|
This document is provided
courtesy of the
American Contract Bridge League
2990 Airways Blvd.
S
Memphis TN 38116–3847
901–332–5586
S
Fax 901–398–7754
NOTE: to view the latest revision of the
handbook,
download the latest version of
ACBLScore
Rev.(12/03) CCSWS.033 (PAGE 1)
__________________
SWISS TEAMS - GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTEST
These Conditions of Contest may not be changed
at any level of play
during the course of this event.
Lack of knowledge does not constitute cause for
exemption.
These conditions apply to all Swiss team
events. At the North
American Bridge Championships additional
conditions, specific to a
particular event, will be appended as
necessary. The specific
conditions supersede the general.
Sponsoring organizations may, with ACBL
approval only, amend these
conditions for a specific event.
Whenever these, or other related conditions,
refer to a match, this
"match" conforms to the definition of "session"
in the Laws of
Duplicate Contract Bridge. Whenever these or
other related conditions
refer to a session, this "session" refers to a
group of matches played
in prompt succession. Similarly, references to
the Director are to
the DIC of the Tournament except that he/she
may delegate authority,
partially or entirely, to one or more of the
other Directors.
ENTRY AND PARTICIPATION
1. Each team may consist of four, five or six
players. After the
start of the first match no player may be
added or replaced
without the permission of the DIC.
2. Each team's entry must list all the members
of that team and must
indicate which player is the team captain.
(A non-playing captain
is not permitted.) The team captain will be
responsible for all
official representations to the Director or
committees.
3. A player must play at least fifty percent of
the matches in the
event in order to be eligible for overall
masterpoint awards or
other privileges due his/her team. As
exceptions, a player will be
deemed to have played fifty percent and be
eligible for overall
awards or other privileges in the following
two cases:
a. Playing the last 50% of the matches
rounded down in a 7 match
Swiss. (For example, a player must play a
minimum of any four
matches or the last three matches in
order to receive overall
awards.)
b. Playing the three-match session of a
two-session Swiss
consisting of 8 matches, if the
three-match session is the
final session.
4 a. Two-Session Events
Provided that he/she has met all the
eligibility requirements of
the conditions of contest, each player on
a five or six player
team shall receive a percentage of the
overall award (per
player) earned by the team directly
proportional to the number
of matches in which he/she played, or the
sum of the match
awards earned by playing in matches won
by the team, whichever
is greater.
CCSWS.033 (PAGE 2)
__________________
b. Events of More than Two Sessions:
Provided that he/she has met all the
eligibility requirements of
the conditions of contest, each player on a
five or six player
team shall receive the full amount (100%)
of the overall
masterpoint award (per player) earned by
the team, or the sum of
the match awards earned by playing in
matches won by the team,
whichever is greater.
5. A team may withdraw from the event at the
conclusion of a session,
but only after having complied with the
requirements for
withdrawal. A Director may permit a team to
withdraw at another
time if in his/her judgment the withdrawal
does not adversely
affect the contest. No money will be
refunded to a withdrawing
team, and entry into another event, if
permitted, will be upon
payment of the applicable entry fee.
6. An ineligible player is disqualified. The
ineligible player's
team will be disqualified unless the
Director-in-Charge determines
that teammates were unknowledgeable about
the deficiency of the
disqualified member. Any team reduced to
fewer than three original
members due to disqualification of
ineligible players is
disqualified.
When a team is disqualified after the
correction period for the
event has ended because the deficiency was
discovered then, the
disqualified team's position remains
vacant. If the deficiency is
discovered prior to a match starting, the
result of the preceding
match is changed; or, if discovered during
a match, that match may
be forfeit. The result of no other match is
altered.
SCORING
1. Each board of each match shall be scored by
International Match
Points (IMPs).
2. The IMP result of each match shall be
converted to either win-loss
or victory points as required. See Appendix
J for win-loss and
victory point scales.
3. The captain of the winning team (both
captains in case of a tie)
must report the result of the match in IMPs
as soon as it is
known, by bringing both his/her reporting
form and the one filled
out by the opposing captain to the reporting
station.
4. The sum of the results accumulated by a team
through the scoring
method in use will determine overall
ranking. Ties will not be
broken for the purpose of awarding
masterpoints. The sponsoring
organization may break ties for the purpose
of awarding prizes. At
victory point scoring, any fraction of a
victory point shall be
the margin of separation necessary for both
qualification and
ranking. At win-loss scoring, any
difference shall be a margin of
separation for both qualification and
ranking.
