5. Scoring & Winning
The Deal Score
- Each deal is scored from the Duplicate Bridge Scoring Table (Law 77), which sets trick scores, premiums and penalties
- Declarer's side scores if it makes the contract; the defenders score if it fails
- Vulnerability, shown on the board, raises both the bonuses and the penalties
Matchpoint Scoring (Law 78A)
- Each contestant is compared with everyone who played the same board
- Two scoring units for each score inferior to yours, one for each equal score, and zero for each superior score
- This is the standard method for pairs events — beating the field on a board matters more than the size of the margin
Other Methods
- International Matchpoint (IMP) scoring: the total point difference on each board is converted to IMPs on a fixed scale (Law 78B) — standard for team events
- Total point scoring: the raw point totals are aggregated (Law 78C)
- The Conditions of Contest announce which method applies before play (Law 78D)