I don’t usually do book reviews on Unit 431’s website, and this isn’t really one.
However I had fun reading The backwash squeeze & other improbable feats, written by Edward McPherson back in 2007, so thought I’d share it with other Victoria players. Subtitled A Newcomer’s Journey into the World of Bridge, it’s an account of the author’s journey from total newbie to his participation in a NABC. Along the way he delivers some interesting anecdotes about several bridge greats including Omar Sharif, Bob Hamman and Zia Mahmood.
You can find it at GVPL as soon as I return my copy (they only have the one).
Oh, and about that title backwash squeeze. Well, most of you probably do it in your sleep, but if not, here’s the explanation from the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge:
“a unique type of trump squeeze in which both menaces are in the same hand and the player sitting behind the hand with the menaces holds both guards plus a losing trump, and is caught in the ‘backwash’ of a squeeze by means of a ruff taken in the hand holding the menaces.”
So next time you’re at a table, look for an opportunity to try it out.
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