Gioco della Carta

Le Gare di Duplicato sono dei confronti che si sviluppano su un prefissato numero di smazzate tra due squadre, composte di un numero variabile tra 4 e 8 giocatori per ciascuna squadra che, a 4 per volta, si confrontano su due tavoli separati giocando con carte duplicate.

Un tavolo risiede in sala aperta e ad esso siedono in NS due giocatori della squadra A e in EO due giocatori della squadra B.

La sala aperta può essere frequentata da visitatori interessati all'esito dell'incontro.

Ad un secondo tavolo posto in sala chiusa, dove è ammessa solo la presenza dell'arbitro, siedono in NS due giocatori della squadra B ed in EO due giocatori della squadra A.

Dopo un prefissato numero di smazzate giocate, le carte giocate salvate in appositi astucci, vengono scambiate tra le due sale.

La somma delle eventuali differenze tra i risultati conseguiti dai compagni di squadra in ogni smazzata giocata nelle due sale, determina il vantaggio di un team rispetto all'altro.

In questo modo, il fattore fortuna viene ridotto ai minimi termini.

Esistono varie formule con le quali si possono disputare incontri di duplicato.

Duplicate Bridge is the most widely used variation of contract bridge in club and tournament settings.

It is called duplicate because the same bridge hand (i.e. arrangement of cards) is duplicated at other tables, in order to allow a fair comparison of playing skill and reduce "luck of the cards". In this way, every hand, whether good or bad, is played in competition with others playing the identical cards, and the element of skill is heightened whilst that of chance is reduced. Duplicate bridge stands in contrast to rubber bridge where each hand is freshly dealt and scores depend as much on the cards as on the players.

Bridge boards, simple four-way card holders, are used to enable each player's hand to be passed intact to the next table that must play the deal, and final scores are calculated by comparing each pair's result with others who played the same hand. Bidding boxes are often used to facilitate the mechanics of bidding, prevent inadvertent passing of information, and minimize the noise level. Screens are used in higher levels of competition and were introduced to eliminate cheating.

In duplicate bridge, a player normally plays with the same partner throughout an event. The two are known as a "pair". There are two exceptions: on team events with up to five or six members swapping partners for portions of the event, and in individual tournaments, in which players change partners for each round.

There are several formulas with which you can play duplicate meetings.

Board-a-Match

Con questa formula le squadre contendenti si misurano su ogni singola smazzata, ma su una base completamente diversa.

Ogni smazzata se vinta (indipendentemente dal fatto che lo sia stata per 1 imp o per 20 imp), frutta 1 punto, se pareggiata ne frutta mezzo e se persa non frutta alcunché.

Board-a-Match

Board-a-Match Teams is the toughest type of event in tournament bridge, which may account for its lack of popularity. A team plays a small number of boards—usually two, three or four—against one opponent then moves on to take on another opponent. The movement is set up in such a way that your team always plays any given board against two opposition pairs of the same team. Often the movement is similar to the Mitchell movement used in pair games, but with some major differences that are always explained by the tournament director.

At the end of a session, the members of a team gather to compare scores. Each board is scored separately as a win, a tie or a loss.

The reason why the game is so tough is that every board is equally important. Some boards in Swiss and Knockout events are not all that important—very little may be at stake. But every board in a Board-a-Match game is worth one full matchpoint, and a high degree of concentration is necessary throughout every board of a session.

All special team games are forms of one of the three basic types discussed above.

Brackett Knockout

Con questa formula le squadre contendenti si incontrano una volta soltanto e passa al turno successivo quella che vince.

Tuttavia, ad un certo punto prestabilito della competizione, le squadre vengono suddivise in gironi in base agli IMP's conseguiti fino a quel momento.

La vincente di tutti gli incontri disputatisi nel primo girone sarà anche la vincente della competizione, ma si ha il vantaggio di poter distribuire premi e punteggi anche alle squadre vincenti dei gironi succedanei.

Brackett Knockout

Some method of seeding based on ability and experience is used to divide the total field into two or more groups. The breakdown is according to the average masterpoints of all players on each team. Each bracket comprises a separate event with its own masterpoint awards. There is no interplay between brackets.

