Talk:Zar Points

Questions
(1) Are Zar Points normally 9/6/3/1 for A/K/Q/J?

No, they are 6-4-2-1

(2) Isn't this wrong: "When playing in a tournament using IMPs, you should bid any game with a 37 percent chance when you are not vulnerable, but only bid a 66 percent game when vulnerable" - I thought it was around 40% vulnerable and 50% NV. Bubba73 (talk), 17:50, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

At IMPs, the numbers are easy to calculate if we only consider undoubled contracts that either make or go down 1. This obviously is an over-simplification and in practice one should be a little more conservative (as if you can calculate the percentages that accurately without even seeing dummy!). But here goes: for non-vulnerable major suit games, you win 6 (net 250) by bidding if you're right and lose 5 if you're wrong (net -190). This makes the probability of success that you need to break even 5/11 = 45.45%. The corresponding numbers when vulnerable are 10 (+450) and -6 (-240). The probability of success that you need is therefore 6/16 or 3/8, i.e. 37.5%.

(3) Is there any justification for the formula described in Obtaining the Conversion? I don't really see it. It seems to me to completely emasculate the whole power of the method by assigning more weight to the HCP and less to the distribution. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rchillyard (talk • contribs) 18:10, 9 March 2010 (UTC)

Four Aces hcp
The Four Aces were a team of US American experts who played 1933–1941 and published to 1945. They used a high-card point-count equivalent to the high-card component of Zar. 3 2 1 1/2 for A K Q J OEoB says of The Four Aces System of Contract Bridge (1935), "Though the system was widely followed by tournament players, the book was not a commercial success." Perhaps anyone interested in the roots should also consult David Burnstine, The Four Horseman's One-over-One Method of Contract Bidding (1932); Burnstine was a member of both foursomes and OEoB bibliography lists the Four Aces book under his name as well as under "F".

Howard Schenken was one of the Four Aces, a young man who remained a bridge player and author(ity) into the 1960s. Perhaps he later promoted the 13-point 6-4-2-1 (this article says) because he judged integers easier to teach and learn or to write and typeset. --P64 (talk) 18:27, 13 March 2010 (UTC)

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