Format:
1. There are 8 teams entered. The format will be a Double Elimination. This format is very popular in England and has been explained to me by John Sarjeant (tigerboy1). After Round 3 the field is divided into a Cup competition (the main event) and a Plate.
2. The draw for most rounds including round 1 is done at random.
3. For round two the four winning teams are drawn randomly against each other as are the four losing teams.
4. For round 3 the two teams that have won twice play against each other. There will be four teams that have had one win and one loss. These teams are drawn randomly against each other. The two teams that have lost both games to date go into the Plate competition and have byes for Round 3.
5. For round 4 the four teams that have lost twice play for the Plate. They play “semi finals” drawn at random. The remaining 4 teams have lost once or less. They play semi-finals for the Cup. The team that has won all three games to date gets to choose their opponent for the semi final and gets home advantage.
6. Round 5 is the final for the Cup and the Plate (the two winning teams from Round 4 in each section play off). If one of the teams in the Cup Final has been undefeated throughout then that team has home advantage and, in addition, after the end of the 12 boards it has the option of requesting an additional 4 boards to be played. The scores from the original 12 boards are retained but the option holder has the chance to attempt to “catch up” if it was behind after 12 boards.
Rules:
7. IMP scoring will be used. Results will be collated from BBO records and there is no need for Captains to submit results. Captains should, however, check results once published and point out any mistakes.
8. Each week the draw (including team line-ups) will be published by 7.00 pm by email to all captains and by publication on the kiwi teams blog site at http://kiwiteams.blogspot.com/.
9. The team named first on the draw (generally drawn at random) is the home team. The captain of the home team is responsible for creating the match on BBO. Instructions on creating matches are on the blog site at http://kiwiteams.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-to-set-up-kiwi-teams-matches-on-bbo.html.
10. The captain of the home team chooses who “sits” where and thus which of his/her pairs play which opposition pairs. Any team without a captain able to create the match in any particular round will lose home team advantage.
11. If any player is not online and available to commence the match at 8pm the captain setting up the match shall immediately arrange a replacement, by calling for all comers from the Lobby if necessary.
12. Teams must play each round. Outside substitutes are allowed. Any team defaulting forfeits the match.
13. Any tie will be resolved by playing an additional 4 boards, either immediately (if possible) or as soon as possible and at any event prior to the next round. Any remaining tie will be broken by successively removing the result of the most recently played board until the scores are no longer tied.
14. Kiwi Teams rules apply to all matches:
Undo’s are allowed but should be used for genuine mis-clicks only.
The Barometer is on.
Kibbitzers are allowed.
Kiwi (NZ Bridge) alerting and pre-alerting rules apply.
(The NZ Bridge manual which contains these rules (at pages D38 to D41) is available online at http://nzbridge.co.nz/2009%20Manual.pdf).
15. Please note that alerting on BBO is different to over the table alerting. Each player must alert their OWN bids. This is sometimes referred to as “self alerting”. Do not confuse this with NZ Bridge rules as to “self alerting” calls which are referred to in 15 below.
16. To alert your bid either click the alert button before making your bid or click on your bid after you have made it. Next, type a brief description of your bid in the box provided, then hit the “enter” key. Your alerts can only be seen by your opponents and cannot be seen by your partner. Accordingly there is no harm in over alerting because your partner is never aware of your alerts. Equally you can privately ask either opponent about a particular bid by clicking on the opponents bid. This will prompt a box to come up on the opponents screen for an explanation to be typed in. In addition you can privately provide further information about your bid to both opponents simultaneously by using the button at the bottom of the screen. All of this asking and telling should be done privately (rather than to the whole table) so that your partner never knows what is being asked or told.
17. For non New Zealanders please note that all doubles, redoubles, cue bids, strong 2c openers, 2c stayman bids and 4 level or higher bids are “self alerting” calls. You should not alert them (although for BBO play where partner does not see the alert there is no harm in alerting them). Opponents are expected to ask about these calls if they wish to know. However, unusual agreements regarding these calls which may surprise opponents should be pre-alerted at the start of the match.
18. There are no prizes for winning or otherwise. Just Glory!!!
Time-table:
2nd November: Round 1
9th November: Round 2
16th November: Round 3
23rd November: Semi Finals (all teams play)
30th November: Cup and Plate Finals
Seychelles explains:
