Tournament Basics
What, Where, How, When, Why There is a description of a typical day at a bridge tournament in this series -- what to do, where to go, how to behave, when things happen, etc. A good idea would be to read the whole section through twice, then refer back to it as you need to.
Print out some of it to take to your first bridge tournament.
Don't be intimidated. Although there seems like a lot to know, it's largely just common sense about behavior in a room with many people, lots of movement and the conduct of a competitive game which is best played in quiet surroundings. Good manners will see you through without ever reading this section. However, knowing what to expect in advance will increase your fun and decrease any nervousness you might have about playing in your first tournament.
A Tournament Day. Plan for the whole day. Tournaments usually start about 1:00 in the afternoon, and finish about 11:30 at night. Some Senior Tournaments start and finish a couple of hours earlier. There'll be a dinner break, at a very early hour for normal dinners -- about 4:30 -- but that gets you into and out of restaurants before the crowds -- and you can get early Bird Specials, too.
Who Goes? You can go by yourself, if you plan to 'pick up a partner' -- or with your partner, or with your whole team. You need to know whether you plan to play in pairs or team events ahead of time, so you can plan to get your partners and teams lined-up.
Pairs And TeamsMost tournament events are for either a Pair (2 players) or a Team (4 to 6 players).
There are sometimes Individual Events but they aren't specifically covered in this book. In them, you play with a different partner each round -- an interesting and frantic experience.
Playing UpGenerally, you can always 'play up'. This means you can compete in events open to players with more master points than you, but you can't ever play down. For a pair, the one with the most master points determines the flight or strata your pair can play in. For example, if you have 349 master points and your partner has 120, your team can play in the 'B's (0 - 1000), but not in the 'C's (0 - 300).
Pairs CompositionA pair is, of course, two players. Usually, they may be mixed any way you choose, but, at big tournaments, there may be Men's Pairs, Women's Pairs, Senior Pairs, Unmixed Pairs, Mixed Pairs, Under 30 Pairs, Non-Life Master Pairs, etc.
When you enter a Pairs event, the same two players must play in both sessions. If you have a problem such as illness, consult with the Director as soon as possible for a ruling.
Team CompositionA Team is composed of four to six players, with four at a time in active play. To qualify for master points, you must play in 1/2 or more of your team's matches, but then everyone who plays gets all the master points - they aren't parceled out.
For example, if you can't play at night, you may still be able to play in a Swiss Team event by finding someone who will fill in the evening session for you. If you win, you both get the master points.
The Team Captain is responsible for seeing to it that each player plays the right number of matches.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved