Expert: PD - 10/22/2001

Question
In bridge, they have a type of competition called "Swiss Teams".  No one is able to tell me the derivation of this term.  All i can find out is that in 1967 it was adopted from CHESS, whose players had used the term for years.

Please, can you tell me the meaning of this term...Swiss movement or Swiss teams.

This should prove once and for all that Chess players are smarter!!!

Answer
Hello Allan,

Great question!  Try this:

Swiss Bridge Federation
Fédération Suisse de Bridge
Contact Address
Klarastrasse 3
CH-8008 Zürich
Switzerland
Telephone: 41-1-262 5655
Facsimile: 41-1-262 5645

Swiss Convention
This convention incorporates a response of four in a minor suit to an opening on the one level in a major suit and indicates a standard forcing raise to the three level. This is a strength showing bid used by many partnerships playing limit jump raises. The normal high card range lies between 13 and 15HCPs.

Swiss Movement
This is a partial round-robin movement and quite similar to the method used in major chess tournaments. Basically, in a Swiss movement, the winning teams or pairs, after the first round, compete against each other, and the losers compete against each other for the second round. Thereafter, new pairings are made on the basis of the records of the matched teams or pairs, whereby no two teams or pairs may play a second match against each other.

Swiss Pairs
The Swiss Pairs is run along the lines of a Swiss Teams. Pairs play against each other in short matches, with various methods of scoring determining the winner. As in Swiss Teams, pairs with approximately the same records are paired against each other for subsequent matches. This type of event has not proved popular and is seldom used at tournaments today.

Swiss Points
This is a method of breaking ties for prize purposes in Swiss Teams events. The scores of all the teams that played against each team involved in the tie are added together. The team whose opponent's total is higher is declared the winner for prize purposes. Sometimes only those matches which take place in the second half of the contest are counted in totaling the Swiss Points.

Swiss Teams Conditions of Contest
Approved November 1999. These Conditions of Contest may not be changed at any level of play during the course of this event. Lack of knowledge does not constitute cause for exemption. These conditions apply to all Swiss team events. At the North American Bridge Championships additional conditions, specific to a particular event, will be appended as necessary. The specific conditions supersede the general.

Sponsoring organizations may, with ACBL approval only, amend these conditions for a specific event.

Try this link for other terms:

http://www.bridgeguys.com/glossbridgemain.html

Hope this helps?  Enjoy!

Paul