OFFICIALS

Chief Tournament Director : Henri DEFRANCHI
IT Coordinator : Frédéric LACROIX
Webmaster : Sébastien SKWERES
Local Organisation : Sébastien SKWERES

Introduction

This tournament will be conducted under the auspices of the Fédération Française de Bridge. The events will be played in accordance with the WBF International Code – Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge 2017 (‘The Laws’) and these Conditions of Contest, whose special provisions for this contest supplement The Laws as required.

Team members

In addition to a non-playing captain, each team may have four, five or six members.

Submission of entries

The names of the captain and players on each team should be sent to the Fédération Française de Bridge (FFB) before the 10th December 2022.
Every proposed player must:
a) have been born in or be a bona fide resident of the NCBO he or she is representing.
b) have been born on or after 1st January 1997 for the Junior Channel and Junior Channel Girls Trophies; have been born on or after 1st January 2001 for the Youngster Trophy.

Format

A double round-robin will be played within each category (Junior Channel, Junior Channel Girl’s and Youngsters); six matches in total. Matches are of 18-boards, played in two halves of 9-boards, with a compulsory change of opponents at half-time.

Screens, bidding boxes and alerts

Screens will be in use throughout. Standard WBF regulations will apply regarding screens, bidding boxes and alerts; full details are available on request.

Conversion Scale

The difference in IMPs earned by two opposing teams at the end of each 18-board match shall be converted into Victory Points according to the new official WBF Victory Point Scale...

Official language

English is the official language of the tournament. During a match, the players may converse only in English unless both captains agree to use some other language at their own risk. If necessary, each captain is responsible for the provision of an interpreter for translation into English. No appeals due to misunderstandings in a language other than English will be entertained.

Systems & conventions

Players are required to make adequate initial written disclosure of their system and to make a full disclosure of the meaning of any call or play in response to a proper question at the table from an opponent. HUMs and Brown Sticker Conventions, as defined by the World Bridge Federation, may not be used. Full details of the WBF System Policy are available on request.
All material must be in English. Conventions should be explained, rather than merely named. If a player makes use of any conventional call or play not sufficiently outlined on the Convention Card or supplementary sheets, that player’s team will be liable to procedural penalty (Law 90) for the infraction as well as score adjustment to redress damage. The onus of disclosure and explanation is on the user; when there is a claim of damage through inadequate disclosure, any benefit will be given to the non-offending side.

Line-ups

Team line-ups must be given five minutes before the start of each session to the Tournament Director.

Home team / Away team designations

‘Home team’ and ‘Away team’ designations shall be in accordance with the schedule contained within.

Seating of players

  a) Teams play according to the schedules given within. The home team sits throughout the 18-board match in the N/S direction in the Open Room and in the E/W direction in the Closed Room.
  b) A change of players or partnerships can be made only at the beginning of each 9-board session.
  c) If one or more players are unavoidably detained, and a team is unable to field four players as a consequence, the captain may propose a substitute(s) subject to the approval of the Chief Tournament Director.
  d) The home team has the right to designate its line-up for the first 8 boards of each 18-board match after the away team has submitted its line-up to the Tournament Director. For the second 9 boards of a 18-board match, any pairs of the home team who are retained shall remain in the room in which they played the first 9 boards. For the second 9 boards of a 18-board match the away team has the right to designate its line-up after the home team has submitted its line-up to the Tournament Director. Any away team pairs retained for the second 9 boards may not sit in such a way as to play against the same pair twice during the course of a 18-board match. (For example, when two teams of four oppose each other, the away team pairs must change rooms and directions for the second half of the match.)
  e) A change of partnership creates a new pair.

Forfeits

If a team is unable to play or complete a match, the Chief Tournament Director may find that team to be in default and declare the match forfeited.
The team in forfeit shall score zero Victory Points and zero IMPs (both plus and minus) for that match.
The team winning the forfeited match shall receive the better of 12 Victory Points, or the average number of Victory Points won by the team in all of its other matches (including any fraction involved), or the converse of the average number of Victory Points won by the defaulting team in all of its other matches (including any fraction involved). [If it becomes necessary, for the tie-breaking to assign an IMP score, the winning team receives the average number of IMPs earning the assigned Victory Points score, including any fraction involved – or zero IMPs, both plus and minus, for the purposes of IMP quotient should this be required.]

Late arrival

Penalties may be waived at the discretion of the Chief Tournament Director for late arrival prior to the start of the tournament, where such lateness arises from genuine travel difficulties. Arrangements may be made to play part of the affected match at a later time during the weekend.
Other than this, late arrival for the start of any session shall be as follows:
5+ to 10 minutes late: ½ VP
10+ to 15 minutes late: 1 VP
15+ minutes late: 2 VPs.
Additionally one board will be removed from the match and scored as + and – 3 IMPs for each subsequent 5-minute delay or part thereof beyond 20 minutes. [See also ‘Forfeits’ in the case of excessive late arrival.]

