Bridge World Standard

{{Short description|Bidding system in the card game contract bridge}}

Bridge World Standard (BWS) is a bidding system in the card game contract bridge, first developed and serially published in 1967-69{{cite journal|last=The Editors|title=The Bridge World Standard|journal=The Bridge World|date=April 1967|volume=38|issue=7|pages=4–7}} through to {{cite journal|last=The Editors|title=The Bridge World Standard, XIX|journal=The Bridge World|date=August 1969|volume=40|issue=11|pages=33–35}} as BWS 1968{{cite journal|last=The Editors|title=The Bridge World Standard|journal=The Bridge World|date=April 1984|volume=55|issue=7|page=19}} by The Bridge World magazine. Like the Standard American Yellow Card (SAYC), it was intended "for use by impromptu or casual partnerships" and "as a basis for discussion by those who wish to formulate their own system."{{cite book |last = The Editors, The Bridge World Magazine |title = The Pocket Guide to Bridge World Standard |date = May 2011 |edition = 2001 |publisher = The Bridge World Books |location = New York, NY |page = 6 |isbn = 978-0-9753419-2-6}}

The system was updated as the BWS 1984, BWS 1994,{{cite journal|last=The Editors|title=The Bridge World Standard—1994, V |journal=The Bridge World|date=November 1993|volume=65|issue=2|pages=19–26}}{{cite journal|last=The Editors|title=The Bridge World Standard—1994, VI |journal=The Bridge World|date=December 1993|volume=65|issue=3|pages=17–26}} BWS 2001{{cite web |url=http://www.bridgeworld.com/indexphp.php?page=/pages/readingroom/bws/bwscompletesystem2001.html |title=Bridge World Standard 2001|website=The Bridge World|access-date= 28 November 2016}} and BWS 2017 editions.{{cite web |url=http://www.bridgeworld.com/indexphp.php?page=/pages/readingroom/bwsmainpage.html |title=Bridge World Standard 2017|website=The Bridge World|access-date= 28 November 2016}} It is based on majority preferences of polled{{Clarify|date=November 2016|reason=typo or technical term?}} experts and readers of the magazine.

The system shares some similarities with Standard American and 2/1 game forcing, but with many advanced treatments.