Regulations | WBF Championships

CONCEPT

The idea with this World Tour is to rank the performance of Partnerships in international bridge events during a particular year. In contrast with typical ranking systems it is not a ranking of individual players, nor of whole teams, and it starts from zero each year. A player can be ranked in several partnerships, which is a common occurrence. The system is structured with the goal of reflecting the true international performance of a partnership during the year.

The ranking at the end of the year will form the basis for inviting the top partnerships to a Tour Final, similar to the tennis and golf tours, played during the first quarter of the following year at a convenient place to be determined on a case-by-case basis. This Final rates to become the prime event on the international bridge calendar, in terms of average strength.

If a player qualifies for the final with different partners, the invitation will be issued to their highest ranking partnership. Their lower ranking partnership(s) will not be eligible for an invitation.

Invitations may be issued to partnerships in order down the ranking list to complete the final field if qualified partnerships are unable or ineligible to accept their invitation.

EVENTS

Both Pairs and Team events are included. The Tour will be made up of existing international events organised by, or under the auspices of, the WBF, Zonal or National Bridge Organisations, and selected affiliated organisers. The only additional event in the calendar will be the Tour Final, thus causing minimal conflict with WBF members’ event calendars.

The WBF World Tour Committee has preselected certain events for inclusion, such as World and Zonal championships as well as other longstanding recognised top level international events. During the trial season in 2023 a total of 35 events were included, many based on applications from other organisers.

The events are divided into four different categories, A, B, C and D, primarily depending on the strength of the event in terms of international participation. The Tour Committee may at its discretion take certain other factors into account, such as the number of boards played and regional diversification.

EVENT REQUIREMENTS

Each participating event must comply with the following, unless receiving an exemption at the discretion of the Tour Committee:

It must not be limited by gender or age.
It must be open to all members of WBF affiliated NBOs in good standing.
It must have a significant participation of foreign partnerships.
It should preferably be played over at least 150 boards.
Only “face-to-face” events may be included.
Team event organisers must be able to provide information about how much each partnership has played, e.g. in the form of a “Butler” or “sit-out” information, in case more than two partnerships are used.

TOUR RANKING POINTS RULES

Each event category has a separate scale of Tour Ranking Points (“TRP”), awarded to each partnership subject to certain minimum playing requirements applying to Team events. Those requirements are as follows, and notably different from those applying to WBF (and e.g. ACBL) master points:

A minimum of two thirds of the boards/sessions played by the team is required for a full award.
A minimum of one third of the boards/sessions played by the team is required for a half award (if the number of boards/sessions is not divisible by three, the number is rounded down).
In Knockout events each segment (quarter or half as the case may be) of a match is considered a session.
In case the total number of boards/sessions played is not divisible by three (without creating fractions), except in case of 2 or 4 total sessions, the requirements are lowered to the closest possible integer number. To illustrate this:
if a team has played 20 sessions , playing 13 satisfies the 2/3-rule and playing 6 satisfies the 1/3-rule,
if it has played 8 sessions, playing 5 satisfies the 2/3-rule and playing 2 satisfies the 1/3-rule,
however, if it has played 4 sessions, playing 3 is required to satisfy the 2/3-rule and playing 2 is required to satisfy the 1/3-rule.
In case an event consists of both a qualifying stage with a continuous ranking (e.g. a Swiss or Round Robin) and a Knockout stage, play in the Knockout stage takes precedence. A partnership can make up for missing qualification boards/sessions in the Knockout stage, but not vice versa.
In case of doubt the ruling of the Tour Committee is final.

GENERAL NOTES FOR PARTICIPATING EVENT ORGAINSERS

The WBT logo may be used on promotional material and the event website, with a link to : http://championships.worldbridge.org/world-bridge-tour but the WBF main logo may not be used. You can obtain the WBT logo by emailing wbfworldtour@worldbridgefed.com.

APPLICATIONS FOR INCLUSION

Event organisers can apply for inclusion in the Tour by sending an email to wbfworldtour@worldbridgefed.com including all pertinent information to judge if the basic requirements are satisfied and, if they are, in which category it should be placed. Historical participation lists are helpful to determine this.