Terminology

For new visitors to our website, there are common terms that need explanation. For an exhaustive compilation of bridge terms, please refer to the Encyclopedia of Terms on Michael Nistler's Bridgehands.com web site. All of these terms and many more are listed there.

ACBL - American Contract Bridge League - 175,000 member Bridge League headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. Web site http://www.acbl.org. Member benefits include tracking player's masterpoints, reduced fees at tournaments, monthly publications and a sanctioning body for all duplicate tournaments that issue masterpoints.

Board-a-match - A Team event where the winners of each deal receive one point, one-half of a point for a tie, and zero points for each loss.

Duplicate - A method of reusing players cards from one set of contestants to another.  When not in play, the cards are kept separated in a board until the cards are ready for play at another table

Rubber Bridge - Referring to Bridge using the Rubber scoring format, where each hand is uniquely shuffled, dealt, and played.  This exciting format allows a greater degree of risk and luck to enter the game, as compared to the Duplicate method of play.  Rubber Bridge scoring uses a game bonus format. 

Swiss Team - Typically a stratified "team of four" tournament format where players of different levels (brackets) compete, producing multiple winners.