CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
I. General Rules and Format
FORMAT
QUALIFICATION SWISS
First 11 matches, starting on 5th Oct. till 15th Oct. till are the qualifiaction stage, played as the Swiss, 20-board matches.
The seeding to the 1st round matches will be based on the average ranking of the team players according to EBL Senior Masterpoints.
After 11 rounds of swiss, the first 8 teams will play the Quarter-Finals (32 boards - 2 segments of 16
boards) and later on the Semi-Finals (48 boards - 4 segments of 12 boards) and the Final (48 boards - 4
segments of 12 boards). The rest of the teams will compete at the Swiss for the 3rd place, which will be also joined by the losers of quarterfinals and semifinals.
For the Swiss phases, each result will be converted from IMPs into VPs according to the WBF 20 boards VP
Scale:
10.00 -10.00 tie 14.20 - 5.80 18 imps 17.06 - 2.94 36 imps 19.00 - 1.00 54 imps
10.28 - 9.72 1 imp 14.39 - 5.61 19 imps 17.19 - 2.81 37 imps 19.08 - 0.92 55 imps
10.55 - 9.45 2 imps 14.58 - 5.42 20 imps 17.31 - 2.69 38 imps 19.17 - 0.83 56 imps
10.82 - 9.18 3 imps 14.76 - 5.24 21 imps 17.44 - 2.56 39 imps 19.25 - 0.75 57 imps
11.08 - 8.92 4 imps 14.94 - 5.06 22 imps 17.56 - 2.44 40 imps 19.33 - 0.67 58 imps
11.34 - 8.66 5 imps 15.11 - 4.89 23 imps 17.67 - 2.33 41 imps 19.41 - 0.59 59 imps
11.59 - 8.41 6 imps 15.28 - 4.72 24 imps 17.79 - 2.21 42 imps 19.49 - 0.51 60 imps
11.83 - 9.17 7 imps 15.45 - 4.55 25 imps 17.90 - 2.10 43 imps 19.57 - 0.43 61 imps
12.07 - 7.93 8 imps 15.61 - 4.39 26 imps 18.01 - 1.99 44 imps 19.64 - 0.36 62 imps
12.30 - 7.70 9 imps 15.77 - 4.23 27 imps 18.12 - 1.88 45 imps 19.72 - 0.28 63 imps
12.53 - 7.47 10 imps 15.92 - 4.08 28 imps 18.23 - 1.77 46 imps 19.79 - 0.21 64 imps
12.76 - 7.24 11 imps 16.08 - 3.92 29 imps 18.33 - 1.67 47 imps 19.86 - 0.14 65 imps
12.98 - 7.02 12 imps 16.23 - 3.77 30 imps 18.43 - 1.57 48 imps 19.93 - 0.07 66 imps
13.19 - 6.81 13 imps 16.37 - 3.63 31 imps 18.53 - 1.47 49 imps 19.99 - 0.01 67 imps
13.41 - 6.59 14 imps 16.52 - 3.48 32 imps 18.63 - 1.37 50 imps 20.00 - 0.00 68 and more imps
13.61 - 6.39 15 imps 16.66 - 3.34 33 imps 18.72 - 1.28 51 imps
13.81 - 6.19 16 imps 16.79 - 3.21 34 imps 18.82 - 1.18 52 imps
14.01 - 5.99 17 imps 16.93 - 3.07 35 imps 18.91 - 1.09 53 imps
KNOCKOUT PHASE.
QUARTER-FINALS.
The team placed 1st at the end of the Qualification Swiss has the right to choose their opponent among the teams placed 4th-8th. Then, the team placed 2nd will choose their opponent among the teams placed 4th-8th-8th, etc.
SEMI-FINALS.
Among the winners of the Quarter-Finals, the team which was highest placed in the Qualification Swiss will choose the opponent of the Semifinal. If two teams of the same country qualify to semifinal, they play against each other. If three teams of the same country qualify to the semifinal, the fourth team has the right to choose the semifinal opponent.
CARRY OVER.
Carry over in QF and SF matches is 0.1 imp for the team higher placed in Qualification Swiss
FINALS
There will be no Carry-Over. In case of tie after 48 boards, it will be solved by 1-board Sudden Death.
SWISS FOR THE 3RD PLACE
Swiss for the third place starts on Friday, 16 Oct. Carry over is 1/11 of VP from the Qualification Swiss. Draw to the first round is done according to the carry over. Last round of 3RD PLACE SWISS will be played as Danish (matches can be played between the teams, which have played against each other in earlier rounds);
20-board matches will be played.
Friday, 16th Oct., 8 pm - 1 round
Saturday, 17th Oct., 1.30 pm and 5 pm - 2 rounds
Sunday, 18th Oct., 1.30 pm and 5 pm - 2 rounds
Losers of the Knock-out matches will join Swiss for the 3rd place
- after quarterfinal ‒ to the 5,7,9,11 places (according to the rank in Qualification Swiss), with number of VP equal to the average of 6th and 7th team after a previous round;
- after semifinal - to the 3rd and 5th place (according to the rank in qualification Swiss) with number of VP equal to the average of 3rd and 4th team after a previous round.
