CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

I General Rules and Format

• FORMAT
  1. QUALIFICATION SWISS
     • First 10 matches, are the qualification 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 average WBF Senior Masterpoints of all team members (1st vs 2nd, 3rd vs 4th etc.).
     • After 10 rounds of Swiss, first 16 teams will play the play-off.
     • The rest of the teams will compete in the Swiss for the 3rd place, which will be also joined by the losers of play-off matches.
     • For the Swiss phase, each result will be converted from IMPs into VPs according to the WBF 20 boards VP scale
  2. KNOCKOUT PHASE
     ROUND OF 16 (2x16 boards)
     • The team placed 1st at the end of the Qualification Swiss has the right to choose their opponent among the teams placed 8th-16th. Then, the team placed 2nd will choose their opponent among the teams placed 8th-16th, etc.
     QUARTERFINALS (2x16 boards)
     • Among the winners of the Round of 16 matches, the team which was highest placed in the Qualification Swiss will choose the opponent of the Quarter-final of all available teams, later the highest placed in the Qualification Swiss will choose, etc.
     • If 4 teams of one country qualify to QF, the highest placed in Qualification Swiss team will choose its opponent of 3 other teams, while 2 remaining will play one against another.
     • If 3 teams of one country will qualify to QF, general rules apply till 2 teams will remain or if one, having first right to draw will choose as the opponent another, it is over; if it will choose team of another country, remaining teams are paired automatically. If all three teams are subject to draw, when one of them is chosen, remaining teams are paired automatically.
     SEMI-FINALS (2x16 boards)
     • 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 will play against each other.
     CARRY OVER
     • Carry over in R16, QF and SF matches is 0.1 imp for the team higher placed in Qualification Swiss.
     FINAL (4x12 boards)
     • There will be no Carry-Over.
     • In case of tie at the end, it will be solved by 1-board Sudden Death.
  3. SWISS FOR THE 3RD PLACE
     • Swiss for the third place will be playd as 10 rounds swiss. Two rounds a day
     • Result will be converted from IMPs into VPs according to the WBF 10 boards VP scale
     • Carry over is 1/6 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).
     • Losers of the Knock-out matches will join 3RD PLACE SWISS (according to the rank in Qualification Swiss – highest ranking team the lowest place)
     • after round of 16 – to the 17,15,13,11,9,7,5,3rd places with number of VP equal to the average of 3rd and 4th team after a previous round; the positions can be changed in case if less teams will compete at 3rd place Swiss.
     • after quarterfinal ‒ to the 9,7,5,3 places (according to the rank in Qualification Swiss), with number of VP equal to the average of 3rd and 4th team after a previous round.
     • after semifinal - to the 5th and 3rd place (according to the rank in qualification Swiss) with number of VP equal to the average of 2nd and 3rd team after a previous round.
• KIBITZERS
  1. There will be one match transmitted on vugraph with delay. We believe that the spirit of the game in seniors society excludes chances of cheating so all the Swiss matches are played on the same boards and there are no restriction in closing match time etc. Our experience from European Seniors Tournament and previous edition, played according to those conditions confirmed that we can rely on fair-play of the Seniors bridge society (no suspicious cases were reported to the TDs and other bodies)
  2. Coaches and npc can be allowed to kibitz the match of their team. The TD must be informed by e-mail about it before the start of the match and will manage the technical requirements.
  3. The choice of the Vugraph match will be announced in the Daily Bulletin.
• STARTING TIMES
  1. Starting time of each round according to Schedule.
  2. All players should be logged in at least 10 minutes before. We hope all of us can accept a few minutes in some cases.
• SUBSTITUTES
  1. 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).
  2. Substitutions will be allowed for qualification phase.
  3. Changes should be provided with the line up.
  4. Later changes will be allowed only in case of emergency.
  5. At play off matches substitution during session is allowed only in emergency cases and must be accepted by the Chief Tournament Director.

