How the bridge world rankings (WBF master points) work
Bridge has no points-per-match ranking. Players collect master points (MPs) for good finishes at WBF championships, and the players' ranking lists are ordered by master points.
- MPs lose 15% of their value every year, so the list shows who is strong now.
- Players also collect placing points (PPs) for top finishes. These never lose value, so they show a whole career.
- Points lead to titles that are kept for life: World Master (150 MPs), World International Master (350 MPs), World Life Master (5 PPs or a world title) and World Grand Master (10 PPs and a world title).
There are separate lists for Open, Women and Seniors.
Three kinds of points
| Points | Earned at | Lose value? | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Master points (MPs) | WBF Open, Women's and Mixed events | Yes, 15% a year | The current ranking; World Master and World International Master |
| Placing points (PPs) | Top places at major WBF events | No | Career; World Life Master and World Grand Master |
| Senior points (SPs) | Senior events only | Yes, 15% a year | The seniors' ranking and senior titles |
The ranking is ordered by MPs first, then PPs.
The yearly cut
At the end of each "master point year" (which ends when the WBF World Championship begins), every player's total is cut by 15%; points won that year are not cut. Fractions are rounded (3.4 becomes 3, 3.5 becomes 4, and anything below 1 becomes 1). A total below 3 counts as zero.
Open, women's and mixed
- MPs from Open events go on the Open list. A woman who wins MPs in an Open event gets Open MPs and can hold an Open title.
- MPs from women's and mixed events go on the Women's list.
- In mixed events, men get Open MPs and women get Women's MPs.
- Senior points go only on the Seniors list; senior events give no PPs.
Points at the main championships (from the WBF tables)
| Event | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PPs for 1st to 4th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bermuda Bowl (open teams) | 800 | 500 | 300 | 200 | 5, 3, 2, 1 |
| Venice Cup (women's teams) | 800 | 500 | 300 | 200 | 5, 3, 2, 1 |
| World Bridge Games, national open teams | 1000 | 700 | 500 | 400 | 5, 4, 3, 2 (5th to 8th: 1) |
| World Bridge Games, national women's teams | 700 | 500 | 350 | 250 | 5, 4, 3, 2 (5th to 8th: 1) |
| Rosenblum Cup (open knockout teams) | 600 | 450 | 350 | 300 | 5, 4, 3, 2 (5th: 1) |
| World Open Pairs | 800 | 750 | 700 | 650 | 5, 4, 3, 2 (5th: 1) |
| Zonal championship, zones with more than 100,000 members | 150 | 100 | 80 | 50 | 1, 0.5 |
Team events also give 6 MPs for each match won and 3 for each tied match in the round robin. A player must have played at least one third of the team's boards to share the team's points (with extra conditions for each knockout stage).
Some events set the top award by the size of the field: for example, the World Transnational Open Teams gives 4 MPs per team in the field (between 300 and 600); lower places get a percentage of that.
The WBF says the tables apply unless an event's conditions of contest say otherwise.
Year Points
Events run by other organisations can award WBF Year Points if they are big and strong enough. Year Points won in a calendar year convert to MPs at 10 to 1, as long as the player has at least 100 Year Points.
A worked example
Made up to show the arithmetic. An Indian player has 300 MPs at the end of the master point year. The total is cut by 15%: 300 × 0.85 = 255. Next year their team finishes 4th in the Bermuda Bowl (200 MPs) and wins six round-robin matches (36 MPs). New total: 255 + 200 + 36 = 491, enough for World International Master (350). Their 1 PP for 4th place stays for life.
Oddities in the tables
The World Open Pairs table lists "37." between 11th and 28th, where 27th belongs; read it as 27th (140 MPs).
Variations
| List | Covered here |
|---|---|
| Open, Women | Yes |
| Seniors | Yes (briefly) |
| On-line bridge master points | No (kept separate) |
| Youth | Some youth events give MPs; not covered |