BFH Online Tournament Bulletin

As we start the day....

Both leagues are interestingly poised as 36 and 50 teams battle it out for 16 slots in the knock outs for the Gold and Silver events. We present below the standings of the leaders

 

It seems that an average of close to 11.00 VPs will be required to qualify given the score of the 16th team above. Let us remind you that the top 7 finishers get to choose their opponents from Rank 9-16 for the quarter finals.

A few Insights and Observations

We have been in receipt of a lot of suggestions and from participants. We outline a few of them below to share with you our thoughts on the same.

• Number of Rounds
  
  Quite a few people have been mentioning that the number of qualifying rounds could have been reduced given the number of entries (especially in the Gold section). Our objective in keeping these many rounds has simply been that as many people as possible are playing bridge (especially on a Sunday). 
   
• Penalties and Walk Overs
  
  A number of teams have, when encountering difficulties in finding their opponents, been insisting on penalties and / or walk overs. While these demands seem extremely reasonable given some of the issues some of the teams have faced, let us also acknowledge that we are all here to play bridge. Claiming a walk over would leave us without activity till the next round.
  
  Hence, we have stretched things so as to avoid walkovers and, till date, no such event has happened.
   
• Alerts and Pre-Alerts
  
  We have had many complaints of bids not being alerted and the inability of opponents to frame a defence to a given convention. We will state for the record a few statements.
   
  • All Conventional Bids MUST be alerted by the bidder
    
    The conventional norms of not alerting bids beyond 3NT apply to face to face bridge. In bridge involving screens e.g. online bridge, this does not apply.
     
  • Unusual Conventional Bids  should be advised before the match starts
    
    Take a couple of minutes to understand what your opponents are playing. If you are playing conventions like Multi 2 Diamonds (even the weak only version), you must tell your opponents in advance. Multi usually comes along with Tartan and unusal 2NT. So the whole lot needs to be informed.
    
    Other conventions that should be alerted in advance include transfer preempts, puppet systems over 1NT/ 2NT among others. When in doubt, please pre alert opponents.
• Seats in Finals of Amanora Pairs
  
  Teams in the finals of this event will be entitled to field a maximum of 3 pairs each in the finals of the Amanora Pairs in their respective sections subject to the proviso that one of the players has played in one of the final rounds. The losing semi finalists shall also be granted the same provision subject to their participation in the play offs.
   

Schedule

Directors

Chief Tournament Director     :    Sudhir Agarwal

Gold Tournament                     :   Sanjay Chakraborty / Sukrit Vijayakar

Silver Tournament                   :   Sukrit Vijayakar / Sanjay Chakraborty

Other senior Tournament Directors may also be called on to assist if necessary

Barometer

Barometer will be switched off throughout.

Kibitzers

During the league, Kibitzing will be switched off.

During the play offs, if both teams agree, Kibitzers may be allowed subject to the proviso that the Director may, at his discretion, switch off Kibitzing.

Undo

During the league, teams may mutually agree to allow undos

During the play offs, undo will remain on, but will be only allowed with the express permission of the director

Psychs

Conventional Pyschs are disallowed in the event

Psychs are disallowed in the Silver Tournament

Psychs are allowed in the Gold Tournament subject to the proviso that an individual does not psych repeatedly and regularly. The opposing team is requested to bring all psychs to the TDs notice to prevent misuse of this facility.

Insufficient Boards

It is the responsibility of both teams to ensure that the match is set up using the correct number of boards. In the event that a match is set up for fewer boards that required, the rest of the boards shall be treated as scratched

Withdrawals

Withdrawals are not allowed after a draw has been made. Teams withdrawing in this manner will not be allowed to play in the next event.

Post qualification, withdrawals are not permitted. Teams withdrawing will not be allowed to play in the next event.

Ethical Behavior

We expect all participants to adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior during the play of this tournament. While we find it painful to issue such a statement, it is equally painful to admit that making such a statement has been felt necessary by the organisers. Players whose behavior was reported as suspect are being watched by the CTD as well as other senior directors of the country.

Miscellaneous

Anything not covered here is at the discretion of the organizers. They may opt to consult with one or more senior bridge players / organizers, but their decision will be final and binding in all respects