Swiss Teams

DECEMBER 12, 2025 at 12NOON: SWISS TEAMS at the Carlsbad Senior Center!

Easy Master Points: You win points for every win against just one other team.

Easier Competition: The tournament players will be away at the Palm Springs Regional!

Yes, RED! 50% of the awards are Black, and the other 50% Red, because the event is rated as Grand National Teams Club Qualifier.

District 22 Finals: May 2-3, 2026 at SOCBC San Juan Capistrano.
Each team that wins a District Final will gets a stipend of $2,000 to compete in the National GNT Finals at the July 2026 Minneapolis NABC.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL D22 2025-2026 GNT CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

If you have never played Swiss Teams before, please trust anyone who has! They are a lot of fun! Want a lot of details? See below.

Download the special Score Card

REGISTER - 15 teams maximum!

Card Fees: $12 or one e-ticket per player, the usual price.

Please reach out if you are
a complete team, or
a partnership looking for another partnership to make a team, or
a single player looking for 3 more, or
3 players looking for a fourth.

Complete teams, please send me an email with the information below.

If you are comfortable copying and pasting, you can save some time:
Use your cursor to highlight the entire blank table below:
From here{{{

REGISTRATION FOR DECEMBER 12, 2025 Swiss Teams
TEAM CAPTAIN:
Dir	First Name	Last Name	ACBL#
N
S
E
W
NS Stationary required?

}}} to here
press CTRL+C or Command+C to copy,
start a new email
click in the body of the email
press CTRL+V or Command+V to paste the table
fill in all the information, and
send it to me.

If you have never played Swiss Teams before, and want to understand everything in advance,

below is a VERY DETAILED explanation of Swiss Teams

In pairs events you play against many opponents: Against all the pairs in the opposite direction, subject to the movement limitations.
In teams, you get to play against a maximum of 4 opponents, no matter how many teams enter the contest.
The first round is by random draw.
In the other 3 rounds winners play against winners and losers against losers: The worse day you are having, the easier your opposing team becomes!
To win points, all you need to do is beat one team.
If you come into the overalls, you get a substantially higher reward!

Especially for the December 12, 2025 game:
This event is rated as a championship, Grand National Teams, so the reward is not only higher, but also 50% RED.
Additionally, the tournament players amongst us will not be there, but away at the Palm Desert Regional.
Accordingly, I expect most people who enter to win at least some MasterPoints!

Establishing a team

In Swiss Teams, two pairs join to make a team.
This means that you and your partner must ask another partnership to be your teammates.
If your partnership has never done this before, ask me for help: "My partner and I are not comfortable asking anybody. Any suggestions?" I am here to help! I will ask others for you!

Stationary Tables

If we can get 5 or more teams, we will play 4 rounds.
This will mean that the EW pairs will get up and move no more than 3 times.
If being stationary is important, please be sure to register the stationary pair as North South.

Registration

Suppose you and your partner are Eric and Wendy Jamieson.
You team up with another couple, Nick and Sara Jones, and they need a mostly stationary table.
You need to pick a captain, one of the team members.
Since the captain will have to do some extra legwork, it may be best to have an East/West person be that captain.

Your entry would look like this:

TEAM CAPTAIN: Eric Jamieson
Dir	First Name	Last Name	ACBL#
N	Nick	Jones	...
S	Sara	Jones	...
E	Eric	Jamieson	...
W	Wendy	Jamieson	...
NS Stationary required? YES

Seating for a typical Swiss Teams Head-to-Head match

At the start of every round an announcement will be made of who plays against whom.
Most of the time one team plays against one other team.
There are two tables used, one in section A, and one in section D.
These tables have the same number.
This type of matchup is called a Head-to-Head match.

Suppose our team is assigned to table A5, the seating will be as follows:

Table A5

	N Our Nick
W Opps West		E Opps East
	S Our Sara

Table D5

	N Opps North
W Our Wendy		E Our Eric
	S Opps South

Care has been taken to keep these tables at least 2 apart, so normal conversations cannot be overheard.

The tables will be arranged in the room as follows:

C1	A3	A5
S T A G E
A1	A4	A6
A2	C2	D5
D1	D3	D6
D2	D4	C3
Front Door

There is no need to memorize this diagram: It is printed on every scoring card, so you can find your tables easily. (Plus the table mats will designate the tables as well.)

Every effort will be made to keep the North Souths that require a stationary table at a constant table.

Seating for a Swiss Teams Round-Robin match

If we have an even number of tables, all matches will be head-to-head, and this section will not apply at all.

What about an odd number of teams?

If every match were head-to-head, there would need to be a sitout.

The Round Robin method obviates the need for a sitout: 3 matches are played at 3 tables across 2 rounds.

So, if we have an odd number of teams, the last 3 teams are assigned to the Round Robin.

Example: Suppose we have 11 teams:
The first 8 will sit in sections A and D and play in 4 head-to-head matches against each other.
The last 3 will be in a Round Robin in section C.

Each of the 3 Teams will assemble at their home table: C1, C2, C3 and get a full set of boards.

When asked to startm the following apply to the Round Robin Teams:

For the first of the two rounds:
Each of the 3 EW pairs will go up one table, wrapping-around: C1=>C2, C2=>C3, C3=>C1.
Then all the boards will be shuffled, cut, dealt, played, scored.
Scores will be compared only with the opponents just played.

At the end of the round the match is not over.

For the second of the two rounds:
Each of the 3 EW pairs will go up ONE MORE table, wrapping around again: C2=>C3, C3=>C1,C1=>C2.
The Director will take all the boards DOWN one table.
No shuffling: All the boards are re-played as they are and scored.
Scores are compared against the opponents played ONLY.

At the end of the SECOND round all 3 matches will over:
Each of the 3 EW pairs will go up ONE MORE table, i.e. back to their home table.
They will compare scores with their teammates for both rounds.
They will report the results of both matches to the Director.

The Swiss Team scoring card

For scoring in Swiss Teams, we do not use Bridgemates, but special scoring cards, which will be available at the game.

At least one person per partnership must fill out one of such a card.

1. At the top of the card there is information that applies to the entire game.

TEAM’S CAPTAIN: _____________ PLAYER NAME:_________________________ Direction: NS/EW TEAM#: _____

Fill out the first 3 field immediately.

If your name is Wendy Smith, and you play EW in the Jamieson team, the top of your card would look like this:

TEAM’S CAPTAIN: _JAMIESON___ PLAYER NAME: _Wendy Smith____________ Direction: XX/EW TEAM#: _____

2. The Team Numbers will be assigned by Random Draw and announced before Round 1 starts.

Suppose you are told that you are Team #5: Write that in at the top right of the card

TEAM’S CAPTAIN: _JAMIESON___ PLAYER NAME: _Wendy Smith____________ Direction: XX/EW TEAM#: __5__

3. The card has 4 boxes, one per round. Use one box for each round. Each box looks like the following:

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-





	vs. Team#				TOTAL IMPs:

For each round:

Once the opponents get to your table, fill out immediately
- Their team number, in the bottom row,
- The 5 board numbers

Remember, in an H2H match not all 5 boards will be at your table; only 2 or 3 of the 5.

Helpfully, the boards will always be one of these sets: 1-5, 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, 21-25… always ending in a multiple of 5.

Deduce all the numbers in the set and write them all down.

Suppose we are playing Boards 11-15 against team 6.

When ready for Round 1, the box for Round 1 on your card would look like this:

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11
12
13
14
15
	vs. Team#	6			TOTAL IMPs:

Why only 5 boards per round? Because Swiss Teams run slower than Pairs events

Swiss Teams require a lot more manual work for everyone.

