Club Competitions & Their Rules

WEST NORFOLK & KING'S LYNN BRIDGE CLUB

CLUB COMPETITIONS & THEIR RULES

General conditions for Club Competitions

Club competitions may only be won by paid-up members;failure to pay subscriptions by dates set out in the Club Constitution will disqualify the member(s) from receiving any trophy.

Non-members may (subject to Club rules and requirements applying to non-members) play in any competition and receive Master Points,but will not receive any trophy or other prize from their participation in that competition.

Competitions will be organized and run by the Club Committee,which may appoint members (not necessarily Committee members) to carry out that activity;all competitions will be played in accordance with the Laws of Bridge and participants will be expected to conform to standards of behaviour as set out in the Club's Constitution.

Issues of interpretation of a competition's rules will be dealt with by the Tournament Director, whose ruling shall be accepted by the player(s) involved (unless the ruling does not comply with the Laws of Bridge);the Club Committee will discuss the matter and any appropriate rule modification(s) will be incorporated into the competition's rules for the subsequent Club year.

Members (subject to the provisions of the Club Constitution) may propose changes to any competition's rules at an Annual General Meeting;if agreed at the AGM,the change(s) will not be retrospective but will be implemented for that competition in the subsequent Club year.

Rules on the use of substitutes in Club Competitions

Substitutes may be Club members,or non-members playing as guests of members.

Substitutes in Knock-out events (Pairs and Teams)

a) after any competition's qualification session,should any pair or team be unable to compete on or by the dates specified in the current Club year calendar for any subsequent knock-out round, they will automatically concede the match to their opponents.

b) substitutes may be fielded by a team in Knock-out Teams events in any round after the qualification session,provided the substitutes have not played for any other team in that competition during the current Club year;contravention of this rule will result in automatic award of the match to the opposing team.

Substitutes in the Teams of Four League

a) every team must name their four "core" players [who must all be full members of the Club at that time] before or at the first playing session of each new League season;in the absence of any formal notification from a team,the four players used at the first League session will be recorded as "core" players

b) "core" players are not permitted to play for any other League team during that season;any team breaching this rule will lose every such match affected by the maximum Victory Point score available for that match

c) if a team needs to field one or more substitutes,that team may select any available "non-core" player(s) to fill the gap(s)

Competitions

Diaper Cup (Duplicate Pairs)

The trophy was donated by an early Club Captain (Mr.G.Diaper);the first winners were Mr.Fox & Mr.Bruce in 1963.The winners are the Club Pairs Champions for the subsequent Club year and qualify to play in the next session of the John Harrison/EDP Cup,which is the Norfolk CBA event for Club Pairs Champions.

Six Duplicate evenings are specified during the Club year and competing pairs must play in at least three of these;the best four session scores (percentages) are aggregated for each pair and the winners are the pair with the highest aggregate -- however,should a pair have a three-session aggregate which beats all other aggregates (even if from four sessions) that pair shall win the trophy.

Players may play in Diaper sessions with different partners,but each partnership's scores will be dealt with as in the preceeding paragraph.

Stanley Rowe Trophy (Individual Duplicate)

The trophy was donated by Mr.Rowe in 1963 and the first winner was Mrs.Haylock.

Awarded for a single duplicate session where each player plays with as many different partners as the session movement permits and accumulates Match Points as an individual; while non-members can participate in the session,only a member may win the trophy.

Lucey Trophy (Rubber or Chicago format;Pairs)

The trophy was originally presented as a Rubber Bridge prize and the first winner was Mr.J. Mason in 1968;it is now a Pairs trophy,normally played -- under Chicago Bridge rules and scoring -- on the evening of the Club AGM,after the meeting closes.The number of deals played is determined on the evening by the time left available for play after the AGM.

The winners are the pair with the best points aggregate during the session.

New Partner Trophy (Duplicate)

First won by Mrs.S.Warner in 1979,the competition originally comprised four designated "new partner" sessions plus two "draw for partner" sessions (the latter are no longer played).

