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".
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.
1985
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.
2005 Paperback available on Amazon
The 3 significant differences between current Yellow Card bidding and pre-1985 Goren bidding are:
1) Simple Hand Evaluation - When evaluating a hand for a potential opening/overcall bid or a response to the partner's initial bid, the partnership is only concerned with the total number of cards in each suit, and the total number of High Card Points (HCPs) in each hand. The distribution of points in the hands at this stage is not relavent. This is the most difficult concept for the pre-1985 Goren bidder to adopt.
2) Find the Suit to Play - The partnership FIRST searches for the suit to play (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades or No Trump). There is a preference/priority for which suit to explore. First, look for a major suit (hearts or spades). If that is not realistic, explore if playing in No Trump is realistic. And if the major suit or No Trump are not realistic, explore the better minor suit to play.
3) Determine the Level to Play - After the partnership agrees upon the suit (or No Trump) to play, the partnership NEXT determines the contract level it should play. Bids and responses are indications of the range of high card points each partner holds. The combined points of the partnership determine the appropriate contract level the partnership should play.
The following is a brief summary of Yellow Card Bidding:
Opening Points - The opener should hold at least 12 high card points (HCPs) to open.
Opening a Major Suit - The opener must hold at least 5 cards in a major suit (hearts or spades) to open that suit. Open the higher ranking of suits of equal length.
Opening a Minor Suit - Use the Better Minor system - open the longer minor suit. When length is equal, open the higher ranking of the minor suits.
Open 1 ♦ with 4–4, 5-5 or 6-6 in the minor suits.
Exception: Open 1 ♣ with 3–3 in the minor suits.
No Trump Opening - balanced hand - no voids, no singletons, and no more than one doubleton:
1 NT – 15 to 17 HCP’s
2 NT – 20 to 21 HCP’s
3 NT – 25 to 27 HCP’s
Partner responds with Jacoby Transfers and the Stayman Convention.
2 ♣ opening is a strong, artificial, demand bid indicating 22+ points, but nothing about which suit or no-trump.
The 2-Dimond Waiting is the system used for responses to the 2 ♣ opening.
Weak 2s - An opening of 2 ♦ , 2 ♥ , or 2 ♠ indicates 6 to 11 HCPs and a 6-card suit - weak, preemptive opening.
2-over-1 responses to a new suit requires 10+ points
Download an 8-page PDF of the ACBL Yellow Card Booklet.
