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ALWAYS HAPPY TO LIST YOUR CLUB/COUNTY EVENT 

WOODSPRING SWISS PAIRS ORGANISED BY KINGSTON SEYMOUR AND CLEVEDON & PORTISHEAD BRIDGE CLUBS, SUNDAY 24th MARCH 2024

CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS

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Did you know?

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DAY LONG TOURNAMENTS ON BBO

The Acol Daylong Tournament on BBO. It's an 8-board game with robots that don't use the GIB 2/1 system, but instead play a simple and friendly version of Acol. So, if you've been putting off playing against the robots because you're not comfortable with the 2/1 system, then this is for you.

You can play whenever's convenient, at your own pace and you don’t need a partner as you're playing with and against advanced robots. Everything is alerted and explained. Click the bids to see what they mean before making a move.

With Daylongs you can take your time and have a break if needed, as long as you finish your boards by midnight GMT.

Further details

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Relaxed Games on BBO

Every Wednesday at 2pm Hosted by the English Bridge School on BBO (Bridgebase-online).
The entry fee is just $3.50 per game and it is ideal for players still learning, or those who have completed Beginning Bridge Book One.

For each game:

  • Help finding a partner
  • Relaxed pace – help available throughout
  • An ideal introduction to duplicate pairs and online bridge

After play:

  • 12 Pre-dealt hands with commentary, suggesting recommended bidding
  • Follow up - review the hands with an instructor-led Zoom discussion (free)

You can register, find out more and see previous game results and get the Zoom link for free follow up advice at
English Bridge School Relaxed duplicate web page.

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Glossary of terms

GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS

 

(with thanks to Graham Daniel)

 

English Bridge Union (EBU)

The EBU is the governing body for duplicate bridge in England.  Formed in 1936, it’s a not-for-profit organisation, largely funded by the Universal Membership (sometimes known as Pay to Play or P2P) Subscription paid by affiliated clubs for each player at most club events – with no further fee paid by individual members.  The EBU promotes and develops the game, supporting county associations and clubs, training directors and teachers, running national competitions and much, much more.

Somerset Contract Bridge Association (SCBA)

The SCBA is our local county association, organising competitive events (one-off and league) for clubs and individuals in the county and offering training opportunities for players at all levels of experience

Master Points and Rankings

The Master Point scheme is run by the EBU and is a method by which players can track their lifetime achievement in bridge. Master Points are awarded for finishing in the top places in competitions run by the EBU, counties and affiliated clubs, with the number of points awarded on a scale which varies according to the size and status of the competition.

Local(sometimes called BlackPointsare typically awarded in club competitions and most county events.  Green Pointsare awarded in most national events and regional events of sufficiently high status, with Blue Pointsbeing awarded in other national and regional events of a lower status.

Gold Pointsare not part of the main Master Point scheme but are recorded in parallel with it as a measure of the current ‘form’ of elite players – with points losing value over time.

Many players have no interest in how many Master Points they’ve collected (just wanting to enjoy an evening out playing bridge with friends) but, for those that do, there are many different rankings that can be achieved – from Local Master to Premier Grand Master, the former being achievable by most regular club players and the latter by just a tinypercentage of players in the country.  Promotion through the rankings is dependent on the total number of Master Points collected, with a ranking of Premier Master and above also requiring a minimum number of Green Points.

National Grading System (NGS)

Unlike the Master Point Scheme, which reflects lifetime achievement, the NGS reflects an individual’s current standard of play, and can go down as well as up.  Unlike Gold Points, it’s relevant to the vast majority of EBU members, from novices to ordinary club players to Internationals.

Your grade is calculated automatically based on the results submitted to the EBU and is updated each time you play. Grades are divided into 13 bands, ranging from ‘Two’ to ‘Ace’ with the ‘Ace’ category then subdivided by suit – with only very few players reaching the ‘Ace of Spades’ level.

Match Points

The usual means of scoring duplicate pairs events.  In simple terms, the scores of every pair playing a board are compared (with North-South and East-West pairs being compared separately) and you get two points for each pair whose score you beat (irrespective of by how much) and one point for each pair whose score you equal.  Fortunately, this is normally done by computer these days!

