Editing Standard American (section)

==Most common elements==

The essential common elements of modern Standard American systems are:
* [[Hand evaluation]] based on the 4-3-2-1 [[Honor point count|point count system]] (Ace = 4, King = 3, Queen = 2 and Jack = 1) with adjustments for the location of honors and suit distribution.
* A hand-strength requirement of at least 12-13 points to open 1-of-a-suit. 
* [[Five-card majors]]: opening a major suit promises at least a five-card holding in that suit.
* [[Weak two bid]]s: Two diamond, heart or spade openers are made with a sound six-card suit in a hand without enough overall strength to open 1 of the suit.
* [[Strong two clubs]]: All unbalanced hands too strong to open at the one-level are opened with an artificial 2{{Clubs}} call, as well as balanced hands stronger than 21 HCP.
* [[Preempt|Pre-emptive opening bids]]: Suit openings above the two level are pre-emptive, promising a long and strong suit.
* Limit Raises: A jump-raise of the opener's suit by responder, in the absence of opponent interference, is invitational to game. In Goren's system, this was a strong game-forcing raise.
* Notrump openers show a balanced hand, with the following common high card point (HCP) ranges:
** 1NT = 15-17 HCP
** 2NT = 20-21 HCP
** 3NT = 25-27 HCP
* Common notrump follow-up conventions include [[Stayman]], [[Jacoby transfers]] and [[Gerber convention|Gerber]].