KIBITZERS.
Kibitzers are allowed only at the vuegraph tables table, which will start with 30 minutes delay. We believe that spirit of the game in seniors society excludes chances of cheating so all the matches are played the same boards and there are no restriction in closing match time etc.
The choice of the Vuegraph match will be announced in Daily Bulletin.
STARTING TIMES.
The starting time of each Qualification Swiss match is 8.00 pm (CET). We hope all of us can accept few minutes in some cases.
SUBSTITUTES.
After the first 10 boards (1-10) each player/pair can be substituted with another player/pair for the second half of the match (boards 11-20). Substitutions will be allowed for each SWISS match. Tournament directors must be informed about the substitute no later than half hour after the match starts.
II. Line-Up Procedure
QUALIFICATION SWISS, 3RD PLACE SWISS - blind line up
The captain of each team has to send its line-up by e-mail to the tournament directors:
no later than at 3 p.m. of the day when the match will be played (for the second matches on Sat. and Sun. at 3RD PLACE SWISS half our before the play starts).
Mail must content:
1)round number
2)positions (W/N/E/S) and BBO nicks of the players
Draw for each round will be published in the morning at the Daily Bulletin and on the Website of the tournament: https://wyniki.pzbs.pl/turnieje/2020/ESC/
PLAY OFF
Players of the team placed higher at the Qualification Swiss sits as second in first and last segment of the match if more than two segments are played. If there are only two halfs of the match, the team ranked higher at Qualification Swiss sits as second at the second half of the match.
Line up should be sent to tournament directors:
before first part of the match, first sitting team must send the line up 1 hour before scheduled start of the match. Further line ups will be at the tournament directors care who will be in touch with the captains of the involved teams
PENALTIES.
Delaying or not providing the line-ups (the long term one discussed here above and the definitive one) will be subject to VP penalties, starting from a 0.5 VP penalty for the first lack and increasing each time by 0.5 VP
(1, 1.5 and so on).
LINE-UP CHANGES.
It is possible to change the submitted line-up, but only for emergency and must be communicated through a
phone call (also WhatsApp but not a message) to the organization.
III. Anti-Cheating rules
We assume full trust to all players, kibitzers, and other members of the bridge society. All the disciplinary violations will be solved by the Disciplinary Comission of Polish Bridge Union. The captains of all participating teams will be its advisory body at more complicated cases.
If somebody will want to report about suspicious hands it should also be forwarded to the Disciplinary Comission of Polish Bridge Union (e-mail piotr.ilczuk@pzbs.pl). All procedings will be carried with the appropriate discretion and confidentiality. Ruling of the PBU Disciplinary Comission will be final.
IV. Zero tolerance for rude comments or behavior
Zero tolerance for rude comments or behavior. If you need to ask something to your opponents, please use
the private chat instead of the table chat.
V. Convention Cards
Before the start of the tournament all the teams should send their convention cards, preferable in the WBF standard to tournament directors(aleksander.krych@pzbs.pl). The cards will be available at the tournament website https://wyniki.pzbs.pl/turnieje/2020/ESC/. In more complex cases (like brown sticker, HUM, etc. the apropriate rules of European Teams Championships 2018 will be aplicable).
VI. Starting time and missing players
All players are kindly asked to log in on BBO at least 10 minutes before the starting time of their match.
We are playing pre-dealt duplicate boards. Delays can affect the event schedule as we are playing consecutive
matches, therefore all delays will be penalized (unless the late start is not resposibility of the team, e.g. BBO’s
server issues, etc.).
If at some point during a match a player loses his/her connection, the partner of the missing player must
immediately call at the table the tournament director (by pressing the usual button) who will find together with the team’s captain another player of the team available for a prompt substitution.
Only in case of BBO’s server issues when it is not possible to start some matches, the delays matches will not
play pre-dealt boards, but we are confident that this will not happen anymore.
VII. Players of the team
Because the tournament is played on line, there are no limitations of the number of the players registered for the team. Players can be added/replace during the tournament.
VIII. Undos
UNDO is available and fair. We strongly encourage to accept UNDOs. If you feel that there is a damage due
to the UNDO you can call the director at the table but we will be very happy if you play this tournament in a
friendly way and allow UNDOs because most of the times it is a true misclick.
UNDOs are allowed and encouraged, but only for misclick.
UNDOs for correction of errors are not appropriate and should not be requested. If the opponent questions the reason for an undo, they should call the director as long as it becomes evident that this may have been the case.
