Special Lesson

Bridge Scoring

Bridge Workshop · Reference Lesson · ⏱ ~25 min read

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This lesson has two parts. Part 1 covers the raw score — how a single contract is scored. Part 2 shows how raw scores are converted into a contest "currency" (IMPs) so a tournament works fairly across many boards.

Part 1

Basic Scoring — One Contract at a Time

You bid 4♠. You make exactly 10 tricks, vulnerable. How many points did you just score? That's the question this part answers — for any contract, made or down.

The Made-Contract Score

A made contract scores from two ingredients combined: trick points (for the tricks you took) and a bonus that depends on the level you reached — partial, game, or (next section) slam.

Trick points

Suit	Points per trick
♣ ♦ — minor suits	20
♥ ♠ — major suits	30
NT (no trump)	40 first, 30 each next

Every trick over 6 — whether contracted or an overtrick — scores at this rate. (Doubled/redoubled overtricks are an exception, covered later.)

Game vs partial bonus

A game earns a large bonus; a partial earns a small one. The cut-off is 100 trick points.

	Non Vul	Vul
Game	+300	+500
Partial (under 100)	+50	+50

The 100-point threshold uses contracted trick points only — overtricks add to your score, but don't lift a partial into a game.

Example — partial

2♦ exact, any vulnerability

Tricks: 2 × 20	40
Partial bonus	50
Total	90

Example — game

4♠ exact, vulnerable

Tricks: 4 × 30	120
Game bonus, Vul	500
Total	620

Slam Bonus

When you bid 6 (small slam, 12 tricks) or 7 (grand slam, 13 tricks) and make it, you earn a third bonus tier on top of the game bonus.

	Non Vul	Vul
Small slam (12 contracted)	+500	+750
Grand slam (13 contracted)	+1000	+1500

The slam bonus is awarded only if you bid the slam, not just because you took 12+ tricks. And only one of the two slam bonuses — never both.

Example — small slam

6♥ exact, vulnerable

Tricks: 6 × 30	180
Game bonus, Vul	500
Small slam, Vul	750
Total	1430

Doubled (X) and Redoubled (XX)

For made contracts:

Contracted trick points are multiplied by 2 (X) or 4 (XX)
"Insult" bonus: +50 (X) or +100 (XX)

Important: the game threshold uses trick points after multiplication. So a doubled partial can become a game — for example, 3♣ X = 60 × 2 = 120 → that's a game!

Overtricks (doubled / redoubled)

	Non Vul	Vul
Overtrick X	100	200
Overtrick XX	200	400

Classic trap: only contracted tricks are multiplied by 2 or 4. Overtricks use the table above — they are not multiplied again.

Example — doubled

4♠ X exact, Non Vul

Tricks: 4 × 30 × 2	240
Game bonus, Non Vul	300
Insult X	50
Total	590

Example — redoubled

4♠ XX exact, vulnerable

Tricks: 4 × 30 × 4	480
Game bonus, Vul	500
Insult XX	100
Total	1080

Penalties — Going Down

Undoubled

	Per trick
Non Vul	50
Vul	100

Doubled (X)

Non Vul

Tricks down	Cumulative
1	100
2	300
3	500
4	800
5	1100
each next	+300

100 first, 200 for the 2nd & 3rd, 300 for the 4th and onward.

Vul

Tricks down	Cumulative
1	200
2	500
3	800
each next	+300

200 first, 300 each one after.

Redoubled (XX)

Double the doubled value. Compute the doubled cumulative, then multiply by 2.

Example — undoubled penalty

3NT Non Vul, down 2

2 tricks × 50 (Non Vul)	100
Total (lost)	−100

Example — doubled penalty

4♠ X Vul, down 2

1st undertrick (Vul X)	200
2nd undertrick	300
Total (lost)	−500

Full Formula — Made Contract

Score = (tricks × points/trick × multiplier) + game/partial bonus + slam bonus (if any) + overtricks × overtrick value + insult (if X or XX)

Part 1 Exercises — Raw Score

Five contracts. Read the prompt, work it out in your head, then click "Show breakdown" to compare.

