Merging online and face-to-face results: a level playing field?

NickKerry

The technical aspects of this topic are discussed here: https://www.ebu.co.uk/forum/discussion/1075/running-simultaneous-face-to-face-and-bbo-sessions-with-the-same-boards but there is concern in my bridge club (Clare) that this would be unfair because of a perceived that the playing field is not level between online and face-to-face players.

Online players are allowed (or able) to consult their convention cards during bidding, but face-to-face players cannot. However, online players are only playing other online players so the field is level for them, and similarly for face-to-face.

So can you advise whether this is a valid concern? We're hoping to merge results from two typically 7-table matches to create a 14-table match.

Paul_Gibbons

If you are in England the club is the Regulating Authority for its events so it can say that both events or neither event can consult their system cards.

However of much more of concern as far as fairness goes is the comparative sizes of the two fields and their comparative strengths.

You seem to suggest that your fields will be about the same size which is fine. If the fields are of significantly different sizes then the scores from the smaller field are likely to be significantly changed both up and down when they are merged with the larger field. You mat be familiar with this phenomenon in simultaneous pair when relative positions in the national event can be different from those in the club itself.

However of much greater importance is the relative strengths of the fields. Consider the position of two pairs of NGS 8s one playing in a field where the remaining players are all Aces and one playing in the field which otherwise consists of 2s. The latter will have much better results than the former and this will be reflected when the results are combined. Even some of the Aces will come out worse than some of the 2s. I seem to recall one of David Bird's Abbott stories where two the monks sneak off to play in the local village heat of the simultaneous pairs rather than play in the stronger monastry heat. It is the same principle.

So the most important factor in trying to make this work fairly is to try to make the fields of comparable strength and then of similar sizes.

Senior_Kibitzer

As Paul says.

I would mention that with Simultaneous Pairs events, NGS is based on your own club's heat only and not on the combined fields of all the clubs playing in the event. Normally with a club's hybrid event, NGS would be applied across the combined field. (NGS Full Guide FAQ 19 refers.)