Much emphasis is placed on learning bidding and a moderate amount of energy is spent on card play. But Bridge is like any battlefield - you need tactics and strategy to defeat the enemy!
I usually play Matchpoints, as do most regular duplicate players. Periodically my club has a teams competition, which requires IMPS tactics. This is a collection of other peoples' wisdom on how to handle IMPS.
IMP Team Tactics
The Bidding:
Games: Bid the safest game. At matchpoints, you may get a markedly better score for playing
in notrump instead of a major, or in a major instead of a minor. IMP scoring, however, neutralizes
the differences between these contracts. Your best strategy is to choose your best (longest)
trump fit and bid the game that's most likely to make -- even if it's 5C instead of 3NT.
If you're not vulnerable, don't stretch too far to bid a close game -- the odds favor bidding
only those games that you are reasonably sure will make.
If you're vulnerable, it pays to be a little more optimistic when you're considering a thin game.
The IMP odds (your potential gain if the contract makes) favor bidding any game that has even
a 40% chance of making.
Part scores: Look for the safest part score.
Don't worry about searching for a few extra points by playing in notrump instead of a minor.
Overcalls: Matchpoint players often make light overcalls, but it pays to beef up your overcalls at
IMPs. If you're vulnerable -- or if your overcall is at the 2-level -- you should promise a strong suit
and the playing strength of a full opening bid.
Competing and balancing: Don't be too bold. Unless you have a good suit and good hand,
let the opponents play in their low-level contracts, especially if you're vulnerable. Trump length
is more important than overall strength, so don't let the opponents push you to the 3-level unless
you have a 9-card trump fit.
Doubles: There's little to gain -- and much to lose -- by making a penalty double of a close
contract, especially a part score. Don't make a penalty double unless you're reasonably sure the
contract is going down at least two tricks. If the opponents sacrifice against your game and you
are in doubt about whether to bid higher, double and take your sure plus score.
Sacrifices: If you want to take a non-vulnerable sacrifice over your opponent's vulnerable game,
you should be reasonably sure that you won't go down more than two tricks. If you're vulnerable,
you should be virtually certain that you won't go down more than one trick. Anything more is
"too close for comfort" at IMP play, and won't gain you many IMPs. When in doubt, let the
opponents play the contract and hope you can beat it.
The Play:
Overtricks: When you're declarer, don't risk your contract trying to make an overtrick.
Always choose the safest line of play to make your contract, even if it might cost you an overtrick
or two.
Opening leads: Be cautious about trying for a swing with an unusual opening lead. In the long
run, it's usually best to make your "normal" lead -- the same one you think your opponent will
make
when the board is played at your team-mates' table.
Save your brilliant defensive plays for later in the hand, when you have more information.
Defense: Be optimistic and fairly aggressive when defending the opponents' contracts.
If there's a layout of the cards that will result in a set, choose your leads and plays to cater to that
possibility, even if it means you may give up an overtrick if you're wrong.
Your matchpoint and weak rubber bridge experiences can be a deterrent to improving your
bidding to play IMPS at the highest level. Your bidding system should be geared to play against
“tough opponents” at a high level. Not too many bunnies to bag at the Bermuda Bowl.
A good strategy in local games is just sit and wait for them to make mistakes and they will .
This is wrong strategy at high level IMPS. You must earn IMPS by making appropriate
gambles and psychological tactics. “Sitting there” waiting for mistakes that will rarely
happen will just result in a losing set time after time.
Gearing your system to bad bidders is a losing strategy. An over dependence on “trump
stack” penalty doubles is a good strategy in weak games but not at a high level. Good
opponents play the vulnerability and put maximum pressure on you to take losing options to
double them at the expense of your vul games and slams. System bids should be geared to
pulling doubles when appropriate and not just blindly leave doubles in . “Never pull my
penalty doubles” is the worst strategy at high level IMPS that one could possibly conceive.
“4NT is always Blackwood” is a horrible platitude to follow at high level IMPS. Bids
should be employed based on their frequency of occurrence. If 4NT has a more frequent and
useful role then ace asking then Blackwood should be thrown out. 6 hands at 12 IMPS apiece
could come up before a hand for which Blackwood could be suited. Blackwood in your system
for these auctions could be very destructive.
Most IMP players experiences stem from weak match point fields. Match points
re-enforce the “plus” on any particular board. Get rid of that type of thinking at IMPS.
IMPS by its very nature is accumulative. Avoid disasters by “taking out cheap insurance”
instead of going for a plus. In match points a disaster is only one board. In IMPS it can be
17 IMPS and take a ˝ dozen boards to make up.
I was watching this hand.
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In 3rd chair partner vul against not opens 4S . All pass and then a 5D
bid from the last bidder and around to you. In Match points your action is clear.
5S has no guarantee to make and they are obviously “sacrificing” so you double. In IMPS it is a different matter. Partner bid 4S vul without the KQ10 of spades. The
spade suit is dead for defensive purposes . 5D might even make ! Given the
spade suit, partner probably has outside cards for the 4S bid. These cards will
defeat 5D but they might also make 5S! When in doubt bid in IMPS. In this
particular hand 5Sx makes (with a shot at 6 ) and 5D x nets you +100.
You just do not rely on your experiences in high level IMPS because they are usually based
on weaker players in a different form of Bridge. Think IMPS when you are playing that game !!
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Another one is never to double part scores unless you KNOW they go down.
It is good team tactics never to have -670 on your list. On the other hand you
can double close games if the suits are breaking badly for them (unless this
gives the needed information to make the contract).
Don't overcall on the 2-level with bad suits / hands.
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When playing long matches for example in the Europeans we play 20 board
matches. I would recommend the following strategy:
Concentrate as hard as you can for the first 3 boards bid aggressively; try
and put the boot in and set the tone for the rest of the match.
Secondly, concentrate extra hard for the last 3 boards of the match, more
imps are lost in the last few boards of a match than at any other time.
If you can keep your focus then you can often pick up a lot of free imps.
Another piece of advice i would give is regarding a disaster. Nobody is perfect
and disasters will invariably happen particularly in a 500+ board event.
The trick is that when you have a bad result to take a few moments, think
of a relaxing place, maybe go and get a glass of water but whatever you do,
don't play the next board immediately unless you are sure that you can
maintain your focus. The amount of pairs I commentated on at the olympiad
(some of the top pairs in
significant. If they had just composed themselves then these tilts could
have been avoided.
MatchPoints versus IMPs
The difference between MatchPoints and IMPs is simple enough. In MatchPoints, your
score is put on a list with everyone else's score. You get one MatchPoint for every person you
beat on this list, a half a MatchPoint for everyone you TIE on that list. Hence, if you do better
than the 12 other people who played the hand, you would get 12 MatchPoints. An average
result would be 6 MPs if 13 pairs play the hand. On OKBridge, this is simply converted to a
percentage with 100% going to anyone who beats all of the other pairs, 0% to anyone who
registers the worst score.
In International Match Points ("IMPs"), we take the DIFFERENCE between the scores
that you and your opponents have achieved and convert that difference to an arbitrary number
of "IMPs" according to this scale:
Difference in Raw Scores 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
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
IMPs were originally designed for team competition.
IMP PAIRS is simply an averaging of your opponents' results before such a comparison takes
place; you are pitted against the "average opponent" when playing IMP Pairs.
Playing IMPs, if you make 430 while others make 420, you have a raw score difference of a
measly 10. This is worth ZERO IMPs. Were you playing MatchPoints, though, 430 would beat
ALL the other pairs with their 420 scores; you would receive ALL the MatchPoints on such a
board. (This, by the way, explains the popularity of No Trump contracts among MatchPoint players.)
Similarly, if EVERYONE ELSE scores +100 on a hand, you will get all the MatchPoints with any
score above +100: +110 would get you the same fine result as +1100 would!
At MatchPoints, then, you only need to beat the score achieved by others who play the
same hand. It does not matter BY HOW MUCH you beat them.
At IMPs, though, it is not enough to beat the others who hold the same hand as you.
In order to make headway, you must beat them by as much as possible!
If you score +110 as opposed to +100 you will score a lot of MatchPoints, but a net difference
of (110 - 100 = ) 10 would net you ZERO IMPs. +1100 versus everyone else's +100, on the
other hand, is worth (1100 - 100 = ) 1000 net points, or a whopping +14 IMPs.
How does this difference in scoring methods affect your decisions at the table? Plenty!
At MatchPoints, making an overtrick in an undoubled, non-vulnerable 4H while others
make only ten tricks means a "top" board (i.e. all the MatchPoints available).
But at IMPs, it means only (450 - 420 = ) 30 points, or 1 measly IMP!
With so few IMPs at stake, this would be considered a "flat" or "near-flat" board at IMPs.
Many such hands which are so exciting at MatchPoints ("Can you make that critical extra trick?")
are a total yawn at IMPs!
On the flip side, going down in 4H while all others make 10 tricks is a "bottom" board,
or ZERO MatchPoints. At IMPs, though, you have just lost (420 + 50 = ) 470 points in total,
which converts to a disastrous -10 IMPs.
From this we discern that, at IMPs, you would NEVER risk the contract for an overtrick.
The risk (-10 IMPs here) far outweighs the gain (1 IMP). At MATCHPOINTS, however, that
overtrick may mean the difference between a top and an so-so result, so you MIGHT, if you see
the chances as better than 50%, put your contract at risk to try for an overtrick (especially if you
think everyone will be in the same contract as you). Similarly, on defence, you would always cash
the setting trick at IMPs to ensure defeating the contract. But, at MatchPoints, an extra
undertrick might be worth the risk of NOT cashing the setting trick in the hopes of setting
the contract TWO tricks!
