Preparation – before Sunday 10 October
1) If you do not yet have a BBO account, you will need to create one. https://www.bridgebase.com/v3/
Click on Become a member (free)
2) Make sure that your BBO username is registered on the ABF Mailing List.
To check, go to: http://www.abfevents.com.au/bbo.asp
3) If your BBO username is not registered, go to: http://www.abfevents.com.au/forms/signup/
4) Make sure that you have at least BB$13 in your BBO account in order to pay your entry fee for the Congress
BBO dollars can be purchased here: https://www.bridgebase.com/purchase/pay.php
It is better to buy BBO dollars on a regular computer (laptop or desktop) because Apple/Google apply a surcharge when you buy BBO dollars on a phone or tablet.
Entering the game on the day – on Sunday 10 October
If you have any issues or problems entering on the day, please message TourneyTD (Nick) or TD_JohnMcI (John).
Registration for the Pennant Hills Swiss Pairs game on BBO opens at 9:00 AM (one (1) hour before game-time).
To sign up for the game, both you and your partner need to be logged into BBO via: https://www.bridgebase.com or the BBO app on your tablet or phone.
When you log into BBO, you will land in the Lobby. To find the Pennant Hills tournament, click on Competitive:
And then click on All Tournaments:
Now… this will show a long list of upcoming tournaments. To quickly and easily find the Pennant Hills tournament, type Pennant in the search box.
This will shrink the list of tournaments down to just two… the Open event and the Restricted event (assuming sufficient entries to run the Restricted game).
Click on one of the two Tournaments called Pennant Hills Swiss Pairs (either Open or Restricted) to invite your partner to play.
This will take you to the Register tab (on the left in the image below) – make sure your partner is also logged in to BBO in order to invite them to play.
Either you or your partner can invite the other player.
Type your partner’s name on the Partner line and then click on the Invite button when it turns blue.
This sends an invitation to your partner (who must also be logged into BBO).
When they accept the invitation you will both get a message on your screen confirming your entry. You can confirm your entry has been successful by clicking on Entries.
If you want, you can also pay for both your partner and yourself by clicking on the box next to that option, as in the image above.
5) VERY IMPORTANT
You do not need to stay logged into BBO until the start time but please log in no later than 5-10 minutes before the game starts and return to the Competitive area.
When you log on, make sure that the Invisible box is NOT ticked. When the game starts you will be automatically taken to your seat.
If you and your partner are not both logged on at start time, your entry will be cancelled. Unfortunately, if this happens, the BBO technology is such that there is nothing we can do to let you play. You will not be charged.
Other information
Format
6 x 8 board rounds with a lunch break of about 30 minutes after Round 3.
IMP scored Swiss Pairs, but with a small difference to usual Swiss – you may play a pair more than once. (For each new round, first always plays against second, third v fourth, etc.)
Round start times
You will be automatically taken to your table at the start of each round. Just like at a real life Congress, there will be a delay between rounds. Please do not log off from BBO during the day. If you are disconnected at any time, just log back in and you will be returned to your table.
The round start times are approximately: 10.00AM, 11.00AM, 12.00noon…. then Lunch… then 1.30PM, 2.30PM, 3.30PM
We will finish before 4.30.
Systems
Open: Yellow systems are not permitted.
Novice: only Green and Blues systems are allowed
Appropriate behaviour
The highest level of ethical behaviour is expected of all players. It is illegal for the members of a pair to communicate during a hand via any means other than chat to the full table. The BBO software includes facilities for identifying examples of potential illegal communication. Players who are subsequently found to have engaged in illicit or unauthorised communication will be the subject of disciplinary action under the NSWBA Congress Disciplinary Regulations.
Results
Unofficial results will appear on the BBO website soon after you finish. Official results will be available about 15 minutes after the last table finishes on the NSWBA website.
The official results website can only be updated once the event is over. We regret we are unable to produce live round-by-round details.