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In the Beginning....
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So, a little background!! Many years ago, this really smart man, Charles Goren, compiled a bunch of statistics based on thousands, maybe millions (he really played a lot!!) of bridge hands. Knowing it was primarily honors (aces, kings, queens, and jacks) that take tricks (the winning card in the group of four played at one time), Charlie assigned a value to each of these honors. Since aces almost ALWAYS took a trick, he valued the ace at four. Kings were almost as successful as aces, so he gave them a three. Queens were not nearly as reliable, earning only a two, and the lowly jack mustered a one for its occasional triumph. Now Charlie had a way of valuing a hand by the total of points it contained!
--And the evening and the morning were the first day....and Charlie saw that it was good!
Well, Charlie didn't rest there!! He started wildly sorting through all his research, taking note of every hand that made a game (I might be losing some of you beginners at this point, but don't worry, I'm gonna tell ya how to keep score real soon!!), and added the points from both hands (remember, bridge is a partnership), and he discovered that, on the average, a no-trump or a major game required 26 points, while a game in a minor suit needed around 28 or 29 points. Well, Charlie �bout fell outta his chair!! Eureka!! Finally, a way to bid to game without guessing (also known as "playing by the seat of your pants" or the W.A.G. System <---uh huh....Wild A** Guess) whether or not you should be there!
The average person might have stopped there, but not Charlie. He was on a roll! (Onion roll... with a little cream cheese... mmmmm... BRB... checkin' out fridge...... back!) Now that he knew how many points it took to bid a game, he was faced with the challenge of relaying that information to his partner, and receiving that information from his partner through the bidding process. Since he was pretty sure his opponents were not going to let him talk across the table (Duh!!), he concocted the Goren bidding system. You may have heard it called Standard American. Anyhooooo, if your game improves at all because of anything you read here, you have Charlie to thank! {{{{{{Charlie}}}}}}
OK! Enough chatter!! Let's hop on over to the next screen!! Let's Learn to Play Bridge!
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THE BASICS