Bridge Scoring: Points, Bonuses and Penalties Explained

Bridge scoring gives declarer's side points for each trick bid and made above six (20 in a minor, 30 in a major, 40 for the first notrump trick and 30 after), plus bonuses for part scores, games and slams. If declarer goes down, the defenders score a penalty for each undertrick, larger when declarer is vulnerable or doubled.

That covers almost every deal you will play. The details below fill in the rest: doubled contracts, overtricks, and the differences between duplicate, Chicago and rubber bridge. If you want the numbers without the arithmetic, BridgeDummy's free bridge score calculator gives the score of any contract, made or down, for every level and vulnerability.

Every result is built from the same pieces:

1. Trick points for the tricks you bid and made.
2. A bonus for a part score, game or slam, and for making a doubled contract.
3. Overtricks, for tricks beyond the contract.
4. Or, if you fail, undertricks, which the defenders score.

Only trick points for tricks you bid decide whether a contract is a game. Overtricks score, but never turn a part score into a game.

A contract worth 100 trick points or more is a game. So the lowest games are:

• 3NT: 40 + 30 + 30 = 100
• 4♥ or 4♠: 4 x 30 = 120
• 5♣ or 5♦: 5 x 20 = 100

Everything below these is a part score: 2♠ is 60, 3♦ is 60, 2NT is 70.

Slam bonuses are added on top of the game bonus. So 6♠ made not vulnerable is 180 trick points + 300 for game + 500 for the slam = 980.

Overtricks are worth their normal trick value when the contract is not doubled: 20 in a minor, 30 in a major or notrump. When the contract is doubled or redoubled, overtricks are worth a fixed amount instead:

So 3NT making ten tricks, not vulnerable, scores 100 + 300 + 30 = 430. That extra 30 is why matchpoint players like overtricks.

A double multiplies the trick points by two; a redouble multiplies them by four. This can turn a part score into a game.

Take 2♥ doubled. The trick points are 2 x 30 = 60, doubled = 120. That is 100 or more, so it counts as a game. Not vulnerable, you score 120 + 300 (game) + 50 (insult) = 470. Vulnerable, 120 + 500 + 50 = 670.

1NT doubled is different: 40 x 2 = 80, still a part score, so 1NT doubled and made is 80 + 50 + 50 = 180. But 1NT redoubled is 160 trick points, a game: 560 not vulnerable.

In this auction, if you (South) make 2♥ doubled, you score 470 not vulnerable, more than a non-vulnerable 4♥ making (420). Leaving in a double of a part score that makes is a costly mistake for the defenders, which is why players defend doubled low-level contracts only with good trumps.

When declarer goes down, the defenders score for each trick declarer is short:

Redoubled undertricks are twice the doubled amounts. Notice how doubled penalties grow fast: not vulnerable, the second and third undertricks cost 200 each, and from the fourth on, 300 each. The full story is in undertrick penalties.

The trick values, slam bonuses and undertricks are the same in every form. What differs is how games are rewarded and how deals connect.

In duplicate, every deal stands alone. You get the full game bonus (300 or 500) as soon as you make a game, and 50 for any part score. Vulnerability is printed on each board and follows a fixed cycle. Part scores do not carry over to the next board.

Then the result is compared with other tables, by matchpoints or IMPs (see below). See duplicate bridge for how the game runs.

Chicago, also called four-deal bridge, is played in sets of four deals:

Games score 300 or 500 at once, as in duplicate. Part scores carry forward within the set and can add up to a game. On the fourth deal, a side that makes a part score which does not complete a game gets a bonus of 100. After four deals, the set ends and a new one begins, with no carry-over.

Rubber bridge is the traditional home game. The score sheet has a line across it:

• Below the line: trick points for contracts bid and made. These count toward game.
• Above the line: overtricks, bonuses, penalties and honors.

The first side to reach 100 below the line wins a game, and a new line is drawn. Part scores below 100 carry forward until someone makes a game; when either side makes a game, both sides' part scores in that game stop counting toward the next one. A side that has won one game is vulnerable.

The first side to win two games wins the rubber and a bonus: 700 if the opponents have no game, 500 if they have one. If a session ends during a rubber, a side with a game scores 300, and a side with a part score in an unfinished game scores 100.

Rubber bridge also scores honors: 100 for holding four of the five top trump honors (A, K, Q, J, 10) in one hand, 150 for all five, and 150 for all four aces in one hand at notrump. They go above the line whether or not the contract makes, and the holder can be declarer, dummy or a defender.

In duplicate, your raw score on a board is compared with other tables in one of two ways:

• Matchpoints (pairs events): on each board, you get 1 point for every pair in your direction that you beat, and half a point for every tie. Your session score is a percentage.
• IMPs (team events): the difference between your score and the other table's is converted on a fixed scale. A difference of 20 to 40 is 1 IMP; 450 is 10 IMPs; about 1500 is 17.

The full IMP table and worked examples are in duplicate bridge and matchpoints vs IMPs.

BridgeDummy's puzzles come in matchpoint and IMP versions for exactly this reason: the same lead or call can be right at one form and wrong at the other, and every option is solved double dummy over many deals so you see how much it gains or loses.

These are duplicate scores for the contract made exactly. Add 20 or 30 for each undoubled overtrick. A printable version is in the bridge scoring chart.