CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

1. The Tournament Director will create the tables and will arrange duplicated boards (same boards for every team).

2. The table settings will allow kibitzers but forbid communication between players and kibitzers. 

Barometer scoring will be OFF. The scores are only visible (for the players) after the last board has been played. Kibitzers can see the scores during the match.

Undo and claiming according to the BBO-guidelines: all players have the right to reject an undo or claim request for any reason. They are not required to explain why they have rejected such a request.

3. Eight teams play a single round robin of seven matches, each match 24 boards. Four matches at the same time. After that there will be a knock-out phase: semifinal (24 boards) on the same day as RR 7 and a big final on Friday (3 x 12 boards).

Change of the line-up in the round robin and semifinal is possible after 12 boards provided that no player can change the compass direction (so east will stay east and so on). The big final will consist of 3 separate segments, so there are no restrictions on the line-up.

The teams are expected to submit their line-up as soon as practical using the line-up web utility (all captains will be provided with the respective link and the password). It is possible to change the submitted line-up but not later than 30 minutes before the start of the round. The line-up is completely blind and will not be published before the start of the round.

The result of the round robin is scored based on the number of VPs. The WBF VP scale applies. In case of a tie in Victory Points: the mutual result will decide; still equal: the most 'wins' (BAM-ish) will decide; after that: the team with the highest IMP score on a board will go through.

4. The numbers 1 through 4 from the round-robin will go to the semifinal.

Team number 1 may choose its opponent from numbers 3 and 4. The captain will inform about this choice via the TD and/or will mail to info@netbridge.online within half an hour after the round-robin is finished. If not or late then matches will be: 1 versus 4 and 2 versus 3.

Numbers 1 and 2 get a carry over of 10.1 / 6.1 IMP.

In the final there will be a carry over of 0.1 IMP as a tiebreaker.

5. If players explain bids during the bidding via chat, then this is not communicated to “the table”, but only to “the opponents”. This way their partner cannot see the explanation, similar to explaining the bids via the BBO alert mechanism.

Players alert their own bids.

6. This tournament will of course be played in the most respectful way possible. Fun and good bridge are paramount. Netbridge relies on reluctance and restraint to call the director. Should a team find a serious cause for demanding a ruling, then this will only be dealt with if the captain of the team announces this via email within 45 minutes after the last board played (with an explanation and a request for a specific adjustment of the score). Netbridge will inform the other team and give that team the opportunity (through its captain) to respond via an email within 45 minutes after being informed. The protest will be decided by a qualified director; or world class player; no further appeal will be possible after his/her decision.

7. To submit protests, you can send emails to: info@netbridge.online

8. The starting times for the Monday-Thursday matches are:

10.00 EDT / 16.00 CET (first session) and

14.00 EDT / 20.00 CET (second session).

The big final starts on Friday at 10.00 EDT/16.00 CET and will be played with 5-10 minutes breaks between the segments.