State & national championships
Bridge NSW conducts numerous events that are open to players in all its affiliated clubs. We would like to remind you of these events and encourage you to participate.
State and National Championships in your club
State Events
- State Mixed Pairs (incorporating the Country Mixed Pairs Championship)
- State Seniors Championships
- State Open Pairs (incorporating the Country Open Pairs Championship)
- John Arkinstall State Teams (incorporating the Country Teams Championship)
- State Individual
- State Wide Pairs
- State Under 100 Masterpoints Championships
- State Restricted and Novice Pairs
- State Restricted and Novice Teams
- State Veterans Pairs
- State Veterans Teams
Grand National Open Teams (GNOT)
The GNOT is an Australia-wide event conducted by the Australian Bridge Federation Inc (ABF). It is the only opportunity for players to earn Gold Masterpoints in their local club. Bridge NSW is responsible for the conduct of all GNOT heats in NSW.
Running a congress
Organising a Congress
The following document is provided to assist organisers in the running of a congress.
Organising a Congress Updated 5 October, 2023
Contacts
- Congress and State Events Coordinator – Mel Miante ✉ office@bridgensw.com.au
Contact Mel for all queries relating to the calendar. - NSW Masterpoint Secretary (Congresses and State Events) – David Weston ✉ masterpoints@nswba.com.au
Super Congresses must be approved each year by the State Masterpoint Secretary.
Congress Directors
Congress events require a director of Grade C1 or higher. Super Congress events (Grade B3 masterpoints) require a director of Grade B or higher.
Applications, Conditions, Fees and Masterpoints
Clubs are invited to apply for congresses, holidays or cruises in the year preceding the date of the event. The forms are completed online and submitted to the Congress Coordinator. The Congress Conditions and the instructions for payment of fees and submission of results for masterpointing are detailed in the Congress Conditions letter.
The Application Letter, Online Application Form, Congress Conditions and Congress Report Form are available at:
Organising and Running an Online Congress
The dates for all online congresses must be approved by the Congress Coordinator. In case of clashes, priority will be given to clubs that had a face-to-face congress scheduled for the same date.
Following ABF guidelines, the NSWBA has published regulations governing the running of online congresses.
NSWBA Rules for Online Congresses Updated January 10, 2022
The ABF has published regulations for all online players.
BBO
BBO has a maximum section size of 49 tables in Swiss Pairs. If there are more than 49 tables BBO will split the field into two sections causing a problem with Masterpointing and Scoring. Swiss Pairs events should be limited to 49 tables or steps taken to run separate events e.g. Open and Restricted. Please contact Ronnie Ng for advice.
Note that scheduling a lunch break using BBO is not trivial – make sure your Director is au fait with how it’s done.
Approvals for Bridge Holidays outside NSW
It is a requirement that when a bridge event, including a Bridge Holiday, is to be held outside the state from which the event is being organised, that approval must be obtained from both the originating and host state’s Association/Federation.
For example if a Tasmanian organiser wishes to hold an event in the Northern Territory, approval of the TBA and NTBA must be sought.
- Approval of events originating outside NSW rests with the Chairman of the Bridge NSW Events Committee.
- For events originating in NSW but held outside NSW, it is the organiser’s responsibility to gain permission from that State’s designated Authority.
Brochures
Brochures for congresses and holidays must be mailed or emailed to the office of Bridge NSW. Also, original versions of the brochures, e.g. Word, Publisher or a PDF file from your printing firm should be emailed to webmaster@bridgensw.com.au for inclusion on the Calendar page. Scanned copies of brochures in jpg format or similar will not be posted.
eCongress News
Bridge NSW supports the congress scene with a newsletter.
Please send stories about your congresses to office@bridgensw.com.au
Past issues of the NSWBA eCongress newsletter are available here.
Entries
All entries should be displayed online. An online entry facility that was previously provided by the NSWBA is no longer available. It is now recommended that clubs use the facilities provided by My ABF.
Results
The event director should upload full results to the Congress website or a similar site or, if that is not possible, email them to webmaster@bridgensw.com.au. The link to the results should also be added to the relevant Events Calendar page.
