Gold Cup: Introduction  

♥ Entries are open for the 2021 Gold Cup. ♥ 

• At least the first two rounds will be played online
• An online entry form is available
• The draw will be national so Scottish Welsh and English teams may draw each other from Round 1
• First and second round losers from Scotland will have free entry to the Marion Hill Trophy. In England & Wales free entry to the Silver Plate
• Teams may have up to eight members but no more than six may play in any match.

The remaining rounds of the Gold Cup 2019/2020 

This applies to all rounds up to and including the Quarter Final.

Matches may be face to face or online. In the event of a disagreement the default will be online.

For Face to Face matches the existing regulations apply save for the point below about length of matches.

For online matches

• No kibitzers are allowed
• Board by board scoring (or Barometer) must be switched off
• Having a Zoom or similar camera view is not permitted
• Undos are not permitted in the bidding or play.
• Stanzas are of 8 boards with the change of opponents regulations being the same as for F2F matches

Any of the above conditions may be varied with the agreement of both teams.

• Matches will be of 48 boards for Rounds 3 and 4 but if both teams agree, this can be reduced to 40 or 32.
• Match length in the Quarter final, Semi final and final will be as shown in the existing regulations.
• Two extra players are permitted to help with difficulties over arranging matches, provided

a. the secretary is informed in advance

b. The Extra players have not registered for any other team in the current season

c. No more than six players play in any one match.

If the match is online the full names of those playing must be disclosed in the BBO field for such disclosure.

The Gold Cup is the most prestigious Open Teams event in Britain, and is organised by Bridge Great Britain. It is knock-out throughout, and, prior to the semi-finals, all matches are played privately.  It dates back to 1932. The original trophy, still awarded today, was presented by Bridge Magazine. At the time it cost 100 guineas

Green Points are awarded for each win

Matches in Round 1 (for 2020) are of 32 boards (though this may be increased to 40 or 48 by prior agreement between the two Captains). This helps considerably when fixing matches, which can be played in the evening. Matches in Rounds 2-4 are of 48 boards.

8 teams are seeded for 2020   and exempt from Round 1. This gives the other teams a better opportunity of winning early rounds, and a better chance of gaining Green Points. The draw for Rounds 1-3 is regionalised, as far as possible, in order to keep travelling to a minimum.

 ♠ THERE IS NO EXTRA CHARGE FOR THE SILVER PLATE FOR PLAYERS WHO HAVE COMPETED IN THE GOLD CUP. THE CHARGE FOR ADDITIONAL PLAYERS IN THE SILVER PLATE IS £10 PER PLAYER. 

♥  Completely new teams are not permitted to enter the Silver Plate (only losing teams from the Gold Cup)

♦  The Silver Plate is administered by the EBU. Scottish teams who lose in Rounds 1 and 2 are eligible to play in the Scottish Gold Plate for the Marion Hill Trophy at no extra charge.  The winner of that competition will join the Silver Plate at the Quarter Final Stage.

Bridge Great Britain was formed following the devolution of the British Bridge League into its individual unions at the end of 1999. At that time, the English, Scottish and Welsh Bridge Unions won the right to have teams representing them in European and World events, instead of playing as Great Britain. However, should bridge ever be represented in the Olympic Arena, it will be necessary for the countries to join together again and participate as Great Britain, since this is the body recognised by the International Olympic Committee.

How BBL became BGB

In addition to the need to have the infrastructure to select a representative team in this eventuality, there are two events which remain British rather than belonging to any one Union, notably the Gold Cup, which is the British Knock Out Teams of Four Championship and The Home International Series,comprising the Camrose, Lady Milne, Teltscher Trophy (Senior Camrose), Junior Camrose (U26) and Peggy Bayer (U21).

♥ How Wales won the Lady Milne for the first time in 1967

Bridge Great Britain is run by Committee - there is a Core Committee comprising three members, one from each of England, Scotland and Wales, and the full Committee, which meets annually, where the Core Committee members are joined by delegates from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. 

The British Simultaneous Pairs are administered by the EBU on behalf of England, Wales and Scotland. 

SIMS Results available here