| A | VENUE, DATES, COMMITTEES, DIRECTORS, OFFICIALS | Top |
| 1.1 | The South Pacific Championships (SPC) conducted by Zone 7 in co-operation with the New Zealand Contract Bridge Association will be held at the Christchurch Bridge Club Nova Place Christchurch from 8th May to the 12th May 2007. | |
| 1.2 | The SPC will be conducted under the Laws of Duplicate Contract Bridge 1997 (the "Code") and the WBF General Conditions of Contest, except as amended expressly or implied by these Regulations. There will be three divisions, Open Women's and Senior's. | |
| 1.3 | In addition to or in substitution for the exercise of any power under the Code as modified by the Regulations, the President of Zone 7 reserves the right to request a constituent NCBO to take disciplinary action as a consequence of incidents that may occur during the SPC. | |
| 1.4 | Team numbers for the first round robin will be drawn randomly by the Tournament Committee at the Captain's meeting to be held at 6.00 pm on Tuesday 8th May. | |
| 1.5 |
The Chairman of the Tournament Committee may require players to attend a meeting for the resolution of system queries at 9.00am Wednesday 9 th May. Each Team Captain is responsible for supplying the Convention Cards for each partnership that will play in the SPC. The systems will be:
Failure to submit Convention Cards in time will mean that the offenders may not use HUM Systems or Brown Sticker conventions throughout the SPC and that Red Systems will be permitted only at the discretion of the Tournament Committee. | |
| 1.6 | Session times, assuming 4 entries in the Open Senior's and
Women's event respectively, will be:
Round-Robin Stage,Wednesday and Thursday Round-Robin Stage, Friday Final Stage, Saturday | |
| 1.7 | Smoking in the Clubhouse is prohibited by the Laws of New Zealand. The consumption of alcohol in the playing area is prohibited by these Regulations. | |
| 1.8 | Mobile telephones and other electronic devices are prohibited in the playing area. The first offence will receive a warning, the second and any subsequent offences will be subject to a non-discretionary procedural penalty of two Victory Points in the Round-Robin stage or 4 IMP's in the Knock- out stage. There is no appeal against this penalty. | |
| 2.1 | The Tournament Committee will be chaired by the President of Zone 7 (J Wignall). Members of the Tournament Committee are appointed by its Chairman. | |
| 2.2 | The functions of the Tournament Committee shall include overseeing the efficient conduct of the SPC by making day-to-day decisions pertaining to the smooth running of the tournament, discharging in that regard such duties as are not by the Code or the Regulations expressly the province of the Director or the Appeals Committee, making the draw for the first round robin, appraising systems, selecting monitors and approving substitutions. The Tournament Committee, although not necessarily an appellate body, may take action, on its own initiative, that may include imposition of a penalty or loss of points. | |
| 2.3 | The Appeals Committee will be chaired by the President of Zone 7 (J Wignall), or his appointee. Members of the Appeals Committee are appointed by its Chairman and endorsed by the Tournament Committee. The quorum for each Appeals Committee will be five but a hearing will not be aborted unless fewer than three members of the Appeals Committee are present. The decisions of an Appeals Committee are final and there is no avenue for re-appeal. | |
| 2.4 | The functions of the Appeals Committee shall be adjudicating all appeals from rulings of the Tournament Director(s) and determining the proper construction of these Regulations upon reference from the Tournament Committee. In an emergency the Appeals Committee, on reference from the Tournament Committee, shall promulgate any further Regulation(s) that may be required for the proper conduct of the Tournament. | |
| 3.1 | The Chief Tournament Director (CTD) will be David Stephen. An Assistant will be appointed by the Tournament Committee. | |
| 3.2 | Monitors may be appointed for any table to carry out duties assigned by the Tournament Committee and/or the CTD. | |
| B | COMPOSITION OF TEAMS, SUBSTITUTES, SYSTEMS | Top |
| 4.1 | Each member country of Zone Seven of the World Bridge Federation, Australia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and New Zealand , is entitled to enter one team in each Championship. In the event that any NCBO does not take up its entitlement the host NCBO (New Zealand) may enter one additional team. | |
