Lütfen TÜRKÇE için Tıklayın

Scoring Systems

There are basically two different scoring systems for Bridge game. The first and the old one is Rubber Bridge System and the second one is Chicago Bridge System. The scores are the same in both systems but they are written differently.

At first, lets look at the score values of the suits and No Trumps. If you can make the contract then you will get 30 points per trick for major suits, 20 points for minor suits. If the contract is No Trump then you will get 40 points for the first trick and 30 points for each subsequent tricks.  So if the contract is 3 Spades for instance, and if you can make the contract then you will gain  90 points (3 x 30). Or if the contract is 3 No Trump and if you can complete the contract you will earn 100 points (40 + 30 + 30) which makes a game.

According to the scoring system you play, you gain some bonus for making contract, game or rubber.

Rubber Scoring System

In this system the scoring sheet consists of a vertical line and a horizontal line crossing each other. Left side of the vertical line belongs to the scores of one pair and the right side to the other pair. If any pair completes the contract, the score is written below the horizontal line, and the other scores, just like overtricks, bonus and penalties, are written above the horizontal line. For instance if the contract is 3 Spades and you make 10 tricks then you will write 90 below and 30 above the horizontal line. When you have completed the score below the line to 100, it means you have completed a game. Then another line is drawn below and this line prevent the part score (if any) of the other pair  to be completed to a game. So if you have a part score of 70 below the line and the other pair makes a game then you can not complete this part score to 100 to make a game. You should start from the beginning. A rubber is completed when one of the pairs makes two games. Rubber bonus is added and sum of the scores is calculated, the difference between the total scores of two pairs is written above the line on the second rubber score sheet on the side of the winning pair and the second rubber begins. Rubber bonus is 500 points if the other pair has a game, 700 points if they don't have a game. A bridge party consists of three rubbers.

Doubled Contracts

If a pair was doubled and they made the contract then the score is multiplied by 2 and written below the line. In case of redoubling the score is multiplied by 4. So if the contract is 1 NT redoubled and completed then 160 (40x4) is written below the line and it is a game.

Overtricks

If you make more tricks than you bid, these are overtricks. Overtrick scores change according to vulnerability and double and redouble conditions. Vulnerability means that you have completed a game before in the same rubber. So when a pair made a game in a rubber, they are vulnerable from that time till the end of the rubber. You can examine the score for each  overtrick  from the table below.

	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Not Doubled	Score value	Score value
Doubled	100	200
Redoubled	200	400

Undertricks

	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Not Doubled	50n	100n
Doubled	(2n-1)x100	(3n-1)x100
Redoubled	(2n-1)x100x2	(3n-1)x100x2

These undertrick scores are written above the line on the opponent side of the vertical line, (n) represents the number of undertricks.

According to this formula, penalty for the first undertrick is 100 points and 200 points for the subsequent undertricks. But in order to increase the penalty for more than 3 undertricks in doubled non vulnerable cases, 300 points penalty has been accepted for the 4th and subsequent undertricks. So if you win 5 fewer tricks in a doubled  contract when you are not vulnerable, your penalty will be 1100 instead of 900 points.

Bonus and Honors

	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Slam Bonus	500	750
Grand Slam Bonus	1000	1500
Honor for 4 High Cards of the Trump in One Hand	100	100
Honor for 5 High Cards of the Trump in One Hand	150	150
Honor for 4 Aces in One Hand in NoTrump	150	150

In order to get Slam or Grand Slam Bonus, the contract sould be Slam or Grand Slam. You can not get these bonus by winning 12 or 13 tricks if the contract is not Slam or Grand Slam.

All of these bonus and honors are written above the horizontal line.

Now let's explain this scoring system in a Rubber Bridge Party.

First Rubber                            Second Rubber                              Third Rubber

500                  30	500 200		700            500	100 320		100             970	700   30 300
70	120		180				120
60                   40			100	90		40              40	100
	200

First Rubber

1. Deal : You bid 2 NT and made 9 tricks. You will write 70 below and 30 above the horizontal line on your side which is left.
2. Deal : The contract was 4 Spades by the opponent pair and they have made the game, so they have written 120 points on their side under the line. Now your 70 points were underlined, so you can not complete it to 100 to make a game.
3. Deal : The contract was 2 Spades and you won 8 tricks, so you have written 60 points.
4. Deal : The contract was 2 Diamonds and you won 8 tricks, so you got 40 points. With this 40 points you have completed 100 and so you made a game.
5. Deal : Opponent pair bid Slam with Diamond and you have doubled. They made 10 tricks. You have gained 500 points for opponents 2 undertricks since they are vulnerable ( (3n-1)x100).
6. Deal : Opponent pair bid 3 NT, you have doubled again but they have made 10 tricks, so they have 1 overtrick this time. They have written 200 for doubled 2 NT below the line, 200 points for the redoubled overtrick in vulnerability. Since they have made 2 games they have completed the rubber and gain 500 rubber bonus because you also have a game. The difference between the total scores of two pairs which is 320 has been written on their side above the line on the second rubber score sheet.