IX. Alerts
Bids must be alerted before being entered. In such way, the left hand opponent knows about the alert before
making his/her bid. If you don’t alert before sending your bid, your opponent may think that your bid is
natural, make his/her bid, then see the Alert and legitimaly ask for an UNDO in case the information changes his/her perspectives. This may unguiltily lead to unauthorized information. Thus, you need to click the Alert button before entering your bid. Also, during this procedure it is very important to include the explanation in the proper box. We obviously understand that we are not used to such procedure, and will try to tolerate innocent mistakes, but it is important to practice this Alerting style. During each match, players are not allowed to click on an unalerted bid of the opponents in order to have more information. If they want information, they can privately ask to the opponent (by chat). The reason is that it is important to avoid any possible UI between partners. If you note this please call the director that will explain this rule to the opponents (BBO software allow this but it could lead to some issues). Opponents in any case will be not penalized the first time.
X. System Notes
Every player is given the right to check his/her own bidding system during play. We decided for this rule
because it helps learning the system also while playing in very good competitions in order to be ready for
live tournaments and because anyway we do not have the possibility to check what everybody is doing while
playing and do not want to disadvantage anybody.
XI. Tournament Director and rulings.
The Tournament Director can be summoned to a table as soon as attention is drawn to an irregularity. After the Director has given the ruling, the only appeal against such ruling can be adressed to the Chief Tournament Director. The decision of the Chief Tournament Director is the final one.
XII. Tie-breaking procedures
According to the WBF Tie-breaking procedures:
Two Teams
If two teams are tied with the same number of Victory Points at the end of the round-robin, the tie shall be
broken as follows (in the sequence shown):
a) IMP quotient (total IMPs won divided by total IMPs lost) in all matches played by the tied teams in that
particular event.
If the tie remains, then:
b) IMPs earned by the tied teams in the match they played against each other.
If the tie remains, then:
c) Total points earned by the tied teams in the match they played against each other. If the tie remains
then:
d) Total point quotient in all matches played by the tied team in that particular event. If the tie remains then:
e) One board (“sudden death”) matches will determine the winner.
Three Teams
If three teams are tied with the same number of Victory Points at the end of the round-robin, the tie shall be broken according to the following:
f) IMP quotient in all matches played by the tied teams in that particular event. If one tie still remains it
shall be broken in accordance with the previous section. If the three teams remain tied, then:
g) If one of the teams earned more VPs against each of the other two in the matches it played against them
in that particular event, it shall be declared winner and, if necessary, the tie between the remaining two
teams shall be broken in accordance with sub-section 19.1. If the three teams remain tied, then:
h) If one of the teams earned more VPs against one of the remaining teams and tied with the other in the
matches it played between them in that particular event, it shall be declared winner and the tie between the
remaining teams shall be broken, if necessary, in accordance with the previous section. If the three teams
remain tied, then:
i) If one team has been beaten by the other two teams in matches it played against them in that particular
event, it shall be ranked third in the tied positions and the tie between the remaining teams shall be broken
in accordance with the previous section.
In all other cases, ties shall be broken in accordance with the following:
j) Highest net total IMPs earned by the tied teams in the matches they played against each other. If one tie
still remains it may be broken in accordance with the previous section. If the three teams remain tied, then:
k) Highest net total points earned by the tied teams in matches they played against each other. If one tie
still remains it may be broken in accordance with the previous section. If the three team remain tied, then:
l) Total points quotient earned in all matches played by the tied teams. If one tie still remains it may be
broken in accordance with the previous section. If the three teams remain tied, then:
m) One-board (“sudden death”) matches will determine the winner. Four Teams or more If four or more
teams are tied with the same number of Victory Points at the end of the round-robin, the tie shall be
broken according to the following:
n) IMP quotient in all matches played by the tied teams in that particular event, shall govern. Any ties
remaining will be broken in accordance with the previous sections if appropriate. If there are more than
three teams that remain tied after use of IMP quotients, then:
o) If one of the teams earned more VPs against each of the remaining tied teams in that particular event
or if it has, uniquely, tied one and defeated the other tied teams, it shall be declared winner and the ties
for the remaining teams will be broken in accordance with the previous section, if appropriate. If there are
more than three teams that remain tied, then:
p) Total points quotient in all matches played by the tied teams in that particular event, shall govern. Any
ties remaining will be broken in accordance with the previous sections if appropriate. If there are more than
three teams that remain tied after the application of total points quotient, then:
q) One-board (“sudden death”) matches will determine the winner.
r) In case of “sudden death” match, the appeal (protest period) is over when the “sudden death” match begins.
XIII. Complete Calendar
Qualification Swiss
5-15 Oct., 8 p.m. CET
11 rounds of Swiss, 20-board matches
Play off
Friday, 16 Oct., 7.30 pm CET
Quarterfinals, 2x16 boards
Saturday, 17 Oct., 1.00 pm CET
Semifinals, 4x12 boards
Sunday, 18 Oct., 1.00 pm CET
Final, 4x12 boards
Swiss for 3rd place
Friday, 16 Oct., 8 pm CET
1 round, 20-board match
Saturday, 17 Oct., 1.30 pm CET
2 rounds, 20-board matches
Sunday, 18 Oct., 1.30 pm CET
2 rounds, 20-board matches
XIV. In all cases, not specified in this CoC, appropriate rules of 2018 European Senior Teams Championships will be applied.