Charles Goren, 90, World Expert And Columnist On Contract Bridge

LOS ANGELES - Charles Goren, who developed a point system that popularized the game of contract bridge and wrote a widely syndicated column on the game, has died. He was 90.

Goren died of a heart attack April 3 in Los Angeles, his nephew, Marvin R. Goren, announced Wednesday.

Goren, a Philadelphia native, learned to play auction bridge as a college student at Montreal's McGill University. He began writing about bridge for local Canadian newspapers during his student years.

As a young lawyer in Philadelphia, he became a serious tournament bridge player and developed his point-counting system that enabled even unsophisticated card players to enjoy contract bridge.

Goren became so enmeshed in playing and writing about bridge that he rejected a proffered judgeship, his nephew said, and abandoned his law practice in the mid-1930s.

The bridge champion wrote 26 books on bridge that have been translated into seven languages. He also wrote columns for his friend Henry K. Luce's Time magazine empire and for the Chicago Tribune newspaper syndicate. His books about the card game, particularly "Goren's Bridge Complete," have been top sellers for 50 years. He also wrote books of instruction on canasta and backgammon.

In 1965, Goren also became host of a television program, "Championship Bridge," organized bridge-learning cruises and marketed highball glasses, trays and cocktail napkins to put his name on bridge tables around the world.

At the peak of his popularity, Goren's picture appeared on the covers of Time magazine and Sports Illustrated as the top authority on bridge.

In 1974, Goren enlisted actor Omar Sharif as co-writer of his newspaper column, "Goren on Bridge," which was syndicated in 300 newspapers and magazines. Sharif, captain of the Egyptian team in the Bridge Olympiads of the 1960s, said he learned to play by reading Goren's books.

Goren remained an active consultant on the column until his death, his nephew said.

Goren never married, claiming no woman would have him because he was constantly traveling to bridge tournaments or speaking engagements. Since 1972, he had lived with his nephew in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.

He is also survived by another nephew, Norman T. Goren of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., and a niece, Carol Goren Weiner of Hobe Sound, Fla.

Private services and burial were in Trevose, Pa.