SAYC
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Preface

  SAYC (Standard American Yellow Card)
  1. Introduction
  2. Bidding Hierarchy
  3. Determine Opening Bid
  4. Opening Bid Options
  5. Scoring Structure
  6. Bidding Strategy

  Statistics
×

Open 1 Level

Open 1 Level
   Open  1 ♠ 
   Open  1 ♥ 
       Open  1 NT 
           Open Better Minor
               Open  1 ♦ 
               Open  1 ♣ 

Opening Bid & Table Position
×

Respond to 1 Suit Openings

   Guidelines for Responses
         Support Suit (Distribution Points)
         Propose Suit (1-over-1 Restriction)
  • Respond to  1 ♠ 
  • Respond to  1 ♥ 
  • Respond to  1 ♦ 
  • Respond to  1 ♣ 
Opener's Next Bid (Bid 3)
   Responder Supports the Bid Suit
   Responder Proposes a New Suit
×

Respond to  1 NT 

Respond to  1 NT 
    Transfers (1NT)
       Stayman (1NT)
          No 4-card Major (1NT)
-----------------
Transfer Convention
Stayman Convention
×

Weak Bids

Weak Opening Bids
 • 6-card suit            2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠ 
 • 7-card suit   3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠ 
 • 8-card suit                    4 ♥   4 ♠ 
-----------------------
Respond to Weak Openings
  • Respond to          2 ♦   2 ♥   2 ♠ 
  • Respond to  3 ♣   3 ♦   3 ♥   3 ♠ 
  • Respond to                   4 ♥   4 ♠ 
×

Strong  2 ♣ 

Open  2 ♣ 
Respond to  2 ♣ 
  • 2-Diamond Waiting (SAYC)
  • 3-Point Step (Social Bridge)
  • 2-Diamond Bust (Social Bridge)
×

Strong  NT  Bids

Open  2 NT  or  3 NT 

Responses

Respond to  2 NT 
    Transfers (2NT)
       Stayman (2NT)
          4-card Major (2NT)
Respond to  3 NT 
    Transfers (3NT)
       Stayman (3NT)
          No 4-card Major (3NT)
×

Other Bids

 • Jacoby  2 NT 
 • Slam (Blackwood & Gerber)
 • Overcalls
 • Doubles
 • Balancing
×

Taking Tricks

Leads on Defense
Leads on Offense
    • Finessing a Tenace
×

Practice

Open 1 Level
Responses to 1 Suit Openings
Open 1 NT (14 Examples)
Open 1 NT (16 Examples)
Responses to  2 ♣  Opening
Overcalls

Practice Websites

   • SAYC Bidding Practice
   • Trickster
   • Bridge Base On Line
×

Duplicate

Duplicate Protocol
Duplicate Scoring
1. Contract Points Scoring
2. Match Points Scoring
×

Downloads

SAYC Summary
Open 1-Level Bids
Respond 1-Suit Opening
1 NT Openings & Responses
Responses to Weak Openings
Responses to 2 Club Openings
Handout Duplicate Bridge Contract Points
Front Door

Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC)

History

By 1925 (during the Great Depression) Contract Bridge, or just Bridge, was a popular card game in the US for talented people with time on their hands. This game evolved from whist and auction bridge.

Many championship players added new concepts to the game as the game continued to evolve. One such player was Charles Goren, who not only played, but was an author and syndicated columnist on the game. With his merchandizing of bridge paraphernalia, he became the “guru” of Standard American Bridge in the US.

Many of us learned to play bridge in the 1940s-60s (or sooner) when everyone used the Goren style of bidding. This bidding system was characterized with opening 4-card majors and all 2-suit openings were strong. This was referred to as "Standard American".
1958Goren 1958
As all languages evolve over time, the Goren bidding language also evolved. By 1985, the bidding evolved to the use of 5-card majors to open, and weak 2's (opening a 6+card suit with less than opening count) were added to make the game more competitive. A 2 club opening was reserved for a strong opening in any suit. Goren published another book in 1985 preaching these evolved methods (and others) which became a common system of play, and was still referred to as "Standard American".

Competitive players and tournament players were well aware of this evolution. But many social players were not.
1985Goren 1985
2006SAYC 2006

The Birth of "Yellow Card"

The Americal Contract Bridge League (ACBL) held many regional and national tournaments where each team had to provide a "convention card" describing the method of bidding they were using for viewing by their opponents and the tournament director. There were so many different bidding systems in use that the ACBL held some tournaments where the teams were only allowed to use the 1985 version of Goren Standard American. The ACBL printed convention cards on yellow card stock using the 1985 Goren style bidding. This bidding method and convention card became known as Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC).
Many social players today are using "Yellow Card" in social games, but are not aware that there is a name for this style of bidding.

2005Downey Pomer SAYC Book 2005
Paperback available on Amazon

Summary of Yellow Card Bidding for Beginners

Bidding is like speaking in a foreign language. It has its own rules of grammar and syntax. Learning Yellow Card bidding is like learning a foreign language. It requires time and practice. You cannot learn this bidding system by looking over a player's shoulder and start playing in 20 minutes.
    • I suggest the beginner follow the rules explicitly. The concepts are new and it will take time to learn them. So please, treat the rules as rules, and don't break them until after the beginner becomes an experienced player.
    • Bridge is a intricate game with many possible avenues and outcomes. This web site will focus on the situations that will be encountered 80% of the time. There is enough to learn for these 80% situations, so do not worry about the rare or infrequent situations until after the beginner is comfortable with the 80% situations.

General Approach

There are two main differences between Yellow Card (1985) and earlier versions of Goren (pre-1985):
   1) Yellow Card first determines the suit (or No Trump) to play, then determines the contract level.
   2) Try to enter a contract in a major suit. If not practical, try to enter a contract in No Trump. If neither are practical, settle for a contract in a minor suit.

Download an 8-page PDF of the ACBL Yellow Card Booklet.

Download a 1-page PDF of the ACBL Yellow Card Convention Card.


3/25/2025
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