Compare	Pairs Events	Swiss Teams, Head-To-Head	Swiss Teams, Round Robin, 1st round	Swiss Teams, Round Robin, 2nd round
Must you shuffle, cut, deal?	No. The boards are pre-made.	Yes.	Yes.	No. The Director will move the boards down 1 table.
Must you wait for boards?	Rarely. If the previous table is slow, you may call the Director and ask them to pass you a board to get started.	Yes. You share boards with the other table (A and D). When you finish the boards on your table, you must call the caddy, hand over the boards you have just played, and wait for the caddy to bring the remaining boards to you.	No. All the boards are on the table.	No. All the boards are on the table.
When you finish a round, if the next opponents are ready, can you start the next round?	Yes. You know who the opponents will be. You can and should start playing as soon as you are both ready to do so.	No. Nobody knows who the next-round opponents will be until 1. Everyone in the room: 1.1 Finishes playing 1.2 Compares with opponents (more on that next week) 1.3 Returns to home table 1.4 Compares with teammates 1.5 Confirms the winning margins with the opponents 1.6 Hands the slip to the Director AND THEN 2. The Director 2.1 Enters all the slips 2.2 Gets the computer to produce the next matchups (winners against winners and losers against losers). 2.3 Announces the next matchups	Yes. EW pairs go up 1 table, after comparing with the opponents only.	No. Same as the Head-to-Head matches.

For the unavoidable delays alone, each match will be only 5-boards, or 20 boards total.

Swiss Team Scorekeeping

Play and score all 5 boards.

If in a head-to-head match, you only have 2 or 3 of the 5 boards at the table.
When you run out of boards to play, raise your hand and call out “Caddy, please!”

For each board played, write the contract, the result, and the score in the + or – column.

Bridgemates are not used. You can look up the scores on the back of every bidding card in the bidding box.

When you play: Try to get scores with large numbers. Try to safeguard your contract. Overtricks are not that important.

The strategy will become obvious next week when you compare with your teammates.

Before you leave the table, compare scores with the NS opponents.

Compare your card with the opponents' card.

Their card should be identical to yours, except the Raw scores should be in the opposite columns.

Suppose at the end of the round, your EW card is like this:

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11	4H E	4	420
12	2H W	2	110
13	3N N	3		600
14	4S E	4	420
15	6S N	6		1430
	vs. Team#	6			TOTAL IMPs:

Here is what the NS opponents’ card should look like:

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11	4H E	4		420
12	2H W	2		110
13	3N N	3	400
14	4S E	4		420
15	6S N	6	1430
	vs. Team#	5			TOTAL IMPs:

ATTENTION: On Board 13, theirs says +400 instead of +600!

Who is vulnerable on Board 13?

The markings on the board say that, but the caddy could have taken the Board to the other table.

The scoring card does not list who is vulnerable at the board line, because the board numbers are not known in advance.

The vulnerability by board number is below – and again, you do not need to memorize it, because this table is also at the bottom of the scoring card.

Board #	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
Board #	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32
Vul:	None	NS	EW	Both	NS	EW	Both	None	EW	Both	None	NS	Both	None	NS	EW

Here, we see that on Board 13 Both are vulnerable: The +400 was wrong. Before they leave, the opponents correct it to +600.

With experience, you will learn to confirm each score with the opponents as you go, and before the caddy takes the boards away.

Now that you have compared with the opponents, it is time for EW to move:

If you are in a Head-to-head match, return to your table.
If you are in a Round Robin and have just finished an odd-numbered round (1 or 3): Do not go to your teammates. Do not touch the cards! Just go up 1 table and play the other opponents.
If you are in a Round Robin and have just finished an even-numbered round (2 or 4): Go up 1 more table, and that will take you to your teammates. Compare for both rounds just played.

Judgment Day: Compare with your team mates.

Step 1 of 2: CALCULATE NET SCORES

Suppose your NS teammates’ card looks like this:

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11	3N E	4		430
12	3D N	3	110
13	3N N	5	600
14	3S E	5		200
15	5S N	7	710
	vs. Team#	6			TOTAL IMPs:

Once again, here is your EW card (repeated from above). Write in the NET score from both cards (*)

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11	4H E	4	420			10 ( = -430 + 420 )
12	2H W	2	110		220 ( = +110 + 110 )
13	3N N	3		600	60 ( = +660 – 600 )
14	4S E	4	420		220 ( = 420 - 200 )
15	6S N	6		1430		720 ( = -1430 + 710 )
	vs. Team#	6			TOTAL IMPs:

(*) Please note: The full math is shown here for purposes of education.
If you understand how the net is calculated, you do not need to show the net at all.
Experienced players calculate the net in their head and go directly to the next step, converting the net to IMPs.
Most Swiss Teams scorecards do not even have the columns for the net score.