Example A — 3♥ +1 (any vulnerability)

A simple partial. Vulnerability does not change the result for plain partials.

Example B — 3♣ X +2, Vulnerable

Look carefully at the trick total after doubling.

Trap: 3♣ doubled is a game — 60 × 2 = 120 ≥ 100.

Example C — 4♥ XX +1, Vulnerable

A redoubled major game with one extra trick.

Trap: only contracted tricks get the ×4 multiplier — overtricks have their own value.

Example D — 1NT XX +3, Non Vul

A theatrical case — the smallest possible contract, redoubled.

Trap: 1NT XX = 40 × 4 = 160 → that's a game.

Example E — 7NT XX exact, Vulnerable

The largest score possible from a single bid-and-made contract.

Part 1 — Common Mistakes

Raw score

1. Multiplying overtricks by the X / XX multiplier.

→ Only contracted tricks are multiplied. Overtricks have their own table.

2. Confusing the slam bonuses (small slam Non Vul = 500, Vul = 750).

→ Always check vulnerability — the difference is 250 points.

3. Using the wrong insult: X = 50, XX = 100. Don't swap them.

4. Forgetting that a doubled partial can become a game when multiplied trick points reach 100.

→ Typical cases: 2NT X (140), 3♣/♦ X (120), 1NT XX (160), 4♣/♦ XX (320).

5. Expecting a slam bonus for taking 12+ tricks at a sub-slam contract.

→ You only get the slam bonus if you bid the slam.

Penalties

6. Mixing up Vul / Non Vul penalty schedules.

→ Non Vul: 100/200/200/300… Vul: 200/300/300/300…

7. Forgetting that Non Vul penalties shift from 200 to 300 starting with the 4th undertrick.

8. Misapplying the XX multiplier to the cumulative.

→ Compute the doubled cumulative first, then multiply by 2.

Part 2

Competitive Scoring — From Raw Points to a Contest Currency

A bridge tournament has dozens of boards. To make play — not luck — decide the winner, raw scores must be compressed before they accumulate. This part shows how that's done, with a focus on team play (IMPs).

Why Score in Two Stages?

You already know stage 1 — the raw score. In a contest, that score becomes the input to stage 2: a transformation that compresses variance.

1. Raw score

The mathematical points produced by a contract — tricks, bonuses, penalties, doubles and redoubles. Calculated identically in any form of contest.

2. Conversion to a contest "currency"

The raw score is transformed into a unit that accumulates over the contest — IMPs, MPs, VPs, etc.

Why the split?

Raw scores have a fundamental problem in a contest: huge variance. A missed slam can produce 1500+ points of swing; a missed partial — 50–100. If you simply added raw scores across boards, a single hand with extreme distribution could decide the entire event — not the quality of play.

The fix: raw scores are passed through functions that compress the variance, so every board contributes a weight closer to the others. Consistent play matters more than the luck of a single distribution. This is the common principle of every competitive scoring form in bridge — all of them are designed to minimise the luck factor inherent in card distribution.

Forms of Competitive Scoring

🤝

IMPs

International Match Points. Used in team play (4 players). The N-S raw-score difference between the two tables goes through a logarithmic IMP table.

📊

MPs

Matchpoints. Used in pair tournaments. On each board: 2 MP for every pair you beat, 1 for a tie. Expressed as a percentage of maximum.

🏆

VPs

Victory Points. Team matches in Swiss / round-robin. IMPs from a match are converted on a continuous 0–20 scale — yet another compression so a single match doesn't dominate.

Other forms exist for pair tournaments — Butler (compares against a daily "datum" through the IMP table) and Cross-IMPs (each pair compared in IMPs to every other pair, then averaged). They will be covered in a separate lesson.

Scope of Part 2: we focus on the IMP conversion — the most common form in serious team play, and the cleanest illustration of the two-stage idea.

The IMP Conversion Table

For a board played at both tables in a team match, the difference is computed as (N-S table 1) − (N-S table 2), then looked up in the table below. The sign tells you which team scores.