The Club calendar contains four designated Duplicate sessions when members are expected to play with "new" partners -- defined as a member they have not (during the current Club year) previously partnered (excluding any sessions where either player was designated as the Standby/Host for a Duplicate session).

The trophy is awarded to the member with the highest three-session aggregate of percentage scores from the four possible sessions.

John Davies Trophy (Individual award)

The trophy was donated by a former Club Captain;the first winner was Mr.A.Warner in 1970.

It is awarded to the member gaining the most EBU Master Points from internal Club sessions (of all types) during the period 1st.July to the following 30th.June (external events e.g. EBU/ BGB Simultaneous Pairs do not count towards this award).

In the event of a tie,Master Points scored for the Stanley Rowe and New Partner trophies will count double.If still tied,the trophy shall be awarded to each member concerned to hold for an equal period during the subsequent Club year.

Peter Clarke Trophy (Individual award)

Donated by Mr.P.Clarke in 2007:the first winner was Mr.M.Whiting for season 2007-08.It is awarded to the runner-up in the John Davies Trophy for the Club's Master Points rankings.

Whitemore Trophy (Knock-out Duplicate Pairs)

Initiated by Mr.L.Whitemore;first won by Squadron Leader (Ret'd) M. and Mrs.B.Harnden.

A qualifying Duplicate session is held at which partnerships must declare if they wish to compete in the knockout stages;the highest-scoring 8 pairs (or 4,if less than 12 declare interest) go forward to the knockout rounds (held on designated evenings in the Club calendar).

For KO round 1,the qualifiers are paired by drawing of lots;each set of opposing pairs starts the session by playing the first table against their KO opponents.The pair in each set scoring a higher percentage than their opponents in that session goes through to the next KO round (if there is a tie,it is broken by using the Match Point scores from the boards the two pairs played against each other;if still tied,the winner is decided by drawing of lots).

In each subsequent KO round,the same procedure operates until one winning pair emerges.

In each KO round,failure to play by any qualified pair (or the use of a substitute player by any qualified pair) automatically results in their opposing pair going through to the next round.

Jubilee Plate (Knock-out Duplicate Pairs)

This trophy was inaugurated in 1997 and first won by Mr.R. and Mrs.G.Warner.

This is a Pairs Knock-out event;pairing and winner-decision method(s) are exactly the same as for the Whitemore Trophy.

Entry is open to all pairs not involved in the first KO round of the Whitemore Trophy (thus pairs not able to play in the Whitemore Qualifier can compete for the Jubilee Plate).

The Jubilee Qualifying session is played on the same evening as Whitemore KO Round 1;and subsequent KO rounds are played on designated dates in the Club calendar.The top 4 pairs from the Qualifying session qualify for the Pairs KO stages.

Handicap Shield (Duplicate Pairs)

Trophy donated by Mr. & Mrs. J.Aspinall in 1991;first won by Mr.G.Pizzey and Mr.B.Tuttle.

It is awarded to the pair winning the Duplicate session designated in the Club calendar;a session's results are scored normally then each pair's score is amended by their handicap, calculated as follows:

a) each player's Duplicate percentage scores are recorded over at least the preceeding 5 months and their average score (% per Duplicate session) calculated

b) averages are referenced to 50% to derive the player's handicap -- 55% gives a handicap of -5% and 45% gives a handicap of +5% (and so on)

c) for the Shield session,the handicaps of each competing pair are added together,divided by 2 and the resulting net handicap for the pair applied to their session score to derive the handicapped scores and final rankings.

Example:

Player A has a 5-month average of 53.2% and plays with B who has an average of 56.8%.

Player A has a handicap of -3.2% and B one of -6.8%;the pair's net handicap is thus

-3.2 added to -6.8 = - 10.0,divided by 2 = -5.0%.

On the night,the pair scores 55.23% -- after handicapping,their score becomes 50.23%.

