MCBA's Result and Registration Service, Manchester

Definitions
1. The Conditions of Contest for the Manchester Contract Bridge Association (MCBA) Online League comprise these Conditions of Contest and the general regulations of the EBU concerning matches played privately. In the event of any conflict between the EBU regulations on matches played privately and these regulations, these regulations shall prevail.
2. For any issues relating to the league, these regulations, arranging league matches, or any other matter relating to the MCBA League, please contact the League Secretary, Adam Wiseberg, at league@manchesterbridge.org.uk
Scope of the League
1. The MCBA Online League is a local league played by teams with MCBA affiliation, either primary or secondary. Other than that all members of the team must be members of MCBA, there are no other restrictions on who can be in a team.
2. The Online League will be 7 Divisions each consisting of 6 teams.
3. The Online League will run in cycles which will be referred to as Seasons, whereby a match is played each week until all have played all in the Division. Then promotion and relegation takes place and a new Season begins.
4. Each week of the Season will begin on a Friday with the League commencing on Friday 2nd October. The suggested day for matches to be played will be Thursday but teams may play on another day by mutual agreement. Matches should be played by the Thursday of each match week. In extreme cases such as illness or holidays a match may be postponed beyond the scheduled match week but only one such instance will be allowed for each team in each cycle. It is recommended that teams who know they will be unable to play a match in the correct week should try to rearrange it for an earlier week if possible. Any team which refuses to play at least one of their matches on a Thursday will be asked to withdraw from the League. Matches can be played at any time of the day or night by mutual agreement of the Captains.
5. The Season will end at midnight on Thursday 5th November
6. Promotion and relegation between divisions at the end of each Season will be on a 1-up and 1-down basis between divisions, the exact number for promotion and relegation between divisions being decided by the League Secretary before the cycle starts, except that may be varied when Divisions are resized because of new teams or teams dropping out. Additional promotions/non-relegations may be made by the League Secretary (based on the average number of VPs scored per match) to balance the divisions.
7. If a team drops out of a division then, unless a new team of suitable standard comes in (see 8 below), they will be replaced by an additional promotion from the division below.
8. The Online League position of a team which splits up will be retained by the larger contingent or by the captain if the contingents are equal in size. In order to retain their place in a division in the following cycle, a team must either retain at least four players or retain two or more players who each played at least half of the matches.
9. Newly formed teams are positioned at the discretion of the League Secretary (normally just below or reasonably appropriate to their perceived ability level).
10. Ties in terms of Victory Points will be split by the result (in VPs) of the match between the teams, and then by total IMPs over the season.
Entry Fee
1. The entry fee will be £16 per team for the Season
2. Entry fees are due by the start of the Season.
3. Payment is preferred by BACS Payment is preferred by BACS. Bank details : Account name : MCBA. Sort Code : 01-07-20 A/c Number : 41526708. Please use the team name as the reference when paying. Contact the League Secretary if you are unable to pay by BACS.
Team Members and Eligibility
1. A team may have a maximum of eight players.
2. All players in a team must be current members of the EBU and must have Manchester as their county of primary or secondary allegiance before the start of the first match. School students are exempt from this requirement.
3. Any team fielding a player in a match who does not have Manchester as county of primary or secondary allegiance (except for school students) will forfeit the match and score 0 VPs.
4. No player may play for more than one team in the League in any one season, except in the case of a substitute agreed with the League Secretary in advance (see section on substitutes). Any team which plays a player who has already played for another team in any division (except for substitutes) will forfeit all matches in which that player played and will score 0 VPs for those matches.
5. Captains can add players during the season up to a maximum of 8 by contacting the League Secretary by email. This must be done BEFORE the player plays in a match.
Arranging Matches
1. The League is meant to be friendly. It is thus assumed that all matches can be arranged amicably between the team captains.
2. A match is to be played each week, in line with a schedule to be published by the League Secretary. Any captain(s) who have difficulty arranging any match should contact the League Secretary who will advise as far as possible. Given the short nature of the Seasons it is imperative that matches are played within the timescales given. If a match cannot be played by the end of the Season, the League Secretary will award a score as he deems appropriate.
3. All matches should be arranged by mutual agreement between the captains.
4. Either captain may initiate the arrangement of matches, though the onus is on the away captain to initiate the contact.
5. Matches can be played on any agreed online platform, though Bridgebaseonline (BBO), www.bridgebase.com, is the assumed platform, and the default unless both captains agree to a different platform.
