Editing Charles Goren

{{short description|American bridge player and writer}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2014}}
'''Charles Henry Goren''' (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991)<ref name=truscott/><ref name=truscott2/> was an American [[Contract bridge|bridge]] player and writer who significantly developed and popularized the game. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s and widely known as "Mr. Bridge".<ref name=truscott/>{{efn|name=Mr}} 

==Early years==

Goren was born in what is now Khotyn, Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, to a Jewish family. His parents were Jacob and Rebecca Goron, a writer and a homemaker.<ref> https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/goren-charles-henry</ref> His father emigrated in 1903 with the family possibly coming later.<ref>ancestry.com.  Petition for Naturalization of Jacob Goron filed February 17, 1913</ref>  He earned a law degree at [[McGill University]] in [[Montreal]] in 1923. While he was attending McGill, a girlfriend (or "a young hostess")<ref name=truscott/> laughed at his ineptness at the game of bridge, thus motivating him to immerse himself in a study of existing bridge materials.<ref>Goren and Olsen (1965), p. 10.</ref>

After graduation, he practiced law for 13 years in Philadelphia.<ref name=truscott/> The growing fame of contract bridge player [[Ely Culbertson]], however, prompted Goren to abandon his original career choice to pursue bridge competitions, where he attracted the attention of [[Milton Work]], an American authority on many card games including [[contract bridge]]. Work was impressed by Goren's knowledge of the game and hired Goren to help him write his bridge articles and columns.<ref name="truscott" /><!-- sentences remain from the wholly unreferenced version prior to 2014-12-07 -->

Work was one of many strong bridge players based in Philadelphia around the 1920s. By 1928 he had popularized the 4–3–2–1 [[Hand evaluation|point count]] system for evaluating balanced hands (now sometimes called the Work count). His chief assistant [[Olive Peterson]] and young Goren established a partnership as players.<ref name=truscott4/>

As a player Goren's "breakthrough" was the 1937 Board-a-Match Teams championship (now called The [[Reisinger]] National Bridge Championship) which he won with three other Philadelphia players: [[John R. Crawford|John Crawford]], [[Charles J. Solomon|Charles Solomon]], and [[Sally Young]].<ref name="truscott" />

Goren dominated the competitive bridge circuit ultimately becoming world champion at the [[Bermuda Bowl]] in 1950 and remained a competitive player until about 1962 after which he focused on writing and teaching bridge.

==Bridge contributions==
After Milton Work died in 1934, Goren began his own bridge writing career and published the first of his many books on playing bridge, ''Winning Bridge Made Easy'', in 1936.<ref name=truscott4/>  Drawing on his experience with Work's system, Goren quickly became popular as an instructor and lecturer.

Goren's books have sold millions of copies (especially ''Winning Bridge Made Easy'' and ''Contract Bridge Complete''); by 1958 his daily bridge column was appearing in 194 American newspapers. He also had a monthly column in ''[[McCall's]]'' and a weekly column in ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''.

His television program, ''Championship Bridge with Charles Goren'', was broadcast from 1959 to 1964 on the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC network]]. It featured numerous appearances by top players and segments with celebrity guests such as [[Chico Marx]], [[Alfred Drake]], and [[Forest Evashevski]], among others.<ref>{{Citation |title=Championship Bridge Ep.1 | date=9 January 2020 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyk-N6CTJBU |language=en |access-date=2022-08-31}}</ref>

Goren's longest partnership was with [[Helen Sobel Smith|Helen Sobel]], but he also famously partnered actor [[Omar Sharif]]. Sharif also wrote introductions to or co-authored several of Goren's bridge books, and was also co-author of Goren's newspaper column, eventually taking it over in collaboration with Tannah Hirsch.

===Point count system===

As he continued writing, Goren began to develop his point count system, based on the [[Milton Work]] point count, as an improvement over the existing system of counting "honor tricks". Goren, with assistance, formulated a method of combining the Work count, which was based entirely on high cards, and various distributional features. This may well have improved the bidding of intermediate players and beginners almost immediately.

===Four-card suits===

Goren also worked to continue the practice of  opening four-card suits, with an occasional three-card club suit when the only four-card suit was a weak {{gcb|majorsuit|major}}. In this, he was following the practice established by [[Ely Culbertson]] in the early 1930s. Later on, he continued this practice, resisting the well-known ''five-card majors'' approach that has become a major feature of modern [[Standard American]] bidding.

