Guide 2Y81 Main

Bridge Team Games

by Richard Pavlicek

One of the most enjoyable ways to play bridge is the “team game.” This can be a small gathering of eight persons in your home, or a large group at a bridge club or tournament. Either way it is the most ideal format for duplicate bridge.

The Basics

The simplest form of a team game consists of two teams of four players each. Two bridge tables should be set up in separate rooms (or far enough apart to avoid hearing the bidding). At least eight “duplicate boards” are required* and four are placed on each table.

One pair from Team A sits North-South at Table 1; the other sits East-West at Table 2. The two pairs from Team B fill the remaining seats to oppose each pair of Team A.

At each table the four boards are shuffled and played in “duplicate fashion” — each player’s cards are kept separate and replaced in the board. Each partnership should record its result on each board.

When each table has finished with four deals, the boards are traded. That is, the boards played at Table 1 go to Table 2; the boards played at Table 2 go to Table 1. These are replayed without shuffling in order to obtain a direct comparison between the two teams.

A typical session might be three or four rounds. In social play it is customary to change teammates after each round.

*The use of duplicate boards is not a requirement but a convenience. A team game can be run without
duplicate boards as long as some method is used to keep each player’s cards separate. One way to do
this is for each player to put his cards in an envelope, marked by deal no. and direction, e.g., 1 North.

Guide 2Y81 Main

Top Bridge Team Games

How To Keep Score

Each team has two scores on each board: one by its North-South pair and one by its East-West pair. The net result of these scores determines the winner of each board.

Net scores are usually converted to “International Matchpoints” or IMPs (see table at the end). The team that scores more IMPs over a session is the winner. Following are two example deals to illustrate team competition at IMPs.

1.	K 10 7 6 5		West	North	East	South
None vul	Q 3		Team B	Team A	Team B	Team A
	A 5 2			1	Pass	3
	A 8 4		Pass	4	Pass	Pass
Q J 9		3 2	Pass
J 9 7 6 4		K 10 5
Q 8 3		J 9 6
J 2		Q 10 9 6 5
	A 8 4
	A 8 2
	K 10 7 4
	K 7 3

Team A N-S	Team B N-S	West	North	East	South
4 North	3 NT South	Team A	Team B	Team A	Team B
Lead: 10	Lead: 6		1	Pass	2 NT
Made 4 +420	Down 1 -50	Pass	3 NT	Pass	Pass
Team A +10 IMPs		Pass

At Table 1 Team A North-South bid 4 and declarer made it by establishing the diamond suit for a club discard. The raw score for Team A North-South is plus 420, so Team B East-West is minus 420.

At Table 2 Team B North-South reached 3 NT. West led a heart and the queen was covered by the king. South held up his ace, but West gained the lead in spades and the contract failed. The score for Team B North-South is minus 50, so Team A East-West is plus 50.

Let’s see how this converts to IMPs. Team A is plus 420 at Table 1 and plus 50 at Table 2, for a net plus of 470. Look this up in the table to determine that Team A wins 10 IMPs. Correspondingly, Team B loses 10 IMPs.

2.	Q 10 5		West	North	East	South
Both vul	7 3		Team B	Team A	Team B	Team A
	10 6 5 3		1	Pass	2	2
	K 9 8 7		3	Pass	Pass	Pass
6 3		9 7 2
A J 10 8 6		K Q 4
A K J 4		Q 9 8
4 2		Q 10 6 5
	A K J 8 4
	9 5 2
	7 2
	A J 3

Team A N-S	Team B N-S	West	North	East	South
3 West	3 South	Team A	Team B	Team A	Team B
Lead: 5	Lead: K	1	Pass	2	2
Made 3 +140	Made 3 +140	3	3	Pass	Pass
Team B +7 IMPs		Pass

At Table 1 Team B East-West bought the contract for 3 . This was easily made, so Team B East-West is plus 140, and Team A North-South is minus 140.

At Table 2 the bidding started the same way, but North competed to 3 over 3 . South played well to make this contract. Team B North-South is plus 140, and Team A East-West is minus 140.

Note that Team B was plus 140 at each table for a net score of 280 points. Team B wins 7 IMPs, and Team A loses 7 IMPs.

Net	IMPs	Net	IMPs
20-40	1	750-890	13
50-80	2	900-1090	14
90-120	3	1100-1290	15
130-160	4	1300-1490	16
170-210	5	1500-1740	17
220-260	6	1750-1990	18
270-310	7	2000-2240	19
320-360	8	2250-2490	20
370-420	9	2500-2990	21
430-490	10	3000-3490	22
500-590	11	3500-3990	23
600-740	12	4000 & up	24

Guide 2Y81 Main

Top Bridge Team Games

© 2012 Richard Pavlicek