Simon Richards

The dates for this year’s Premier League have been confirmed as 23 – 24 October and 6 – 7 November. It is currently being proposed that the Premier League be held at the Commodore Hotel in Llandrindod Wells and would involve F2F bridge. Entries from interested Teams should be send to the National Tournament Organiser by 11 October.

Results are available on http://db.eurobridge.org/repository/competitions/21OnlineNationalTeams/microsite/Results.htm

The Wales Open Team finished in 22nd place (out of 31 teams), which was a significant improvement on the Wales position in the past two European Championships, held in Budapest and Ostend, with Richard and Paul being very well placed in the Butler rankings. The team was:

Richard Plackett / Paul Denning
Paul Lamford / Gary Jones
Julian Pottage / Tony Ratcliff

The Open team finished above Scotland (who were 26th) and one place below Ireland, with England finishing in 9th place and, in doing so, England qualified for the Bermuda Bowl.

Wales also entered a Mixed Team that finished 15th (out of 21 teams). This position was above England, Ireland and Scotland:

Adrian Thomas / Mia Deschepper
Tony Disley / Ceri Pierce
Mark Roderick / Laura Woodruff

The VilniusCup 2021 Bridge Festival is back after the interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have been asked by the organisers to help in the advertising for the VilniusCup 2021 Bridge Festival – see https://bridgescanner.com/page/bnc/post/vilnius-cup-is-back

This link contains all the information on the game formats and schedules for the event.

The WBU Mixed team for the EBL Qualifier for the World Teams Championships and European Champions’ Cup – 23-28 August 2021 is:

Adrian Thomas and Mieke Deschepper
Tony Disley and Ceri Pierce
Mark Roderick and Laura Woodruff

NPC to be confirmed.

This event will he held using the RealBridge platform. Kibitzing will be available but will be subject to a 30 minute delay.

The WBU team for the EBL Qualifier for the World Teams Championships and European Champions’ Cup – 23-28 August 2021 is:

Richard Plackett and Paul Denning
Gary Jones and Paul Lamford
Tony Ratcliff and Julian Pottage

NPC to be confirmed.

This event will he held using the RealBridge platform. Kibitzing will be available but will be subject to a 30 minute delay.

The European qualifiers for the World Bridge Championships will this year be played on-line on 23 – 28 August, with all players from each country playing in a single venue, invigilated by a neutral observers from another country.

The WBU needs to nominate at least two suitable people to act as neutral observers. These individuals would be reviewed and assessed by the European Bridge League, who would then allocate them to act as observers in other countries (likely to be Scotland or England). The EBL would pay you €100 per day and the host nation would then arrange and pay for accommodation.

If you think you are suitable for this role and would be interested in being involved in that way, please contact the Selectors.

As highlighted in the previous (Ref: Bulletin #130), the EBL are proposing to hold online qualifying events for the “2021” World Teams Championships, which are scheduled to be held in February / March 2022.

These qualifying events will be held online in August 2021, using the RealBridge platform. The qualifying events will start no earlier than 23 August and each will end on 28 August 2021.

The number of playing days in each of the four categories (Open, Women, Seniors and Mixed) will be four days (Aug. 25-28), five days (Aug. 24-28) or six days (Aug. 23-28), depending on the number of entries in each category.

The EBL has asked the WBU to advise them as soon as possible if, and in which categories, the WBU intends to send teams, with the final deadline for registering a team on the designated EBL website being 12 July. Consequently, the WBU Selectors would ask for entries for these Events (i.e.: Open, Women, Mixed and Seniors) to be submitted to the WBU Selectors by noon on 1 July 2021.

The entry fee will be €100 per team and per playing day. To illustrate this, if the WBU participated in the Open and Women categories, and the Open plays six days while the Women play four days, the WBU would pay a total of €1.000 for both teams, although it is anticipated, pending a final Management Committee decision, that the entry fees would be covered by the WBU. Players will then be responsible for any other expenses, such as meals and local accommodation, as appropriate.

Players will participate in the qualifying events from specific locations in Wales, which are most likely to be in the Cardiff area. No one will play from home, or at other private settings. Participating NBOs will gather its teams in clusters at a local venue set up according to EBL specifications, so as to prevent any communication between players. Neutral observers, ratified by the EBL, will then supervise the play constantly at every location. No other persons will be allowed in the playing area. Since each event will be partly on different playing schedules each Series will play its own boards.

Online kibitzing will be allowed, but with a time-delay of 30 – 45 minutes (depending on the number of boards in the match) and any “running scores” will also be subject to the same delay.

As usual, Europe (Zone 1) will qualify a minimum of eight teams per category to the World Teams Championships. It should be noted that it is quite common for Europe to get one or two further spots in some categories due to cancellations from other Zones. Europe has the right to the first and third such reserve spots.

The Selectors can provide additional information, as appropriate.

As advertised earlier the EBL will arrange an online Qualifying event, on the RealBridge platform, for the “2021” WTC scheduled to be held in February / March 2022. It will start no earlier than August 23rd and end on August 28th.

The EBL have provided some very general information, mainly about the “safety protocol” that will be followed, but more detailed information will follow.

Duration
The number of playing days in each category (Open, Women, Seniors and Mixed) will be four (Aug. 25-28), five (Aug. 24-28) or six (Aug. 23-28), depending on the number of entries in each category.

In order for players and the EBL to be able plan ahead it will be much appreciated if you can advise the EBL as soon as possible if, and in which categories, we intend to send teams. The final deadline for registering a team on the designated website is July 12th.

Entry Fees
The entry fee will be €100 per team and playing day. To illustrate; if you participate in the Open and Women categories and the Open plays 6 while the Women play 4 days, you will pay a total of €1.000 for both teams.

Any Pairs interested in playing in these Events (ie: Open, Women, Mixed and Seniors) should contact the Selectors as soon as possible to express their interest. The Selectors can then provide additional information, as appropriate.

Following the WBF’s decision to stage the “2021” World National Teams Championships for the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, D’Orsi Bowl and Wuhan Cup at the end of February/early March 2022, the EBL needs to organise a qualification for the Zone 1 representatives in the various categories.

The EBL Executive Committee have decided as follows:
– The Zone 1 Qualification for the next WBF WNTC will be held online on the RealBridge platform.
– The dates will be August 23 to 28, 2021.
– The number of days for each Series (Open, Women, Senior and Mixed) will be between three and six, depending on the number of entries in each Series, but the last day will be August 28 for all.
– No one will play from home, or other private settings. Participating NBOs will gather its teams in clusters at a local venue set up according to EBL specifications, so as to prevent any communications between players.

Further information will follow, as it becomes available, but in the interim the Selectors would welcome any expressions of interest from players who may be interested in playing in these events.

The WBF, taking account of the persistence of the Covid19 outbreak, has announced that the WBF Management Committee, in its meeting on Friday 7th May, unanimously decided to cancel the 2021 World Youth Teams Championship and World Teams Championship, both planned to be held in Salsomaggiore Terme, Italy.

Work is being undertaken with the aim of holding the World Teams Championship (Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, d’Orsi Senior Trophy and Wuhan Trophy) in 2022 between the end of February and beginning of March.

However, the World Youth Teams Championship will be re-scheduled to 2023

In addition the Management Committee unanimously approved the following future dates:

· 2022 the World Bridge Series and the World Open Youth Championship

· 2023 the World Bridge Teams Championship and the World Youth Teams Championship

· 2024 The World Bridge Games and the World Open Youth Championship

More information will be on the WBF website as it becomes available.