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

[Herman De Wael]

Tony Musgrove wrote:
> I fail to understand why VPs are necessarily integers.  MPs
> seem to be infinitely divisible.  Herman's Bastille system
> which my scoring programs have adopted for cross imps
> calculations allow imps to be a continuous variable.  With
> computers doing all the marking these days, WTP
> 
> Tony (Sydney)
> 

I used to be of the same opinion as you, Tony, but there are three 
reasons why integers are to be preferred:

a) the players can calculate these scores for themselves, which is a 
huge attraction point for such tournaments (as long as the computer 
can also score them for those for who the method is too complex)

b) bridge is not a precise sport, and even precise sports such as 
javelin throwing have a "unit" (and no, that is not 1cm, it is 
actually 2cm)

c) when issueing weighted scores, and some other adjusted scores, it 
is interesting to know that awarding 25% or 33% (or even 3S+1 or 3S+2) 
actually yields the same outcome.

And yes, I do mean that these integer scores are the final ones. If in 
the end there is a tie, then the contestants should be ranked equal.

Do you know the story of the swimming gold medal (I should look up the 
exact dates) where a gold was awarded on a thousandthst of a second. 
Later measurements revealed that the winner's lane was a millimeter 
shorter than his opponent and the silver winner had actually swam 
faster? Since then, all swimming times have been rounded to a one 
hundredth, and if they are equal, the places and medals are shared.

-- 
Herman DE WAEL
Antwerpen Belgium
http://www.hdw.be