If you are a new player and your first venture is to a Bridge Club where Duplicate
bridge is the norm then go down to How to Duplicate Works.
If , however you are a Rubber or Chicago player read on.
Duplicate is not a different form of the game but rather different scoring and
tactics. You still play bridge, but the final score on each hand is determined
by a comparison method (called match points) instead of just total points.
It's
called Duplicate because each hand you play will be played at several other
tables during the session, under the same conditions. Unlike Rubber
bridge, which depends heavily on being dealt good hands to win, your
final score at duplicate depends only on how well you bid and play the cards
you actually hold,
not on
how "good" those cards are.
You can
play duplicate without knowing anything about match
point scoring. As you become more experienced, though, you will adopt
strategies that allow for this form of scoring.
Who
can play?
If you
know the basics of bridge bidding and can play at a reasonable pace, you can
play Duplicate. The most common misconception is that you have to be an
experienced player or even an "expert" to play in a tournament.
In fact,
playing duplicate bridge is one of the best ways to become a better player.
You play
against a wide variety of pairs -- from experts to beginners -- and compare your
bidding and play with theirs. Your mistakes (and your triumphs) will be clearer
because you'll see how several other players bid and played the same cards you
held. And because you have the chance to earn a top score on every hand (even
if you hold a "Yarborough" with no honour cards),
How
Duplicate works
You and your
partner will be assigned a table number and a direction (North-South or
East-West You'll also be given a pair number, which is usually the same as your
starting table number.
In most
movements of 7 tables or more, if you're North-South, you'll play at your table for
the whole session. You'll play a round of 2 to 4 hands against the East-West pair who
starts there, then a new pair and new boards will come to your table for the
next round. If you're East-West, you'll move to a new tableafter
every round to play new pairs and boards.
In games
of 6 or fewer tables, you may play in a scrambled movement where all pairs
change tables and directions after every round. The table cards will give you
instructions about where to move for each new round.
The number
of hands you play in a duplicate session will vary. You may play as few as
12-15 boards or as many as 28 (most clubs run sessions of 24-28 boards) and
you'll play against from 5 to 13 other pairs.
You don't
need to know how this movement works. The director will handle the movement of
pairs and boards, so all you have to do is play the people and the hands that
come to your table.
Duplicate
boards
Each hand
you play will come to your table in a duplicate tray with a deck of cards already separated into the four
hands.
The board
is designed to keep each 13-card hand separate so other can play
the exact same deal later in the session.
For the
first round only, you'll shuffle the cards and place each into one
of the four pockets in the board. The boards are then
placed
in the
center of the table to match the directions on the table
card.
In
duplicate scoring, each hand stands alone. Partscores
and vulnerability do not carry over to the next deal.
Instead,
each board has imprints that tell you the conditions for that hand only -- who the dealer is and whether or not each side is
vulnerable. The NS-EW directions are also marked on the board so you know which
hand to take
The
play
The
bidding starts with the hand marked Dealer and progresses normally. Once play
begins, though, all four players must keep their original hands intact so other
pairs can play the exact same deal later.
To keep
your cards separate, play to each trick by placing your card face up in front
of you instead of in the middle of the table. When the trick is complete, turn your played card face-down (still in front of you). If your
side won the trick, place the card vertically (pointing toward you and
partner). If you lost the trick, turn the card horizontally (pointing toward
your opponents). This allows you to see how many tricks each side has won at
any point in the play.
Although
dummy doesn't make decisions during the play, he is responsible for handling
his own cards and keeping track of the tricks won and lost. When you're
declarer, you don't need to reach across the table to play from dummy. Just
tell dummy which card you want to play to each trick ("small spade"
or "play the ace", for example) and he'll detach the card for you.
All four
players' played cards stay face-down in front of them, lined up so everyone can
always see how many tricks each side has taken. When the play is complete and
both sides agree on the score, count your cards (to be
sure none got
mixed in with another hand) and put your original hand back into the proper
pocket on the board.
How a Duplicate Game is Scored
Scoring each deal
Since
each deal is scored separately, duplicate gives no rubber bonus. Instead, you
score an immediate bonus for each contract made, whether it's a partscore, game or slam. The bonuses are:
For
all partscores: Trick score + 50 pts.
Non-vulnerable
games: Trick score + 300 pts.
Vulnerable
games: Trick score + 500 pts.
Slam
bonuses and penalties (for contracts not made) are the same as in rubber
scoring. Duplicate does not award points for holding honors.
The
score for a 3 ♦ contract that makes exactly 3 would be +110 -- 60 for the trick
score (3 x 20) plus 50 pts. for making a partscore. A vulnerable 4 ♥ game that makes an overtrick
would be +650 -- 150 for the trick score
(30 x 5) plus the 500-pt. game bonus.
You
don't need to memorize the scores or even know how to calculate them. There
will be a
printed scoring table available.
The
player sitting North records the score for each deal.
Most clubs use a
travelling score slip, one for each
board, which is folded and put back into the board with the cards. When the
board is played by other pairs, they'll enter their scores on the same
travelling score. In later rounds, you'll be able to see the results from other
tables and compare your scores with theirs.
The final
score
At
the end of the game, the scores on the travellers are used to determine each
pair's match point score on each hand. On each hand, you usually receive 2 match points
for every pair you beat and 1 match point for every pair you tie ( in America it's 1 and 1/2 but the principle is the same). If a board is
played 12 times,
the top score is 22- That is 2 match points for beating each of the other 11 pairs who
played the hand -- and average is 11
Your
result on each hand is compared only with the pairs who held the same cards and
sat the same direction (NS or EW) you did.
If
you play 24 hands in a 12 table session, the average total score is 264 (24
hands x 11 the average match point score on each hand). Obviously if your score
adds up to exactly half the possible you have scored 50% which is the usual
format for displaying scores.
In
general the span of scores is about 35% to 65 % so it follows that if you score
50% you are likely to be around halfway in the ranking list- 60% + will be in
the winning area.
First and
foremost, remember that the only real change is in how your final result is
scored. Your match point score is based not on how much you beat the pairs by,
but on how many pairs you beat. This one difference from rubber
bridge can affect a number of your decisions during the bidding and
play.
The best way to get started is to ask around to find a club that
runs beginners sessons and take it from there. Even if you are a reasonably
experienced rubber player it does no harm to attend a few sessions to get used
to the procedures. It might also help to read the file
Duplicate Rules and Etiquette.