Participation

The organizer reserves the right to reject the application of any player without reasoning.

Furthermore, the organiser, following the recommendation of the International Olympic Committee, places the following restrictions on the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian passports in the tournament.

1. 1. Athletes with a Russian or a Belarusian passport must compete only as Individual Neutral Athletes.
   2. Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport cannot be considered.
   3. Athletes who actively support the Russian invasion of Ukraine, cannot compete.
   4. Athletes who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot compete. Support personnel who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot be entered.
   5. Any such Individual Neutral Athlete, like all the other participating athletes, must meet all anti-doping requirements applicable to them and particularly those set out in the anti-doping rules of the WBF.
   6. Displaying flag, anthem, colours or any other identifications whatsoever of these countries is forbidden during the tournament in the entire venue.

If a violation of the above rules is discovered during the competition, it will result in immediate disqualification upon discovery.

Special rules for playing with tablets

The following special rules apply to the event in addition to the Laws of Duplicate Bridge:

1. 1. Disclosure of meaning of calls
      The way the calls are explained to the opponent is determined by the fact that the event is settled with or without a screen, so that the rules of alerting for that type of competition always apply.
   2. Visibility of information
      1. In accordance with the Rule 20C2 of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, the entire bidding is visible until the player plays a card to the first trick.
      2. The cards of a trick remain visible until the player plays a card to the next trick.
   3. Unintended actions – misclicks
      According to the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, an unintended action (call or play) may be changed without penalty under certain conditions. We draw particular attention to the fact that the Tournament Director should only allow a change if the original action is surely a result of a mechanical error (misclick) and in no way was the player’s intention.
      1. Taking back an unintended call
         According to the Laws of Duplicate Bridge, an unintended call may be replaced if the conditions described in Law 25A are met.
      2. Taking back an unintended card
         When playing a card, a misclick is deemed analogous to dropping a card accidentally.
      3. Misclick by declarer (from hand or from dummy)
         Declarer can correct an unintended play (from hand or from dummy), before playing another card from dummy or from hand.
      4. Misclick by a defender
         According to Law 50B (Laws of Duplicate Bridge, 2017) a dropped card by a defender becomes a penalty card. If it is not an honour (from 2 to 9), the card becomes a minor penalty card, and the Tournament Director applies the relevant rules. If it is an honour (A, K, Q, J or 10), the card becomes a major penalty card, and will have to be played at the first legal opportunity.
      5. Mechanical error
         A change can only be accepted if the player misclicked, not due to recklessness or reconsideration. Before allowing any change, the Tournament Director must be convinced that this is the case.
      6. Card played after a withdrawn card
         If the next player has already played a card over the withdrawn card, he can modify this card without any penalty. The view of this card is Unauthorized Information for the offending side. This regulation is analogous to Section 45C4b of the Laws of Duplicate Bridge.
   4. Recording of the time used
      The LoveBridge system records the time spent on each call and play and is allowed to transfer these data to the Tournament Director to help decision-making.
   5. Keep to play time
      The system automatically prevents starting a new board maximum 3:00 minutes before the finishing time of a round.
   6. Masterpoints
      Contestants will have the same amount of master points as they would receive at a traditional event with otherwise the same conditions.