Opening a four-card suit can improve the chances of the partnership identifying a four-four trump fit, and the four-card approach is still used by experts today, notably by most [[Acol]] players. It is claimed that the drawback of the four-card approach is that the [[Law of Total Tricks]] is more difficult to apply in cases where it is used. However, the five-card majors approach became popular before the Law of Total Tricks was propounded.

===Other contributions===

In addition to his pioneering work in bringing simple and effective bridge to everyday players, Goren also worked to popularize the [[Precision Club|Precision]] bidding method, which is one of many so-called big club or [[strong club system]]s (which use an opening bid of one club to indicate a strong hand).

[[Tribune Media|Tribune Content Agency]] distributes the daily column Goren Bridge, written by Bob Jones, using the Goren method.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tribunecontentagency.com/premium-content/entertainment/card-games/goren-bridge/|title=Goren Bridge by Bob Jones|access-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref>

==Legacy==

Goren died on April 3, 1991, in [[Encino, California]], at the age of 90. He had lived with his nephew Marvin Goren for 19 years.<ref name=truscott/> While few players "play Goren" exactly today, the point-count approach he popularized remains the foundation for most bidding systems.{{efn|name=Mr}}

During the month of Goren's death, Truscott followed his obituary with a bridge column entitled, "Goren leaves behind many fans and a column with an international flavor". His business interests had been "managed by others" since his retirement "a quarter of a century ago", according to Truscott. "The Goren syndicated column now has an international flavor: It carries the bylines of the movie star [[Omar Sharif]], an Egyptian who lives in Paris, and an entrepreneur, Tannah Hirsch, a South African who came to the United States via Israel."<ref name=truscott3/>

Goren appeared on the [[Groucho Marx]] radio and television game show [[You Bet Your Life]] in March 1958.

Goren appeared on the television game show [[What’s My Line]] in December 1961.

==Bridge accomplishments==

===Honors===

* ACBL Hall of Fame, 1964<ref name=HOFby>[http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/induction-by-year "Induction by Year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205191454/http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/induction-by-year/ |date=2014-12-05 }}. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-08.</ref><ref name=ACBLhof/><!-- see the next comment -->{{efn|name=earlyHOF |1=
''The Bridge World'' monthly magazine, established by [[Ely Culbertson]] in 1929, named nine members of its bridge hall of fame <!-- prefer to quote original wording; also to know whether clearly American in scope --> including Culbertson from 1964 to 1966, but it never named another. Almost thirty years later, the ACBL established its hall of fame with the ''Bridge World'' nine as founding members. It named eight new members in 1995 and has inducted others annually since then.<ref name=HOFtop>[http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame ''Hall of Fame''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124142002/http://www.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/ |date=2014-11-24 }} (top page). ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-30.</ref><ref name=HOFby/>
}}
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* ACBL Honorary Member of the Year, 1959

===Awards===
* McKenney Trophy 1937, 1943, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951
* Precision Award (Best Article or Series on a System or Convention) 1974

===Wins===
* [[Bermuda Bowl]] (1) 1950
* [[North American Bridge Championships]] (32)
** [[Vanderbilt Trophy|Vanderbilt]] (2) 1944, 1945
** [[Spingold|Asbury Park Trophy]] (now Spingold) (1) 1937
** [[Spingold]] (5) 1943, 1947, 1951, 1956, 1960
** [[Reisinger|Chicago]] (now Reisinger) (8) 1937, 1938, 1939, 1942, 1943, 1950, 1957, 1963
** [[Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams|Men's Board-a-Match Teams]] (1) 1952
** [[Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match|Master Mixed Teams]] (6) 1938, 1941, 1943, 1944, 1948, 1954
** [[Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs|Life Master Pairs]] (2) 1942, 1958
** [[Fall National Open Pairs]] (1) 1940
** [[Wernher Open Pairs|Men's Pairs]] (3) 1938, 1943, 1949
** [[Rockwell Mixed Pairs]] (1) 1947
** [[Hilliard Mixed Pairs]] (1) 1943
** [[Master Individual]] (1) 1945