Second Rubber

1. Deal : You bid Slam Spades and won 12 tricks. You have written  6x30=180 points below the line and 500 Slam bonus above the line since you are not vulnerable.
2. Deal : Opponents bid 3 Hearts and made 9 tricks, so the score is 90 below the line.
3. Deal : You bid 5 Diamonds and won 10 tricks. 100 penalty points for your undertrick in vulnerability have been written on opponent's side above the line.
4. Deal : You bid 3 NT and made the game. You have written 100 points below the line and 700 points above the line as rubber bonus since opponent didn't have any game. At the end of the second rubber your total score is 970 more than the other pairs' so it was written on your side above the line on the 3rd rubber score sheet .

Third Rubber

1. Deal : You bid 3 Spades but you won 7 tricks, so you have 2 undertricks. Since the contract was doubled, opponet pair gained 300 points according to the formula  (2n-1)x100.  But you also gained 100 honor points since the declarer holded 4 high cards of Spades.
2. Deal : Opponents bid 4 Hearts and won 11 tricks. They have written 120 below for the contract and 30 above the line for overtrick.
3. Deal : The Contract was 1 NT and you won 7 tricks, so you gained 40 points below the line.
4. Deal : You bid 2 Diamonds and got 8 tricks and you gained 40 points again below the line but you did not complete 100 points, so you did not made a game.
5. Oyun : Opponents bid 3 NT and made the game. They have written 100 points below the line and got 700 rubber bonus since they have completed 2 games and you do not have a game. Party is over and opponents won the party since the difference between the scores is 100 points in favour of them.

Chicago Bridge System

In rubber bridge the length of the rubber is unlimited. A Rubber continues until one of the pairs makes two games. In Chicago System the number of deals are limited. Cards should be dealt by each player one time, so this is a four deal game. If all the players pass in any deal, then the cards are shuffled and dealt by the same player. This system has several versions. On the original Chicago system number of deals are limited by four. Vulnerability is fixed for any deal, when the North is dealer nobody is vulnerable, when the East is dealer East-West are vulnerable, when South is dealer South-North are vulnerable and when West is dealer everybody is vulnerable. The rules are the same with rubber bridge but since there will be no rubber, there is no rubber bonus but instead of that there is a game bonus in this system. Game bonus is 500 for vulnerable and 300 for non vulnerable. Since it is possible to complete the part score to 100 to make a game, vulnerability is valid for the deal on which the game is completed. If the forth deal is ended with a part score, a contract bonus of 100 is given to the declarer pair. The game of course could be extended as the multiples of four deals. 

Now let's give an 8 deals example.

		30	30
	Vulnerability	North-South	East-West
1. Dealer North	Nobody	60	-
2. Dealer East	East-West	360	-
3. Dealer South	North-South	-	400
4. Dealer West	Everybody	190	-
5. Dealer North	Nobody	1260	-
6. Dealer East	East-West	-	70
7. Dealer South	North-South	620	-
8. Dealer West	Everybody	-	190

1. Deal : North-South bid 2 Spades and won 9 tricks. So 60 points were written below and 30 points above the horizontal line.
2. Deal : North-South bid 3 Diamonds and won 9 tricks. 60 points were written below the line. Since they have completed 100 points, they have made the game and gain 300 game bonus since they are not vulnerable on the second deal.
3. Deal : East-West bid 3 NT and won 9 tricks so made a game. 100 points for 3 NT  and 300 points as game bonus since they are not vulnerable.
4. Deal : North-South bid 3 Hearts and won 9 tricks. They have gained 90 points for this contract and 100 points bonus since it was the fourth deal.
5. Deal : North-South bid Slam for Spades, it was doubled and they won all the tricks. They have written 1260 points; 180x2=360 for doubled 6 Spades, 100 points for doubled one overtrick in non vulnerability, 300 points as game bonus in non vulnerability and 500 points for slam bonus in non vulnerability.
6. Deal : East-West bid 2 NT and won 9 tricks and gained 70 points below the line and 30 points above the line.
7. Deal : North-South bid 4 Hearts and won 10 tricks and got a total of 620; 120 for 4 Hearts and 500 game bonus since they are vulnerable.
8. Deal : East-West bid 3 Spades and won 9 tricks. They have written 90 points but they could not complete 70 points to 100 to make a game, because the opponents made a game between two deals. So just a bonus of 100 has been given since it is the forth deal.