Jack Cox Trophy (Pivot Teams of Four)

Presented in 1998 in memory of past Captain and Chief Scorer Mr.J.Cox;the first winners were Mr. & Mrs. A.Warner playing with Mr. & Mrs. J.Aspinall and Mrs.J.Scotting and Mr.M.Lewis. The event was originally a two-session competition and (at that time) Club Teams of Four events permitted teams which were composed of four,five or six players,hence the apparent anomaly

The event is now a single-session Teams of Four,the winners being the team with the highest positive IMPs score in the session,which is played as a normal all-play-all Multiple Teams,with one difference -- each member of a team must play (as closely as can be achieved) one-third of the session's boards with a different team-mate;the Tournament Director determines the two "partner changeover points" for the session at the session's start,dependent on number of teams playing and hence number of boards to be played.

Maja Trophy (Knockout Teams of Four)

The KO Teams event was initiated in 1969 and the first recorded winners were Mrs.Haylock's team in 1970;the Maja Trophy was donated in 1982 by Mr.& Mrs. J Cox and first won by Mr.& Mrs. A. Warner with Mr. & Mrs.B.Balkwill.

A Qualifying session (played and scored as a Multiple Teams of Four event;teams ranked on IMPs scored) is held on a pre-designated Club date and the top 8 (if entries 9 or more) or 4 (if entries are between 5 and 8) teams go through to the knockout stages,teams being paired by lot for the first KO round and the draw being listed so that the winners of match 1 vs 2 next play the winners of match 3 vs 4 (and so on).

Dates and locations for the KO matches are arranged by the respective team captains;they may be played at the Club or at any other agreed venue.

The Club calendar specifies date deadlines by which each KO stage must be completed; teams not complying with these deadlines will be eliminated from the competition.

Each KO round is played as a head-to-head Teams of Four match over 28 boards,with a compulsory change of opponents after 14 boards.Scoring is by net IMPs;if scores be tied after 28 boards,further sets of 4 boards are played (changing opponents after 2 boards) until a winner emerges.

Clover Brown Trophy (Teams of Four League)

The trophy was presented to the Club by Mr.L.Pizzey on behalf of Messrs.Clover Brown;first recorded winners were Mr. & Mrs. A.Warner, Mrs.M.Barrett and Mrs.Savage in 1979.

In past years,the event ran as a multi-division League,run over two cycles of five sessions in each Club year,with promotion and relegation (one/two teams,dependent on numbers) after each cycle;the trophy was held for the next playing cycle by the winners of the top division in the previous cycle.However,as playing numbers have diminished,the format has condensed to the present single-division format which can accommodate up to 11 teams.

If 12 or more teams compete,a two-division structure (with annual promotion and relegation of two teams per division) will be used;conditions set out below would apply to that structure, using Boards per match as in the table below.

a) Teams play all-play-all Multiple Teams in 11 sessions during the Club year,split into two stanzas (September to February,then March to July),played once each month (with the exception of August) on the second Monday of the month;numbers of boards played each League evening vary by number of teams present as follows:

Teams Boards per match Boards per evening

11 3 30

10 3 27

9 3 24

8 4 28

7 5 30

6 6 30

5 7 28

4 10 30

b) Each match is scored by net IMPs which are then converted to Victory Points using EBU VP scales current for the season;at present,these scales apply:

VP score Matches of: 3 or 4 boards 5 or 6 boards 7 or more boards

(IMPs diff) (IMPs diff) (IMPs diff)

10-10 0 0 0

11-9 1 1-2 1-2

12-8 2 3-4 3-4

13-7 3-4 5-6 5-6

14-6 5-6 7-8 7-9

15-5 7-8 9-10 10-12

16-4 9-10 11-12 13-15

17-3 11-13 13-15 16-18

18-2 14-16 16-19 19-23

19-1 17-20 20-24 24-29

20-0 21+ 25+ 30+

c) If one or more teams is (for whatever reason) absent for a scheduled League session, scoring for that session is that absent teams draw 10-10 VPs against each other absent team and lose by 20-0 VPs against all teams which actually play in that session.