Step 2 of 2: CONVERT NET SCORES TO INTERNATIONAL MATCH POINTS (IMPs)

Convert the net score to IMPs by looking at the conversion scale.

The conversion scale is below – and again, you do not need to memorize it, because it is at the bottom of the scoring card.

Net Score	From	0	20	50	90	130	170	220	270	320	370	430	500	600	750	900	1100	1300	1500	1750	2000	2250	2500	3000	3500	4000
Net Score	To	10	40	80	120	160	210	260	310	360	420	490	590	740	890	1090	1290	1490	1740	1990	2240	2490	2990	3490	3990	+
IMPs Won		0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24

Each net score becomes an IMP score, + in the +, - in the -.

Round 1			Raw Score		Net Score		IMPs
Bd#	Contract	Result	+	-	+	-	+	-
11	4H E	4	420			10	---	---
12	2H W	2	110		220		6
13	3N N	3		600	60		2
14	4S E	4	420		220		6
15	6S N	6		1430		720		12
	vs. Team#	6			TOTAL IMPs:		14	12

Yay! We won! By ( 14 - 12 = ) 2 IMPs! More on that next week.

The following commentary is intended to explain the strategy at Swiss Teams:

On Board 11, you had a heart fit and game values, so you bid and 4H game and made it, for +420. Great.
The opponents eschewed the heart fit and bid 3NT. 9 tricks instead of 10, but with more risk.
Had we been playing pairs/matchpoints, they would have beaten everyone, even though the net score is only 10 points!
In a Swiss Team event, though, they did not beat you, because the net score (here: 10 points) is too small to register on the IMP scale.
Their risk paid off ZERO IMPs, but they could have gone down for a loss.
We call zero IMPs a “push”.

On Board 12, aggressive bidding by your NS teammates paid off: +110 +110 net to +220: +6 IMPs. Part scores can add up!

On Board 13, perhaps the EW opponents made an unfortunate lead, allowing your teammates to make 5 for +660. Net: +60: +2 IMPs. Yes, overtricks can add up, but very little. Do not risk the contract for overtricks!

On Board 14, you stretched to bid the game. Good thinking! With a little luck 10 tricks were there. A finesse would have given 11, but your declarer correctly did not risk the contract: Eschewing the finesse he took his 10 sure tricks for a nice safe +420.
The opposing EW did not stretch; only committed to 9 tricks. Having that cushion, Declarer took the risk for the extra finesse which worked. Making 5 got +200, but still lost the board ( +420 -200 = +220 : ) +6 IMPs on the board because the game was not bid.

On Board 15, your teammates did not bid the slam on 26 HCP.

At your table, the NS opponents did:

Your LHO: Dummy
S: A Q T 9
H: 7 6
D: 4 3 2
C: A J T 9

Your RHO: Declarer
S: K J 8 7 6
H: A K Q
D:
C: Q 8 5 4 3

Warned by a diamond cue bid, you did not lead diamonds.
Also knowing that the club Ace was to your left, you led a club from the King to put Declarer in a quandary from trick 1.
Declared contemplated the finesse: If on, it improves the given +1430 to +1460. If off, and the club lead was a singleton, your partner would win the King and give you a ruff club ruff: -100.
If we were playing MatchPoints, Declarer might consider taking the finesse.
In Swiss Teams we always go for SAFE, LARGE POSITIVE SCORES.
Not risking the contract for an overtrick, Declarer played it safe for +1430: He won the Club Ace, drew trumps, conceded a trick to the Club King, and claimed 12 tricks.
Any other lead gives him the time to draw trumps and finesse in clubs, so your club saved us the -1460. Still, our teammates did not bid the slam, so we lost 12 IMPs on the board.

