Rules for Melville League matches

Matches are Teams of Four matches played Face to Face at the club. In the interests of flexibility, teams may have up to 8 players on their roster, with any 4 playing in a match. The matches consist of 24 boards played in two sets of 12. After 12 boards, pairs swap to play the other pair in the opposing team.

As far as possible, boards will be pre-dealt with identical hands being played in all matches on a given day. This does not preclude hands being dealt at the table if this is necessary.

The result is calculated using IMPs converted to Victory Points, using a scale of 0 to 20. The result of matches will be sent to the club to be incorporated into a league table.

The result shall also include details of who played in the team so that the master points can be allocated correctly at the completion of the iteration.

League Structure

At the beginning of each iteration, the organisers allocate the competing teams to Divisions, promoting and relegating as equitably as possible. Normal practice is to promote the first two teams in each Division, and to demote the last two. Additional teams or withdrawals from the League may result in changes to the norm.

Additional teams will normally be added to the lowest division. In exceptional cases where this would be inappropriate, the organisers reserve the right to allocate the new team to the most appropriate division.

If a team re-joins the league after withdrawing for an iteration, normal practice is to re-instate the team in its previous league.

There will normally be 2 iterations of the League in each bridge season; these are nominally September to December and January to April, but each may be extended if necessary in order to compete the matches.

Postponements/Cancellations

In the interests of avoiding postponements, teams may recruit a member of a team from a lower division or a club member of a similar standard (who is not already playing for another team!). In exceptional circumstances a substitute from a team in the same division may be allowed, with agreement from both captains.

If a match is postponed at the last minute and one team has caused avoidable inconvenience to the other, a fine of 2 Victory Points is applied.

It is hoped that all postponed matches are rearranged for a subsequent date.

In the event that a match cannot be re-arranged and promotion and relegation are unaffected, no Victory Points are awarded.

In the event that a match cannot be re-arranged and promotion and relegation may be affected

• If neither team was at fault originally, the score will be recorded as 10 – 10

If one team was originally at fault, the score is based on 12 – 8, but adjusted such that the non-offending team gets the higher of 12 or their VP average  after all their other matches are played. The offenders get the lower of 8 or their average score for all other matches.