Placing awards in all Individual and Duplicate events are made to the top half of the field, rounding down if necessary (e.g. in a field of 9, awards are made to the 4th position). This also applies whenever matches of less than 5 boards duration are played.
In all Teams events (and Butler Pairs and non-Duplicate Matchpoint events where
matches of at least five or more boards are played) placing awards are given
to the top third of the field, rounding up if necessary (e.g. in a field of
13 awards are made to the 5th position).
Runners-up in any field receive 70% of the winners award. Other awards are calculated as the winners award divided by one less than the placing position (i.e. 3rd place receives half the winners award, 4th place receives one third, etc.). If any position is tied, awards are given as described in clause 4.4.6.
NOTE: For the purpose of session awards a field is any set of players whose scores are being directly compared. For the purpose of outright awards, the field is the original entry for fixed attendance events; for eclectic and similar events (see Appendix A) it is as defined in clause 4.3.2.
All awards are quoted per player, hence are given to both players in Pairs events and to all members of a team of four in Teams events. When a team has 5 or 6 members each of them receives 4/5 or 2/3 of the standard award respectively. Awards are not given to non-playing captains.
Awards listed in clauses 4.2.1 and 4.2.3 are the only awards given in any single session event.
Awards for movements with two winners (Mitchell) are listed in Tables 1A, 1B and 1C. Awards for movements with a single winner (Individual, Howell, arrow-switch Mitchell) are listed in Tables 2A, 2B, and 2C. All these awards are subject to the use of the relevant multiplying factor quoted in clause 3.1.3.The winner of a session of an Individual competition receives the masterpoints that would have been awarded to the winners of a Howell movement for the same number of tables.
Teams masterpoint awards (see clause 4.2.3 below) may instead be given if each round is of 5 or more boards duration.
For these events championships session awards may be given in accordance with the following formula. W is the masterpoint weighting for the event, and P is the pair's score, rounded down.
For matches of 5 or more boards, the basic (grade E) session award is 0.008 green point per board to the winner of any match.
| No. of boards | Winner s Award | Imp margin for a win | No. of boards | Winner s Award | Imp margin for a win |
| 5 | 0.040 | 1 | 15 | 0.12 | 4 |
| 6 | 0.048 | 2 | 16 | 0.128 | 4 |
| 7 | 0.056 | 2 | 20 | 0.160 | 5 |
| 8 | 0.064 | 2 | 24 | 0.192 | 5 |
| 10 | 0.08 | 3 | 28 | 0.224 | 6 |
| 12 | 0.096 | 3 | 30 | 0.240 | 6 |
| 14 | 0.112 | 3 | 32 | 0.256 | 7 |
These match awards can be awarded for matchpoint scoring events if each round is of 5 or more boards duration. The contesting pairs then share the match masterpoint award if the winners' score is less than or equal to 52.5%. Placing awards should only be given if two or more sessions have been played, and are only given to the top third of the field.
The session awards per board in other grades (allowing for the multiplying factor) are:
| Grade F | 0.004 green point | Grade B3 | 0.030 red point |
| Grade D | 0.012 green point | Grade B | 0.040 red point |
| Grade C | 0.016 green point | ||
| Grade B5/B5I | 0.016 red point | Grade A2 | 0.040 gold point |
| All Grades B4 | 0.020 red point | Grade A | 0.080 gold point |
To qualify as winners for the purpose of these session awards, the leading team must win by a margin greater than 0.2 IMP per board over the match - see table on page 20. If the margin is less than or equal to this the session awards are divided equally between the two teams.
NOTE: (i) The above rule applies whenever the IMP results are available. In a case of Victory Point conversion, where only the VP results are known, the masterpoint award is shared whenever the two teams have the same VP (usually 10/10).
NOTE: (ii) It is acknowledged that, in the case of a single session Teams event with matches of 5 or more boards, the team with the most VP may receive less masterpoints than another team.
NOTE: (iii) Where it is necessary for a single round triangle to be played in a Teams event with the half-matches being of less than 5 boards, half the masterpoints for a normal win will be awarded.
In the case of Teams events where matches of less than 5 boards are played, the awards described in clause 4.2.1 for movements with one winner should be used, placing awards going to the top third of the field.
For Butler Pairs events with matches of less than 5 boards, the awards listed in clause 4.2.1 for movements with one or two winners, as applicable, should be used.
Session awards are calculated in the standard manner, as described in clauses 4.2.1 and 4.2.3, as applicable. An exception occurs in Teams events when no more than four teams play last rounds separate from the rest of the original field, which continues playing for minor placings. The session award to these finalists is the standard award increased by a 50% premium.