| 4.2 | By participating in the South Pacific Championship, each NCBO and its contestants agree that all or portions of the event may be filmed, recorded, or otherwise documented or publicized at the discretion of the President. | |
| 5.1 | A player from the same NCBO (woman for woman) is an eligible substitute, when approved by the Tournament Committee, who may be allowed to substitute without restriction. A player from another team in the same event is not permitted as a substitute except for a woman substituting in a team from the same NCBO by switching from Women's to Open or vice versa. | |
| 5.2 | A non-eligible player (woman for woman), approved by the Tournament Committee, may be allowed to substitute for a period not exceeding 24 hours in any stage of the event without affecting the team's rights of contention. | |
| 5.3 | A team using a non-eligible substitute for a period exceeding 24 hours or a non-approved substitute is disqualified and forfeits its remaining match(es). | |
| 6.1 | Complete disclosure of all systemic understandings is required. | |
| 6.2 | Each of the players must provide their opponent (screen-mate) with a copy of their system, described on a WBF System Card, at the table. | |
| 6.3 | The WBF Systems policy (see Appendix 1) will be in force throughout the SPC. For this purpose the SPC is defined as a Category 1 Event. | |
| 6.4 | During the auction or play of the hand, players may not refer to their own systems but may consult specialized defences to HUM systems, and defences to Brown Sticker conventions. | |
| 6.5 | Players may alter part or all of their system only with the consent of the Tournament Committee who, at its discretion, may disallow the change or permit it, or part only of it, or permit it only after a period of time has elapsed to allow the opposing teams to prepare fresh defences. | |
| C | FORMAT, SCREENS, SEATING RIGHTS, LINE-UP, BOARD RULE | Top |
| 7.1 | Team numbers for the first round robin will be allotted in a random draw performed by the Tournament Committee. Team numbers for the second and third round robin will be equivalent to a team's placing, posted at the conclusion of the first and second round robin respectively, determined by its VP score including all penalties but irrespective of any outstanding appeals. Subsequent adjustments will not alter the team numbers. | |
| 7.2 | The format for the Championships will be a double Round Robin of 20 board matches followed by a Final. | |
| 7.3 | At the conclusion of the Round Robin stage of each championship, the two highest teams that represent different NCBO's will play off in a 64 board final, played in 4 sixteen-board sessions | |
| 7.4 | The carry-over from the round-robins to the final will be 50% of the IMP difference between the two teams in their head to head matches if the team with the higher IMP score finishes first in the qualification table and 33 1/3% otherwise, provided that the maximum carry-over shall be 30 IMP's. Procedural (but not disciplinary) penalties will be removed before calculation of carry-over. Fractions of an IMP carry-over will be rounded to the nearest whole number with 0.5 rounded up. | |
| 8.1 | Screens placed across the table to divide North & East from South & West, shall be used with bidding boxes throughout the Open Senior's and Women's Team Championship. North & South shall be responsible for passing the bidding tray through the screen. | |
| 8.2 | Boards will be pre-dealt by an NZCBA-approved computer programme and hand records will be provided. | |
| 9.1 | The WBF Systems Policy will be in force. | |
| 9.2 | For the first round robin the team named first in the draw is the HOME team. For matches in the second round robin, the HOME and AWAY assignments which the two teams had in the first round robin are reversed. In the third round robin the CTD will toss for seating rights. | |
| 9.3 | For the final, the CTD shall toss for seating rights as soon as practicable after the conclusion of the previous stage and the winning captain must advise the CTD within 10 minutes whether (s)he is to be HOME or AWAY in the first session. In the following sessions seating rights alternate but the teams retain the original NS/EW configuration | |
| 9.4 | The CTD shall toss for seating rights for each tie-break. | |
| 10.1 | For a head-to-head match, the captains sitting first (AWAY) and last (HOME) shall post their line-up (including the system to be played by any pair that has lodged more than one system) in a manner determined by the CTD not later than 15 and 10 minutes respectively before the scheduled starting time of each round. In other cases the line-ups shall be posted at a time specified by the CTD. | |
| 10.2 | The CTD may allow later posting if, in his discretion, he believes that it is reasonable to do so. | |
| 11.1 | There is no Board Rule but the WBF Master Point Plan requires players to play at least one third of the hands in the round robin to qualify for WBF Master Points. In addition they must play at least one third of the hands in the Final. | |
| 11.2 | Regulation 11.1 shall not apply to boards played to break a tie unless more than one 8 board tie-breaker is required. | |
| D | D. SCORING, FORFEITS, TIES, PROCEDURAL PENALTIES | Top |
| 12.1 | Round robin matches shall be scored by IMP converted to VP using the appropriate WBF scale. Any portion of a VP separates teams in the round robin rankings. | |
| 12.2 | In the final matches any portion of an IMP constitutes a win. | |
| 12.3 | Errors in recording results by the Director (scorer or organisation) or where the captains have agreed a result in conflict with the table record may be corrected up until one hour after the conclusion of the last session of the stage. | |
| 13.1 | In the case of a forfeit the score for the offenders will be
0 and the non-offending team will be allocated 18 VP. At the conclusion of
the round robin in which the forfeit occurred the score of the
non-offending team will be adjusted to the greater of:
The non-offender's IMP score is the mean of the range of the VP allocated. | |
| 14.1 | Ties shall be broken after the first round robin by cancellation of procedural, but not disciplinary, penalties then by ranking on total IMP margins then by lot. | |
| 14.2 | A tie at the end of the round robin qualification stage shall be broken by cancellation of procedural, but not disciplinary, penalties then by successive matches, each played in one session without substitution of players or pairs. Two tied teams, head-to head matches of 4 boards; three tied teams, a three-team movement in which each team plays two matches of 2 boards. A further tie shall be broken by repeated application of the above principles. | |
| 14.3 | Ties in the final shall be broken by a match of 8 boards and then successive matches of 4 boards, each match played in one session without substitution of players or pairs. | |
| 15.1 | The time allotted for each session shall be on the basis for 16 boards and 2 hours 55 minutes for 20 boards. | |
| 15.2 | In case of slow play the Director shall consider any monitor's reports and his own observations then assess the number of minutes by which each team is deemed responsible for failing to maintain the required rate of play. The decision is not subject to appeal but the Director may be requested to reconsider his assessment. | |
| 15.3 | In the round robin stage each offending team shall receive a procedural penalty of 0.2 VP per minute that the Director has assessed as that team's responsibility according to 15.2 | |
| 15.4 | In the final stage each offending team shall receive a procedural penalty of 1 IMP per minute that the Director has assessed as that team's responsibility according to 15.2. | |
| 15.5 | Players shall be seated 5 minutes before the commencement of
play. Procedural penalties for late arrival are:
| |
| 15.6 | Cases of incomplete disclosure which could have disadvantaged the non-offending side may result in a penalty of 1 VP in the round robin stage or 3 IMP in the final stage. | |
| 15.7 | 15.7 Procedural penalties for late posting of the line-up
are:
| |
| E | APPEALS, MISBOARDS | Top |
| 16.1 | Appeals against the Director's ruling in any session must be lodged within 30 minutes of the actual time of conclusion of play of the appellant team in that session unless the next session is scheduled to start within that time. In such a case, appeals from one session must be lodged within 30 minutes after the scheduled time of conclusion of the next session. | |
| 16.2 | Appeals must be submitted to he CTD on the approved Appeal Form and accompanied by a deposit of NZ$50 which may be refunded at the discretion of the Appeals Committee. | |
| 17.1 | One set of boards only will be in use in any one match. | |
| 17.2 | When a misboard is detected, the Director must be advised immediately. A board which does not tally with the hand record will not be regarded ipso-facto as a misboard. | |
| 17.3 | A board is "fouled" as defined in Law 87. | |
| 17.4 | When the CTD declares that a board is fouled the result is cancelled and the board is replayed at both tables unless any of the pairs has left its table at the conclusion of the session. In such a case any board(s) fouled in an earlier segment of a match must be replayed in the next segment. In all other cases the result of the board is cancelled. | |
| 17.5 | When any other irregularity occurs such that no rectification will permit normal play of the board the Director will substitute a new board to be played at both tables when the team-mates of the players involved have not played the board and neither or both teams have contributed to the error. If the board has been played at the other table, the CTD should assign an adjusted score and, in the event that only one team was at fault, take into consideration any unusually favourable result obtained by a non-offending team. | |
| 17.6 | The Director may penalize teams responsible for misboards or irregularities. | |
| F | SPECTATORS, CAPTAINS, CLOSED ROOMS | Top |
| 18.1 | The Tournament Committee shall decide which, if any, of the tables in play shall be designated as Closed Room(s). | |
| 18.2 | A playing member of a team may not watch his/her team-mates in play. | |
| 18.3 | Spectators will be permitted to watch play at tables in the Open Room but there shall be no spectators in the Closed Room. Spectators should, if possible, be seated and should refrain from looking into more than one hand or moving round the table during the bidding or play and must not move from one table to another. Spectators must remain silent unless spoken to by a player or official. Provided that a spectator observes these conditions and matters of general etiquette a player has no right to object to his/her presence at the table. | |
| 18.4 | No person other than players, non-playing captains, working officials or Directors is entitled to access to the Closed Room except at the express invitation of the CTD. | |
| 19.1 | Non-playing captains are entitled to watch the table in the Closed Room at which their team is playing but are not entitled to leave the Closed Room while that table is in play (except as requested by the Director). | |
| 19.2 | Non-playing captains may not converse with members of their
teams or opponents, once any player has withdrawn a hand from the board on
the table, until all the hands have been replaced, except that they may
intervene:
| |
| 19.3 | When two non-playing captains are present they must sit on the side of the screen selected by the Home captain. | |
| Round 1, 4 & 7 | 1 v 4 | 2 v 3 |
| Round 2, 5 & 8 | 3 v 1 | 4 v 2 |
| Round 3, 6 & 9 | 1 v 2 | 3 v 4 |
| 0-2 | 15-15 | 37-41 | 23-7 |
| 3-8 | 16-14 | 42-47 | 24-6 |
| 9-12 | 17-13 | 48-53 | 25-5 |
| 13-16 | 18-12 | 54-59 | 25-4 |
| 17-21 | 19-11 | 60-65 | 25-3 |
| 22-26 | 20-10 | 66-72 | 25-2 |
| 27-31 | 21-9 | 73-79 | 25-1 |
| 32-36 | 22-8 | 80+ | 25-0 |
| Appendix : WBF Alerting Policy | Top | |
| Preamble | ||
| A) | The objective is to have a uniform WBF policy which is applied to all WBF events | |
| B) | It is not intended that this should over-ride Alerting Policies developed by the Zone or NCBOs | |
| C) | Full disclosure is vital..However, players who participate in WBF events are expected to protect themselves to a large extent. They are also expected to observe the spirit of the Laws as well as the letter. | |
| D) | The Policy has been made as simple as possible. Players, however, are expected to alert whenever there is doubt. (NB. Where screens are in use, an alert on one side but not on the other does not necessarily imply an infraction). | |
| Policy | ||
| The following classes of calls should be alerted: | ||
| A) | Conventional bids should be alerted, non-conventional bids should not. (A Convention is a call that serves by partnership agreement to convey a meaning not necessarily related to the denomination named). | |
| B) | Those bids which have special meanings or which are based on or lead to special understandings between partners. (A player may not make a call or play based on a special partnership understanding unless an opposing pair may reasonably be expected to understand its meaning, or unless his side discloses the use of such call or play in accordance with the regulations of the sponsoring organization). See Law 40(b). | |
| C) | Non-forcing jump changes of suit responses to opening bids or overcalls, and non-forcing new suit responses by an unpassed hand to opening bids of one of a suit. | |
| If screens are not in use do NOT alert the following: | ||
| 1. | All doubles. | |
| 2. | Any no-trump bid which suggests a balanced or semi-balanced hand or suggests a no-trump contract. | |
| 3. | Any call at the four level or higher, with the exception of conventional calls on the first round of the auction. | |
| Nevertheless, players must respect the spirit of this Policy as well as the letter. | ||