The system doesn’t change. What changes is what a good result looks like, and so what you do with a close decision.
Pairs, matchpoints
Every table plays the same board. Your score on it is compared with every other pair who held your cards: beat a pair, one point; tie, half. Only the comparison survives: how much you won or lost by is thrown away. A part-score that outscores the room by ten is a complete win; a slam one down is a complete loss.
Teams, IMPs
Your team of four sits at two tables, and the two results on each board are compared. The difference in points becomes IMPs on a scale that compresses big swings: a 30-point overtrick is 1 IMP; a vulnerable game against a part-score is 10. At teams, size matters, and that drives every row below.
| Pairs | Teams | |
|---|---|---|
| What wins | Beating the room, however narrowly. Frequent small gains. | Big swings: games, slams, doubled contracts. Avoiding big losses. |
| Overtricks | Matter a lot: the overtrick is often the whole board. Play for it when it’s safe-ish. | Barely matter. Make the contract first; take the safety play every time. |
| Close games | Bid what the room will bid; on a coin-flip, stay with the field. | Bid vulnerable games on less: the bonus is huge, the penalty for failing small beside it. A little more sober not vulnerable. |
| Slams | Bid the right slam: 6NT outscores six of a suit; a thin slam is a 50-50 board. | Bid a slam you’re confident in; a thin one risks a large swing. Be sure. |
| Doubles | Double part-scores readily when they’ve pushed too far: +200 beats every part-score in the room. | Double only what you’re sure to beat. A doubled contract that makes is a catastrophe; letting them make an undoubled part-score costs a few IMPs. |
| Defence and leads | Lead passively; protect your overtricks. Sometimes the best defence is holding declarer to the contract. | Beat the contract. Take the aggressive lead that might set it; the overtrick you concede when it fails is nearly free. |
Which will you meet?
Club nights are nearly always pairs. Inter-club matches, leagues and cups are teams. Learn pairs first, it’s the everyday game, and switch instincts at the door when you play a match.
Three traps
- Playing teams like pairs, chasing an overtrick and going down in a game: a 10-13 IMP swing to save 1.
- Playing pairs like teams: bidding a thin vulnerable game “because the bonus is big”. If the room stops in a part-score and you go one down, you’ve lost the board outright.
- Sacrificing at teams. Sacrifices are a pairs weapon. At teams, only when you’re sure their game makes and sure your loss is smaller: twice as many ways to be wrong.
The IMP scale
| Diff. | IMPs |
|---|---|
| 20-40 | 1 |
| 50-80 | 2 |
| 90-120 | 3 |
| 130-160 | 4 |
| 170-210 | 5 |
| 220-260 | 6 |
| 270-310 | 7 |
| 320-360 | 8 |
| 370-420 | 9 |
| 430-490 | 10 |
| 500-590 | 11 |
| 600-740 | 12 |
| 750-890 | 13 |
| 900-1090 | 14 |
| 1100-1290 | 15 |
| … 4000+ | 24 |
This handout goes with the Beginner course, in ACOL or 5-card majors.