II Line-Up Procedure

1. Website of the tournament will provide the system for entering the line up.
2. Detailed instruction will be sent to all persons responsible for line up of their teams.
3. QUALIFICATION SWISS
   • line up is blind
   • Line up should be entered no later than 60 min before start of the match.
4. PLAY OFF
   • Players of the team placed higher at the Qualification Swiss sits as second in second segment. In final first and last segment.
   • Time schedule for line up:
     • 1st segment of the day:
       first sitting team no later than 60 min before start,
       second sitting – no later than 30 min before the start.
     • 2nd segment of the day:
       first sitting team no later than 20 min before start,
       second sitting – no later than 15 min before the start.
5. 3RD PLACE SWISS
   • line up is blind
   • Line up should be entered no later than
     60 min before start of the match - first match of a day
     15 min before start of the match - second match of a day.
6. PENALTIES - delaying or not providing the line-ups 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).
7. LINE-UP CHANGES - It is possible to change the submitted line-up only for emergency and must be communicated throughe -mail or a phone call if less then 30 minutes left to the start of the match (also WhatsApp but not a message) to the organization.
8. In case of any problem with line up system, please contact tournament director.

III Anti-Cheating rules

1. 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 Commission of Polish Bridge Union. The captains of all participating teams will be its advisory body at more complicated cases.
2. If somebody wants to report about suspicious hands it should also be forwarded to the Disciplinary Commission of Polish Bridge Union (e-mail [email protected]). All proceedings will be carried with the appropriate discretion and confidentiality. Ruling of the PBU Disciplinary Commission will be final.

IV Zero tolerance for rude comments or behavior

1. Zero tolerance for rude comments or behavior.
2. If you need to ask something to your opponents, please use the private chat instead of the table chat.

V Convention Cards

1. Before the start of the tournament all teams should send their convention cards, preferable in the WBF standard to tournament directors. The cards will be available at the tournament website.
2. In more complex cases (like brown sticker, HUM, etc. the appropriate rules of World Teams Championships 2019 will be applicable).

VI Starting time and missing players

1. 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 all the matches using the same boards, therefore all delays will be penalized (unless the late start is not responsibility of the team, e.g. BBO’s server issues, etc.).
2. 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.
3. 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 too often.

VII Players of the team

1. Because the tournament is played online, there the number of the players registered for the team is limited to 12. Players can be added/replaced during the tournament.

VIII Undos

1. UNDO is available and fair. We strongly encourage you 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 time it is a true misclick.
2. UNDOs are allowed and encouraged, but only for misclick.
3. UNDOs for correction of errors are not appropriate and should not be requested.
4. 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

1. 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 legitimately ask for an UNDO in case the information changes his/her perspectives. This may 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. 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 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 allows this but it could lead to some issues).

X System Notes

1. Every player is given the right to check his/her own bidding system during play.

XI Tournament Director and rulings.

1. The Tournament Director can be summoned to a table as soon as attention is drawn to an irregularity.
2. After the Director has given the ruling, the only appeal against such ruling can be addressed to the Chief Tournament Director.
3. The decision of the Chief Tournament Director is the final one.

XII Tie-breaking procedures

According to the WBF Tie-breaking procedures:

A. 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):

1. 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:
2. IMPs earned by the tied teams in the match they played against each other. If the tie remains, then:
3. Total points earned by the tied teams in the match they played against each other. If the tie remains then:
4. Total point quotient in all matches played by the tied team in that particular event. If the tie remains then:
5. One board (“sudden death”) matches will deter- mine the winner.

B. 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:

1. 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:
2. 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. If the three teams remain tied, then:
3. 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:
4. 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:

5. 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:
6. 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:
7. 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:
8. One-board (“sudden death”) matches will determine the winner.

C. 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:

1. 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:
2. 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 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:
3. 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:
4. One-board (“sudden death”) matches will determine the winner.
5. In case of “sudden death” match, the appeal (protest period) is over when the “sudden death” match begins.

XIII

1. In all cases, not specified in this CoC, appropriate rules of 2019 World Senior Teams Championships will be applied.