6. For those familiar with RealBridge the League Secretary will set up a RealBridge teams 'room' each Thursday. Matches must commence at 7pm and all players must be seated by 6:50pm.
7. When arranging a match, the date, start time and platform should all be clearly specified. It is also useful for captains to exchange phone numbers, in case they need to contact each other on the night.
8. The home team is responsible for setting up the match online, unless the captains agree that the away team should do so.
9. On occasion, through no fault, a match has to be cancelled, and it will need to be re-arranged. This should be done as soon as possible to avoid delaying the Online League Cycle. If it cannot be arranged by the end of the cycle the League Secretary will award a score to the match as he deems appropriate.
Playing Conditions and Playing the Match
1. Matches are of 16 boards. These can be played in one stanza of 16 boards or two stanzas of 8 boards each with a change of opponents. If the captains cannot agree a which format to play then the default will be two stanzas of 16 boards with a change of opponents.
2. There should be no break of longer than five minutes between the stanzas unless both captains have agreed before the match starts.
3. The home team has a choice of opponents (seating rights).
4. For matches on BBO Captains should set matches up with +private+ and +slow+ in the description field. This will prevent other players trying to enter your match and will stop a match timing out if it is played very slowly.
5. For matches on BBO if a board is lost in Stanza 1 through slow play then BBO wil score it as 0 IMPs. In this case an extra board should be added to stanza 2 to bring the total of scored boards to 16. If the board was played by half the team in Stanza 1 then that score will be scrapped and replaced by the score in the additional board in Stanza 2.
6. For matches on BBO if a board is lost in a single Stanza match through slow play then the captain will have to set up another team match to play the missing board. BBO will not allow team matches of fewer than 3 boards so set up a 3 board match and take the score from the first board only and add to the 13 scored in the previous stanza. To speed up completion of the match you can bid any contract on the remaining two boards and then claim any score. The results of the last two boards won't count. The same procedure should be used if a board is lost in Stanza 2 of a match played in two Stanzas; as in 6.4 above the board which is only played at one table will be scrapped and replaced by the additional board. Use of +slow+ (see 2 above) in the description will prevent these problems.
7. All players must provide to the captain setting up the match their BBO names (or other platform as appropriate) so the match can be set up in a timely fashion.
8. It is strongly advised that all players are on BBO (or other platform) at least 10 minutes before the match is due to start. Any match set up on BBO will fail if any of the players is not on the site and the captain will have to try to create the match again. To avoid this, players should ensure they are online in good time. All players must ensure that they are in Competitive and it is recommended that they also click on Team Matches and wait in the Team Match lobby.
9. All players must abide by the EBU Best Behaviour at Bridge guidelines. Anyone who thinks they have been affected by bad behaviour should report back to the League Secretary as soon as possible.
10. Players should under no circumstances be watching the match they are playing in on another device nor should anyone else in the same room be watching the match on another device. Players should also not communicate with their partner via phone, Zoom or other method about the play or bidding of the hand until the hand is over. This is serious cheating and will be treated as such by MCBA if discovered.
11. Team captains shold agree whether kibbitzers are allowed. In the case where one team allows kibitzers and the other not, then kibitzers are not allowed.
12. For matches on BBO players must self-alert in line with BBO regulations. See the video on this at bridgewebs.com/manchesterevents/. for an explanation of how to do this.
13. Level 4 conventions as defined in the EBU Blue Book are allowed in all divisions of the league. However, pairs playing methods or conventions that may be unfamiliar to opponents should note that the onus is on them to fully explain their methods to opponents. For methods that may be unknown to opponents, it is considered good practice for a pair to make available a convention card to the opposing team captain prior to any match. This can be done by email. For example, a pair playing Polish Club might wish to do this as their opponents may never have come across this system before. However, there is no requirement to do this.
Rulings
1. For matches on BBO note that although there is a Call TD option in the menu this will NOT bring a TD to the table in a team match.
2. If a ruling is required, please do not stop the match but continue until the end of the match having advised the other pair and their captain that you are reserving your rights. Then contact the League Secretary with all the details including the BBO login names of the four players at the table. He will then arrange for a ruling to be made.
3. If you wish to appeal the TD ruling, send the full details about the hand to the League Secretary using an Appeal Form which can be downloaded from the EBU site (https://www.ebu.co.uk/laws-and-ethics/forms). The form should make clear what details are agreed upon by both teams. The League Secretary will consult with suitable players and make a ruling with reference to EBU regulations.
4. Teams unhappy with the League Secretary’s ruling may appeal to the EBU about the ruling, but unless it is a matter of bridge regulation, they may decline to hear it.
Incorrect Direction of Seating

