RULES FOR THE LEICESTERSHIRE CUP 2008

Tournament Organiser Neil Beasley 7 Sharnbrook Gardens, Sharnford, Hinckley LE10 3QD

1. This competition is for both existing members of the LCBA and others who reside in Leicestershire and is operated under Blanket Licence Provision 3.2.7(a).

b) A team may consist of up to six players, at least four of whom must be nominated for Round 1. Additional players, up to the limit of six, may be nominated to the Tournament Organiser at any time prior to playing in the event.

c) Planned (non-emergency) substitutions. The planned use of more than four players in any single match must comply with Rule 13 b) & d) in any round 1 triangular match, with Appendix 1 in the case of all head-to-head matches.

d) Emergency substitutions, by the fifth and/or sixth member of the team, may be made to cover cases of late arrival, illness during play etc. of any of the normal four playing members. Changes at other than the end of a stanza/round are subject to the consent of the opposing captain.

3. a) Each player must provide a completed EBU 20/20A/20B style convention card that is to be made available to opponents. Pairs not having completed such cards should be furnished with LCBA Simple System (Standard English) Cards and required to play in accordance with these until personal EBU cards are completed. WBF style cards may not be used.

b) Pairs with properly completed (2 paged) EBU 20 style convention cards, may employ EBU Level 2 (and 3) Permitted Agreements, as detailed in Section 11 of the 2006 Orange Book, incorporating amendments as per the LCBA 2007-08 Yearbook. However pairs wishing to include any Agreements only permitted at Level 4, again as detailed in Section 11 of he 2006 Orange Book incorporating amendments as per the LCBA 2007-08 Yearbook,. must complete full (4 paged) EBU 20A or 20B style convention cards.

4. a) Any captain either wishing to appeal, or reserve the right to later appeal, against a decision of the Tournament Director or Scorer should inform the TD and the other captain of this and ensure that all relevant details of the hand and decision etc are recorded on a witnessed statement before leaving the venue.
Whether the actual appeal is immediate, or made later after reflection or consultation, it must be made in writing, in duplicate, to the Tournament Organiser and the LCBA General Secretary, to be received within seven days of the event.
(It is strongly recommended that in the home-play stages each captain bring a standard LCBA Appeal Form – downloadable from the Website - to each match.)

b) If a psychic bid is reported to the TD, he shall, on request, record the details of the board on which it occurred, and report them to the to the Tournament Organiser for the attention of the Laws and Ethics Subcommittee of the LCBA. The TD also has discretion to record and similarly report any departure from the system that he considers should be brought to its attention.

5. All results shall be treated as provisional until confirmed by the Tournament Organiser after receipt of the records specified in the rules and the determination of any appeal.

6. a) The winners of the competition will hold the Leicestershire Cup for one year.

b) The winners will normally be invited to represent the LCBA in the Midland Circle Swiss Teams.

c) The runners-up will normally be invited to represent the LCBA in the Beck Cup.

d) Monetary prizes of £50 and £25 will be awarded to the first two teams. If neither of these is won by a non-expert team then a further prize of £10 will be awarded to the highest placed such team, subject to this team having qualified to proceed beyond the first round.
The definitions of non-expert players/teams are kept on files held by the Tournament Secretary, LCBA Qualified Tournament Directors and the General Secretary; are published in the LCBA Yearbook and may be accessed on the LCBA Website.

7. The LCBA will award local Master Points on the District scale, subject to the receipt of results, including the details specified in Rule 15 d), by the Tournament Organiser.

8. Teams must notify the Tournament Organiser if they wish to withdraw from the competition at any stage.

9. a) Round 1 will be played at the Barkby Bridge Club on Wednesday 31 October 2007. The playing charge is £3.00 per head.

b) The competition is thereafter organised as a home-play event in which round 2 (if needed), the quarter finals, semi-finals and final will take place by agreement between the teams concerned, subject to these date limitations: [7 December 2007], 17 January, 28 February, and 3 April 2008 respectively.

11. a) A public draw, to allocate the pairings in Round 1 and for the rest of the competition in accordance with the recommended structure (details of which are kept on files held by the Tournament and General Secretaries), shall be made immediately prior to the commencement of play. The first drawn team shall be deemed the home team in Round 1 head to head matches, and thereafter the team qualifying for the first listed position in the draw shall be so deemed.

b) Matches in Round 1 may be (i) Head to Head matches of 24 boards, and/or (ii) Triangular matches of 12 boards against each other team with two to qualify; the two qualifying teams being allocated to opposite halves of the draw in the next round.

