Sectional tournaments in Connecticut feature team games on Sunday. The basic unit of all teams games is the match, in which you and your partner play a number of boards, usually between six and eight, against a pair from another team. Eight players, four from each side, sit at two tables. You play half of the boards and then pass them to the other table, where your teammates will be playing against your opponents' teammates. If you are sitting North-South, your teammates sit East-West. When all boards have been played, the scores are compared. Your results are compared with those of the opponents at the other table. They are not compared with any other results.

The Swiss format means that each team plays a fixed number of matches, and each match contains a fixed number of hands. Most matches are head-to-head. The only exception is for an odd number of teams. In that case there will be one “three-way” that lasts for two rounds. If your team is assigned to a three-way, the directors will give you instructions. Details of how three-ways work are provided here.

Teams of four, five, or six players are allowed in most two-session Swiss events. Most teams have four. After the first match and each subsequent match the teams with the best records are paired against each other by the computer. So, here is an important tip for playing in a Swiss event: Win your last match BIG.

Every team is assigned a number when the entry is purchased. Results are posted by team number. Masterpoints are awarded in each stratum of the event. The events are stratified; the directors will determine the appropriate number of strata and set the levels. In any case you always receive some masterpoints for each match that you win or tie.

Mechanics: Teams assign one pair to be East-West and one to be North-South. It does not much matter which is which. Pick one player to be captain. The most important qualities in a captain are vision, height, and demeanor. The number of your first table will be displayed in a "rack" above your team number.

 

Team members go to the table that was designated on the rack for North-South. Before the first round the directors will announce the corresponding tables for the East-West teams. Ordinarily if North-South is at table B7, East-West will be at table A7.

All team games are shuffle-and-deal. So, unless directors have told you not to do so, you will need to shuffle the cards that you find on your table before you play them. In a head-to-head match you should call for a caddy when you have finished the set of boards that was on the table. Do NOT bring the boards to the other table. Similarly, if you need a board or two from your teammates' table, ask the caddy to bring it. Needless to say, you should always be courteous to the caddies.

The most common form of scoring in team games is International Matchpoints, which are almost always called IMPs. Both teams keep score at both tables. After the match (or after the second match in a three-way) the East-West team returns to the North-South table to compare scores and determine the winner and the margin of victory. The details of keeping score are explained here.

If you won the match, your captain should fill out a card like the one at left. A supply of them should be on every table. If you cannot find one, borrow one from another table. The important information is your team number, the opponent's team number, whether you won or lost, and the margin of victory in IMPs. Your team captain should make sure that the opponents agree with you.   Then the captain should rush the card to the director. Do not dawdle. Sometimes penalties are invoked for late results.

 

IMPs are translated into Victory Points using either the 20-point scale (most common) or the 30-point scale. These translation tables are beneath the International Matchpoint Scale on the scoresheets. In the above example team #28 defeated our team by 16 IMPs. If the 20-point scale (6-8 boards) was in effect, our team would get 4 Victory Points and team #28 would get 16. Don't worry too much about this process; the directors' computer will calculate the Victory Points.

After each round the scores will be posted on a chart that is located near the rack. The winners will be determined by the total number of Victory Points each team has at the end of the last round.