When a teams scoring event is of a round robin format, with each contestant having a bye, then for the purpose of final placing awards S shall be calculated using the maximum number of boards played by a contestant, rather than the number of rounds.
Qualifying sessions are masterpointed in the standard manner. The session award in the final section is the standard award increased by 50%, subject to the following limitation on the size of the final section.
A final must not exceed one quarter of the original entry or 9 tables, whichever is the greater. If the final is larger than this the session awards in the final must be factored down proportionately (multiply the awards by the maximum allowable number of tables and divide by the actual number of tables in play), with the proviso that the minimum session award is the standard session award for the grade of the event.
In events with more than two stages, the final will be the last stage. Awards for previous stages where the number of tables does not exceed the limit for a final, as defined above, will also be increased by 50%.
When consolation sections are played the session awards are determined by the size of the field under consideration. In green events (grade C, D, or E) the awards are the basic ones (grade E).
In red or gold events the session awards are the standard awards for the grade, multiplied by a factor determined by the number of consolations.
| No of Consolations | First | Second | Third | Others |
| One | 0.60 | |||
| Two* | 0.60 | 0.45 | ||
| Three* or more | 0.75 | 0.60 | 0.45 | 0.30 |
* If ungraded consolations are played the award multiplying factor is to be taken as the average of the relevant quoted factors.
As an example, in a Congress B4 Pairs event with a 7 table Howell final and two graded consolations, each a 9 table Mitchell, the session winners masterpoint awards are:
No consolation award shall drop below the base grade weighting of 1.0. Consequently, for a grade B4 event the lowest possible factor is 0.40; similarly, in the case of grade B5 it is 0.50.
All consolation awards are of the same type (green, red or gold) as those for the final.
Events of two or more sessions that produce a single winner receive an outright award in addition to the session awards. This award, listed in Tables 3A, 3B and 3C (subject to applying the relevant multiplying factor) is made to the top part of the field, as specified in clause 4.1.1. The award is determined by the total number of tables in the event and the total number of sessions played.
For the purpose of calculating outright awards, a session shall consist of not less than 24 boards. If fewer than 24 boards are played per session, then the number of sessions used in the calculation shall be the total number of boards played divided by 24, ignoring any residual fraction unless it exceeds 0.83, when it is rounded up. (A Teams event of 14 rounds of 20 board matches is counted as an 11 session event; one of 5 rounds of 14 boards becomes a 3 session event).
Exceptions to the above rules are as follows:
NOTE: (1) A session can only be counted once towards a final placing award - if for example a club is running monthly events, for which final placing awards are given, and also has an Annual Championship with scores derived from the same sessions, then final placing awards cannot be given for the annual event.
NOTE: (2) For a competition to be eligible for final placing awards it is necessary that all sessions be of the same masterpoint colour.
NOTE: (3) Finals must be "fixed entry" events (with substitutes as approved by the sponsoring organisation).
For eclectic and similar events where walk-in pairs are accepted into the competition, the number of sessions used in the calculation of the outright award is the minimum number of sessions a pair needs to play to qualify for a final placing. The number of tables (the field) is the average attendance over all sessions, or 125% of the number of tables that qualified for a final placing, whichever is the lesser. These final placing awards are given to half the eligible field, rounded down.
NOTE: Where an event consists of a qualifying (with walk-in pairs) and a final, the field, for final placing purposes, is the average attendance over the qualifying sessions, or 125% of the number of tables that were eligible to play in the final, whichever is the lesser.
The outright award determined as described in clause 4.3.1 is made to the top part of the original field as specified in clause 4.1.1, or to all competitors in the final section, whichever is the lesser. An exception is made for teams events which do not run consolations in parallel with the final, in which case the award is to the top part of the original field. In this instance, and in all cases when the outright award winners did not play the same number of sessions, the outright awards are based on the actual number of sessions played by each award recipient. (Taking as an example a 36 table, four session Swiss Teams event followed by 4 table, two session knock-out finals, S=6 for 1st and 2nd place-getters, S=5 for the equal 3rd teams, and S=4 for the 5th to 12th places).
When consolations are played awards are made to the top part of the field in each consolation. These awards are calculated as a proportion of the award for the concurrent final, dependent on the number of consolations and whether or not the consolations are graded.
| Number of consolations | Proportion of the final award |
| 1 consolation | one quarter |
| 2 or more, ungraded | one fifth |
| 2 graded | one third, one fifth |
| 3 or more graded | one third, one quarter, one fifth, i.e. reciprocal of (the consolation number + 2) |
When a consolation produces two outright winners each of them receives 65% of the relevant award listed above.
NOTE: The number of tables in a consolation should not be less than 75%, nor more than 150%, of the number of tables in the final section. When the preferred size of any consolation cannot be conveniently achieved the awards listed above shall be multiplied by the ratio of the number of tables in the consolation to the stated relevant value.