===Runners-up===
* [[Bermuda Bowl]] (2) 1956, 1957
* [[North American Bridge Championships]] (21)
** [[Vanderbilt Trophy|Vanderbilt]] (8) 1934, 1936, 1949, 1950, 1953, 1955, 1959, 1962
** [[Spingold]] (2) 1939, 1950
** [[Reisinger|Chicago]] (now Reisinger) (2) 1944, 1951
** [[Mitchell Board-a-Match Teams|Men's Board-a-Match Teams]] (2) 1946, 1955
** [[Chicago Mixed Board-a-Match|Master Mixed Teams]] (4) 1946, 1949, 1950, 1951
** [[Von Zedtwitz Life Master Pairs|Life Master Pairs]] (1) 1953
** [[Wernher Open Pairs|Men's Pairs]] (1) 1935
** [[Hilliard Mixed Pairs]] (1) 1934

==Publications==

* ''Winning Bridge Made Easy: a simplified self-teaching method of contract bidding combining all the principles of the new Culbertson system with the principal features of the four aces system'' (Harrisburg, PA: The Telegraph Press, 1936), 92 pp., {{LCCN|36014872}}
* ''Better Bridge for Better Players: the play of the cards'', introduction by Ely Culbertson, foreword by [[George S. Kaufman]] ([[Doubleday, Doran]], 1942), 538 pp. {{LCCN|42025653}}; also known as ''The Standard Book of Play: better bridge for better players'', {{OCLC|647336}}
: The earliest British edition in [[WorldCat]] records is ''Better Bridge for Better Players: the standard book of play'', intro. Culbertson, fwd. Kauffman (London: Walter Edwards, 1947), {{OCLC|836591784}}
* ''The Standard Book of Bidding'' (Doubleday, 1944), 299 pp. {{LCCN|44009061}}; <!--second or later edition? -->(Doubleday, 1947), 310 pp. {{LCCN|47003052}}
* ''Contract Bridge in a Nutshell'' (Doubleday, 1946), 128 pp. {{LCCN|46006423}};  at least seven editions to 1986 under the titles ''Contract Bridge in a Nutshell'' [CBN], ''New CBN'', ''Goren's New CBN'', or ''Charles Goren's New CBN'' <!-- 2014-12-08 seven eds. in LCCatalog 1946 47 48 52 (all original title) 59 72 86 -P64 -->
* ''Contract Bridge Made Easy, a self-teacher'' (Doubleday, 1948), 95 pp. – "Replaces the author's Winning bridge made easy, first pub. in 1936 and now out of print." {{LCCN|48007366}}
* {{cite book
  |title = Point Count Bidding in Contract Bridge
  |publisher = Simon & Schuster
  |location = New York
  |pages = 150
  |year = 1949
  }} First London edition published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1951. Title has been revised and reprinted numerous times to 1984.<ref>Bourke and Sugden (2010), pp. 482–83.</ref>
* {{cite book
  |title = [[Contract Bridge for Beginners]]
  |publisher = Simon & Schuster Inc
  |location = New York
  |pages = 152
  |year = 1953
  |oclc = 12428312
  }}. First London edition published by Eyre & Spottiswoode in 1959. Title has been reprinted numerous times to 1972.<ref>Bourke and Sugden (2010), p. 476.</ref>
* with [[Jack Olsen]]: {{cite book
  |title = Bridge is My Game: Lessons of a Lifetime
  |url = https://archive.org/details/bridgeismygamele00gore
  |url-access = registration
  |publisher = Doubleday & Company, Inc
  |location = Garden City, NY
  |pages = 190
  |year = 1965
  |lccn = 65022040
  }}. Paperback editions published by Cornerstone Library, NY in 1967 and 1970, pp.&nbsp;190.<ref>Bourke and Sugden (2010), p. 487.</ref>
{{colbegin}}
*100 Challenging Bridge Hands
*An Entirely New Bridge Summary
*The A.B.C.'s of Contract Bridge
*Championship Bridge with Charles Goren
*Charles H. Goren's Bridge Quiz Book
*Contract Bridge Complete
*Easy Steps: Eight Steps to Winning Bridge
*The Elements of Bridge
*The Fundamental of contract Bridge
*Goren on Play and Defense: All of Play: The Technique, the Logic, and the Challenge of Master Bridge
*Goren Presents the Italian Bridge System
*Goren Settles the Bridge Arguments
*Goren's Bridge Complete
*Goren's Bridge Quizzes
*Goren's Hoyle Encyclopedia of Bridge
*Goren's New Contract Bridge Complete
*Goren's Point Count Bidding Made Easy
*Goren's Winning Partnership Bridge
*Introduction to Bridge
*Introduction to Competitive Bidding
* ''Modern Backgammon Complete''
*Official Charles Goren Quick Reference to Winning Bridge
*Play and Defense
*Play As You Learn Bridge
*Play Bridge With Goren
*Play Winning Bridge With Any Partner: Even a Stranger
*Precision Bridge for Everyone
*The Precision System of Bidding
*Precision System of Contract Bridge Bidding: Charles H. Goren Presents
*Sports Illustrated Book of Bridge
{{colend}}

