''Design for Bidding'' is a book by the Russian-born English bridge player S. J. "Skid" Simon, published posthumously in 1949. It is about the theory of

bidding Bidding is an offer (often competitive) to set a price tag by an individual or business for a product or service ''or'' a demand that something be done. Bidding is used to determine the cost or value of something. Bidding can be performed ...

in contract bridge, particularly in the context of the

Acol Acol is the bridge bidding system that, according to ''The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge'', is "standard in British tournament play and widely used in other parts of the world". It is a natural system using four-card majors and, most commonly, ...

system of which Simon was one of the co-developers. It was the first, and , remains one of the few, studies of the thought processes involved in designing a bidding system, rather than simply setting out the author's conclusions. ''Design for Bidding'' is described as "the best thing he imonhas done on bridge",From the book's Preface written by

Terence Reese John Terence Reese (28 August 1913 – 29 January 1996) was a British bridge player and writer, regarded as one of the finest of all time in both fields. He was born in Epsom, Surrey, England to middle-class parents, and was educated at Bradf ...

. lofty praise considering the recognition given Simon's earlier book ''Why You Lose at Bridge'', itself "widely perceived to be the best book ever written on Bridge." ''Design For Bidding'' "remains wonderful reading, because Simon argues persuasively for the

''state of mind'' style of bidding."

Structure

The book is divided into three parts: I, The Inexactitude of Bidding; II, Enquiry into Bidding; and III, Design for Bidding. Part I is a long general introduction, in seven chapters. In it, Simon sets out what he calls the "deciding factors" to be assessed before adopting a specialised meaning for a bid: # "The effects on other types of hands;" # "The comparative frequency of occurrence of the rivals;" # "Their obedience or otherwise to the Principle of Lesser Risk; and, a bad last," # "Their actual working on the hands on which they are used." Part I concludes with Simon's description of Acol as "not so much a system as an attitude of mind". In Part II, Simon discusses in turn various aspects of bidding: notably, the choice of forcing opening bid; the meaning of opening two-bids; the strength of an opening bid of 1NT; whether or not a double raise should be forcing; the forcing take-out; 4NT and 5NT and

asking bid In contract bridge, an asking bid is a convention used to seek a slam accurately. There are two types - colour asking bids and notrump asking bids. Constructed by bridge pioneer Ely Culbertson in the 1940s, they have been superseded by other met ...

s as slam tries; whether or not a change of suit should be forcing; and informatory doubles and intervening bids. In Part III, Simon attempts to merge his conclusions from Part II into a unified whole.

Notes

References

{{WPCBIndex 1949 non-fiction books Contract bridge books Books by S. J. Simon