TEAMS OF FOUR EVENTS

On Teams-of-Four dates:

• One section will be run as an ordinary pairs event

• The other section will be given over to a Teams-of-Four format

• Both sections will use computer-generated hands

It is not easy to organise a teams-of-four event ‘on the hoof’ so if you wish to play in this event please ‘enter’ your team in advance (by 5 p.m. On the day at the latest please).

Please be seated by 7.25

Table money will be as for a usual club night. Wine prizes will be awarded to the winning team providing at least five teams play. In the event of a tie, the wine winners will be determined following the EBU rules for resolving split ties – basically on the basis of the head-to-head match between the two teams.

Note that the parallel pairs event must remain viable and, if necessary, to ensure viability of it, the last-entered team may be asked to play in the pairs event instead. Entries are noted in order of receipt at http://www.mountnessingbridgeclub.org.uk/next_teams_event.shtml.

The format will be multiple teams, all-play-all. The number of boards / matches will be as follows:

Scoring:

For up to and including 7 teams: IMP scoring converted to VPs on standard EBU scales.

For 8 or more teams: total IMPs

In all situations the Ladder Points will be based on ‘Points a Board’ scoring: please see the Annex overleaf for details. The method can be used irrespective as to whether the primary scoring method to determine the overall team ranking is based on Victory Points or Total IMPS.

ANNEX: LADDER POINTS – TEAMS EVENTS

There is probably no perfect method for calculating ladder points for Teams Events, but nor is it appropriate simply to exclude teams events from the ladder. Up until early 2011 the method used was based on a simple 'point a board' method. Following significant comment and discussion on the results from the event held in January 2011 the method has been revised.

As is the case with Match Pointed Scoring for pairs events, in a 24 board event each individual board contributes fractionally over 4% to the overall ladder score. Previously this conversion was done on a simple 'win / lose / draw' basis, such that any swing 'in' was worth maximum points, a flat board 50%, and any swing 'out', zero. An effect was that the effect of large swings was dampened, and it could lead to peculiar situations where a team with a number of small swings could finish up with a much better ladder score than a team with a small number of large swings.

The revised method picks up a feature of the victory point conversion in teams matches, such that there is a 'cut-off' point that scores maximum points, and any excess above that cut-off is ignored. For example, in a six-board match, maximum victory points can be earned by scoring a net 'swing' of 25 IMPS.

In the ladder point methodology each event is treated as a series of single-board 'matches', with a cut-off set at 9 IMPs, and so the team can score a 'top' on the board with any swing in of 9 or more IMPS. This value is equivalent to the difference between a making vulnerable game contract that was either bid or not bid, e.g., 4H vulnerable making compared with 3H+1. Any smaller swings contribute proportionally fewer Ladder Points. The actual ladder score is based on the sum of the individual board scores expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible. The full conversion table is as below.

Swing (IMPS)	Ladder Points	% score on Board
9 or more	4.00	100.00%
8	3.78	94.44%
7	3.56	88.89%
6	3.33	83.33%
5	3.11	77.78%
4	2.89	72.22%
3	2.67	66.67%
2	2.44	61.11%
1	2.22	55.56%
0	2.00	50.00%
-1	1.78	44.44%
-2	1.56	38.89%
-3	1.33	33.33%
-4	1.11	27.78%
-5	0.89	22.22%
-6	0.67	16.67%
-7	0.44	11.11%
-8	0.22	5.56%
-9 or fewer	0.00	0.00%