Getting a mix of formats at EBU/county competitions

495670 · September 13

Thinking about in-person events, at present, almost all county and EBU congress events follow a very limited range of scoring methods, those being:

Swiss Pairs (1 day, occasionally 2 days)
Swiss Teams (1 day)
MP Pairs (relatively rare)
Multiple Teams

Congresses attract the same people every time and very rarely inspire club players (or indeed people who don't have a local club) to play.

Interestingly one of the most popular events, the Spring Fours, is one of very few to follow a completely different format! Llanbrighton (Oliver Cowan) is not quite as popular and follows the same range of scoring methods but with it marketed in a different way. There are also some invitational events for county winners (Pachabo/Tollemache) and club winners (e.g. National Pairs) which have their own attractions.

During Covid, a hugely popular event was an online GP charitable event which, given its one-off nature and limited alternatives, brought in numbers not seen for several years (either side!). Shortly afterwards, BAMSA had their Pro-Am event which was equally unique and had a special feel to it.

There are lots of things/ideas I'd love to see incorporated into an EBU / county-run / Oliver Cowan congress, indeed some sort of LIV-style approach where we just try lots of new ideas to try and find a format that feels refreshed, inspiring and genuinely new. Currently I don't see anything that offers 'new' to players, something that would bring in younger generations or bring disenfranchised club players and offer an experience as opposed to a pure competition. Ideas for things that need 'refreshing' or considering (for the moment excluding the financial/logistical considerations) are:

Venue - Eastbourne excluded perhaps, lots of events are held at relatively uninspiring hotels which makes it an unattractive proposition for less strong players. Some county events just take place at local bridge clubs and just aren't really county events anymore. Transport links do of course need factoring in.
Target Audience - Needs to be an event where strong (Ace+) players will still want to attend for the niche factor but primarily with a focus on county and club-level players, where a whole club could say we're not playing this Friday because we're having an away weekend at this event. Genuine incentives for clubs to put forward several pairs is important here.
Cross-collaboration - Bringing together events that currently have completely non overlapping target audiences is a way to build up a critical mass, show the number of people that play bridge whilst not taking away existing successful events is really important. The Junior Bridge Camp alongside an open event and then one of the Premier League weekends would bring almost completely different target audiences into one place (as a somewhat far-fetched example; I'm aware the JBC has safeguarding consideration so the Junior Camrose/Peggy Bayer might feel more manageable). The Premier League just in its own right is expanding to 4 divisions but is currently played in lots of small venues which again feels uninspiring and an opportunity missed. Bridge is not the only mindsport and surely a cross-collaboration, well marketed event that gets traction in the press with chess (if not one or two others) builds a wider network of players for both sports. I'm not currently aware of any collaboration (except maybe at the YC) between chess and bridge which feels like a lost opportunity.
Prizes - For most EBU events, the prizes even for the winners don't cover entry + travel. A prize that was more of a 'money can't buy', e.g. Andrew Robson or similar hosting an event at your club, might be more effective, and having spot prizes through the field that anyone feels they can win!
Masterpoints - The current scale needs a bit of a revamp, it was designed in days where events had many more tables and so many masterpoint ranks that were previously attainable aren't achievable anymore.
Format - Arguably my biggest frustration from above is that so few events utilise any sort of innovation in format. In Sweden they have an event not dissimilar to the old 2* Pairs (with lots of short Swiss rounds on the Saturday but then lots of separate finals on the Sunday). Swiss Pairs is currently often just six 8s or seven 7s, but at the JBCs they effectively use five 25-minute rounds (with no penalties at all for skipped boards, unless you've only played one) with the right to skip one round. If you had eight 30-minute rounds then you'd mean that better pairs can play 4 or 5 boards in a match, inexperienced club players can happily work through 3 boards without fear of being chased and could choose to sit-out a round and take 6 or 8 VPs while they get a drink at the bar. Lots of congresses are super focused on just being competitions, whereas offering more flexibility in that way is hardly burdensome for the TD, doesn't impact the winners and makes the event more enjoyable. The last couple of rounds could be a reduced field for maybe the top half, while the other half of the room get a seminar option, and there could be a speedball or similar afterwards for the keen. If you have enough of a critical mass then existing bridge players could bring family members along to a training course running concurrently; they can meet up throughout the weekend and maybe can play in a small event at the end of the weekend together!
Scoreboards - A minor point but the existing scoreboards / ranking lists are black and white notepad files, having a GUI that creates something visual with clearly presented leaders of stratified groups would again be more inspiring. The Spring Fours already utilises this but it hasn't been rolled out more widely.
TDs - We now have a dozen or so trained junior TDs from a recent course, if anything marks the start of a refresh then the people hosting is a good start!

Maybe this is an article for me to write for the EBU magazine and see if anyone shows an interest, but it feels like even incorporating just a handful (say the format, scoreboards and TDs points) of the points above, even just for a one-off with some level of subsidy, could show the bridge and wider world of what bridge could look like. However, I'd be interested to hear if anyone is on a similar wavelength. None of the above is intended to be a moan at anyone or the EBU to be clear, rather a picture of how we can make bridge look attractive and it feels like such an event should be possible, maybe with Oliver Cowan's or BAMSA's or similar support. Thank you for reading and looking forward to hearing if anyone has any thoughts.