For competitions played during the normal Wednesday session, play is not restricted to those players taking part in the competition, although we do encourage as many players as possible to take part. The session will be run and scored as a normal duplicate competition and Master Points awarded in the usual way. Consequently any of the particpating pairs can win the session. However the winner of the competition will be the highest ranked pair that meet the entry requirments. Visitors are welcome to take part in these sessions but their results will not be included in the competition reckoning.

General Restrictions
Unless specifically mentioned below, players may use any EBU licensed bidding system and conventions deemed by the EBU Laws & Ethics Committee as within level 4. However if they play any systems or use conventions not within the "EBU Simple System" each player must have identically completed convention cards. Several EBU standard formats can be downloaded by clicking the "EBU Convention Cards" button on the left.

Each competition is listed below with a brief description of its format.

The Jack Prichard Salver (Mixed Pairs) is played at a single Wednesday duplicate session, usually in March or April. The winners of this competition are restricted to Mixed Pairs. It is usually played using a ¾ Howell movement, of 26 boards in 13 x 2 board rounds. General restrictions apply.

The Winter Pairs Competition is played over 7 Wednesday duplicate sessions, usually one per month from October to April. Each pair must play in at least 5 rounds, if they play more, the best 5 results will be used. A pair may use up to 3 substitutes and substitutes are not restricted to one pairing. However scores gained when playing with a substitute will be the first to be dropped if more than 5 results are recorded. Each round is usually played using a ¾ Howell movement, of 26 boards in 13 x 2 board rounds. The general restrictions apply.

The Winter Teams Tournament is played as a team-of-four competition at 7 Wednesday sessions, usually one per month from October to April. Each team must play in at least 5 rounds, if they play more, the best 5 results will be used. A team may use up to 3 substitute pairs, but scores gained when a substitute pair plays will be the first to be dropped if more than 5 results are recorded (lowest first). Each round is played using a complete movement, so that each team plays every other team. Typically each session will be over 24 or 28 boards depending on the number of teams.
The tournament will be handicapped. A rolling average of a team's IMP scores will be used to produce a handicap and the results for a session will be ranked based on the handicapped IMP scores. Each team will win one ranking point for every other team they beat. The tournament winner will be the team with the most ranking points (from their best 5 sessions).
We are trialling this handicapping method and will evaluate it at the end of the 26/27 season. It is based is based on the method used by the GCBA and has the advantage that it takes account of how a team is playing rather than using the team members’ NGS grades.

The Summer Handicap Tournament is played over 7 Wednesday duplicate sessions, usually one per month from May to September. Each pair must play in at least 5 rounds, if they play more, the best 5 results will be used. A pair may use up to 3 substitutes and substitutes are not restricted to one pairing. However scores gained when playing with a substitute will be the first to be dropped if more than 5 results are recorded. To determine the winner, the 5 scores are averaged and then a handicap percentage (+ or -) added to the score. The handicap is calculated by combining the players grades as recorded by the EBU at the start of the summer season. If a score gained from playing with a substitute is included, a revised handicap will be calculated for those rounds. Each round is usually played using a ¾ Howell movement, of 26 boards in 13 x 2 board rounds. The general restrictions apply.