Changes to Contract Bridge scoring:
Two changes have been made to the scoring.
The first change is that the bonus for making a redoubled contract is 100 instead of 50. This was done to preserve the idea that redoubling when a contract is destined to make should be worth more than making a higher bid in the same denomination (superseding the previous bid as well as the double).
Specifically, suppose your side is not vulnerable. You bid 5 Clubs or 5 Diamonds (expecting to take at least 11 tricks), the opponents double, and your side redoubles, and you subsequently take twelve tricks. Your score (under the old scoring) is:
- 400 points (below the line) for the trick score (20 per trick in a minor suit x 5 odd-tricks x 4 for being redoubled)
- 400 points (above the line) for one redoubled overtrick
- 50 points (above the line) for making a doubled or redoubled contract
for a total of 850 points, plus the rubber bonus. Under the new scoring this is increased to 900 points. This difference seems negligible, but compare what you would score if, instead of redoubling, you decided to bid 6 Clubs or 6 Diamonds. Your score now is:
- 120 points (below the line) for the trick score (20 per trick in a minor suit x 6 odd-tricks)
- 750 points (above the line) for bidding and making a small slam
for a total of 870 points plus the rubber bonus. So the common-sense idea that you should get a better score for redoubling and making the redoubled contract, rather than bidding on, is preserved. This relatively minor scoring change is more important in matchpointed duplicate bridge.
The other, more important, change is the penalties for failing to make a contract were revised in 1993. The penalties are now:
- for the first undertrick, 100 points.
- for the second and third undertrick, 200 points each.
- for the fourth and subsequent undertricks, 300 points each.
This scoring change was introduced because of the abundance of ludicrously wild sacrifice bids by a non-vulnerable side against vulnerable opponents.
Suppose your side is not vulnerable, and the vulnerable opponents bid 6 Hearts. If they make it, they will score:
- 180 points for tricks
- 750 points for bidding and making a small slam
- 700 points for winning the rubber
This is a total of 1630 points for the hand. However, if you see no hope of setting the contract, you may, instead, decide to bid 6 Spades. Under the old scoring, in order to get a better score than they would have made for their slam, they must defeat you by nine tricks! In other words, your sacrifice bid of 6 Spades will be succeessful if you succeed in taking a mere four tricks with your chosen trump suit. Under the new scoring, a eight-trick defeat would cost 2000 points. Much better.
Duplicate bridge is a very popular form of the game of Contract Bridge. Instead of being played in rubbers, though, each deal is completely self-contained. There is no above-the-line or below-the-line scoring; there is simply a score for each deal; part scores do not carry over. Vulnerability is pre-determined on each deal, instead of being based on whether a side has made a game or not.
The score on a deal is the same as for rubber bridge, with the following exceptions:
- There are no bonuses for honors
- A side that bids and makes a game contract scores
- 500 points if vulnerable
- 300 points if not-vulnerable
A side that bids and makes a part-score contract scores 50 points.
Rarely are these scores used to determine the winner of a bridge match or tournament. Normally, the score on each deal is used as a raw score for match points or International Match Points.