1.  COMPETITION FORMAT.

The Kempson Cup & Plate Teams-of-4 knock-out cup competitions will be conducted under the rules of the English Bridge Union, regarding systems and alerting.  Level 4 conventions are permitted.

All teams entering the competition will initially be entered into a supervised draw for the Kempson Cup organised by the Tournament Secretary. 

Matches of 24 boards will be played up to and including the quarter-final round. Semi-final matches will play 28 boards and the finals matches will be 48 boards.

All losing teams in the first and second rounds are entitled to enter the Kempson Plate competition that is then run on exactly the same lines as the Kempson Cup competition. Teams knocked out of the first and second rounds of the Kempson Plate competition, will be eligible to play in the Diamond League starting at the beginning of 2008.

2.  TEAM STRUCTURE.

A team may consist of up to 6 players.  No player may represent more than one team in these two competitions.

3.  MATCH ARRANGEMENTS.

Except for the Finals matches, the designated home team Captain should offer more than one date to the opposing team Captains as soon as possible and within 2 weeks from receipt of the draw.  Both team Captains should try to agree a mutually acceptable date & starting time within one week of the initial offer.  In the event of difficulty agreeing a proposed date, the home Captain must then offer a minimum of 4 additional dates. These must be in two different weeks and include two different  weekdays. The away Captain must accept at least one date offered within 7 days, no less than 4 days before the accepted date.

It is the responsibility of the home team to arrange a suitable venue and light refreshments for both teams.

Matches for both the Kempson Cup & the Kempson Plate competitions must be completed by the dates to be advised by the Tournament Secretary. In exceptional circumstances, Captains may apply for an extension of 7 days beyond the closing date. The Tournament Secretary will be the final arbiter in all cases of difficulty.

The Finals of both the Kempson Cup & Kempson Plate competitions will be held on Sunday 4^th May 2008 at St Georges Bridge Club in Darlington.

4.  SEATING RIGHTS.

For all matches, the home team pairs remain seated in the same positions throughout the match and the team Captains will toss for choice of seating rights.  The Captain with seating rights for a set of boards makes his choice after the opponents have nominated the position of their two pairs.  Team scores can only be compared after each set of boards have been played. Only 4 players from each team should play an individual set of boards.

24 board matches are played in two sets of 12 boards with the away team pairs switching at half time. The team Captains will toss for choice of the first half seating rights.

28 board matches are played in four sets of 7 boards.  The team Captains will toss for choice of seating rights. The winning Captain may take the first choice of seating rights or may pass this choice to the opposing Captain.  The choosing Captain then selects one set of boards in which he will have the seating rights.  The other Captain next selects two of the remaining three sets of boards in which he will have seating rights, with the seating rights for the remaining set taken by the captain who made the first choice.

The Finals 48 board matches are played in six sets of 8 boards.  The team Captains will toss for choice of seating rights for three sets of boards & the captain who wins the toss may take the first choice or may pass that choice to his opponent. The Captain with the first choice selects the seating rights (ie how to place his own pairs after opponents have nominated their line-up) for any two sets of boards except that he may not select both sets 5 and 6.  The Captain with the second choice then next selects three of the remaining four sets of boards (which may include both sets 5 & 6 if these have not already been taken) in which he will have seating rights.  The remaining set is then taken by the Captain who had first choice.

5.  SCORING

Scoring will be by International Match Points.  If a board is fouled so that it cannot be scored, an additional board is added to the next set.  A fouled board in the last set is not replayed.

If, at the end of play, the match is drawn a further 3 boards will be played up to and including the quarter finals, 4 boards in the semi-finals and 6 boards in the finals.

6.  DISPUTE PROCEDURE

Team captains should attempt to resolve any dispute that may arise during the match.  Should they be unable to do so, the match should be completed. If the point at issue might have affected the result of the match, full details of the dispute, signed by all the participants should be sent to the Tournament Secretary as soon as possible, for a ruling by the Chief Tournament Director.

7.  MATCH RESULT NOTIFICATION

After each match, both teams must complete one of the Results Forms provided signed by both Captains. The names of all players in both teams with the final IMP scores is required, and for the winning team only, their EBU numbers & number of boards played by each team member. The Captain of the winning team should immediately send the results to the Tournament Secretary.

Winning teams, plus teams qualifying for the Kempson Plate competitions in the first two rounds, will then be notified their opponents in the next round by the Tournament Secretary.

8.  MATCH STARTING DELAYS

Teams should make every effort to start matches at the agreed time. If a team arrives more than 30 minutes late, the opposing team has the right to curtail the match by 4 boards for every 30 minutes of lateness.  The non-offending team will receive 3 IMP’s for every board removed.  This right must be exercised or rejected before play commences.  Where a team has not notified that it will be late, the match may be claimed by the non-offending team after a delay of one hour. Where a team has notified that it will be late, the match may be claimed after two hours.

In the event of bad weather, any cancellation must be agreed between the Captains by 10 am for an afternoon match, or 6 pm for an evening match.

If a match is not played by the final date, it will be awarded against the team that broke the agreed date (except for bad weather), or against the home team that did not offer dates as in section 3.