As an example, a 2-session Congress Pairs Championship with a 7 table Howell final and a 13 table Mitchell consolation the outright awards are 3.33 for the final (see table 3C, after applying the congress acceleration factor mentioned in clause 5.4.2), and 3.33 x 0.25 x 0.65 x 13 / 10.5 = 0.67 for the consolation NS and EW.
The Masterpoint scheme is structured to reward single outright winners, and every effort should be made to comply with this requirement. If, however, an event produces winners from separate fields which cannot be readily compared, then each winner shall receive an outright award based on the number of tables in the relevant field. The above provision must not be used as a means of maximising the masterpoints awarded.
For the purpose of calculating outright awards any half table is counted as a full table. Session awards are based on this number of tables and are the same for the two fields in the case of Mitchell movements. (For an 8 ½ table Mitchell, grade E, the winners in each direction both receive 0.27 green points).
All awards are rounded to the nearest 0.01 masterpoint, with 0.005 rounding to even, i.e. 22.50 rounds down, 23.50 rounds up. Rounding should only occur at the final stage of the calculation of the session, match, or final placing award.
Masterpoints are awarded in all Individual and Pairs (Howell movement) events of 2 or more full tables; other Pairs events require a minimum of 4 tables. An exception occurs in the case of National or State play-offs when even the smallest possible field of 2 tables becomes eligible for awards due to the application of the table amplification factor.
NOTE: Session awards in Teams events are independent of the size of the field and should be made in all cases, i.e. even when only two teams are playing.
A player must play at least 40% of the boards played by his/her team in a Teams event to be eligible for an outright award. In the case of multi-stage events (e.g. events with finals) the above rule applies to every stage of the event. Substitutes receive any session masterpoints won in the session in which they played, but do not receive any portion of the outright awards.
NOTE:In finals of National Teams Events the ABF Tournament Regulations allow for the recognition of team members who have not played the full 40% of the boards. On such occasions the player (or players) concerned will be awarded that percentage of the final masterpoints (both session and placing points) that corresponds to the proportion of the Playoff Qualifying Points given. Points earned in the qualifying rounds will not be affected, whilst the masterpoints lost will be shared amongst the player s eligible team mates.
If any position is tied, the players involved share the masterpoints available. (If there is a triple tie for the second position, the awards for the second, third and fourth position are totalled and then divided equally between the three place-getters. The next place-getter receives the award for the fifth position).
Where a tie occurs for the last placing to earn masterpoints, the players concerned share the points available for that placing.
NOTE: A tie occurs whenever the difference between neighbouring positions is less than 0.1 of the scoring unit, or less than 0.01 of a victory point if victory point scales are in use.
For masterpointing purposes a session shall consist of a minimum number of boards, as also specified in clause 4.3.1. If a duplicate session has less than the required minimum number of boards (15 for Grade F, 24 otherwise) then session masterpoint awards should be factored down accordingly, with the proviso that no awards will be issued when fewer than 12 boards have been played.
No masterpoints are awarded for handicap events. However, if the pre-handicap results are available, then awards should be made using these scores.
Master events are tournaments where entry to the different ranking sections is determined by each player s masterpoint standing. These events have a Master Factor applied to the standard award.
| Grade | Grad. | Club | Local | State | Bronze State | Nat'l | Bronze Nat l | Life | Grand |
| All E, D & C | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.25 | 1.50 | 1.50 |
| All B3, B4 & B5 | 0.40 | 0.50 | 0.65 | 0.80 | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.125 | 1.25 | 1.50 |
| B, & A2 | 0.40 | 0.50 | 0.65 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.90 | 0.90 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| A | 0.33 | 0.40 | 0.50 | 0.65 | 0.725 | 0.80 | 0.80 | 0.90 | 1.00 |
If a Master event in a tournament involves players from more than one category, then the Master Factor shall be the median ranking of the entrant field, i.e. the player ranking that has as many players of equal or greater ranking above it as there are of equal or lesser ranking below. As an example, if a field has five Life Masters, ten National Masters, twelve State Masters and one Regional Master, the National Master Factor would be used.
Alternatively the Master Factor can be calculated as the average of all the appropriate factors for the represented masterpoint rankings. (A grade B event, graded "below 50 masterpoints", in which Graduate, Club and Local masters compete, would have a factor of (0.40 + 0.50 + 0.65)/3 = 0.52.)
When players of below Graduate rank are allowed to participate they are considered as Graduate masters for the purpose of calculating the Master Factor.
A restriction factor of 0.75 is applied to all awards in events in which entry is restricted by age or gender, for the following grades: