Regional Events

Charlottesville has never hosted a regional bridge tournament before, so lots of our local members have never played in one. McKenzie and I have had lots of requests recently to explain the different types of events that will be played at our upcoming tournament. Every session, there will be games for teams, pairs, and all skill levels, so you have a lot to choose from -- and yes, there are GOLD POINTS!

Here's a breakdown of the different events:

First of all, please note that all points start off as red. Gold points are awarded to the people who place in the overalls (or top 4 of a knockout) in any 2-session event with an upper masterpoint limit of at least 750.

Educational Foundation Pairs -- This is the first event of the tournament, holding the 1pm time slot on Monday, Jan 12. This is the only session that doesn't have a team game. Whether you enter the open game (stratified A/B/C) or the 0-300 game, this event is a regular matchpoint pair game. Money from your entries will benefit the ACBL's educational foundation.

Side Games -- Side games are all single-session matchpoint pair games. These are the only single-session open pair games, so they're good for players who can only play one session a day. These games are divided into series of 5 or 6 games. In each series, your two best percentages are added together toward the overall awards. For instance, if you play in 3 games in one side series, and you finish with 61%, 52% and 58%, your two top scores are added together to give you a 119% for the series. That's usually good enough to make the overalls and win some GOLD POINTS! It doesn't matter if you play with a different partner each time -- the overalls are tabulated on an individual basis.

Stratified Pairs -- These are 2-session matchpoint pair games that run every afternoon and evening session, starting on Tuesday. When you enter these events, you are committed to play both sessions that day. Compared to the side games, these fields are generally bigger and more competitive. GOLD POINTS to anyone who places in the overalls.

Knockouts -- You've probably heard that if you need gold points, the best way to get them quickly is to enter a knockout (KO). KO's are bracketed by team masterpoint totals, so you're always going to be playing only against other teams with about the same number of masterpoints as your team. This means everyone has a decent shot to win. You'll play 24-board matches, or two 12-board matches if you are in a 3-way. So basically, you're playing a whole session against just one other team. This event is scored in IMPs. It doesn't matter how much you win by. As long as you win, you get to move on. If you're in a 3-way, 2 teams will advance. You're guaranteed to advance if you win both matches, but if you're 1-and-1, you have to have a better margin than the other 1-and-1 team to move on. (If all three teams beat each other so that everyone is 1-and-1, the two teams with the most total IMPs move on.)

Full KO's last for 4 sessions, with only two teams remaining to play for 1st place in that 4th session. Almost all the KO's are afternoon-evening games over two days, but the first KO starts on Monday evening and continues all three sessions on Tuesday. Please check the schedule to be sure you can commit to all four sessions if your team wins! If you win your first two matches, you advance to what's known as the "money rounds." You're guaranteed at least 3/4th, which means more masterpoints -- some of them GOLD. The percentage of gold points will depend on the masterpoint totals of the teams in your bracket, but all KO teams that finish in at least 4th place will earn some gold points.

Compact Knockouts -- These are like full KO's, only shorter. Instead of playing four 24-board matches over four sessions, you will play four 12-board matches over two sessions. You will still get gold points for making it to the semifinals or better.

Board-a-Match Teams -- This event is like a pair game, but you play with a team. Instead of being scored on matchpoints or IMPs, you get either 0, 1/2, or 1 point per board. It's scored by computer, so you don't really have to worry about it yourself, but basically this is an event where you're trying to get the most number of points possible on any hand. Your score is compared to your teammates' score on the same board (like in Swiss Teams and KOs), and if your team is negative for the board, you get a 0; you get 1/2 a point for ties, and a full point if you win the board (ex: you're +450 and your teammates are -420). Overtricks, sacrifices, and doubles are a huge part of the strategy here. McKenzie's post on Board-A-Match strategy can be found here.

Swiss Teams -- You've played these before, right? We use the 20-point Victory Point scale in the MABC. The 2-session Swiss Teams on Sunday will be StrataFlighted, meaning there's an A/X field and a B/C/D field. Match awards are red, but overall places pay gold points.

Lose N Snooze KO's -- My favorite part of a regional! This is a fast-paced, super-fun late night knockout event. No one takes this too seriously -- it's about having a good time. Yes, there are masterpoints involved, but really, this is a FUN event. It's just one session of 6-board matches, and usually lasts about two hours for those who keep winning 'til the bitter end. And if you lose, you're done and you can go back to bed -- or stay and party with the rest of us:)

GOLD POINT Pairs -- This is a special event that we're running just on Friday. It's a 2-session commitment, and it's a great opportunity for Intermediate/Newcomer players to compete in a pair game for gold points, without having to square off against the top pros. This is the only strataflighted pair game of the tournament, so B/C players have their own event, capped off at 750 masterpoints.


I think that covers all the different types of events. Of course there are 0-300 events every session, as well. Cathy Hildebrand is our wonderful I/N director and she will guide you through all the different I/N events and answer any questions you have about these games.

Over the next few days, we'll post about the different forms of scoring (matchpoints, IMPs, and BAM) so you'll have some ideas about different strategies. Please check back, and if you have any unanswered questions, leave a comment! We look forward to seeing everyone in January!