Australia-Wide
Novice Pairs
25-31 May

Frequently Asked Questions

CLUBS

Q: Who can play in the event?
A: All players should have fewer than 100 masterpoints as at 31 March (Novice Pairs) or fewer than 300 masterpoints as at 31 August (Restricted Pairs). The Open Pairs is open to all players.

We will make exceptions for small clubs on request. For example, a player with around 120 MP, partnering a player with fewer than 20 MP, would be appropriate if required to avoid a two-and-a-half table game with a six-board sitout. Such exceptions must be cleared with the convenor, and these pairs will have their scores capped at 11th-place (ie. they are not eligible to win the event or qualify for prizes). 

Also, it is fine to have non-contending pairs included in the field if you have insufficient numbers to separate the novices from the non-novices. Just let us know who the non-contending pairs are when you submit the results. Players can participate at two different clubs with explicit permission from the organiser at the second club, but only as a non-contending pair (scores not included in the national results, and no entry fee is charged). Also, we insist that if you do play at two clubs, you sit in a different direction at your second session.

Any player who is not an ABF member is welcome to play, as long as it is reasonable for that player to be called a novice. We depend on the local heat organiser to make this call, and we also reserve the right to disqualify any player who we believe should not be in a novice event (for example, someone who has been playing regularly at a non-affiliated club for 30 years).   

Q: How many boards should we play?
A: It doesn't matter how many boards you play. Most clubs generally play 26 or 27, but a few clubs play all 36 boards (some of the larger regional clubs cater a lunch, to make a full day of it). Clubs with mostly new players might just play 18 or 21 boards.

Q: What movement should we use?
A: Literally any movement is fine; just treat this like a normal club game. However, we do recommend that you take care to avoid having all of your best players sitting in the same direction, as this will give those players an unfair advantage.

We reserve the right to remove individual boards in cases where a club has attempted to manipulate their results or their field strength (for example, by sitting all of their top pairs in the same direction).

To earn a place in the national top ten, a pair must have played against at least four different opponents. In other words, if you have three tables or two and a half tables, you must play a Howell in order to win the event or qualify for prizes. Clubs failing to meet that condition (that is, three-table Mitchells and all two-table games) will still be included in the results, but will have their pairs' scores capped at 11th-place. 

Q: How do we submit the results?
A: Go to our upload page which has a full set of instructions, assisting you to automatically transfer your result file directly to our web server. Alternatively, you can email the result file to us if you already know how to produce it.
Compscore users: please ensure that your results file includes scores for each board, and not just the summary of names. If you are unsure how to do this, please phone Brad on 0412335840 and I'll be happy to help. It will be simplest if you do this immediately after the game (even for night games).

Q: How do we process the masterpoints?
A: Your club should award green points just like in a normal session. We will award the red points after the event has finished.

PLAYERS

Q: Where can I play in the Australia-Wide Pairs?
A: If your home club isn't participating, contact us for a list of participating clubs in your area.

Q: How do I see my results?
A: Once your club has submitted your scores, your results will be published here. Choose your club and your name from the drop-down box, and you will be taken to a special results booklet with all kinds of information about your personal results. Hand records, detailed result analysis and travelling scoreslips will be added to the booklet as soon as the last club has completed play.

Q: Does the event use specially selected deals, or are they random?
A: For the Open Pairs, the boards were all randomly computer-generated under the same conditions that are used in all Australian national events. There are no specially designed or selected hands.

In the Novice Pairs, we occasionally remove hands that we feel are too complicated or too wild for Novice players (for example, our deal generator is instructed to not include eight-card suits). However, in most cases the deals were originally dealt randomly (although in some cases we have been known to drop in a couple of deals from a recently published textbook).

Q: Why is my final score lower (or higher) than the score I was originally given?
A: Once the event has been scored across 500 tables, your score will be different than when it was scored across ten tables. The difference may be as much as 10%, because every result from each of the other 500 pairs will have an effect on your score. There is a more detailed explanation here. There is a simple, more visual explanation, here, and a full magazine article on the subject here. If you are checking the results booklet regularly, which I recommend, you can actually watch your scores fluctuate as each new club submits their results.

Q: What do I do if I find a scoring error?
A: Email us at mail@australianbridge.com and let us know what happened. Scores that we believe are obviously incorrect will first be listed on the main event web page, and some will be automatically averaged if no one explains them. Non-obvious errors can only be corrected after confirmation from your director, or from a player who benefited from the error.  

There is no official deadline for reporting scoring errors or masterpoint errors. We value accuracy ahead of regulations; if an error is reported, it will be corrected. However, there will be no changes to the top ten positions after the results have been published, and no changes to the allocation of physical prizes. At the point when the final results are emailed to the clubs (by which time the list of likely scoring errors will have been on display for over a week) all prizes are final. 

Q: Are non-affiliated players eligible for prizes?
A: You do not need to be an ABF member to play in the event. However, to win prizes you need to be either (a) a current member of an ABF-affiliated club, or (b) a current Grand Slam player with a rating no higher than 47 (novice) or 50 (restricted).

Q: How do I know if I won a prize in the event?
A: If you were in the top 25 pairs overall, you have probably won some kind of prize, and there are also some extra spot prize winners mentioned in the results booklet. We will have already notified your club, but ultimately we will need your email address so that we can send you a link to the prize selection page. There is a limit of one prize package per person; you don't get one prize for winning the event and a separate prize for being a restricted pair who won the event.

Q: Can I combine my prize points with my partner?
A: Yes, there may be advantages to doing this. You can also combine points with any other prize winner, if they are willing to do so.

Q: How are the spot prizes awarded?
A: There are four prizes each on six selected deals. On those boards two pairs will receive a prize for meeting the goals specified in the souvenir booklet. The two pairs will be calculated according to the formula on page 22 of the souvenir booklet (based on scores calculated two days after the final day of play, even if the scores are not complete at that time). Additionally, there are a couple of spot prizes for selected pairs who achieve a unique top board on any board – these prizes will be personally chosen by the convenor.

Q: Why are the calculations for the spot prizes so complicated?
A: In the first year that we added these prizes, each prize went to the eligible pair closest to 52%, and closest to 56% (the aim being to give some prizes to the pairs who did not make the leaderboard). However, this resulted in several of the prizes going to the same pair. We now use a formula that spreads the prizes across the field, with each prize having a different target score.

Q: How do I claim the special offers mentioned in the souvenir booklet?
A: Click on the link on Page One of your online results booklet (see main results page).

Q: Are there any regulations that are not covered in this document?
A: Our main FAQ document (Open Pairs) applies in any case not covered by this document. In cases where this document explicitly conflicts with FAQ.htm, this document takes precedence.