ALT COMPETITION 2024

 

 

CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

 

 

 

1. Alt Competition 2024 (NewCo-24) will be hosted by Bridge Base Online and consist of ten independent team tournaments. All information about the dates and any possible changes will be timely published on the Alt website.

 

Each tournament will be played during one week, four days, 16 + 16 boards per day, between 10:00 Eastern Time (16:00 Paris Time) and 15:00 Eastern Time (21:00 Paris Time).

 

 

2. All participants are bound by the regulations contained within this document.

 

The Alt Organization emphasizes that all their events are by invitation.

 

Teams interested in getting such an invitation and believe they meet the standard of Alt’s various events, can apply.

 

There is no limit to the number of players on each team.

 

Alt reserves the right not to invite any team or player without stating a reason.

 

By applying teams and players – including those who have played in the Alt before – agree on the rights stated above.

 

Should a team be disqualified or withdraw by themselves, before or during the event, no entry fees will be refunded.

 

 

3. Schedule of Play

 

The time schedule will be as follows:

 

All days

 

10:00 Eastern Time / 16:00 Paris Time – 12:10 Eastern Time / 18:10 Paris Time – Session 1 (16 boards)

12:30 Eastern Time / 18:30 Paris Time – 14:40 Eastern Time / 20:40 Paris Time – Session 2 (16 boards)

 

 

4. Format

 

The first tournament will be played as a Swiss Teams tournament. All teams will be playing in one group.

 

Starting from the second tournament the event will be played in one or (normally) two groups and the composition of the groups will depend on the number of participants and will be as follows:

8 rounds of 16 boards. Either full round-robin + Danish (for 8 teams) or Swiss (for 10+ teams).

 

Principle of promotion/relegation

 

After the first tournament the first 8 teams are guaranteed to play in Group A of the second tournament.

 

Starting from the second tournament, the number of teams getting promoted / relegated will depend on the number of participants in that particular tournament:

 

In case a team that is guaranteed to play in Group A of the specific tournament does not apply for that tournament, this team forfeits its unconditional right to continue (re-start playing) in Group A in the next tournament for which the team applies again.

 

In case not all teams that have the right to play in Group A of the specific tournament register to play in that tournament – the “gaps” will be filled by decision of Alt. Alt reserves the right to extend the Group A.

 

 

NewCo-24 is always open to new teams. Any team can start or re-start playing the NewCo-24 from any tournament (normally from Group B) and get the opportunity to be promoted to Group A of the next tournament. 

 

 

The results of each match shall be converted into Victory Points in accordance with the appropriate WBF IMP/VP scales (see below).

A team will receive 12 VP for any match that is a BYE.

In order to determine the final ranking, a tie between two teams will be broken by the result of the match between those two teams. If there should still be a tie, then the IMP quotient of all matches will be taken into consideration to break the tie.

 

 

5. Line-Up and Seating Rights

 

All 16-board sessions are expected to be played without change of line-up. If a team needs to change its lineup after the first half of the 16-board session it needs to contact the Alt Team or TD.

 

The line-up must be submitted through the line-up web utility. All captains will be provided with the appropriate link and password.

 

The line-up is completely blind and will not be published before the start of the round.

 

The teams are expected to submit their line-up as soon as practical but in any case not later than 30 minutes before the start of the round. It is possible to change the submitted line-up but in case of the “last minute” change the captain must send a message to the Alt Team (by email) or TD (in BBO).

 

Violations of this regulation will be subject to VP penalties according to this scale:

 

 

 

6. Running the Matches

 

All players must be online and logged in to Bridge Base Online five minutes before the start of the round at the latest.

 

Players must have their official name on their BBO profile; ‘Private’ is not allowed. Violations of this regulation will be subject to VP penalties according to this scale:

 

The Tournament Director will create the tables and send invitations to the players in accordance with the line-ups submitted. Players are requested to accept the invitation immediately upon receipt.

 

All tables of the same group will play the same boards.

 

The table settings will not allow kibitzers. Some selected matches will be shown in the BBO VUGRAPH AREA with 30 minute DELAY.

 

Undo and claiming: Alt Team encourages players to accept an opponent’s undo in obvious misclick situations during bidding as well as play. In case such undo is refused a player gets one ’challenge‘ whereby the TD can be called to the table. Play must halt until the TD arrives. The TD will assess the situation, and if he or she believes the undo is justified by an obvious misclick that no reasonable player should refuse, the undo has to be accepted by the opponents.

 

Players alert and explain their own calls. Calls must be alerted before entering them. If you don’t alert before making your call, your opponent may think that it is natural, make his or her call, then see the alert, and legitimately ask for an undo in case the information changes their perspective.

 

If players explain calls via chat they should set the recipients to Opponents, not Table, so that partner will not see the explanation. The best way is to explain calls via the BBO alert mechanism (see above).

 

Players may not consult their own convention card nor use any aids to their memory or calculation or technique between the commencement of the auction and the end of play. They only are permitted to consult a described defense against the Multi convention.

 

The gravest possible offence is for a partnership to exchange information through prearranged methods of communication other than those sanctioned by the Laws of Bridge, or to gain information through self-kibitzing.

 

If players notice highly suspicious calls or plays, we encourage you to send a report to the organizers at info@netbridge.online. We will not reveal your name as source.

 

Players are expected to finish 16 boards within 2 hours 10 minutes. The Tournament Director may cancel unplayed boards if in his or her opinion a delay in finishing the match in the allotted time would interfere with smooth running of the competition.

 

 

7. Request of the TD ruling

 

This event will of course be played in the most respectful way possible. Fun and good bridge are paramount. Alt team relies on reluctance and restraint to call the Director. Should a team find a serious cause to request a ruling, then this will only be dealt with if the captain of the team announces this via email within 45 minutes after the last board played with an explanation and a request for a specific adjustment of the score. Alt team will inform the other team and give that team the opportunity (through its captain) to respond via an email within 45 minutes after being informed. The protest will be decided by a qualified director or a world-class player; no further appeal will be possible after his or her decision.

 

To submit ruling requests send email to: info@netbridge.online

 

 

8. These Regulations may be amended and augmented at the discretion of the organizing committee if circumstances so warrant in order to ensure the smooth, efficient and enjoyable running of the tournament.

 

Although this event is not sanctioned by any bridge federation we will cooperate and provide them with all the information necessary to detect and prevent cheating.

 

 

9. The WBF Victory Points scale for 16 boards:

 

IMP

VP

 

IMP

VP

0

10.00

10.00

 

31

16.88

3.12

1

10.31

9.69

 

32

17.03

2.97

2

10.61

9.39

 

33

17.17

2.83

3

10.91

9.09

 

34

17.31

2.69

4

11.20

8.80

 

35

17.45

2.55

5

11.48

8.52

 

36

17.59

2.41

6

11.76

8.24

 

37

17.72

2.28

7

12.03

7.97

 

38

17.85

2.15

8

12.29

7.71

 

39

17.97

2.03

9

12.55

7.45

 

40

18.09

1.91

10

12.80

7.20

 

41

18.21

1.79

11

13.04

6.96

 

42

18.33

1.67

12

13.28

6.72

 

43

18.44

1.56

13

13.52

6.48

 

44

18.55

1.45

14

13.75

6.25

 

45

18.66

1.34

15

13.97

6.03

 

46

18.77

1.23

16

14.18

5.82

 

47

18.87

1.13

17

14.39

5.61

 

48

18.97

1.03

18

14.60

5.40

 

49

19.07

0.93

19

14.80

5.20

 

50

19.16

0.84

20

15.00

5.00

 

51

19.25

0.75

21

15.19

4.81

 

52

19.34

0.66

22

15.38

4.62

 

53

19.43

0.57

23

15.56

4.44

 

54

19.52

0.48

24

15.74

4.26

 

55

19.61

0.39

25

15.92

4.08

 

56

19.69

0.31

26

16.09

3.91

 

57

19.77

0.23

27

16.26

3.74

 

58

19.85

0.15

28

16.42

3.58

 

59

19.93

0.07

29

16.58

3.42

 

60

20.00

0.00

30

16.73

3.27

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last update: December 30, 2023