Masterpoints (MPs) are points awarded to individuals for success in competitive bridge tournaments run under the ABF. Their primary function is as an award. Furthermore, they are used to achieve other awards.
Players who do well in an ABF sanctioned event are awarded masterpoints according to their placing and the number of participants in the event. These appear once the club or event coordinator submits the masterpoint awards to the ABF Masterpoint Centre (normally at the end of each month) and pay any relevant fees.
Larger events, those run by State bridge associations and the ABF offer the potential to win more masterpoints than local club games. Green masterpoints are generally awarded in normal club sessions, while red masterpoints are awarded in special club, congress and state events, and gold masterpoints in national events (& club GNOT heats).
What are Masterpoint Rankings?
Rankings are awarded as players reach thresholds in these different types of masterpoints from “Graduate Master” with 2 masterpoints , all the way to “Diamond Grand Master” with 15,000 masterpoints.
Some events have an upper masterpoint limit, meaning that only players with a masterpoint holding under the limit may participate. This allows less experienced players more of a chance to place high, since they will not be playing against players who are significantly more experienced.
Points and rankings have no monetary value, but have prestige value for some players and are sought after by them over a lifetime of play. If you look at the Master Rankings, you can see you cannot move beyond a Regional Ranking without Red MPS, and a National Ranking without Gold MPs. Masterpoints reward participation.
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Most players seem to realize that they are not a good indicator of ability. Masterpoints are partly a measure of skill, but also a measure of experience and longevity rather than skill. Experience is often related to skill, but not necessarily.
Over the course of a lifetime, a player can earn many points, just with average play. For example, the same number of masterpoints, and hence the same rank, may have been achieved by Player A over 2 years and by Player B over 20 years. Obviously, Player A has performed better, but according to their masterpoint holdings, their skill is equal. This is an extreme case, because in most cases, experience has a relationship with skill.
Why would I want Masterpoints?
The masterpoint system often appeals to members because it permits them to know their approximate overall ranking relative to every other member. The ranks that members earn as they achieve various plateaus of masterpoint holdings serve as close approximations of their overall standing.
However, being too “attached” to masterpoints is not wise. It is better to enjoy bridge for the sake of playing bridge and to attach more importance to your own evaluation than to masterpoints. Once players find this enlightenment, I suspect it is appropriate to enjoy masterpoints, in a more detached way.
Don’t forget, a player’s masterpoint holding does not directly indicate the time it has taken the player to earn them, or the calibre of the events the player has earned them in.
More information about the scheme can be found at the ABF Masterpoint Centre website, which includes an option to look up your current masterpoints details, and lists of the top players in some categories and masterpoint races .