Slow play

The time allowed for an 9-board session is one hour and fifteen minutes. Minor instances of slow play will not attract a penalty, save in the case of repeated instances by the same player or pair. For example, if a table has virtually completed the play of the final board and is making a genuine attempt to catch up on lost time, there will normally be no penalty.
Other than this, there will be an automatic penalty on the table in question, as follows:
0+ to 5 minutes late: 1 VP
5+ to 10 minutes late: 2 VPs
10+ to 15 minutes late: 4 VPs
15+ minutes late: A larger penalty at the discretion of the Chief Tournament Director (which could include the removal of unplayed boards, with either an artificial or an assigned adjusted score being awarded as the Tournament Director sees fit).
The Tournament Director will apportion the blame for slow play between the two pairs involved, and will apportion the appropriate VP penalty accordingly between the pairs concerned in multiples of ½ VP.
Example: a table is 12 minutes late. A 4 VP penalty will be assessed on the table; this could be distributed 2-2, 2½-1½, 3-1, 3½-½, or 4-0, between the two pairs concerned.

Verification of scores

Team captains should agree upon a final result at the conclusion of each match. The Tournament Director will post an official result on the scoreboard. There shall be a onehour period, beginning at the scheduled ending time of the match, during which the results of the match may be questioned by either Captain or the Captain’s designee. Thereafter the results will be final, with the following exceptions:
  a) awaiting the decision of the Tournament Appeals Committee on a filed appeal;
  b) completion of play of replay boards where such replay has been directed by the Tournament Appeals Committee;
  c) correction of a manifestly incorrect score at the discretion of the Chief Tournament Director.

Smoking, alcohol and mobile phones

All the above are prohibited in the playing rooms. A player will be warned for the first offence; any further offences will be subject to a penalty of 1 VP. Smoking is prohibited throughout Bridge Club de Lille

Appeals

Any request for a ruling or appeal of a ruling already given must be lodged within half an hour of the conclusion of the 9-board session in which the matter arose (if a ruling already asked for is not given until during a later session, then the time limit for an appeal of such a ruling shall be half an hour after the conclusion of the session in which the ruling was given).
The Chief Tournament Director shall arrange for an appeal to be heard in one of the following ways:
- By resolution of the matter between the two team captains involved;
- By forming an on-site Appeals Committee (which may be a committee of one person only) from amongst the officials and/or players present;
- By telephone, to a member of the FFB’s panel of referees.

Spectators and non-playing captains

The closed room of a match shall be closed to spectators. However, the non-playing captain may observe his team during play in the closed room, subject to the rules set forth in this section. Sitting-out players may watch play in the open room, but may not watch a table involving their own team-mates (they may, however, watch their own country in another series to their own).
The non-playing captain must enter the closed room before play begins at the start of a session. A captain who leaves the room, except as provided in this section, cannot return during that session. Exceptionally, if the captain is requested to leave the playing room (for the purpose of consultation or for whatever reason) by a Tournament Director, he may (but need not) be permitted to return to that playing room at the discretion of the Tournament Director. Once any player at the table has withdrawn a hand from the board, and until all four players have returned their hands to the board, a non-playing captain is bound by the normal restriction on spectators (see Law 76 – spectators), except that he may intervene to restrain misbehaviour or curtail unnecessary discussion on the part of his team members, and may speak regarding a question of fact or law after the Tournament Director has been called to the table (but he may not initiate a call for the Tournament Director).
During the time allowed for a session, whether play is actually taking place at that moment or not, a non-playing captain should avoid addressing members of his team at the table in any but the English language or in a language understood by the opponents. If it is desired to use a language other than English, the permission of the opponents should be sought first and, where reasonably possible, should be given. If difficulty arises, a non-playing captain wishing to speak in a language not known to the opponents should do so through an interpreter or team member who can translate for the benefit of the opponents.

Tie-breaking procedures (for first place only)

If two teams acquire the same amount of VPs, then the pair of matches against each other will determine the ranking (if necessary, then the IMP balance in the pair of matches will be conclusive). Failing that, then IMP balances over all matches played will decide.
If three or more teams acquire the same amount of VPs then any team which has defeated all the other teams in terms of VPs over the pair of matches (or, failing that, in terms of IMPs over the pair of matches) shall be declared the winner. Failing that, then the IMP balances over all matches played will decide.
A tie which cannot be resolved by IMP balances will be resolved instead by IMP quotient over all matches played.