Afterwards, this scoring system has been improved to make all deals independent from each other. Above the horizontal line has been cancelled and accepted that the part scores would not be accumulated to the next deal. Therefore a bonus has been assigned for making a part score, 50 points for non vulnerable and 100 points for vulnerable deals. The other rules have remained the same. Now let's rearrange the table above according to this version

	Vulnerability	North-South	East-West
1. Dealer North	Nobody	140	-
2. Dealer East	East-West	110	-
3. Dealer South	North-South	-	400
4. Dealer West	Everybody	190	-
5. Dealer North	Nobody	1260	-
6. Dealer East	East-West	-	200
7. Dealer South	North-South	620	-
8. Dealer West	Everybody	-	190

1.Deal : 60 for 2 Spades + 30 for overtrick + 50 bonus for making part score non vulnerable = 140

2.Deal : 60 for 3 Diamonds + 50 bonus for making part score non vulnerable = 110

3.Deal : 100 for 3 NT + 300 bonus for making game non vulnerable = 400

4.Deal : 90 for 3 Hearts + 100 bonus for making part score vulnerable = 190

5.Deal : Same as the previous table.

6.Deal : 70 for 2 NT + 30 for overtrick + 100 bonus for making part score vulnerable = 200

7.Deal : Same as the previous table.

8.Deal : 90 for 3 Spades + 100 bonus for making part score vulnerable = 190

The third phase in Chicago scoring system is Duplicate Bridge. This is the system carried out on tournaments and brings some differences on bonus scoring. Bonus for making part score is 50 for vulnerable and non vulnerable deals, and also 50 points bonus is written for a doubled contract and 50 points plus for redoubled contracts. For instance if the contract is 1 Club redoubled and if it is made, 230 points are written, 80 for redoubled 1 Club, 50 bonus for making a part score, 50 bonus for making a doubled contract, 50 bonus for making a redoubled contract. Another difference of this system is the vulnerability turn of the pairs as you will see in the following table.

Deal	Dealer	Vulnerability
1. Deal	North	Nobody
2. Deal	East	North-South
3. Deal	South	East-West
4. Deal	West	Everbody

Match Points in Tournaments

In tournaments there should be at least two tables, so at least two East-West pairs and two North-South pairs. Match point per table for a two tables tournament is 2 points, and 2 match points are added for each added table. So the match point per table for a four tables tournament is 6. All the boards are played by all pairs and match points are given according to the scores they have gained. Let's explain the match points on one board for a four table situation.

			Scores		Match Points
Contract	Contract by	Tricks	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	E-W Pair 1	8	50	-	6	0
4 Spades	E-W Pair 2	10	-	420	2	4
4 Spades	E-W Pair 3	11	-	450	0	6
3 Spades	E-W Pair 4	10	-	170	4	2

As you see on the above table, E-W Pair 3 gained the maximum 6 match points with the best score. Second score gets 4 match points and the third score gets 2 Match points and the forth score gets 0 among E-W pairs.  6 match points are seperated between the E-W and N-S on each table, so the total match point in a table can not exceed 6 points. If a E-W pair gained 4 match points in a four table tournament then their opponent N-S pair gets 2 match points. The above table is for just one board. There may be 16 or 24 or 32 boards in a tournament, therefore a similar table is prepared for each board and at the end, the total match points of each pair are summed up.

How will we seperate the match points if there is an equality between the scores? Let's say E-W Pair 3 also made 10 tricks on the above board. Then their score would be 420 just like E-W Pair 2. In such a situation, since they have the first and second best scores, the first and second best match points available are summed and divided   by 2. (6 + 4) / 2 = 5 they both gain 5 match points and their opponent N-S pairs gain 1 match point. So if all pairs in  E-W positions get the same scores in any board, all the match points are added and divided by 4 and all the pairs get 3 match points for a four table tournament.

How will we calculate the match points if all the players in one table pass? Let's say N-S pairs on three tables opened the game, bid 1 NT and made 6 tricks. The N-S pair on the forth table did not open the game. The scores and the match points would be as in the table below.

			Scores		Match Points
Contract	Contract by	Tricks	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
1 NT	N-S Pair 1	6	-	50	2	4
1 NT	N-S Pair 2	6	-	50	2	4
1 NT	N-S Pair 3	6	-	50	2	4
-	N-S Pair 4	-	0	0	6	0

If a contract can not be completed due to any reason, then the pairs share the total 6 points for a table as 3-3. In this situation, since there will not be 0 point for any pair on the other three tables, the points will be given extracting 1 point. So the total match points of all N-S or E-W pairs will not exceed 12 points for a four table game. An example scene could be as follows.                                       

			Scores		Match Points
Contract	Contract by	Tricks	N-S	E-W	N-S	E-W
3 NT	N-S Pair 1	10	430	-	5	1
4 Hearts	N-S Pair 2	10	420	-	3	3
3 NT	N-S Pair 3	9	400	-	1	5
Not Completed	N-S Pair 4	-	-	-	3	3