CCSWS.033 (PAGE 3)
__________________
PAIRING
1. For the first match of the event, entries
will be sold by random
draw (The sponsoring organization may elect
to seed the first
match.*). If teams remain without opponents
at game time these
teams will be matched as follows: the team
with the highest team
number will be reassigned to play the team
with the lowest team
number and so on as necessary. When only one
such team remains,
that team will play in a three-way match
including the two teams
with the nearest team numbers. * This
includes, for the first
match, pairing A strat vs A strat, etc. as
possible.
2. For each subsequent match, pairings will be
assigned (within
groups of teams) such that: a) no two
teams shall meet twice in
the event, and, b) 1. each team shall meet a
team whose current
record is as close to its own as possible,
or 2. for an event with
an even number of entries ONLY (i.e., no
three-way matches):
randomly pair teams for their second round
match. For the
remainder of the first session or one-half
the total number
matches (rounded down)each team shall meet a
team whose record
after the previous match is as close to its
own as possible.
Current record must be used for the final
session or for the last
one-half of the total number of matches
(rounded up).
3. If only one team is leading, random draw
shall determine which of
its equally eligible opponents it meets.
With teams tied for the
lead, pairings shall be such that as many of
the tied teams play
each other as possible. This procedure
shall be repeated for all
teams still eligible to finish in the
overall ranking.
PLAY
1. The ACBL General Convention Chart applies
unless the Sponsoring
Organization has, by request at the time of
sanction application,
and by on-site posting chosen to permit the
use of additional
methods. In such cases, the pre-alert
requirements and other
conditions, as noted on the ACBL MidChart or
SuperChart, also
apply. See the specific NABC General
Conditions of Contest for
Swiss Team Events held at North American
Bridge Championships for
information concerning permitted charts
other than the General
Convention Chart.
2. Partnerships may be changed between matches.
Once play of any
match has begun partnerships may only be
changed upon instruction
of the Director.
3. A substitute will be permitted only with the
permission of the
Director. No substitute will be permitted
when four team members
are available to play.
4. The captain of a five or six player team
must write the name(s) of
the player(s) sitting out that match on the
front of the reporting
form provided.
CCSWS.033 (PAGE 4)
__________________
5. A kibitzing team member must sit at least
two tables away from
each table of his/her team's match and may
not kibitz at any table
playing duplicated boards also being played
by his/her team.
6. There are no seating rights. If a
disagreement cannot be resolved
by the captains involved, there shall be a
coin-flip. The team
losing the coin flip will seat its pairs
first. The team winning
the coin flip will then seat its pairs.
7. The time allotted is seven and one-half
minutes per board. Players
will be informed if a Sponsoring
Organization varies this time
limit.
8. A board which was not scheduled for play in
a particular match
will not be counted towards the result of
that match even if
played at both tables. The determination of
which boards were
scheduled for play in any match rests with
the Director.
9. When a table fails to complete play within
the allotted time, the
Director will issue a warning to the
responsible player(s). A
second late finish will result in a penalty
of 10% of the maximum
score possible in a match (at the form of
scoring in use) being
deducted from the team's cumulative record
for the event. The
amount deducted for third and subsequent
late finishes will be
double the previous penalty (20%, 40%,
etc.). More than two late
finishes in the event and any excessively
late finish may be
subject to disciplinary penalty (in addition
to the procedural
penalties outlined above) and may be
referred to a committee for
possible further action.
10. When any table fails to complete play of all
the boards of a
match, either on their own or with Director
intervention, only
those boards played at both tables will
count towards the result
of that match. If the Director determines
one side to be at
fault, he/she may act to protect the
non-offending side. Such
action is usually, but is not restricted to,
the awarding of three
IMPs per board (not played) to the
non-offending side.
11. It is the duty of each team captain to
ensure that one of his
pairs is playing N-S and the other E-W,
regardless of table
assignment method in use. If teams fail to
achieve a match result
because of incorrect placement of players,
each such team will
receive zero, whichever scoring method is in
use. For pairing
purposes, these teams have not yet played
each other.
12. If the result of a last match of the event
is not received, both
teams will be credited with zero, whichever
scoring method is in
use.
