SOUTH CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONTRACT BRIDGE LEAGUE

Constitution as revised July 1999

1. The League shall be called the South Cambridgeshire Contract Bridge League and is approved by the EBU. Its aim is to encourage interest in competitive bridge at club level.
   
   
2. The League shall be managed by a Committee consisting of one delegate from each constituent club.
   
   
3. A Secretary shall be elected at the beginning of each season by the Committee.
   
   
4. In view of the small expenditure to run the League no entrance fee nor annual subscription shall be required of member clubs.
   
   At the end of the season the Secretary shall submit his expenses (which should be nominal - ie postage and stationery) and these shall be reimbursed to him by the county association.
   
   
5. The League competition shall take place within the period 1st October to mid-April.
   
   
6. At a meeting called by the Secretary in September clubs shall mutually arrange the dates and times of their fixtures within the above period.
   
   
7. A club's fixtures shall be alternately home one season and away the next with each of the other clubs in the League.
   
   
8. A fixture shall consist of 4 pairs per club playing as a team of 8, each pair playing in turn the 4 pairs of the opposing team. It shall be played over 24 boards, in 4 rounds of 6 boards each, with a score-check at half-time.
   
   The visiting team, N/S at alternate tables, remain seated throughout the match.
   
   Initially, boards 1-6 are shared between tables 1 and 2 and boards 7-12 between tables 3 and 4.
   
   After 6 boards have been played, the home pairs at tables 1 and 2 change over and play boards 7-12: the home pairs at tables 3 and 4 also change over and play boards 1-6.
   
   After the interval and score-check the home pairs at tables 1 and 2 change over with those at tables 3 and 4 and the previous sequence is repeated with boards 13-24.
   
   
9. The results of each match shall be converted to Victory Points according to the scale in paragraph 80.17 of the EBU Supplement to the "EBL Tournament Directors' Guide" with the following variation:
   
   

   IMP difference		VPs
   0-3		10-10
   4-5		11-9

   
   Ties in the final table at the end of the season shall be broken by VP count.
   
   The winning club shall be that scoring 11 VPs or more and shall be awarded 2 points in the league table. Where the IMP difference is 3 or less the match shall count as a draw and each side shall be awarded one league point.
   
   
10. It shall be the duty of the home team to inform the Secretary as soon as possible of a match result by written note or score-card signed by a member of each team showing the result and the members of each team.
    
    
11. If a club has to scratch a fixture the offending side will score no VPs. The non-offending side shall be credited with a win and, at the end of the season, be credited with a VP score for the fixture being the average of the average VPs scored and the average VPs scored against the offending club.
    
    
12. Generally, when a club requests a fixture to be postponed owing to very bad weather or for mutual convenience, a new fixture date shall be arranged.
    
    The fact that a club was unable to raise its strongest team for a fixture would not justify a postponement and if it is not possible to complete a match by the end of the season rule 11 shall apply.
    
    
13. No player shall represent a club unless he is a paid-up member of that club and a member of more than one club shall nominate his club for League matches at the beginning of the season. A player need not be a member of the EBU. No team shall include more than 2 players with a master point ranking of Regional Master or above; for this purpose a player's master point ranking shall be determined by reference to the latest annual list of master point rankings published by the English Bridge Union in August of each year.
    
    
14. The home club shall provide a Director for each fixture. The Director may be a team member.
    
    
15. Any complaint as to the decisions or conduct of a Director shall be put to the Committee via the Secretary.
    
    
16. Convention cards and hand record cards shall be obligatory (attention is drawn to the recent EBU reminder that both members of a partnership are required to provide a convention card and have it available at all times). Only systems and conventions having a Level 3 licence shall be played.
    
    
17. Play and procedure shall be governed by the latest (1997) edition of the "Laws of Duplicate Bridge" and such penalties as are laid down in these Laws shall be exacted.
    
    
18. The Secretary shall keep accurate records of the results and will provide up-to-date information to any team making a telephoned request.
    
    
19. The application of other bridge clubs of similar standard to join the League shall be submitted to the Committee for consideration.
    
    
20. The winning club shall award 54 local points to each member of the winning team. The following ranking awards (based on the final league ranking at the end of the season) should be made in addition to the awards for each match won:
    
    

    1st		108	local points
    2nd		54	local points

    
    Any player who has played a third or more of the boards in the season (in practice anyone who has played in three or more matches) qualifies for these ranking awards.
    
    Points may be recorded and awarded in total at the end of a season.