These are the GENERAL CONDITIONS OF CONTEST for all World Bridge Tour events under the auspices of the World Bridge Holding AS.
1. General Conditions of Contest
World Bridge Tour (“WBT”) will load the pre-duplicated boards on the system and invite every member to the pertinent Team Match.
Results and butler scores will be available on this site and www.worldbridgetour.org.
Scoring system in use will be the WBF Victory Points.
Players are required to be logged in to wbtbridge.com 10 minutes previous to the starting time of the match. Teams will be composed of a maximum of 10 players for online events and a maximum of 6 players for F2F events.
2. Conditions of Entry
Participation in all WBT Events is only for WBT members (all players on the team required to hold a WBT Membership).
3. Conduct, Fair Play and Sportsmanship
Our rules regarding Sportsmanship Policy and Fair Policy apply to all WBT events. The policies can be found at this link: https://www.worldbridgetour.org/fair-play.
4. Length of Matches
10 board matches: 1 hour 15 minutes
12 board matches: 1 hour 30 minutes
14 board matches: 1 hour 45 minutes
16 board matches: 2 hours 00 minutes
24 board matches: 3 hours 00 minutes
Average Time per Board for longer and shorter matches: 7,5 minutes.
Tournaments are clocked and Teams judged guilty for slow play will be subject to penalty.
5. Players on a team
The general rule is a maximum of 10 players per team for online events and 6 players per team for face-2-face events.
6. Policies, Codes and Regulations
1. Alert Regulation
a) Players alert their own bids and write their explanations in the «alert box» before they bid (and not just alert).
b) Your opponents are entitled to know whatever your partner knows about your bid. This includes a specific agreement, style, but not what you have in your hand or that you and your partner are having a mix-up. (Ex. Range of 1NT opening should be alerted unless it shows 15-17 hcp).
c) Online there is no difference between an alert and an explanation. Whether you believe your bid should be alerted or not, you should fully explain it. In F2F events we expect the players to properly notify the opponents.
d) Whenever you make a bid about which you believe your partner has information that does not come from general bridge knowledge, you should type a clear, concise explanation of the meaning of your bid in the alert box. In F2F events we expect the players to properly notify the opponents.
e) If you want more information about an opponent’s bid, whether it was explained or not, you should send a private message to the opponent who made the bid asking for clarification. In F2F events you should ask your screenmate.
f) Requesting information may be made at any time; at the time the bid is made, when the auction concludes, or any time during the play. Information shall be requested via a private chat between players involved and not to the Table.
g) When players explain their bid(s) via chat they should set the recipients to Opponents, not Table, so that only opponents can see the explanation. The best way is to explain the bids via the alert mechanism.
2. System Policy & Convention Card
a) Systems Policy: Forcing Pass Systems, Random Openings, HUMs, and Encrypted Signals are prohibited.
b) Players can’t consult their system cards or notes between the start of the auction period until the end of the play. Exception: players may consult their defence notes vs 2d multi-opening.
c) Psychic Bidding: psychic conventional opening bids are forbidden.
d) Convention Cards may be mandatory in WBT events. For such events Convention Cards shall be submitted to World Bridge Tour, info@worldbridgetour.org as early as possible.
3. Undos
a) Undos: are allowed and encouraged especially in case of:
- a mis-click, but not due to inattention,
- misinformation or lack of information.
b) If an undo is refused a player may challenge the refusal of an undo by calling the TD to the table. In such a case, play shall stop immediately. TD will assess the situation and make a final ruling.
c) Any undo request made when there is no logical bridge explanation for the bid made or the play of card made shall be accepted.
A couple of examples to illustrate: Playing towards AQ and the K is played in second hand and you click the Q, or passing 1 NT – 2H as a transfer bid.
4. UI
a) Hesitations breaking the tempo of play forces hesitaters partner to consider if UI has been passed and act accordingly. However, shorter hesitations made in less than 5 seconds that would pass UI in face-to-face events are to be ignored as not being bridge related.
b) In cases when the interpretation of the Laws is unclear the Head Tournament Director should consult the WBF Laws.
c) Players taking advantage of break of tempos must expect to be ruled against. Break of tempo can be established before the regular 15 seconds.
5. Qualification, Carry-Over, Seating rights and Right to select opponent
Tie positions in qualification will be determined by the following priority:
- Scored VPs between the tied team(s).
- Total VPs against the other teams qualifying for the Semi-Finals.
- Net IMPs in the Round Robin.
In events with Quarter Finals top 8 teams will qualify for the Knock- Outs.
