War Of Wizards – Conditions of Contest

Players’ Information

The tournament will be held online at BBO. The tournament will be held as multiple team matches. However, the score of teammatch will not be relevant. For the duration of the event, all users must write their full name and phone no in their BBO profile.

Schedule

Schedule is available Here

Draw

We will be playing a complete round robin. The pair no will be drawn at random.

The draw is available Here

Seating

The seating will be preallocated. A player will sit either North and East, or South and West through out the tournament.

Joining a match

All players must be logged in atleast 5 minutes prior to start of the match, in the visible mode, and in the competitive area of BBO (Do not click Casual). A team invitation will be sent to you which you must accept. You must verify that you have the right opponents according to the draw, and they are seated in the right direction. In case of any issues, please click “Call Director” button.

Scoring

We shall be using the scoring interface provided by aceofclubs.in courtesy Vinay Jha. All player will be provided with a login ID for this interface. North at every table will be responsible for entering the scores using a browser window. North and East must login to this interface at the start of every match. As the scores are entered by North, they will be visible to other logged in players at the same table. In case a score is entered incorrectly, you must bring it to director’s notice immediately. Please use “Call Director” button. We’ll do a walkthrough of the site before start of tourney.

The method of scoring will be IMPs converted to VPs as per WBF 6 Board 20 VP scale.

Kibitzers

During the play, Kibitzing will be switched off. One or more tables will be streamed live via an access controlled web conference.  Kibitzers must request access to web meeting. Depending on the availability, we shall have audio commentary for these sessions. Process for requesting access will be shared shortly.

Undo  

Undos are strictly at director’s discretion. Undos are available only for misclicks and not for change of mind. No undo should be granted without director’s permission. TD will evaluate and may allow undo if he is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt. All players are strongly advised to enable confirm bid/confirm play option in BBO to avoid these situations.

Systems and conventions

Online events, by nature, do not allow for long periods of time to study and prepare against opponent methods. Hence only Green(Standard based) and Blue (strong club/diamond/precision based) systems are permitted. The following is prohibited in accordance with WBF system policies:

1. Use of Brown Sticker conventions and HUM methods
2. Random openings which, by agreement can have less than 8 HCP and no further description.

Further, we shall be following BFI system policy.

Alerts

Please note that all bids need to be self alerted and explained. Please explain the bid using the text area in the bidding box. Not doing this forces opponents to pause and wait for explanation, causing unnecessary UI scenarios.

For any queries related to a bid, including follow up questions, ask the player who made the bid, not their partner. Absolutely do not ask the same question to both players. This is akin to trying to get an advantage by inciting the scope for different explanations. If for any reason you think that explanation is incomplete, call the director.

Please understand that you are entitled to the opponents’ agreement, not their hand. So, if you are told no agreement, and you have a reason to believe that agreement may exist, call the director. Do not ask questions like “what did you mean by the bid”. You may ask if there are any meta rules that may apply in case of no specific agreement.

Psyches

Conventional Psyches are disallowed. Psyches are allowed subject to the proviso that an individual does not psych repeatedly and regularly. The opposing team is requested to bring all psyches to the TDs notice to prevent misuse of this facility.

Pre-empts and Light Openings

All pre-empts are expected to be announced along with a defined range. The range needs to be reasonably defined (0-11 HCP is not a range). Light openings with less than 8 HCPs, if part of system understanding, are expected to be alerted in advance

Convention cards

Convention cards are mandatory. All players must submit a copy of their convention card in WBF format. At this point the detailed system notes are not mandatory. Please provide a single file, even if it includes detailed notes. The CC repository is available Here

Players are advised to open the opponents CC at the start of the match and keep it open for the duration.

Late Start to Matches

If any team delays start beyond 5 minutes, a late start penalty shall be imposed. A penalty of 3 IMP for every 5 minute delay shall be imposed. Beyond 15 minutes, the Non Offending Side shall be awarded a Walk Over with a score of 12-0 VPs.

Correction Time

All players will be given a reasonable correction time, usually up to 15 minutes after the end of a session or the publication of a scores (whichever is later) to request corrections to any result. Changing results beyond that time is at the discretion of the organizers.

Withdrawals

Withdrawals are not permitted at any stage in this event. Teams withdrawing will not be invited for any further bridgeduniya events. Without appeal.

Ethical Behavior

We expect all participants to adhere to the highest standards of ethical behavior during the play of this tournament. Please maintain a courteous attitude towards your partner, teammates, directors, game hosts etc. Repeated misbehavior will lead to ban from any further bridgeduniya events.

Sharing Information post facto

No one may use deals played in our events to accuse anyone else of impropriety in public fora. If one wants to report or question an action, use a hand diagram or ensure all identifiers removed from BBO screenshot, like user IDs, Match number and other Results etc, before posting publicly. Players may report suspect actions to the TDs of the tournament. We take these reports very seriously. Any public accusations of unethical practice or impropriety will invite immediate financial sanction and may result in forfeiture of entry and prizes. Any kibitzer sharing such information will not receive further invitation to kibitz any upcoming bridgeduniya events. These sanctions are without appeal.

Review

Review against TD ruling can be requested to reviewer who will look into details of the ruling and procedure being followed. His decision will be final and binding.

Web Meeting

It is mandatory for every player to join a web meeting. No communication is expected on this channel. This is purely a security measure. You will be on a video meeting with your screen mate. (North and East, or South and west). Directors or table hosts can join these meetings at will and observe you. Please note that phone usage, or use of any other channel of communication is strictly prohibited. Random checks will be instituted where you may be asked to show your surroundings. Please avoid having any other device in the vicinity that’s not required for participation. We understand that disconnects are a reality of life, and due allowance will be made for those. But, please do note that we have the ability to distinguish between an involuntary network disconnection and a voluntary exit or disconnect.

Secondary and helpful devices

Please note that phone usage, messaging or whatsapp usage, any other chat or communication application or device usage, including but not limited to landline phones, text message, snapchat, telegram, skype, webmeeting other than authorized meeting is strictly prohibited.

Usage of helpful devices like printed notes, double dummy solver etc is also strictly prohibited. During the play please make sure that your computer doesn’t have any applications open other than BBO, the scoring interface(http://aceofclubs.in), and authorized web meeting. You may be asked to share your screen and/or show your surroundings during random search.

Further, all players are expected to have the last seen setting on for their whatsapp account. And this last seen time must be prior to the match. This maybe randomly looked up by directors. Any violation of these conditions will attract automatic penalty, a minimum of 3 IMPs, can be substantially higher based on director’s evaluation. There’s no appeal against this penalty.

If you absolutely have to take a call or message, please seek director’s permission and do so only during his presence in the web meeting. Absolutely do not leave or step away from web meetings during this period.

 

Breaks

Players are strongly advised not to take a break during the play of a session. A session is typically expected to last only 45 minutes. Most of us should be able to manage without a smoke or bio-break.

Miscellaneous

Anything not covered here is at the discretion of the director/organizers. They may opt to consult with one or more senior bridge players / organizers, but their decision will be final and binding in all respects