The size of each bracket and the number of brackets depend on the number of teams entered. The purpose of bracketing is to establish groups within which each team is competitive.

Flighted Teams

Con questa formula le squadre vengono divise in tre gruppi in funzione degli IMP's guadagnati dai singoli giocatori.

Ogni giocatore può giocare nella categoria superiore ma non in quella inferiore.

La suddivisione più usuale è la seguente:

Flight A → da 0 a infinito

Flight B → da 0 a 750

Flight C → da 0 a 300

Flighted Teams

An event that is broken down into two or three fields based on masterpoints. Each field competes as a separate event. The flight for which a team is eligible is determined by the masterpoint holding of the player with the most masterpoints. Teams may opt to play in a higher classification but not in a lower one.

Often the breakdown is as follows:
Flight A → 0 to infinity
Flight B → 0-750
Flight C → 0-300
All teams are eligible to compete in Flight A. Only teams with fewer than 750 points for each player (Flight B limit) are eligible to play in Flight B. Only teams with fewer than 300 points for each player (Flight C limit) are eligible to play in Flight C. Teams eligible for Flight A only may compete in Flight A only

Knockout

Con questa formula le squadre contendenti si incontrano una volta soltanto e passa al turno successivo quella che vince.

Al termine della competizione risulta vincitrice la squadra che ha vinto tutti gli incontri.

Knockout

The name of this event is most apropos—the winners advance to the next round and the losers are knocked out of the competition. There are many kinds of Knockout events, but basically they come down to this—two teams face each other in head-to-head competition, and only one survives. There are variations on this theme, but the above explanation fits the vast majority of Knockout situations.

The setup is similar to Swiss Teams in that two members of your team sit North-South at one table, and two others are East-West at a different table. The team against which you are playing fills the other four seats at the two tables.

Knockout matches usually are much longer than Swiss matches—24 boards are common but sometimes it is as many as 64. After the match is finished, the East-West pairs return to their home tables to compare scores. Once again the IMP scale is used, just as in Swiss Teams. The team with the greater number of IMPs is the winner and advances to play in the next round. The losers are no longer in the event.

Specific conditions of contest may vary. Each team has a responsibility to be aware of the conditions and to conform accordingly.

Swiss

Con questa formula le squadre contendenti possono incontrasi più volte e, ad ogni turno, ogni squadra incontra quella che le è apparentata per i VP's conseguiti fino a quel momento.

Al primo turno l'apparentamento viene stabilito per sorteggio.

In questo modo tutte le squadre restano in gioco dal primo all'ultimo turno.

Swiss

For many years Swiss Teams has been the most popular form of team event, but in recent years it has been overtaken by Knockout Teams. A Swiss Teams event is a partial Round-robin setup in such a way that winners play winners and losers play losers. It is based on the Swiss concept that governs play in most chess tournaments.

After each round, the game directors sort the team records and set up new matches between teams of approximately equal records. In general, teams are not permitted to play against each other more than once.

The length of matches is determined by the size of the field and the number of sessions. The most common match length is seven boards, but five, six, eight and nine are not uncommon.

At the end of a match, the East-West pair returns to their home table where they compare their scores with their teammates. The event is scored on International Matchpoints (IMPs). This is a special conversion system designed to translate totals into a scoring system that gives fairer comparisons. The IMP scale is printed on the ACBL convention card.

To figure the score, the algebraic difference is taken on each board and then translated into IMPs. When all the boards have been scored, the pluses and minuses are added. If the total is a plus, that team is the winner. If the total is a minus, that team is a loser.

There are three different ways to compute the final score of a match. These scoring methods will be covered in Board-A-Match Swiss Teams, Victory Point Swiss Teams and Win-Loss Swiss Teams.

Sometimes the field for a Swiss Teams is very small. Quite often in such a situation the game is changed into a full Round-robin. Each team plays every other team in a short match. The winner is determined in the same manner as in a Swiss Teams. The same types of scoring used in Swiss Teams are used in a Round-robin event.

I ndice Generale

Index