BCL Improvers Tournament - play 16 boards against others who play bridge online

Coming Next	Opens	Closes	Opens In
Improvers Tourney	Wednesday December 11 19:50 PM GMT	Wednesday December 11 23:14 PM GMT	1 day 12 hours 10 mins
Improvers Tourney	Sunday December 15 19:50 PM GMT	Sunday December 15 23:14 PM GMT	5 days 12 hours 10 mins

The Improvers Tourney comprises 16 boards.

This BCL tournament is for Clubs, Diamonds and Non Rated Players.

Entry is via walk-in only. Players have to arrive on time, look for a partner in the Lobby or the Room, both players take a seat in the Improvers Tourney room and submit/confirm an SSD. The server will combine partnerships who are thus "ready to play".

TIP: Once an SSD has been submitted and confirmed then both players are "ready to play". If you accidentally cancel the "ready status" then quickly press "ready" to correct this.

The room opens 10 minutes before play commences, to enter you must be seated at a full table by then. All times are shown in GMT.

Once you have started board 1, the server will announce after each round at which table you will be next playing and against who then move you automatically to the next table. If you do not see opponents or they are in the lobby of the room, this means the next players/table are still playing - just wait and the server will move you as soon as it is practical.

Players cannot join the event once auto-movement is confirmed ten minutes after the room opens (unless a player/table requires a substitute).

PPI will change based on the results of the 16 boards.

There is a yearly competition.

The Common Situations described below will provide further information.

Common Situations

You try to join a table where there are two players sitting opposite each other, but server puts you on another table.	The server will combine partnerships to form a complete table. Find a partner seated at an empty table, submit/confirm an SSD, and the server will do the rest.
You sit at a table, have a partner but nothing happens.	An SSD must be submitted and confirmed. If you have done this and still nothing happens, then there are no other pairs who have submitted and confirmed an SSD yet.
There are three players at a table, and the fourth player has not arrived.	The fourth player has a slow connection and the server cannot "grab" the player and seat at the right chair. Occasionally, the problem is caused by a player who has left the club, returns to the room, in which case the server considers the member as no longer playing in this event. This player has to join his/her partner manually.
I have helped out for a board or two, the original player is now back but I cannot leave the Improvers Tourney - every time I go to the lobby, I find myself sitting down at a table in the Improvers Tourney.	When the auto-movement is set, the server will move players until each player has finished all 16 boards (at the right table and seat). The only way to leave the Improvers Tourney before finishing 16 boards is to "Exit the Club".
I am at a table but there are no opponents.	Usually this is because your opponents are still playing the previous boards. Once they have finished this/those board(s), the server will move them.
I am waiting in the lobby of the room - why won’t server seat me?	Usually this is because the table that you will be going to is still playing. Once they have finished, the server will move them off and move you onto the table. Sometimes, it is because a walk-in player has seen the seat believing it to be available and sat down. The server will show a warning message at the table saying "You are expecting XX and YY, this member does not have a seating plan - is this a reserve player." Opponents should double-check, and if both XX and YY are still playing at their former table or sitting in the Lobby , it is almost certain that the player/pair has/have "gate-crashed". Please ask gate-crashers to leave, so that the proper players can be seated Occasionally, it is because you have a very slow connection and the server cannot "grab" you.
I wanted to say goodbye to my opponents, but the server has already moved me off that table.	The server allows a minimum period of 20 seconds after the last board in a round has finished before the server starts to move players. We do not set this too high, as the time taken to move all four players varies but typically takes another 30 seconds.
My partner has been disconnected - how long do I wait?	Presently the server will inform the table after 1 minute and hold a seat for someone who is disconnected for 2 minutes. If your partner has still not returned within that time, unless you are very confident partner will be returning imminently, please start advertising for a substitute player or the server will do it automatically.
I played 15 boards and my name is not on the leaderboard.	The setting is such that you have to play all 16 boards in order to receive Online Master Points (OMP’s). Under exceptional circumstances, then it may be possible to look into cases where players through no fault of their own are unable to play 16 boards.
Opponents bid 1 club and are playing SAYC but this was not alerted.	The alerting rules in this room follow WBF which means that 1 club or 1 diamond may be three card suits and these bids do not need to be alerted. For more details - see the web-site under Information/Bridge/Alerting.

Other Details

The room closes 2 hours 14 minutes after opening so there is plenty of time to finish 16 boards. Typically the 16 boards take under two hours.
Please make all reasonable efforts to finish 16 boards in a session. Players who leave in the middle of a session cause major delays to other players and it mars an otherwise relaxing session.
When first seated at a table, please inform opponents of your system including range of your 1 no trump opening and your discards/signals. Conventional bids have to be alerted as per WBF alerting rules.
Kibitzing is generally not allowed.

Fine Details

The algorithm for defining the auto-movement is somewhat complicated.

10 minutes after the room opens the server counts the number of full tables.
If there are three or more tables, then auto-movement is confirmed and play can commence. If there are less than three tables, then the session is cancelled.
The tables are then grouped into mini-clusters of either three, four, five or six tables.
The tables are sorted according to table number and selected based on this order. Where two pairs are merged into one table, usually the lower numbered table is chosen.
Within each section you will follow a Howell Movement and some boards are arrow-switched.
At the end of each round, the server will tell each pair where it will play and against whom.