play bridge What’s Standard? Is Standard American a Myth? — by David Lindop ߜ This is the first of a series of articles He introduced the concept of synonymous with bridge for the discussing the term “standard” when “duplicate” by running a match with remainder of the 20th Century. referring to modern bidding methods. four experts sitting North-South at Goren popularized the 4-3-2-1 point one table and East-West at another, count method and it is his bidding s there such a thing as “Standard playing against four average players. methods that are commonly grouped American” bidding methods and, The experts won handily, verifying under “Standard American.” As Iif so, what is it? To address this that it was a game of skill, not luck. stated in the BRIDGE ENCYCLOPEDIA: issue, let’s start with a little history. Ely Takes Charge Standard American: A nebulous term applied to the methods of According to Hoyle As the current version of bridge bidding most commonly used in took hold in North America, the Edmond Hoyle, an English barrister, the United States. It approximates leading authority on the game was the first authority on the game closely the methods formerly became Ely Culbertson. Ely was a of whist, the predecessor to bridge. advocated by Charles Goren. In 1742 he published the first edition master promoter and solidified his of what was to become the best- position by staging the “Match of And Today? selling book of the 18th Century. the Century” in late 1931 against Goren stopped playing bridge in the Although the book wasn’t very long, the leading authorities of the day. early 1960’s and his methods began the title certainly was: A Short The match was widely covered by to fall out of favor with tournament Treatise on the Game of Whist, the press and millions tuned in to players in the 80’s. Goren’s Containing the Laws of the Game, the daily reports on the radio. Ely’s approach included four-card major and also Some Rules Whereby a victory, playing with his wife suit openings, strong two-bids, and Beginner May, with Due Attention to Josephine, catapulted him to the top forcing jump raises ... very little of Them, Attain to the Playing It Well. of the field around the world. which is seen in today’s club and Some ideas presented by Hoyle are Ely’s book titles, such as the Blue tournament play. As the BRIDGE still in use today. He introduced the Book and the Gold Book, were much ENCYCLOPEDIA goes on to say: concept of leading the fourth highest shorter than those of his predeces- ... players continue to describe card from a long suit. He discussed sors and introduced a constructive their methods as “standard” the odds of suit distribution and how approach to bidding — a new suit by when they use a modern style to draw conclusions about the hands responder as forcing, for example — which is far removed from held by the other players at the table that is the foundation of many of traditional Goren. from the cards played. His section today’s methods. Even today, some So, what is “Standard American” covering ethics and fair play was players still play “Culbertson”. today? There are several possibilities. incorporated into the laws of auction Ely founded The Bridge World 1. Goren (updated). Goren’s methods bridge nearly 200 years later. magazine in 1929, and it is still the have gradually been revised by Doctor Cavendish leading publication on bridge for other writers to include five-card more experienced players. He was majors, limit raises, and weak twos. In the latter half of the 19th Century, the first person elected to the 2. SAYC (Standard American Yellow the popular authority on the game Bridge Hall of Fame. Card). This is the ACBL’s attempt was known as “Cavendish.” This was The Standard American to produce a standard convention actually the name of a London club of card of modern methods as which Dr. Henry Jones was a member. As WWII approached, Ely lost determined by a committee. It Jones wrote about the game under interest in the game and focused on has become popular in various the pseudonym of “Cavendish”. politics. It didn’t take long for a new circles, including online bridge Cavendish emulated Hoyle in the standard-bearer to emerge. Charles on the Internet. length of the title of his first book Goren started winning tournaments 3. Bridge World Standard. These are in 1863: The Laws and Principles of in 1937 and became the top master- the methods that have been put Whist Stated and Explained, and Its point holder in 1944, a position he together by the Bridge World Practice Illustrated on an Original held for nearly 20 years. By the early magazine from the preferences of System, by Means of Hands Played 50’s his books were outselling those over 100 American experts. It was Completely Through. of Culbertson and his name became most recently updated in 2001. PB-4 October, 2003 play bridge 4. 2/1 Game Forcing. A popular trend five-card majors. Strong jump ACBL has tried to introduce a is to treat a simple new suit overcalls gave way to intermediate Classic convention card or, more response at the two level over an jump overcalls and now weak jump recently, a “fat-free” card. opening bid of one-of-a-suit as overcalls are almost universal. As players become more forcing to game. This is sometimes Some methods fall in and out of experienced, it’s easier to deal with referred to as Eastern Scientific or popularity. It may appear that strong multiple standards. After all, even if Western Scientific and includes two-bids have been replaced by the vast majority of computer methods developed in the 1960’s weak two-bids, but the weak two- owners use the Windows operating by Richard Walsh and popularized bid was around long before Goren system, there still seems to be room by the late Max Hardy. popularized strong twos. for the Macintosh or Unix Unfortunately, all these “standards” So, we shouldn’t cling too strongly advocates. So, we should be able to only add to the confusion for to the methods by ... there is no such thing as have a basic system most players. For that can coexist ♠ K 8 3 which we were “Standard American” today. example, what would ♥ Q 10 5 taught. If we do, we with a Bridge you respond to an ♦ may be missing some valuable ben- World Standard or a 2/1 system for ♣ A7 2 opening bid of 1 ♣ Q 9 6 4 efits and we will eventually fall out more experienced players. with this hand? of step with those around us. Where To From Here? According to Goren, a response Keep in mind that the bidding of 1NT would be fine since this Although today’s game is filled with methods are guidelines, not rules. experts, each with their opinion of shows about 9-11 points over 1♣. The rules of the game are that each According to SAYC, you should the best methods to use, the most bid in the auction must be higher on recognized “authority” is the editor probably respond 1♦ since 1NT is the Bidding Ladder than the preced- of PLAY BRIDGE, Audrey Grant. She limited to 6-10 points, 2NT is 13-15 ing bid and that we must follow suit points, and a jump raise to 3♣ would wrote the ACBL Series of books, during the play. Counting 4 points starting in the mid-80’s and has show five-card support. In Bridge for an ace and opening 1NT with a World Standard, you can respond trained thousands of teachers. Many balanced hand of 15-17 points are of today’s players were introduced to 2NT, since that shows an invitational guidelines, not rules. balanced hand of about 11-12 points. the game through the CLUB, (That’s the 2001 version. The earlier Is a Standard Necessary? DIAMOND, and HEART books. version had the “old-fashioned” Having said all that, perhaps we The methods used in that series range of 13-15 for a 2NT response.) don’t need any standards. No, that were those suggested by teachers Playing 2/1, you might choose to doesn’t work. A lack of standards and experts in the 80’s. The game respond 2♣ since that’s an “inverted” leads to more challenges than the has changed since then and Audrey raise, showing 11 or more points problem of setting them. If you try has recently embarked on a new and forcing for one round. to play a video from Europe in your basic series that incorporates more In summary, there is no such North American machine, you’re of today’s “standards” such as a thing as “Standard American” out of luck ... different technologies. 15–17 1NT range and weak two- today. It all depends on what meth- But if you pick up a video at any bids. Her advisory panel includes ods you have been taught. store in North America, you don’t many of the world’s top players, have to worry that it won’t play in teachers, and authors. Standard Evolution your machine — at least not since Being closely allied with Audrey It’s unrealistic to expect standards to Betamax lost out to VHS! — our silver wedding anniversary remain static. New ideas are always That’s a comfortable feeling and isn’t too far away — I’m going to coming along and, when the benefits the majority of bridge players want present two sets of methods in the are significant, old customs have to the same thing.