International Match Points (IMPs)

Most team events are scored by IMPs, whereby the raw scores of each pair in a team are added together and then converted, using a non-linear scale shown on personal score cards, into IMPs. The advantages of using IMPs are that a team’s scores for all the boards played don’t take very long to add up and, more importantly, that overall results are less likely to be decided by extreme scores on just one or two boards.

Victory Points (VPs)

Some events convert each match’s total IMP score into Victory Points in order to add up the results of multiple matches, for example, for a league table.  Opposing teams will have 20 VPs divided between them, dependent on the final IMP score of their match.  In this way, the results of a single match won’t dominate the event – but it still remains worthwhile to beat the opposition soundly, rather than just squeaking past them!

System (or Convention) Cards

When playing in competitions, players should display system cards, showing which bidding system they and their partner are playing, and their variations to it.  

Competitions

Beyond normal club events, there are many types of competition (sometimes categorised as Ladies, Men’s, Mixed or Senior) played at county and national level – or at Congresses, in which players from anywhere in the UK (or the world) can play.

The following notes are not intended as a full description of how these events run but will hopefully give you enough of an idea (on the ones you’re most likely to meet) to remove some of the mystique and encourage your participation.

Stratified Events

Some events are stratified so that players can do well (and perhaps gain Master Points) in their own stratum whilst gaining experience against stronger players.  Pairs are categorised (usually by Master Point ranking of the highest-ranked player) into two or more strata but events are played as ordinary duplicate events, with all pairs playing each other.  Results are then produced for each stratum as well as an overall one.

Pairs

We play this in Kingston Seymour. Each pair plays as many other pairs and all or as many of the boards as the number of tables and the movement allows, with either a single winner or (potentially, but preferably avoided if we can) one winner from the North-South pairs and another from the East-West pairs.

Teams

Teams are usually made up of 4 players (but can be 8 or 12 players) with one pair playing a number of boards as North-South against a pair from the opposing team whilst the other pair plays the same boards as East-West against the other opposition pair.  Pairs then move so that each pair from your team are playing the other opposition pair and another set of boards are played.  The scores of your two pairs are compared and IMPs (and potentially VPs) established to give the match result. It’s quite simple once you’ve done it!

Swiss Pairs

Swiss Pairs are played as a Pairs competition but in such a way that winners play winners and losers play losers – based on the Swiss concept that governs play in most chess tournaments.  After each round, pairs with approximately equal records to date are pitted against one another for the next round – but ensuring the same pairs don’t meet more than once.

Swiss Teams

Played as Swiss Pairs, with teams pitted against other teams with a similar running score after each round. Sometimes played with an experienced pair paired with a less-experienced one and pairs from each category only playing against other pairs in the same category throughout the event.

Handicap Pairs

A variation we usually adopt once a month in Kingston Seymour.  Play proceeds as normal with a raw result produced and a handicap then applied to it. This handicap is typically based on the average of a player’s percentage scores over the last few months, so that, in theory at least, every pair should be equal top of the table if everyone performs exactly to their recent form.  Master Points are awarded as normal on the raw scores.

Simultaneous Pairs

A variant of a normal Pairs event in which the same boards are played at multiple clubs around the county (or the country) over a period of a few days and the scores aggregated to produce an overall result – which might be quite different to the local one!  These events are usually run to raise funds for charities and expert commentaries are often published once the overall result is established.

Jack-High

An event (of almost any type) in which entrants are limited to those whose NGS rating is no higher than the ‘Jack’ level.

Barometer Pairs

A form of competition in which the same boards are played at every table at the same time.  Pairs move after each round, with another set of boards being played at every table.  It does of course require multiple copies of each board to be prepared, but all scores for each set of boards are thus available and are posted as soon as the round is over, so that each pair knows where it stands at all times.  Any given pair’s fortunes will rise and fall as the event goes on—hence the name Barometer.

Pivot Teams (or Paul Jones)

A form of Teams event in which all players in a team have to play some of the boards paired with each of the other members of the team – as in a Paul Jones dance, where you keep changing partners.

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