13. Teams are obligated to play to win each
match. Players who do not
shall be disqualified from the event and
subject to further
disciplinary action.
CCSWS.033 (PAGE 5)
__________________
14. A partnership is responsible for knowing
when their methods apply
in probable (to be expected) auctions. A
pair may be entitled to
redress if their opponents did not
originally have a clear
understanding of when and how to use a
convention that was
employed.
TARDINESS
1. A team which fails to seat four players
within ten minutes of the
start of a match will be penalized 10% of
the maximum score
possible in a match at the form of scoring
in use. In addition,
one board shall be removed from play eight
minutes after the start
of the match and another board removed seven
minutes thereafter.
Three IMPs will be awarded the non-offending
team for each board
so removed. The record of a team whose
opponents incur a penalty
will not be affected (improved).
2. If four players are not seated when
one-third of the time allotted
for the match has expired, that team shall
forfeit the match. At
any method of scoring, the teams are
assigned a result as though
the non-offending team had won by 3 IMPs and
the loser is assigned
0. At victory point scoring, the total of
the non-offending team
is adjusted at the conclusion of the event
(or of a two session
qualifying stage) such that it receives the
highest of: a) the
temporary assignment; b) the average per
match of the victory
points they accumulated in the matches
actually played in that
period; or, c) the average per match of the
victory points scored
against the offending team in the matches
actually played in that
period (fractions of VPs are rounded to the
nearest tenth).
3. The Director may, at any time, seat a
substitute until a missing
player arrives. The Director may later
apply or waive the
provisions of paragraph 1. or 2. if
compelling reasons exist.
CORRECTION AND APPEAL PERIODS
PLAYER ERRORS:
No increase in score will be granted unless the
Director's attention
is called to the error prior to the announced
starting time of the
next match or thirty minutes after the
completion of the match
whichever is earlier.
SCORER ERRORS:
Decrease in score due to players' errors and
mis-reporting the agreed
result of a match:
Expires one hour prior to the announced
starting time for play on the
next day of the same event, twenty-four hours
after completion of the
event, or thirty minutes after completion of
the last event of the
tournament, whichever is earlier.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the
TD may decline to amend the overall rankings if
the team could have
known at the time that one or more pairings
were made based on an
incorrect cumulative total. In any case, all
matches played prior to
correction of an error stand as played.
CCSWS.033 (PAGE 6)
__________________
The appeal period for or of a director's ruling
expires thirty minutes
after the completion of the match or at the
start of play in the next
match, whichever is earlier. When an appeal
will not be heard prior
to the playing of one or more matches, each of
the teams will be
credited, for pairing purposes, with a score
reflecting a favorable
ruling.
A match ends for a pair when all boards
scheduled for play are
completed and they leave the table or meet with
their teammates.
QUALIFICATION
1. In a two session Swiss team event there is
generally a "cut" after
half the matches have been played. At
win-loss scoring, teams
with a record of fifty percent or better,
and at victory point
scoring, a certain percentage of the field,
continue play in the
finals with records intact. The remaining
teams form the
consolation, all starting with zero
carry-over.
2. A sponsoring organization may elect to hold
a play-through event.
An event advertized as qualifying may be
played as play-through
3. A team which does not "qualify" to play in
the finals may elect to
play in the finals anyhow. The sponsoring
organization may elect
to permit "qualifying" teams to choose to
play in the consolation
or may allow teams to determine for
themselves whether to
"qualify" or not regardless of their record
at decision time.
4. When one or both of the finals and the
consolation consist of an
odd number of teams, the Director may:
a) Add a new team to either or both
fields;
b) Set up a three-team round-robin in
either or both fields;
c) Allow a qualifying team to play in the
consolation; or,
d) Move a team from the consolation to the
finals, adjusting its
record to equal that of the team with
the lowest record
required to play in the finals.
5. Players on two or more consolation teams
may, with the permission
of the Director, rearrange themselves into
one or more different
teams.
6. If two teams are leading the consolation
with one match to play,
they must play each other unless they have
played previously in
the consolation, (i.e., they may have met in
the qualifying
matches) because insufficient entries exist
to justify a cut.
SMOKING
1. Sponsoring organizations may determine the
conditions governing
smoking in the playing area or during play.
2. At North American Bridge Championships no
smoking is permitted in
the playing area(s).
|
