EBU SERVICES 5 : Provision of regulations for competitions in England.
This thread is for any thoughts on what this service comprises, what qualitative aspects of it are important, of how important this is across the whole spectrum of services. See the last item on the MISSION thread for context.
Comments
I would very much endorse a multi-level view of regulations.
Social club
Competitive club/green points
Congress/national
International
Social clubs would perhaps offer averages more often, seldom penalties. Little/no reference to people's system cards (as most people don't bother) - with the assumption being basic ACOL and alert/announce anything not basic ACOL - the onus is on the players of non-ACOL systems on full disclosure.
I agree with Martin here. Half (2) of our (4) local clubs hover just inside the affiliating boundary.
Members so often say "I only come for a friendly game" and they are 100% confused by what they should announce and what they should alert.
For "Social Club bridge", remove the STOP card as it is 100% ignored (even playing TDs ignore the requirement to pause for about 10 seconds).
For "Social Club bridge", remove all announcements. That is the only way to get people back onto a sensible footing.
Players announcing "Benjy" when their partner opens 2C.
Players announcing "pre-empt" when their partner opens a 3-level bid.
Players announcing "Wriggle" when their partner takes action after 1NT is doubled.
Players alerting their Precision 2C opening bid.
Players announcing "11 points" when their partner responds 2S to their 1NT bid.
Players not alerting (nor even announcing) any of the above.
Social Club players are thoroughly confused by the announcing/alerting regulations.
The "hovering" referred to above is an observation that each year, certain players contemplate "should we come out of the EBU?"
There is only one set of published regulations, although every Tournament Organiser has the right to set their own regulations. As nobody does this, we have fallen into a one-size-fits all set of regulations but it is evident that one size does not fit all. Do we need the EBU to provide the multiple levels suggested by Martin, or can the relevant Tournament Organisers create them and the EBU will ensure optimal visibility?
The existing convention cards serve two functions : one is to remind the players of their own system, and the other is to inform the opponents. It does neither of these perfectly – so why try to do both at once?
We see different situations arise in online play from those we have always seen in face-to-face games. Is it right that we build regulations for the former to mirror as closely as we can the regulations of the latter? Is that not doing the game a dis-service by forcing the face-to-face constraints onto online players.