| 1 Entries | |
| 1.1 | Clubs which are members of the League may enter any number of teams. |
| 1.2 | A captain must be nominated for each team and his address with home and daytime phone numbers must be sent to the League Secretary with the entry. |
| 1.3 | Entries must be made to the League Secretary by mid-June (the actual closing date will be announced during the League AGM each year). |
| 1.4 | An entry fee (to be determined by the Committee) will be charged for each team and is payable with the entry. |
| 2 Teams | |
| 2.1 | A team may consist of any number of players but only four players may take part in any one match. |
| 2.2 | No player may play for more than one team. |
| 3 The Draw | |
| 3.1 | The draw will be made in July, pairings for the subsequent rounds being determined by the position in this draw. The lower numbered team in the draw will be the home team. |
| 3.2 | There will be no seeding. |
| 3.3 | The rounds must be completed by the dates specified by the Committee when the draw is published. |
| 4 The Handicap | |
| 4.1 | Each player will be allocated a handicap in IMPs depending on the division of the League in which he/she played most matches in the previous season. If a player plays an equal number of matches for two teams the handicap for the team in the higher division applies. There will be an adjustment of -2 IMPs if that team was first or second in its division and +2 IMPs if that team was last or next to last in its division. The members of the team holding the Cup each have an additional handicap of 2 IMPs. |
| 4.2 | The League Committee will publish a list of players and their handicaps at the start of each season. At any time after the start of the season, a player not on this list may apply to the Committee for a handicap. The Committee will base the handicap on the divisions the player has played in during the current season and/or their knowledge of the ability of that player. If a player plays in a Cup match without applying for a handicap he/she will have a handicap of zero IMPs. |
| 4.2 | The handicap for a Division 1 player will be zero IMPs. The handicap for a Division 2 player will be two IMPs. The handicap for a Division 3 player will be four IMPs. The handicap for a Division 4 player will be six IMPs. The handicap for a Division 5 player will be eight IMPs. The handicap for a Division 6 player will be ten IMPs. |
| 4.3 | The handicap of the team will be the sum of the handicaps of the four players selected for that match. The team with the higher handicap subtracts the handicap of the other team from their own handicap and adds 10 to determine the number of IMPs which they add to their actual IMP score at the end of the match. |
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[Thus if a team of four Division 3 players (handicap | |
| 5 Matches | |
| 5.1 | Matches will consist of 24 boards. In exceptional circumstances
(e.g. a very late start) only 20 boards may be played with the handicap being reduced
by one sixth (rounded down).
One pair of the home team play 12 boards against one of the pairs of the away team and the other 12 boards against the other pair of the away team. The away team players remain in the same seats for both halves of the match. |
| 5.2 | If required, the home captain must announce his/her pairs seating for the first 12 boards before the away captain decides his/her pairs seating. |
| 5.3 | The Competition is played under the Rules of the English Bridge Union. Only those systems and conventions currently specified by the English Bridge Union for Level 3 may be used. |
| 6 Scoring | |
| 6.1 | Scoring will be by IMPs. One IMP constitutes a winning margin. |
| 6.2 | If the scores are equal after 24 boards then one set of four additional boards
will be played. For these boards, the team receiving the handicap will have
one sixth of their original handicap (rounded down) and also will have choice
of seating (that is, which of the opponents pairs each of their pairs plays for
the four boards).
If, after these extra boards, the result is still a draw, a replay must be arranged as soon as possible. In the replay, the venue is at the discretion of the captains but the requirements on the home captain of Rule 5.2 revert to the original away captain. |
| 6.3 | Scores can be compared after 12 and 24 boards. |
| 7 Arranging matches | |
| 7.1 | Arranging match dates will be left to the team captains. The home team captain must offer three dates to the opposing captain to ensure the match is played by the required date. The dates must be in at least two different weeks and at least two different weekday evenings must be offered. |
| 7.2 | To assist captains in their arrangement of first round matches, one week in November will have no League matches scheduled. |
| 7.3 | If the match is to be held in a private house, either team can require that one, but not both, of the playing rooms be designated a non-smoking room and shall inform the opposing captain accordingly when agreeing the arrangements for the match in accordance with Rule 7.1. |
| 8 Results | |
| 8.1 | A result card must be completed. This must list the names of the players of each team and the scores of the match (stating the actual IMPs and the handicap). It must be signed by both captains and the winning captain must send it to the Match Secretary within 48 hours of the match. |
| 8.2 | As the rules of the EBU master point system forbid the award of master points for handicap events, no master points will be gained by the players of the team winning any match. |
Updated July 1998