Kapn, let me walk you thru my process of judging & how I keep things straight in my mind as you say.
In GBA, most tables have 5 entries per table. All 5 boxes are placed on the table & opened. I inspect them all for appearance & score each box. It is not unusual that I will have 3, 4 or even 5 10's in appearance. I rarely see a box that justifies an 8 in appearance. I have never seen a 7.
After all the judges at my table have marked the appearance scores, I take a sample from each box & place it in the appropriately numbered section on my platter. I will poke, pull & bite the first sample for texture/tenderness. I make notes along side each section of my platter as I am sampling. For example, if the first rib gives me a perfect bite make with just a bit of tug and the bone is clear & white, I give it 2 check marks for tenderness. If it is just slightly over or under cooked, it gets 1 check. If it is way over or under cooked, I will mark an X. For taste, I mark down 1 to 3 plus signs. Now I go back to my score sheet & record the scores for texture & taste on all 5 entries. If all the samples on my platter had 2 check marks, they all get 10s for texture. 3 plus signs = a 10 in taste. 2 would be a 9.
Now I have to rank the five samples from best to least for overall impression. I start with the samples that have 3 plus signs & taste each one again. When I decide which one I like best, I mark that one a 10 on my score sheet. Now is the toughest part for me. If the second best is very, very close to my favorite, it gets a 9.9. If there was a significant different IMHO, it may get a 9.8 or even a 9.7. I continue working down from there. It is not mandatory that you score overall impression 10, 9.9, 9.8, 9.7, etc. You can score 10, 9.8, 9.5, 9.4, 9.1.
When judges score the overall properly, it does not penalize a box for being on the same table with another strong entry. In that case, both boxes with probably get all 10s in appearance, texture & taste. One box will get three 10s & two 9.9s in overall. The other will get two 10s & three 9.9s. Both those teams will more than likely be in the top three scores & advance to the finals.