.
In Part II, I had to change the bidding on some of the hands
because of now obsolete conventions, or because of changed valua-
tions for certain types of bids. But this was not too often. Please
remember that any hand, in 1934 or 1958, can be bid correctly in
several different ways, depending on the partnership system used
and other factors.
:
INTRODUCTION
VI
X
Also in Part II, I replaced part of Chapter and added Chapters
XII and XIII for reasons which will become obvious. I hope they're
up to the standard of the rest of the book.
Now may I quote from Louis' original Introduction
"This book is an earnest endeavor to codify the successful present-
day principles of the play of the cards. Insofar as it is possible, the
author has attempted to correlate the established technique of the
masters of the past with the modern methods of the champions of
today. Only proven ideas of playing strategy that have withstood
the test of fire are included in this work. The reader may rest
assured that the various plays described here are the winning
methods now used by the world's foremost masters of Contract
Bridge.
"To assist bidders in fulfilling their contracts as well as to show
the Defending Side how bidders may often be defeated in their
efforts, is the purpose of this book. Practically all variations of play,
both in attack and in defense, are explained and illustrated in the
two major sections of this work, entitled 'Fundamentals of Play'
and 'Advanced Play and Expert Technique.'
"Every playing possibility which may occur cannot, of course,
be included here. To do that would require no one knows just how
many different example hands, but it would probably run to a
million or so out of the several billion possible combinations of cards
in four hands which may be dealt. That is to say, the reader will
find himself faced with hands which call for different applications
of the principles he finds explained in this book, and which call
for different combinations of those principles. To put it simply, one
deal may offer a choice between a finesse and a drop; another
may offer a choice between a finesse and a squeeze. Some hands
are simple; others are complex. Many hands would—be played in
six different ways by six different expert players and, in a
manner of speaking, they would all be right! That is part of the
reason for the fascination of the game. If it were possible to codify
the play into forty-eight simple rules which would tell the whole
story, devotees of Contract Bridge would forsake the game in droves.
"The, effort here is to present the fundamentals of play (in Part
I) and to follow them up (in Part II) with an elucidation of
