ACBL CONDITIONS OF CONTEST

A Progressive Sectional is an attempt to increase attendance at the club level and give club players a chance to win Silver Points on a Sectional Tournament scale, while giving units a chance to reduce costs. Players can qualify at their home club and the finals are held at a predesignated, suitable location.

Approval to hold a Progressive Sectional must be granted by the district in which the unit resides and from the ACBL. The same rules apply for sanctioning as for other sectionals.

Suggested lead time for sanctioning is twelve months, although, barring conflicts, the time frame can be less. The best way to protect dates is to submit the application at least twelve months ahead.

A Progressive Sectional must be made available to all clubs within the sponsoring Unit. Surrounding Units may be invited to have their clubs participate if this is desirable. Clubs outside of the unit may apply to the sponsoring Unit for sanctions. These clubs would be bound by the same rules and regulations as the clubs within the sponsoring Unit.

Progressive sectionals consist of one week of qualifying with a single session final. Every time a club meets during a week entitles that club to one qualifying session during the qualifying round(s) of the Progressive. A club meeting once a week can hold one session. A club meeting 14 times a week can hold up to 14 sessions. A second week of qualifying may be scheduled so that two SINGLE session final events may be scheduled for the same day. (Those qualified from the first week would play in the first session, qualifiers from the second week would play in the second session.)

Club sanctions are issued at no charge. Again, all clubs must be allowed to participate. (Invitational Clubs must be allowed to participate, but master point awards are 80% of sectional). Qualifying rounds must be conducted at the same site and time as regular club games, and within the allotted time frame.

QUALIFICATION: All pairs who finish average or above, or all pairs placing in their section, whichever is greater, qualify for the finals. The players qualify as individuals and may qualify as often as they like. They may play in the finals with any other player who has qualified for that event.

The qualifying round may be Open, Flighted, or Stratified. If Flighted or Stratifed, the Flight/Strat Limits MUST be the same at all participating clubs.

If the qualifying round is Flighted or Stratified the Finals MUST be Flighted.

***WHEN THE QUALIFYING ROUND IS STRATIFIED THE FOLLOWING MUST BE DONE***

Report forms must accurately reflect the table count, rank, and masterpoint limit for each strat. The strats must be evenly divided NS& EW. (IE a 10 table game with 6 strat"B" pairs must be split 3 pairs NS& 3 pairs EW, not 4-2 or 5-1. Should you have only 2 or 3 pairs of strat"A", you may not put all of the "A" pairs one direction.

THE FINALS: There is a one-session final for each qualifying event that was played in the clubs. The finals must be held on the same day at the same place. Qualifiers may play only in the event for which they are qualified but Directors may use non-qualifiers to fill a half-table. A non-qualifier is ineligible for overall awards.

It is sometimes advisable for a Unit to have Unit championships concurrent with Progressive Finals. This gives other players a game to play in and gives those who qualify for only one event the chance to play two sessions.

MASTERPOINTS: All point awards are based on sectional rating. The size of the award for the finals is calculated as though it were a two-session game with two-thirds of the field eliminated.

There are no overall masterpoint awards for any event, including Swiss Teams, during the qualifying rounds. All master point awards are silver.

CONVENTIONS: The ACBL General Conventional Chart will be in effect in all stages of the competition.

DIRECTORS: The Director-in-Charge of the finals should be of Tournament Director rank or higher. In all instances the DIC will be assigned by the ACBL Tournament Department.

ENTRY FEES: For each club qualifying round, the ACBL will receive the current sanction fee per table per session. The fee charged at the clubs may be designated at the club or by the Unit. Clubs belonging to Units other than the home Unit may be charged an additional $1.00 per table which goes to the home Unit.

Table fees for the finals are set by the Unit. The Unit is responsible for paying all director fees and the current sanction fee per table due ACBL. There is no sectional surcharge.

TOURNAMENT CHAIRMAN: The Unit should approve a chairman whose duties include the following:
(1) To prepare, and submit to ACBL, the Conditions of Contest, establish the dates of the qualifying rounds and the site and dates of the finals.
(2) To submit a sanction application to the District Tournament Coordinator.
(3) Contact all clubs within the Unit and provide conditions of contest and application forms.
(4) Sanction the participating clubs and provide scoring and reporting forms.
(5) To collect all reports and fees and submit them, with a check, to the ACBL. A report of the money being submitted, and all information about the report will expidite clearing the report and issuing masterpoints.

You don't have to wait until the finals are completed to submit the qualifying rounds reports. Submit them as soon as all club reports are received. This allows our Point Awards Department to issue the points.

If you have any questions you may contact Butch Campbell at 901-332-5586 ext 1244.