Computer Automated Ratings Database System (CARDS)
Overview.....

Clubs can now rate their players using the CARDS rating system. A rating is an accurate measure of the player’s current standing at bridge. This is so because the system takes into account the strength of the partner and that of the opponents. It also puts more weight on recent games. The system is akin to the international chess rating system.

Ratings are not designed to replace masterpoints. Masterpoints largely reflect how long a player has been playing rather than a player’s current performance and that is quite different from ratings.

Most duplicate players want to know how they went. That is why they go to the trouble of going to the club. The percentage tells the player how his or her partnership went on the day but it does not tell the whole story. What a player really wants to know is how good that result is when you take into account the strength of the partner and the opponents. This is what CARDS does.

A typical comment on the system:

 “At the end of each session to know not only my outright percentage result but how well I have performed against my rating has added a marvelous new dimension to the game. In the past, I didn’t really know how I was doing.

In the clubs using CARDS that I have played in, the system has been received with overwhelming enthusiasm. It has created added enjoyment and it has huge intellectual appeal. It should have been thought of years ago.”

John Anderson (Retired Managing Director of Zerox South Africa and Zerox Australia - Rated 59.)