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Bulletin 5 Saturday June 27

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Bulletin 3 Thursday June 25

Bulletin 2 Wednesday June 24

Bulletin 1 Tuesday June 23

Pre Bulletin Monday June 22

CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

1. The Major Alt Invitational I will be hosted in Bridge Base Online from 22 nd to 26 th of June, 2020.

2. All participants are bound by the regulations contained within this document. Invitations for this event will be issued to teams of 4 – 10 players.

3. Schedule of play:

Monday, 22  June 2020

10:00 EDT / 16:00 CET – Swiss Round 1 (14 boards)

12:30 EDT / 18:30 CET – Swiss Round 2 (14 boards)

15:00 EDT / 21:00 CET – Swiss Round 3 (14 boards)

Tuesday, 23  June 2020

10:00 EDT / 16:00 CET – Swiss Round 4 (14 boards)

12:30 EDT / 18:30 CET – Swiss Round 5 (14 boards)

15:00 EDT / 21:00 CET – Swiss Round 6 (14 boards)

Wednesday, 24  June 2020

10:00 EDT / 16:00 CET – Swiss Round 7 (14 boards)

12:30 EDT / 18:30 CET – Swiss Round 8 (14 boards)

15:00 EDT / 21:00 CET – Swiss Round 9 (14 boards)

Thursday, 25  June 2020

10:00 EDT / 16:00 CET – Swiss Round 10 (14 boards)

14:00 EDT / 20:00 CET – Quarterfinal (28 boards)

Friday, 26  June 2020

10:00 EDT / 16:00 CET – Semifinal (28 boards)

14:30 EDT / 20:30 CET – Final (32 boards)

4. Qualifying Stage

The qualifying stage will be played in the form of a “Swiss” and will consist of 140 boards played in 10 matches of 14 boards each. The results of each match shall be converted into Victory Points in accordance with the appropriate WBF IMP/VP scales (see p. 10 below).

In the Swiss stage, any errors in assigning opponents shall not invalidate the result of that, or any other, match.

In case of an odd number of teams the bye team will receive 12 VPs.

In the event of two or more teams having the same number of Victory Points, their rankings will be determined as follows:

• The total Victory Points of each team's opponents ("Swiss Points") is calculated and the team with the largest number of "Swiss Points" is ranked first, and so on.
• If two or more teams have the same number of "Swiss Points”, their rankings will be determined by their relative IMP quotients.

The top 8 teams from the Swiss qualifying stage will advance to the knockout stage.

5. Knockout Stage

Before the start of the knockout stage a fixed (standard) bracket will be created and the teams placed 1 st – 4 th in the Swiss will be seeded no. 1 – 4.

The teams placed 1 st – 3 rd in the Swiss, in that order, get to choose their opponents from the teams placed 5 th – 8 th in the Swiss. Those chosen teams are assigned seed no. 8 – 6 respectively. The teams placed 4 th in the Swiss will play the quarterfinal against the remaining team which gets no. 5.

Quarterfinal and semifinal will be played over 1 segment of 28 boards each with possible change of the line-up after 14 boards (see p. 6 below). Final will be played over 32 boards, 2 separate segments of 16 boards each.

There will be the following carry over:

• in the quarterfinal no. 1 – 4 get a carry over of 10.1 – 6.1 – 3.1 – 1.1 IMP respectively;
• in the semifinal and the final the higher ranked teams in the Swiss get a carry over of 0.1 IMP as a tiebreaker.

6. Line-Up

All matches of the Swiss qualifying stage will be played without change of the line-up; unless there is a serious reason for that, to be decided by the TD.

In the quarterfinal and semifinal change of the line-up is possible after 14 boards provided that no player can change the compass direction (so East will stay East and so on).

The final will consist of 2 separate segments, so there are no restrictions on the line-up.

The teams are expected to submit their line-up as soon as practical but in any case not later than 30 minutes before the start of the round.

Teams who infringe this regulation will be subject to VP penalties according to this scale:

• 1st occasion – warning;
• 2nd and any subsequent occasion – 0.5 VP penalty.

The line-up must be submitted through 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.

7. Running the matches

All players involved must be online and logged in to Bridge Base Online  10 minutes before the start of the round at the latest.

Players should have their official name on BBO profile. Private isn't allowed.

The Tournament Director will create the tables and send invitations to the players in accordance with the submitted line-ups. Players are requested to accept the invitation immediately upon receipt.

All tables will play duplicated boards (same boards for every team).

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.

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.

Players may not consult their own system card and use any aids to their memory, calculation or technique between the commencement of the auction period and the end of play.

Players are expected to finish 14 boards within 2 hours. The  Tournament  Director  may  remove  unplayed  boards  if  in  his opinion a delay in finishing the match in the allotted time would interfere with the  smooth  running  of  the  competition.

8. Request of the TD ruling

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.

To submit protests, you should send email to: info@netbridge.online

9. These Regulations may be amended and augmented at the discretion of the organizing committee if circumstances so warrant so as to ensure the smooth, efficient and enjoyable running of the tournament.

Although this tournament isn't aligenced with any bridge federation we will cooperate and provide them with all the information necessary to detect and prevent cheating.

10. The WBF Victory Points scale for 14 boards: