From the beginning of the year we will publish the results in two forms.  The standard result will be shown and also the result after the handicap has been applied.  These handicapped results will then be applied to the 'Race', which will be a measure of how much a player has improved over the course of the year.  For the purposes of the 'Race' the playing year will run from 1st December to 30th November in the following year.  The leading 5 players will be awarded a prize. 

The handicap is based upon the average of the % score achieved by an individual over a minimum of 5 duplicates.  Therefore each time an individual plays their handicap will be adjusted.  If the average % is less than 50% then the difference is added to the result and if the average % is greater than 50% then the difference is subtracted from the result.  For each game, both players average % are added together and divided by 2 to arrive at the expected %.  If the pair does better than this then the difference is added to each players 'race' total, which is cumulative.  If the pair does worse then the difference is subtracted from each players' 'race' total.  Thus the 'race' is a measure of an individual's performance over the course of the race year.  Note that the more players an individual plays with, the more accurate their handicap will be.  A pair who only play together will have a equal 'race' total and thus the score will measure the partnership's performance rather than each individual.  The 'Race' is meant to be fun and not to be taken too seriously, of course.

The competition is open to members only (although non-members handicaps and scores will still be included in the relevant tables) and is designed to measure a player's improvement during the course of the year.  The competion runs from the first week in  December and runs to the last week in November.  The top five players at the end of the competition will win a prize, provided thay are members and have played a minimum of 20 times in the handicap year.

The 'WBC Derby' runs in parallel with the Handicap Race and is intended to redress the imbalance of the Handicap Race, which gives the stronger players little chance of winning a prize.  Although fewer players will be in contention for a prize for finishing in the top five, the competition should still be of benefit to all players in that it is an accurate measure of overall performance. 

The competition works by assigning a numerical value to any score above 50% that a player achieves.  One hundred points are awarded for each % point above 50%  a player achieves (e.g. 61% would earn 1100 points, while 61.25% would earn 1125 points).  Negative points (shown as red numbers) can also be earned.  Thus a score of 46% will earn 400 points, while 46.25% will earn 375 points.  The number of points earned in the player's best 20 performances in the current year are totalled to give a running score for each player. 

The rules of the competition are as follows:

1. The competition is open to members only, although scores gained by non-members will still appear in the updated list.
2. To qualify for one of the prizes a player must play in a minimum of 20 duplicates during the competition period.
3. If a player wins a prize in both the Handicap Race and the WBC Derby (unlikely but possible), then the greatest value prize will be awarded to the player concerned, while the 6th player in the other competition will move into the relevant prize list.