Player Behaviour
Congress players are expected to be ethical and courteous at all times and as such are subject to the NSWBA’s Congress Disciplinary Regulations. Reported breaches of acceptable behaviour are investigated and dealt with by the Congress Disciplinary and Ethics Committee (CDEC) committee drawn from a panel representing each zone in the state.
NSWBA’s Congress Disciplinary Regulations
Congress forms & conditions
Congress Applications
Clubs are invited to apply for congresses, holidays or cruises in the year preceding the congress. The forms are completed online and submitted to the Congress Coordinator. Consult the Application Letter below for more details.
Congress/Holiday/Cruise Application Form
Forms and Conditions – 2024
Calendar
A schedule of the club’s proposed sessions, which will usually be based on the previous year’s programme, should be produced each year. Clubs need to be aware of the tournament hierarchy that exists. The dates for the major national championships (ABF Licensed Events) are set first, followed by Bridge NSW’s major state championships, followed by congresses held by the affiliated clubs. It is the job of Bridge NSW’s Congress Co-ordinator to receive requests for congresses from the clubs and construct a yearly calendar that minimises clashes between nearby congresses, State, ABF and international events.
The dates for these events are shown on Bridge NSW’s calendar pages. When setting their yearly programme of club events, clubs should particularly note the dates of nearby congresses, major bridge events and public holidays that are likely to affect their members.
Masterpoints
Masterpoints are issued by clubs for each session of bridge held. Each club is allowed to hold a certain number of B4c sessions that attract red masterpoints and can be used for the club’s major championships. The Club List on the Masterpoint Centre’s website displays your club’s yearly B4c allowance.
ABF Masterpoint Centre Club List
State Championships
In addition, there are a number of State Championship events run by Bridge NSW that begin with qualifying sessions in the affiliated clubs. These are run under Bridge NSW’s B or B4s allowance. They are the best way (cheaper and with higher weighting) to run club sessions that award red masterpoints. The relevant state events are listed on Bridge NSW’s State events page.
GNOT
Each club is also eligible to hold heats for the GNOT. This is the only event on the calendar that allows clubs to award Gold masterpoints.
Regulations
Each club needs a system of rules that govern how the game is played in the club. These are the club’s Tournament Regulations. Like the Laws, they set out correct procedures and what to do if there is an irregularity.
It is important to note that no regulation may conflict with the Laws of Bridge. For example, the Laws specifically allow the use of psychic bids, so no club regulation can prohibit them.
2017 Laws of Duplicate Bridge, Commentary on the Laws & Laws Committee Minutes
At a minimum, a club needs the following:
- Tournament Regulations
- Bidding System Regulations
- Alerting Regulations
- Appeals Regulations
- A Rules and Ethics Committee
Congress Disciplinary & Ethics Committee
Congress players are expected to be ethical and courteous at all times and as such are subject to the NSWBA’s Congress Disciplinary Regulations.
NSWBA’s Congress Disciplinary Regulations Updated 3 July 2019
Reported breaches of acceptable behaviour are investigated and dealt with by the Congress Disciplinary and Ethics Committee (CDEC) drawn from a panel representing each zone in the state.
CDEC Complainant Guidlines Updated 1 October, 2019
The CDEC consists of the following people:
| Zone | Representative |
|---|---|
| Outer Metropolitan | Peter Peterson ✉ peter.peterson@newcastle.edu.au Tamara Schwarz ✉ tammyschwarz53@hotmail.com Jim Fitz-Gerald ✉ jimfitzgeraldoz@gmail.com |
| North | Janet Brown ✉ janetbefore@gmail.com Deborah McLay ✉ mcldeb@icloud.com |
| South and West | Jane North ✉ robert.north@sydney.edu.au Kaye Hart ✉ kaye.hart3@icloud.com Anne Tonna ✉ atonna@lisp.com.au |
| Metropolitan | George Finikiotis (Chairman) ✉ george.finikiotis@bigpond.com David Fryda ✉ dbfryda@gmail.com Peter Jeffery ✉ peterm_jeffery@hotmail.com |
