GRAND NATIONAL TEAMS (GNT) DISTRICT 15

2019-2020 CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

The following, in conjunction with the ACBL Conditions of Contest, shall constitute the District

15 Conditions of Contest.  The ACBL National Conditions of Contest may be referenced by clicking Ctrl + left mouse button while the cursor is located over the following underlined text: http://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/play/coc/gnt/GNT2019-20.pdf

GENERAL

Each unit in District 15 shall appoint a Unit Coordinator.  This person will be responsible for arranging Unit GNT competition, reporting unit results, and aiding clubs within their unit with questions about the Conditions of Contest (COC). The name, address, phone number and e- mail address of the Unit Coordinator shall be submitted to the District 15 Coordinator no later than October 31, 2019.  If the Unit Coordinator does not have e-mail, an e-mail address of a contact person within the unit shall be provided.

The Unit Coordinator shall furnish a list of all players participating at the Club and Unit Level to the District coordinator no later than two weeks prior to the beginning of the District 15 Finals.

The Unit Coordinator of the Host Unit for the District 15 Finals shall work with the District  Coordinator in facilitating the District Finals.

FLIGHT ELIGIBILITY

FLIGHT MASTERPOINT LIMITS
Open Championship Flight Unlimited
Flight A Under 6,000 MPs
Flight B Under 2,500 MPs
Flight C Non-Life Masters under 500 MP

Master point totals for flight eligibility is determined by the ACBL’s September master point cycle. This information will be produced on August 6, 2019 in Horn Lake, MS. Masterpoints won after this cycle will not impact flight eligibility for these events.

The Championship Flight and Flight A may be combined at the club and unit levels for play and masterpoint awards.  In a stratified event, all teams are eligible for qualification in the Flight they participate in and any higher Flight.

CLUB LEVEL COMPETITION

Club level competition begins on September 1, 2019 and will conclude on  Jan 31, 2020. Clubs can hold as many games as they wish. These games may be one or two sessions.

Club level games should be flighted, if possible.  If the event is stratified, the following master point limits must be used:  Open/2,500/NLM<500.

Points awarded at club level games are half red and half black at Sectional rating.

QUALIFICATION: There is no qualification needed to play in the club Level game.  All bridge players are welcome.  A team’s flight eligibility is determined by the member with the most MPs.

REPORTING:  Results of ALL club level games must be submitted to both the Unit Coordinator and the District Coordinator.  This can be done in any method that is suitable to the club and Unit Coordinator.  The results need to list all players, with their ACBL number, at any game.  If you are using ACBL Score, please submit a copy of the game file to the District Coordinator in .TXT format.  Send the result as an attachment to the email address at the top of page 1.  If your club does not use ACBL Score, send a hard copy of the results that includes the player’s ACBL number.  Each club must remit $1.25/table to the ACBL with their monthly report and $6.75 per table, per session surcharge to the District Coordinator.  Send a check, made out to District 15, to:

Ron Traudt
944 N Toh N Hah Trl
Wichita, KS 67212

Send in your reports and remittances by the 15th of each month.  Please identify, club number, date of game and number tables that the District remittance applies.

RESTRICTIONS:  No club level qualifying game may be held during any District 15 regional tournament or during a sectional tournament within 25 miles of the club game. Scheduling conflicts designated in the National COC must be observed.

CONVENTIONS:  At the Club and Unit qualifying levels, the ACBL Basic+ Convention Chart will apply.  All convention charts can be found at http://web2.acbl.org/documentLibrary/about/181AttachmentD.pdf

UNIT LEVEL COMPETITION

Unit Finals should be scheduled between Feb 1, 2020 & Feb 23, 2020. The event should be two sessions, if possible. The game should be flighted, if possible.  If sufficient numbers of teams are unavailable, the event may be stratified.

QUALIFICATION:  A player must be a member of the ACBL in good standing and a member of District 15.  Players may play in a unit final other than their own with permission of the other unit.  No player may participate in more than one District 15 Unit final.  A team’s flight eligibility is determined by the member with the most MPs.  New teams may be formed for play at the Unit level.  A player may participate in a unit final even if they have not played in a club level game.

REPORTING:  The Unit Coordinator must submit the results of the Unit Final to the District Coordinator by Feb 29, 2020, report in the same manner as for club qualifying games (above).

In addition to your Unit Final results, the Unit Coordinator must remit $1.25/table to the ACBL and $6.75 per table per session surcharge to the District Coordinator. Send a check made out to DISTRICT 15, to: Ron Traudt, 944 N Toh N Hah Trl, Wichita, KS 67212

RESTRICTIONS:  No Unit Final may be held during a District 15 Regional.  Scheduling conflicts designated in the National COC must be observed.

CONVENTIONS:  Refer to the Club level conventions section for the Unit level conventions that apply.

PLAYER SUBSTITUTION RULES:  In the event of an emergency, a team may substitute a player at the Unit Final subject to the following conditions:

  • Only one (1) substitute is permitted on a team. No substitute is allowed if a fifth or sixth team member is present.  The only exception allowed is in the case of a family emergency where two (2) members of the family are playing on the same team.  In such circumstances, two (2) substitutes are allowed unless a fifth and sixth team member are present.
  • Any substitute who plays more than 50% of the boards during the event becomes the player of record for the event. Match awards and overall awards will be apportioned between the player and the substitute according to the ACBL Participation Requirement rules, as stated in the Knockout Team Events – General Conditions of Contest or the Swiss Teams – General Conditions of Contest, whichever is applicable.
  • A substitute must meet the eligibility requirements of the Flight played in.
  • A substitute must be a member in good standing of the ACBL and a member of District 15.

