Rules for Competition

  1. The Dougal McLean Pairs, Victoria Pairs and Thursday afternoon Club Pairs are all played with the same partner over ten sessions from which the best eight scores will be counted. The regular partnership must play in at least six sessions, so up to two sessions played with a substitute may be counted to make up the eight scores. If (ten or) nine sessions have been played the (two) lowest of these scores may be dropped.
  2. For three and four session pairs events all scores are counted, except for any Random Draw Individual (currently Wednesdays only) where only the best three scores are counted.
  3. Where a member plays out of his/her normal graded night, the following rules will apply:
    a. The member will qualify for an event in his or her own grade when playing with a partner from a lower grade and the lower graded player will qualify for C Points if earned.
    b. Where a Tuesday night player plays on a Monday or Wednesday, the pair will still qualify for C Points, but after the specified penalty (effectively an out-of grade handicap - see Substitutions & Penalties) has been imposed.
    c. Where a member invites a guest from outside the Club the member will still qualify for C Points, and the guest also if he or she provides a valid NZ Bridge number.
    d. Should a member be requested by the Club Manager to play with a visitor to the Club the member will qualify for the event and for C Points.
    e. No player from Monday or Wednesday may play on a Tuesday night more than six times a year (other than the three nights of the Individual Open Pairs, the three Holiday Pairs and the three nights of the Wilkinson Individual).
    f.  No Tuesday night player is permitted to play on a Wednesday more than twice per year; playing for a third or subsequent session will result in disqualification for the pair or team involved.
    g. A Tuesday night player ranked by NZ Bridge as Intermediate or Open is permitted to play on a Monday not more than six times per year; on each occasion the pair’s score will count for the night in question (e.g. if playing as a substitute) but the pair will not qualify for any overall placing or prizes in any Monday event. The score will not count for promotion purposes.  Out-of-grade penalties will apply in all instances.
    h. Tuesday night player ranked by NZ Bridge as Junior is permitted to play on a Monday without limit; on each occasion the pair’s score will count for the night in question (e.g. if playing as a substitute) but the pair will not qualify for any overall placing or prizes in any Monday event. The score will not count for promotion purposes. Out-of-grade penalties will apply in all instances.
    i. Each Monday or Wednesday player playing in the Wilkinson Individual will receive a 4% handicap advantage each session, which will apply to both players of the pair.
  4. To play in the Wellesley Pairs a pair must be made up of a Tuesday/Monday or Tuesday/Wednesday combination.
  5. Visitors may play three times at the most during a year but will not qualify for prizes.
  6. If there is a default in the Gladys Palmer Teams, the defaulting team will be awarded zero VP and the team they defaulted to a minimum of 15 VP and a maximum of 25 VP, calculated as follows: 15 plus opponents’ handicap minus own handicap.
  7. Ties in teams events will be broken in accordance with the Tie Breaking Procedures in the latest NZ Bridge Manual.
  8. Scores are published on the morning following play; they are displayed on the club’s notice boards and also posted to the club’s website www.victoriabridge.co.nz. The full set of travelling score sheets, hand records, result slips, etc for each session are held by the Club Manager and are available for inspection.
  9. Any player who becomes aware of an error in his/her own agreed-upon score or suspects an error in the published tabulated scores must notify the director or the Club Manager as promptly as is reasonably possible. Any request for a change of published scores must be lodged before the start of play of the corresponding day/night of the following week.