Difference (pts)	IMPs
0–10	0
20–40	1
50–80	2
90–120	3
130–160	4
170–210	5
220–260	6
270–310	7
320–360	8
370–420	9
430–490	10
500–590	11

Difference (pts)	IMPs
600–740	12
750–890	13
900–1090	14
1100–1290	15
1300–1490	16
1500–1740	17
1750–1990	18
2000–2240	19
2250–2490	20
2500–2990	21
3000–3490	22
3500–3990	23
4000+	24

How to Remember the IMP Table

Memorise 12 round anchors

1 IMP

100

200

300

500

750

1000

1500

2000

3000

4000

The logarithmic shape

Small IMPs (1–10): steps of ~30–70 points
Medium IMPs (11–17): steps of ~150–250 points
Large IMPs (18–24): steps of ~250–500 points

Typical bridge differentials

Situation	Difference	IMPs
Game vs partial, Non Vul (both make 4)	420 − 170 = 250	6
Game vs partial, Vul	620 − 170 = 450	10
Game Vul made vs missed	620 + 100 = 720	12
Small slam Vul vs game	1430 − 680 = 750	13
Grand slam Vul vs small slam Vul	2210 − 1460 = 750	13

"Bidding the slam" is worth 13 IMPs.
Game vs partial, Non Vul = 6 IMPs.
Game vs partial, Vul = 10 IMPs.

Part 2 Exercises — IMPs

Exercise 1 — Game made vs partial bid

Table 1: N-S make 4♠ Vul exact (+620).
Table 2: N-S play 3♠ Vul +1 (+170).
How many IMPs to your team?

Exercise 2 — Slam bid vs not

Table 1: N-S make 6♥ Vul exact (+1430).
Table 2: N-S stop in 4♥ Vul +2 (+680).

Exercise 3 — Sacrifice (the seating trap)

Table 1: Your N-S make 4♠ Vul exact (+620).
Table 2: On the same board, the opponents sit N-S. They sacrifice in 5♥ XX Non Vul and go down 2 (−600 for them, i.e. +600 to the defending pair).

Trap: in team play, the pair sitting N-S at table 1 sits E-W at table 2. So both N-S scores in this calculation are your team's N-S figures.

Part 2 — Common Mistakes

1. Not flipping seats at table 2 in a team match.

→ The pair sitting N-S at table 1 sits E-W at table 2. Both N-S scores still belong to the same team.

2. Adding differences instead of subtracting (or vice-versa).

3. Tripping over IMP-band boundaries: 740 → 12 IMPs, but 750 → 13 IMPs.

→ A single point makes a difference at the cliff edges.

4. Forgetting that large differences flatten in IMPs. The gap between +1430 and +1500 is 1 IMP, not more.

Appendix — Highest Possible Scores

Type	Highest score	Detail
Bid and made	2980	7NT XX, Vul (Example E)
Penalty	7600	7NT XX −13, Vul (200 + 300×12 = 3800, ×2 = 7600)
IMPs (single board)	24	Difference ≥ 4000 points

♠

Practice at the Club

Scoring becomes second nature once you keep score for a few sessions. Come play with us — every Wednesday or Thursday evening in Iași, no experience required.

Or leave your email and we'll let you know when the next online lesson is out.

All lessons

Tricks: 3 × 30	90
Overtrick: 1 × 30	30
Partial bonus	50
Total	170

Tricks: 3 × 20 × 2	120
Overtricks Vul X: 2 × 200	400
Game bonus, Vul	500
Insult X	50
Total	1070

Tricks: 4 × 30 × 4	480
Overtrick Vul XX: 1 × 400	400
Game bonus, Vul	500
Insult XX	100
Total	1480

Trick: 1 × 40 × 4	160
Overtricks Non Vul XX: 3 × 200	600
Game bonus, Non Vul	300
Insult XX	100
Total	1160

NT tricks: (40 + 30×6) × 4 = 220 × 4	880
Game bonus, Vul	500
Grand slam, Vul	1500
Insult XX	100
Total	2980