Master Points and NGS
These are both ways in which the EBU enables their members to measure their progress and success in competitive play. Many of our members are familiar with both these terms, but some newer members may not be, so a brief, and simplified, explanation is given below. Full details of both schemes can be found on the EBU website.
Master Points
If you look at the Results pages of this website, you will notice that, as well as columns listing the rank order and percentage score, there is an additional column head “LPs”. These Local Points are part of the EBU Master Points scheme and are awarded to the top few pairs in each playing session. The number of pairs who get them, and the quantity of LPs awarded, depend on the number of pairs that play in that session.
EBU members are given a ranking, (such as Local Master, County Master, Premier Master etc), depending on how many points they have accumulated, and promotions between these ranks are announced monthly on the EBU website.
National Grading Scheme (NGS)
Master Points have been awarded for many years, (since 1956 in fact), and they just keep on accumulating. So a member’s rank is more a measure of their lifetime achievement, than it is a measure of their current performance, which is why the EBU introduced the NGS.
The NGS is based on the percentage scores that a member has achieved over the last 80, or so, times that he/she has played. So it fluctuates up and down depending on results. The actual percentage is modified to take account of the standard of the opponents, and the standard of their partner. Then, rather than quote the NGS as a percentage, the EBU allocates a grade based upon that figure, ranging from a Two (the beginner’s level), through to Jack, Queen, King and then the four Aces. A player of average ability nationwide, ie 50%, would have a grade of Eight.