Scoring, MPs etc
The current SALT teams competition is being scored using VPs or Victory Points. Probably none of us in the staircase division knew what these were so I asked Robin Devries and this article is an amplification of his explanation - thanks Robin!
VPs are a teams scoring system developed by the World Bridge Federation to ensure that each IMP scored by a team was important but not necessarily of equal value. It is a sliding scale so that a small difference in IMPs between the two teams is worth more VPs than the extra VPs scored from a large IMP difference. In other words, diminishing returns set in.
Recently someone said at the table that they didn't understand how matchpoints work (in duplicate bridge) so i thought I would find out. Matchpoints are what you see in the results under the headings MP and Matchpts.
Acclaimed US teacher, Larry Cohen, has as part of his website some short articles explaining the bridge scoring fundamentals that are critical to bidding tactics.
If you learned the game in the current world of computerised bridge scoring you probably need this guidance to understand why it is often good to interfere in the bidding - and sometimes not!
The impact on your bridge results of reading these three short articles might be far larger that you think.
The Peninsula directors have been trying to improve our understanding of the laws and regulations that define our great game...
Try this quiz to see if they have been successful!