Quarter Final setup:
Team 1 vs Team 8
Team 2 vs Team 7
Team 3 vs Team 6
Teams 4 vs Team 5
The highest ranked teams will, for the knock-out, stages start with 0,1 IMP Carry-Over.
In events with Semi-Finals top 4 teams will qualify for the Knock- Outs.
Semi-Final setup:
Team 1 vs Team 4
Team 2 vs Team 3
The highest ranked teams will, for the knock-out stages, start with 0,1 IMP Carry-Over and seating rights in the last segment of the match (Highest ranked team is deemed to be “home team”)
6. Substitutes and Forfeits in Team Tournaments
Team substitutions may only be made after 50 % completion of a match/session. Substitutions are in general disallowed in matches/sessions with less than 16 boards. We encourage teams to make as few substitutions as possible.
If a team is unable to produce four players, either at the start of a match or during the match due to an emergency the Tournament Director, in consultation with the captain of the team, may designate a substitute to complete the team.
A team may only forfeit in a knock-out match. A team leading a knock-out match is not allowed to forfeit.
7. Slow Play and Un-played Boards
The Tournament Director may remove un-played boards if a delay in finishing the match will interfere with the smooth running of the competition. An assigned adjusted score will be awarded to each board that has already been played in the other room.
8. Ruling and Appeals
WBT tournaments will be played with the utmost respect towards the players and the organizer. WBT will provide the tournament with a Tournament Director for circumstances that require a ruling. If scores are adjusted there will always be an explanation by the Tournament Director.
Tournament Directors ruling is final and cannot be appealed.
9. Agreement to abide by the Conditions of Contest
Entering or being accredited to attend an WBT Tournament means that everybody concerned with such entry knows and agrees to abide by these General Conditions of Contest.
Appendix 1 – WBT Masters Online Events
The following conditions apply to WBT Masters contests, in addition to the general conditions above:
Conditions of entry
Participation in WBT Masters is limited to 16 teams. Teams among the 16 top teams in the Champions Tour Rankings do have a guaranteed entry right. If available spots the organiser will issue Wild Cards with priority among the teams in 17th – 21st position in the rankings, and after that based on the organiser’s sole consideration.
Qualification, Carry-Over, Seating rights and Right to select opponent
Top 4 teams in the Round Robin qualify for the Semi-Finals.
The winner of Round Robin selects their opponent in the Semi-Final among the teams ending in 3rd and 4th position.
The highest ranked team in the semi-finals are guaranteed a Carry-Over of minimum 0,1 IMP and a maximum of 16 IMPs. Carry-Over will be calculated as 40 % of the match result in the Round Robin phase with the above limitations.
In the final the highest ranked team in the Round Robin will start with 0,1 IMP Carry-Over and have seating rights in the last segment of the match (highest ranked team is deemed to be “home team”).
Appendix 2 – WBT Masters F2F Events
The following conditions apply to WBT Masters contests, in addition to the general conditions above:
Conditions of entry
Participation in WBT Masters is strictly by invitation at WBT sole consideration. Teams among the top teams in the Champions Tour Rankings are guaranteed to receive an invitation. Number of participants may vary from event to event but shall not exceed 24 teams in one event.
Qualification, Carry-Over, Seating rights and Right to select opponent
The qualification phase will either be a full Round Robin or a Swiss depending on the number of participating teams and final format. After completion of Round Robin/Swiss the teams will be divided into brackets of 4 based on their final ranking in the qualification phase. The home team will have seating rights in the last segment of a match.
For each bracket there will be Semi-Finals and Final & Losers Final to determine final position in the events.
The winner of the qualification phase selects their opponent in the Semi-Final among the teams ending in 3rd and 4th position. Similar rights are given to the teams ending the qualification phase in position 5th, 9th, 13th, 17th and 21st.
In each bracket, the highest ranked team in the qualification phase is guaranteed a Carry-Over of a minimum of 0,1 IMP and a maximum of 12 IMPs. Carry-Over will be calculated as 40 % of the match result in the qualification phase with the above limitations. If the match result including Carry-Over is a tie, the highest ranked team in the qualification phase will be determined winner.
In the Final & Losers Final the highest ranked team in the qualification phase will start the match with a 0,1 IMP Carry-Over. The highest ranked team will have seating rights for the last segment of a match (deemed to be “home team”)
Teams entering the Losers Finals may agree between them to make the match a tie. In such case WBT Ranking Points and Prize money for the 2 positions will be shared equally between them. If WBT Points between them makes an odd number awarded WBT Points will be rounded down.