12. Head-to-head matches shall be played in four stanzas of six boards. If, as is normal, each captain plans to deploy just two pairs in the match then each pair shall play alternate stanzas against each opposing pair. In the event of a tie a further 4 boards shall be played, two against each pair. This procedure shall be repeated until a result is obtained. If either captain plans to use more than four players in a match then such use must comply with Appendix 1.

13. a) Triangular matches shall be played in two sessions, in each of which 12 boards are played, six against each other team. The two teams to qualify for the home-play stage will be determined by the total number of matches won; and if each won one match then by the total aggregate score over these three 12 board matches. (Draw counts as half a win.)

b) Prior to the start of play each captain shall independently inform the Tournament Director of which two of his four (five or six) players will sit North-South and which two will sit East-West in the first session. After that session has been scored he will provide the same information for the second session. There are no seating rights; captains are required to make their dispositions without knowledge of those of the other teams.

c) Ties between just two teams jointly first shall be split by the drawing of lots.

d) In the event of any other tie the captain of each team involved must nominate two pairs to represent his team throughout the tie-breaking process. No further changes to the line-up may be made.

e) If the tie is between just two teams jointly second and third then this shall be resolved by the result of the tie-match between these two teams. If that too was tied then this tie shall be resolved as in 12.

f) If it is a three-way tie then a single session of two board matches shall be played, organised as in 13 b), and this shall be repeated until at least one team is no longer in a tie with the other(s).

g) If the tie is thus reduced to one between two teams jointly first and second, this shall be split as in 13 c).

h) If however the tie is thus reduced to one between two teams jointly second and third, this shall be resolved by the result of the tie-match between these two teams. If that was tied then this tie shall be resolved as in 12.

14. After round 1 the competition comprises head-to-head home-play matches in which round 2 (if needed), T he quarter finals, semi-finals and final should take place by agreement between the teams concerned, subject to these date limitations: [6 December 2007], 17 January, 28 February, 3 April 2008 respectively.

15. a) The pairings are as determined by the public draw made prior to round 1. The team qualifying for the first listed position in each pairing shall be deemed the home team.

b) Within seven days of the pairing being confirmed, the away team captain should offer to the home team captain, a minimum of three weekday evening dates, not clashing with any LCBA event, spread over a period of at least eight days, with a minimum of seven clear days notice of the first date. Not all dates offered should be for the same day of the week. Any failure to make a timely offer, or to accept a date within a further seven days, should be reported to the Tournament Organiser who will seek to expedite the playing of the match but who has the discretion to default one or both teams.

c) In all cases the home team will be responsible for venue arrangements, including the payment of any table money.

d) The results of these privately played matches must be notified by both teams to the Tournament Organiser within seven days, and never later than the closing date of the round. The return must include the surname and a forename of the players in each team and, if more than four used, how many boards each member played.

e) Unless a prior arrangement to the contrary is made, the Away Captain shall be designated as Tournament Director.

b) Matches shall be played in four stanzas of six boards; except the final that shall be played over 32 boards in four stanzas of eight boards. If, as is normal, each captain plans to deploy just two pairs in the match then each pair shall play alternate stanzas against each opposing pair.

c) In the event of a tie a further 4 boards shall be played, two against each pair. This procedure shall be repeated until a result is obtained.

d) If either captain plans to use more than four players in a match then such use must comply with Appendix 1.

Appendix 1:
Regulations relating to the PLANNED use by either captain of more than four players in a single head-to-head match

A If a captain intends to field a team of more than four players then he must inform his opposite number of this, indicating the three partnerships involved, before the line-up for the first stanza is arranged.

C The two pairs deployed in the first stanza are deemed to be the PRIMARY pairs; the pair introduced later is deemed to be the SUBSTITUTE pair. This substitute pair can include a member of a primary pair.

D The SUBSTITUTE pair may replace, in different stanzas, just one or both of the PRIMARY pairs; but neither PRIMARY pair may be used as a substitute for the other PRIMARY pair.

E No captain may make a planned change that would result in ANY pair deployed in precisely two stanzas playing both of these against the same opponent pair.

i) One PRIMARY pair may be replaced in ONE stanza by a SUBSTITUTE pair without restriction.
ii) If the SUBSTITUTE pair play in precisely TWO stanzas, whether twice as substitutes for one primary pair, or once for each of the two primary pairs, then the SUBSTITUTE pair may NOT play both of these stanzas against the same opponent pair
iii) If the SUBSTITUTE pair play in a THIRD stanza then if they replace one PRIMARY pair in precisely TWO stanzas, then these two stanzas may not be ones in which that primary pair were scheduled to play the same opponent pair.

F In the event of a tie, the captain of each team of more than four must nominate two pairs to represent his team throughout the tie-breaking process. No further changes to the line-up may be made.