[blml] IMP-scales for 2/3/4 boards [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]

[richard.hills at immi.gov.au]

Herman De Wael:

>I guess most of you are familiar with Patton-style scoring.
>It's a combination of board-a-match and teams play.

Richard Hills (off-topic comment):

According to general expert American opinion, board-a-match
teams involves more skill and less luck than imp teams.

Part of the reason is that each board in BAM is of equal
weight, while a single wildly distributional board at imps
can decide an entire match.  Another part of the reason is
that sloppy declarer play and sloppy defence are not
appropriately penalised at imps if it is merely a matter
of overtricks in a cold contract.

This is why imped Swiss teams events have mostly replaced
BAM teams events in the USA over the past forty years.  A
weaker team can get lucky in a short imp match, and often
beat a stronger team.  But the stronger team almost
invariably beats the weaker team in a short BAM match.

So at first glance it seems that Patton-style scoring is
an ideal compromise.  But the editor of The Bridge World,
Jeff Rubens, argues that Patton-style scoring creates
huge amounts of luck, because there is no sensible
strategy that contestants can use.

Declarer play at imps is easy; guarantee your contract,
so perhaps sacrifice a likely overtrick with a safety
play.  Declarer play at matchpoints is easy; try for the
maximum number of likely tricks, so perhaps striving for
a overtrick at the cost of a small risk to your contract.

But with half of your score being imps, and the other half
of your score being matchpoints, these two strategies are
incompatible, so on many Patton-scored boards your
eventual result is due to a random guess.

I suggest that bridge administrators should think twice
before introducing Patton-style scoring into a serious
event.  But, of course, it is ideal for a social novelty
event to provide variety from the bog-standard matchpoint
pairs or imp teams.


Best wishes

Richard James Hills
Divisional Executive Officer unit
People Services, Values & Training Division
Department of Immigration and Citizenship
(02) 6225 6285

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