==Notes==
{{notelist |50em |notes=
{{efn|name=Mr |1=
''The New York Times'' published [[Alan Truscott]]'s obituary of Goren<ref name=truscott/> nine days after his death, as the lead article of page A17 (Obituaries) across five of its six columns. "INSIDE", on page 1 of the same issue, includes the listing:<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/12/nyregion/inside-406591.html "Inside"]. ''The New York Times''. April 12, 1991. Retrieved 2014-12-08.</ref> <blockquote>'''Charles Goren Dies at 90''' <br>He was Mr. Bridge to millions of players and readers who adopted his simplified bidding system. Page A17.</blockquote>
The layout for Truscott's obituary incorporates a two-column box by the staff entitled "Goren on Bridge: Counting Points", which cites ''New Contract Bridge in Nutshell'' and ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Its preface: "Here are the basics of the point-counting system used to bid bridge hands. Although the practice of assigning points to high cards was already in use, Charles H. Goren expanded and popularized the method, which has remained the standard point-counting system."
}}
}}

==References==
{{Reflist |50em |refs=

<ref name=ACBLhof>[http://web5.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/members/goren-charles "Goren, Charles"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160612221251/http://web5.acbl.org/about-acbl/hall-of-fame/members/goren-charles/ |date=2016-06-12 }}. ''Hall of Fame''. ACBL. Retrieved 2014-12-30.</ref>
<ref name=truscott>
Truscott, Alan (April 12, 1991). [https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/12/obituaries/charles-goren-90-bridge-expert-dies.html "Charles Goren, 90, Bridge Expert, Dies"]. ''The New York Times''. Page A17. Retrieved 2014-12-08.</ref>
<ref name=truscott2>
Truscott, Alan (April 15, 1991). "Bridge: Goren leaves behind many fans and a column with an international flavor". ''The New York Times''. Page C14.</ref>
<ref name=truscott3>
Truscott, Alan (April 21, 1991). "Bridge: An American standard himself, Charles Goren played hands as smoothly as he bid them". ''The New York Times''. Page 61.</ref>
<ref name=truscott4>
Truscott, Alan and Dorothy (2004). ''The New York Times Bridge Book: An Anecdotal History of the Development, Personalities, and Strategies of the World's Most Popular Card Game''. Macmillan. Pages 87–88.</ref>
}}

==External links==
* {{ACBLhof|goren-charles}}
* {{WBF|15589}}
* {{WBF Master Points|20277}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080307132459/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,821191,00.html King of the Aces] ''Time'' magazine (1958)
* [http://bridgehands.com/G/Goren_Charles.htm Profile on bridgehands.com]
* [https://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/09/17/070917crbo_books_owen?currentPage=all Turning Tricks: The Rise and Fall of Contract Bridge], by David Owen in ''The New Yorker''
* [http://www.bridgebum.com/charles_goren.php Charles Goren], biography on bridgebum.com
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zahSt1sJ9AY Charles Goren on the television program "What's My Line?"]
* {{LCAuth|n79148300|Charles Goren|55|}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book
  |last1 = Goren
  |first1 = Charles
  |last2 = Olsen
  |first2 = Jack
  |author-link2 = Jack Olsen
  |title = Bridge is My Life: Lessons of a Lifetime
  |publisher = Doubleday & Company, Inc
  |location = Garden City, NY
  |year = 1965
  |lccn = 65022040
  }}
* {{cite book
  |last1 = Tim
  |first1 = Bourke
  |author-link1 = Tim Bourke
  |last2 = Sugden
  |first2 = John
  |title = Bridge Books in English from 1886-2010: an annotated bibliography
  |publisher = Bridge Book Buffs
  |location = Cheltenham, England
  |year = 2010
  |isbn = 978-0-9566576-0-2}}


{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goren, Charles Henry}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:American contract bridge players]]
[[Category:Bermuda Bowl players]]
[[Category:American instructional writers]]
[[Category:American contract bridge writers]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:McGill University Faculty of Law alumni]]
[[Category:Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni]]