DISTRICT LEVEL COMPETITION

The District 15 GNT Finals will be held at the OKC Regional, Mar 7-8, 2020. New teams may be formed for play at the District level.

QUALIFICATIONS:  Participants must be members in good standing of the ACBL and members of District 15 to enter the District 15 GNT Final.  A team’s flight eligibility is determined by the member with the most MPs.  A player may participate in the District final even if they have not played in a club or unit level game.

REPORTING:  The District Coordinator shall obtain a copy of the District Final results for all flights from the Director-in-charge.  In addition, the District Coordinator should ensure that the $8.00 per table per session surcharges are collected and submitted to District 15.

CONVENTIONS:  The Open+ Chart applies to the Championship Flight.  The Open Chart applies to Flight A and the Basic+ Chart applies to Flight B & C.

EVENT PLAYING CONDITIONS:  All flights of 2, 3 or 4 teams will play two sessions concluding on Saturday.  Flights of 5 or more teams will play a third session on Sunday.  The 20 victory point scale will be used in all flights. Each flight will play separately. There will be no subdividing or pooling of teams allowed in any flight.

In the event of a tie for fourth place or higher in the Swiss qualifying rounds, the following tie- breakers will be used, in the order stated, to determine the place in question:

  • Total wins.
  • Results in a head-to-head match.
  • Best record against common opponents (based on Victory Points).
  • An eight or four board match.

In the event of a three-way tie for fourth place or higher in the Swiss qualifying rounds, the following tie-breakers will be used, in the order stated, to determine the places in question:

  • Total wins.
  • Results in a head-to-head match.
  • Best record against common opponents (based on Victory Points)
  • An eight or four board match.

Registration with the District GNT Coordinator for the GNT event will open starting Friday afternoon and close 30 minutes prior to the announced starting time on Saturday.  All entrants must check in with the Director in Charge no later than fifteen (15) minutes before game time on Saturday.

PLAYER SUBSTITUTION RULES:  In the event of an emergency, a team may substitute a player at the District Final subject to the following conditions:

  • Unit level “Player Substitution Rules” apply.
  • A substitute may play in both days of the District Finals if the emergency warrants such actions. Such occurrences will be handled on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the District Coordinator.

FOLLOWING THE DISTRICT FINALS:

  • No player may be replaced on a team without their consent.
  • A winning team must field a minimum of three (3) original members; otherwise the next placing team shall receive the subsidy to compete in the National Event.

TEAM SUBSTITUTION RULES: If a winning team decides for any reason not to participate at the National Event, the team captain must immediately notify the District Coordinator about the team’s withdrawal. The captain of the withdrawn team is responsible for ensuring that any subsidy received by the team is returned promptly to the District Coordinator. The second place team from the District 15 Finals will be substituted for the withdrawn team. This process will continue through the (up to) top four finishers in order in the affected Flight until a team wishing to participate in the National Event is found. The second place team (of three) will be the team which lost by the fewest IMPs in the round robin final. The third place team (of four) will be that team which lost by the fewest IMPs in the semifinal matches. If this procedure results in a tie, the third place team will be designated as the team which lost to the Flight champion in the semifinal match. If no team in the top four finishers of the Flight wants to participate in the National Event, no team will be sent by District 15 to the Nationals from that Flight.

If the substituted team wishes to augment their team, they will be encouraged but not required to augment using willing players from the withdrawn team(s) that placed ahead of them in the District final.

AUGMENTATION:  After a team has won their Flight at the District level, they may augment their team to a maximum of six (6) members, subject to the following provisions.

  • The player(s) must be a member in good standing of the ACBL and a member of District 15.
  • The player(s) must meet the eligibility requirements of the Flight involved.
  • Subsidies provided the District is for a team of four (4). No additional subsidy will be provided for teams with more than four members.

STIPEND:  District 15 will provide stipends for each team representing our district at the National Finals. The total amount of any stipend will be determined annually by the District Board, based on available funds collected specifically for this event.  These funds will be shared equally among the four flights participating at the National Finals.  If any team from any flights(s) does not participate in the GNT National finals, their stipend will not be awarded.

Any stipend(s) not awarded will be rolled over for use in following years allocations.  In the event that a stipend has been paid and a team subsequently decides not to participate at the National GNT Finals, that team is responsible for returning the full amount of the stipend to District 15.  The returned stipend will be rolled over as described above.

SUMMARY

LEVEL DATES DISTRICT FEES ACBL Fees
Club Sept 1, 2019 thru January 31, 2020 $6.75/table* $1.25/table
Unit Feb 1, 2020 thru Feb 23, 2020 $6.75/table $1.25/table
District Mar 7-8, 2020 OKC Regional $8.00/table $1.25/table

Table fees are payable to “DISTRICT 15″ mailed to Ron Traudt, 944 N Toh N Hah Trl, Wichita, KS 67212.

All game results in .TXT format must be e-mailed to ronltr@aol.com.