A big shoutout to Tom Owens, the tournament chair for the Holiday Sectional Tournament this weekend at the Bridge Center of St. Paul! Not only is there a dedicated Swiss Team section for the I/N players, Tom has extended the Pair/Team format to the 0 to 500 I/N players for all 5 sessions of pair play on Friday and Saturday!
What is a pair/team game? In a pair/team game, you play with your partner just as you would during a regular pairs game. But the table-mates with whom you start the game with are considered your teammates for a new section based on board-a-match scoring.
You don’t need to do anything different, but this format allows for two different ways for a pair to earn masterpoints. It is extra work for the director in charge to set up the additional sections, and it is extra work for the partnership chair to have fill-ins available to keep the tables full. Yet it is a great opportunity for I/N pairs to experience a team game setting, and another way to earn points.
If you score well as a pair, you would earn a certain number of masterpoints. If your teammates do well also, your team score may be higher than your pair score. You earn the highest of the two scores (you cannot earn separate points, though, for each format). You won’t lose your pair result - but you may better it!
Keith Thompson
And don't forget; the Holiday Sectional starts this Friday, December 6th! Have fun, play bridge and get into the holiday spirit! The flyer is below! Our thanks to Keith and everyone else who is working hard for a great tourney and for all our competitors!
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