Competition Rules

Byron Cup

Ladders

Hemmings

Hudson Salver (Butler Pairs)

Sutcliffe Plate (pivot teams)

Tuesday Bowl

Janet Fitzgerald

                                                                                                            Cliff Short

                                                                                                            Competitions Secretary

                                                                                                            May 2010

Byron Cup Rules

1.      Teams may consist of up to 6 players only 4 of whom may play in any one round.  There must be at least one member of HHBC playing at all times.

2.      No team member is allowed to play for more than one team.

3.      An elimination heat, based on a multiple teams event will be held at the club to determine which teams are eligible for the Knock-Out stage.

4.      If there are 12 teams or above entering the eliminating heat, 8 will go forward to the Knock-Out stage.  If there are 11 teams or less, the top 4 will qualify. Ties for places will be resolved by the head to head result of the teams involved.

5.      The Knock-Out rounds must be played at the club, except in exceptional circumstances agreed by the Competitions Secretary, and normal table money will be paid. Tables must be booked with the Competitions Secretary or a committee member. Dates for completion of each round will be notified to team captains.

6.      The team winning the qualifying evening will become home team in the next round to the last qualified team; the second team will become home team to the second to last qualified team etc.  In subsequent rounds home team status continues to apply to the team coming higher in the elimination heat.

7.      It is the responsibility of the Home Team to provide their opponents with 3 dates which must include at least 2 different days of the week.  If these cannot be arranged, the Away Team must offer 3 alternative dates which must also include at least 2 different days of the week.

In the event of continued difficulty, the Competitions Secretary will appoint a club night upon which the tie will be settled.  Non-appearance on that night will give a walkover to the attending team.

8.      Lateness of 60 minutes or more counts as non-arrival and will give a walkover to the attending team.  In the event of a delay of 15 minutes or more, the non-offending team may withdraw 2 boards, plus 2 more boards for each subsequent 15 minute delay, and they shall be awarded 2 IMPs for each unplayed board.

9.      All rounds will be played over 24 boards. Seating positions for the first half will be chosen by the home team who remain stationary. In the event of a tie after 24 boards, 2 more boards will be played, followed by 2 more and so on to determine a result.  Seating positions for the extra boards shall be decided by the Captains on the toss of a coin.

10. Captains should resolve disputes on the night with advice from the Director at the club.  Should this prove impossible, the Tournament Director must be informed.  He/she will resolve the dispute, if necessary referring it to the Appeals Panel.

11. Results for Knock-Out rounds must be sent to the Competitions Secretary within 3 days of the match.  This is the responsibility of the winning team captain.

12. Completed identical convention cards must be carried by competitors for all rounds.

Ladder Competitions

Ladder competitions apply on each of the three Club nights (Mon, Tue, Thurs) and run from 1 June to 31 May. Ladder nights exclude all club competition nights, teams nights, simultaneous pairs, county or Marjorie Lukyn heats.

The ladder winner for each of the three nights is the player with the highest average percentage on that night, but counting only their best results over a qualifying number of games which is half the number of ladder nights (rounded down). Those not reaching the qualifying number of games are excluded from the ladder.

The number of qualifying games and results to date are shown on the Website. Averages are shown for those who have been to half the possible games (rounded down) till the expected Qualifying games (say 18) are reached and then it becomes the average of the best 18 results for those who have been to half the possible games. 

Hemmings Individual Competition

1.         The Hemmings will be played on four Thursday nights with different partners.  All players in the competition and their partners must be paid-up members of the club.

2.         Hemmings nights will have single winner, either by an Arrow Switch or by a Howell Movement.

3.         The lowest percentage score will be eliminated and the other three scores aggregated.  The individual with the highest aggregate wins.  It is possible to compete in the competition by playing on three nights only.

4.         It is permitted to play twice with the same partner but only the score achieved on the first occasion counts towards the aggregate.

5.         Other club members and visitors may also play on these four evenings, but without standing.

Hudson Salver

Description

Pairs events on 6 Mondays during the year will be scored using the Butler method. Under this method a “datum” score is calculated for each board by taking out one highest and one lowest score and averaging the rest. All scores for this board are then compared to the datum and turned into IMPS. The winning pair is the one with the highest total IMPS over all the boards played (there are separate North South and East West winners). Master points are awarded for the highest placings, according to normal EBU rules.

Eligibility

For a pair to win the Salver they must both be Members of the Club. If a player joins the Club part way through a year, he/she will only be eligible for scores achieved from the date of joining. Visitors may play on Pairs (Butler Scoring) nights but are not eligible for the trophy.

Timing

There will be six Pairs (Butler Scoring) nights in the year; the last Mondays of July, Sep, Nov, Jan, Mar, May. Where there is a clash with a Bank Holiday or Simultaneous Pairs the Pairs (Butler Scoring) night is brought forward a week.

Calculation of Winners

The winning pair is the one with the highest total Master Points results over any 3 of the 6 sessions. If there is a tie on Master Points the number of 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd places act successively as tie breakers, and after that IMPS scored in the 3 chosen sessions.

A player may participate in more than one pairing, but each pair is a separate entry.

Sutcliffe Plate (pivot teams)

1.                  This is an event for mixed pivot teams.  All players must be members of the Hemel Hempstead Bridge Club.  Any ‘mix’ of male/female is acceptable.

2.                  The aim will be to play this competition over 24 boards with a player partnering each of his/her team members for 8 boards, but the actual number of rounds in each combination will depend on what movement is possible with the number of teams entering.

3.                  The team with the highest total of IMPs will be the winners.

4.                  Convention cards to be carried by players, for each pairing.