Teams of five players should represent recognised clubs or other backgammon-related groups that are associated with specific geographical areas within the UK. Participants must be current members of the relevant club. At the discretion of the Tournament Director (TD) we may admit teams formed of players who are located geographically close if no formal club exists – what better time to seed a new club!
The TD shall have discretion as to what constitutes a “club” and whether team selections are appropriate. For the avoidance of doubt, leagues covering a wide geographical area, and/or including a large pool of players from which to select a team, are not deemed to constitute a club. A ‘reserve’ player may not be included when registering a team. However, in the event that a team member is unable to attend on the day, the TD will be sympathetic regarding their substitution by another player.
A maximum of 32 teams will be allowed to register. Preference will be given to clubs on the UKBGF clubs page, then second teams, then other clubs.
Clubs/groups will be allowed to field more than one team, but if there are more potential entrants than spaces, preference will initially be given to accommodating “A” teams, then “B” teams, “C” teams, etc.
In each team players will be randomly assigned numbers 1 to 5 before the start, these numbers to be effective for the duration of the event in order to match players to their opponent in the opposing team.
Each team shall nominate a captain before the start of the event to represent the team in the event of a play-off being necessary.
Teams will be drawn into eight leagues of four to play each other in a round robin of matches, World Cup-style. The draw will be conducted in order to ensure that teams from the same club do not meet each other at this stage, as far as possible. But there will no other seeding of teams.
Matches are to be played in the order designated by the TD, where players from Team A will play the players from Team B with the corresponding numbers in first-to-5-point rubbers. Tables will be aligned in such a way that all rubbers in a match will be played on the same row of tables. The TD reserves the right to reduce the length of rubbers when time constraints surface.
The player winning a rubber scores one point for his/her team, so the team scoring three or more points wins the match.
When all leagues are finished, the league finishing order will be decided by:
- match wins;
- rubber wins;
- result(s) – but not scores – of matches between tied teams;
- where it is still necessary to decide an “important” position, a 1-point match between team captains. Three (or more) way ties may be decided by dice rolls if time does not permit a lengthy tie-break.
The top team from each league will progress to the Main knockout flight of eight teams; the remaining 24 teams will play in the Consolation knockout flight.
All matches in both the league and Main knockout stages will be played to 5 points, unless amended by the TD on the day due to time (or other) constraints. Consolation matches will be to 3 points.
Any byes in the first round of either flight will be awarded to the teams with the best league records. The draw in the knockout stage will be conducted to try and ensure that teams which have played each other at the league stage do not meet again until the final.
UKBGF Tournament Rules, and Code of Conduct, shall apply.
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