"So," you might ask, "if going down in a game which everyone else makes is a
disaster at both forms of the game, what's the difference? Isn't it just one bad board?"
The difference is that at MatchPoints you can recover by making an overtrick in 3D on
the very next board while everyone else makes only 9 tricks. At IMPs, this would only recover
ONE of the ten IMPs you lost going down in 4H earlier! Because you need hands where big
numbers are at stake, it is much harder to recover from disasters at IMPs BECAUSE THERE
ARE FAR MORE "FLAT" OR "NEAR-FLAT" BOARDS AT IMPs!
In MatchPoints, "the play is the thing". An overtrick or an extra undertrick means
EVERYTHING if it distinguishes your score from everyone else's. There are few "flat" boards at
MatchPoints. In a typical 24-board session at MatchPoints, you may have 2 or 3 "flat" boards.
In a typical 24-board match at IMPs, you may have 12-18 such "flat" or "push" boards. :(
At IMPs, bidding is paramount. Miss a slam or a makeable game and you're in trouble. Squeezing out an extra overtrick or extra undoubled undertrick via careful play on
the next hand will NOT recover your loss.
The above distinction explains the expression: "IMPs is for BIDDERS; MPs is for
CARD-PLAYERS!" It also explains why MatchPoints is a much more intense game where
EVERY board has equal importance. A delicately bid and played 7NT contract will not gain
you any more or any fewer MatchPoints than the lucky overtrick you made in 1C the hand earlier. At IMPs, however, you can safely fall asleep during the 1C hand--as long as you wake up for the 7NT
one! In this regard, by the way, IMPs is closer to Rubber bridge than MatchPoints is.
Bottom line: At IMPs, the big "swing" hands with a lot of points at stake (e.g.
difficult games, slams and doubled contracts) matter most.
At MatchPoints, all boards are equally important.
The area where the two games diverge most is in competitive part score bidding.
Consider this situation: You have bid 3D, rather confident of making. The vulnerable
opponents compete to 3S. You can't be 100% certain, but your instincts tell you that 3S will
likely go down one. Should you double?
At IMPs, the difference between 3S down one doubled versus undoubled is (200 - 100 = )
100, or THREE IMPs. If they make, though, the difference is (730 - 140 = ) 590, or
ELEVEN IMPs. Hence, you'd better be VERY confident of 3S going down before doubling it
at IMPs! Otherwise, you would do better to pass 3S. If it does go down one, the board will be
flat, since (110 - 100 = ) 10 points means ZERO IMPs.
At MatchPoints, however, you were slated for +110 in 3D, so +100 in 3S will NOT
compensate you. You may get a bottom board if everyone else is allowed to collect +110 in 3D.
Hence, to "protect" your +110, you might double 3S and hope to nip it one for +200 and a
GREAT score at MPs.
Bottom line: save those close doubles for MatchPoints, not IMPs!
At MatchPoints, you will often strain to balance the enemy into an unmakeable contract.
Nothing does your game better than pushing the opponents to 3H and collecting +50 while
everyone else is -110 against 2H. If balancing against their 2H risks the odd -800 because of
a trump stack against you, so be it. As long as you collect more +50s than -800s you'll do fine
in the long run at MatchPoints.
At IMPs, though, those -800s had better be FAR fewer. Getting +50 versus -110 is
worth (50 + 110 = 160) FOUR IMPs. -800 versus -110 loses (800 - 110 = 690) TWELVE IMPs,
and such disasters are harder to recover from, with fewer decisive boards at IMPs than at
MatchPoints. :(
Bottom line: save your balancing heroics and aggressive part score
competing for when you're playing MatchPoints, not IMPs!
Let's take another scenario. They have bid 4H, vulnerable. You figure that they have a
better-than-even chance of making it. Your side, on the other hand, can bid 4S, get doubled,
and go down -500, 120 points better than you will spit up for 4H if it makes.
Should you sacrifice in 4S, then?
At MatchPoints, the answer is YES. If they do make 4H you are have improved
your score from -620 to -500. Yes, if 4H goes down, you -500 will not look good
opposite everyone else's +100. But as long as 4H has a better than 50% chance
of making, you will gain more often than you will lose IN THE LONG RUN.
At IMPs, the answer is not so clear. 4S will only improve your score by (620 - 500 = 120)
THREE IMPs. If, on the other hand, 4H goes down one, you will have foregone the +100 for -500,
a 600 point difference for MINUS TWELVE IMPs. Since your sacrifice has to be "correct" (i.e.
4H has to make) 4 times to 1 for those 3 IMPs to equal the 12 IMPs you might be missing,
4H should have an 80% or better chance of making before you should sacrifice
against it! At MatchPoints, your sacrifice only had to be right 51% of the time to pay off in
the long run!
Bottom Line: At MatchPoints, sacrifice against anything the opponents bid confidently.
At IMPs, sacrifice only against those contracts which are underwritten
by Lloyds of
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