It will be obvious if you are sitting incorrectly, because you will find you are playing your teammates! If this happens cancel the match and set it up again, following the video at bridgewebs.com/manchesterevents/, to make sure you get the match setup correctly. To cancel the match click on your Director tab then click on the match and the bottom option on the green menu will be Cancel Tournament.
If a match is abandoned due to unforeseen circumstances with neither team at fault, then any remaining boards should be replayed at another date that week. If the match cannot completed by the end of the cycle, then the League Secretary will award a score as he sees fit.

Scoring and Reporting Results
1. Scoring will be by IMPs, converted to VPs on the EBU continuous VP scale for 14 boards matches as given in Appendix A.
2. Full details of the match including the name of the winning team and the net IMP difference should be noted and uploaded to the EBU website https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/v2/ within 24 hours of a match being played by either captain. To submit a League Result:

Click My EBU and enter your EBU No and Password
Click Utilities and EBU League
Click on the link for your team
Click on the specific match (little noepad and pencil icon) and enter the results and tick players accordingly

Substitutes
1. If fewer than four players are available for a pre-arranged match, then the following options are available:

Try and re-arrange the match
Register another player(s) on the team who is available for the match. See Section 4 number 5. Such a player(s) must not have played for any other team in any match in that season.
Apply to the League Secretary for a substitute(s) for the match.
1. The League Secretary is under no obligation to grant a substitute(s) and will only do so if convinced that the other options are not viable. Any substitute must not:

have played for a team in the same or a higher ranking division in that season
be materially stronger than the player(s) substituted for. This will be determined by examining the NGS grades of the players involved. If either or both players have their NGS grade hidden, then the substitute will automatically be deemed of higher rank and not be allowed.
1. There will be a compulsory 5 VP penalty per substitute per match in which a substitute is played, subject to a team scoring a minimum of 0 VPs. The VP score of the opposing team will not be affected by this. So, for example, if a team with a substitute wins 15-5, then the team with the substitute will score 10 VPs and the team without the substitute will score 5 VPs.
2. Playing a substitute without agreement of the League Secretary will result in the match being forfeited and the team scoring 0 VPs.
3. The League Secretary will inform the opposing captain that a substitute(s) is being played and who the substitute is, but it is good practice for the captain of the team with the substitute(s) to also inform the opposing team captain.

Defaults
1. All matches must be completed before the announced "End of Season" date, as stated in 2.5 above.
2. Any outstanding matches will be awarded a score as deemed fit by the League Secretary.
3. If the League Secretary deems that one team is at fault that team will score 0 VPs and the other team will score as in 9.4 below. If the League Secretary deemed that neither team was at fault, then the match will be scored as in 9.4 below. Teams may appeal this decision to the League Secretary who will form a Committee of MCBA Officers to hear the appeal, but the appeal would have to be heard within 1 week.
4. If a team is awarded a match as a result of a default by the opposing team or no fault on either side, then:

The defaulting team receives no VPs.
The other (or both teams in the case of no fault) team will be awarded 10 +(their VP average – opponent’s VP average) VPs

(subject to a minimum of 10VPs and a maximum 20VPs in the case of a default match and a minimum of 0VPs and a maximum of 20VPs in the case of a no fault match)

Artificial VP scores from other defaulted matches are not included in this calculation.

Withdrawals
1. On occasion a team withdraws from the Online League. In such a case:

If a team withdraws from the Online League having played fewer than half its matches in a Season (rounded up in the case of an odd number) in the season, all results against that team will be cancelled.
If the team has played at least half its matches in the Season (rounded up in the case of an odd number), results in the remaining matches are calculated using the default match formula above.
1. The League Secretary reserves the right to refuse entry in the following cycle(s) to some or all the members of a team who consistently default matches or consistently withdraw during the cycle(s). For this purpose, consistent will be withdrawing in two cycles or defaulting two or more matches in two consecutive cycles.

Masterpoints
1. Local points will be awarded in accordance with the EBU Masterpoint Handbook.
Appendix A: Scale of IMPs to VPs For MCBA Online League Matches

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