Anyway, we won the match!

We got ACBL Masterpoints!

Yay!

And perhaps not so yay: we are likely to encounter a tougher team at the next match, because winners get matched with winners!

Report the results

Results are reported on special slips that look like this:

ROUND #:	1	2	RR 1 & 2	3	3	RR 3 & 4
TEAM #			PLAYED AGAINST RESULT:		TEAM #
WON BY			TIED		WON BY
___________ NET IMPs __________ OPP Ok					___________ NET IMPs __________ OPP Ok

Since we played round 1 against team 6 and beat them by 2, our captain fills out the slip like this:

ROUND #:	1	2	RR 1 & 2	3	3	RR 3 & 4
TEAM # 5			PLAYED AGAINST RESULT:		TEAM # 6
WON BY			TIED		WON BY
____2_____ NET IMPs __________ OPP Ok					___________ NET IMPs __________ OPP Ok

And takes it to their captain.

Their captain initials under the NET IMPs.

Our captain then takes the signed slip to the Director.

The Director feeds this information into the computer.

The computer matches up winners with winners; losers with losers; and announces the next matchups.

Counting our winnings

The win has already gotten us some Masterpoints.

Additionally, if the margin of IMPs is large enough, we may place in the overalls. It pays handsomely to place in the overalls!

In order to calculate the overalls, the computer will convert the net IMPs to Victory Points, using the 20-point Victory Point scale. Other scales exist.

This scale awards 20 points in total to the two teams, to be split according to the net IMPs.

If all scores are identical, and two teams tie, each team gets 10 VPs towards the overalls.

While you do not need it, this scale listed below and also at the bottom of the scoring card for reference:

Net IMPs	From	0	1	3	5	8	11	14	17	20	24	28
Net IMPs	To	0	2	4	7	10	13	16	19	23	27	+
VP Split	Winner	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20
VP Split	Loser	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1	0

Here, we won by 2 IMPs. So, the computer will give 11 VPs to us towards the overalls, and only 9 VPs to our opponents.

And now we wait for the 2nd round matches to be announced!

Announcing seating assignments and on-going Results: Enter the "Rack"

In Swiss Teams seatings are not predetermined but calculated as we go.

The information of who sits where is announced to everyone via a large table, where there is one row per team.

This table is called the “Rack”, and may be a large piece of paper, a contraption made from leather, or a screen projection on the wall.

It is the Captain’s duty to ask where the Rack is located, consult it, and relay the seating assignment to their team.

The Rounds are presented Right to Left:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5

The contents of each cell will change for the current round.

For each round, the first thing you will see is the seat assignment:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5				A3

The A3 means: Our NS should sit at A3. Our EW should sit at D3.

Who are we playing against? Whoever is sitting at D3. Look at the column R1 to see who is at D3:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5				A3
RICHARDS	6				D3

So, the Richards NS will be playing at D3 against our NS, and vice versa.

The rack also shows the cumulative scores as we go.

After the round, the seating will be replaced with the VPs won so far:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5				11
RICHARDS	6				9

And then the seating for Round 2 will be displayed:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5			A2	11

After the round, the seating will be replaced by the cumulative VPs won so far:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

JAMIESON	5			23	11

Etc.

If there is a Round Robin, the results are only known at the end of Rounds 2 and 4.

Suppose PAULSON, team #8 is playing at the Round Robin.

To begin with, they would see this:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

PAULSON	8				C2

They would know that it is a Round Robin from the Section number: C is for Round Robin matches. (A and D are for Head-to-Head matches.)

At the end of Round 1, their VPs cannot be calculated, because neither of the matches has been completed.

They would only see the designation: RR

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

PAULSON	8				RR

Only at the end of Round 2 they would see their total VPs, against both teams:

TEAM CAPTAIN	TEAM #	R4	R3	R2	R1

PAULSON	8			28	RR

Director use: Pickup Slips

Questions: Please reach out !

Larry Kavounas