Winners of the Fall NABC Robot Individual Practice Tournament #2
Last weekend, November 16-17, ACBL BBOers were invited to play in the second NAB...
What's the BIC?
BIC, short for Bridge International Championship; is a worldwide online event taking place across several bridge platforms, in partnership with the World Bridge Federation. Ranked players will be awarded both WBF and BBO points.
What determines the country I represent?
Your IP address will determine which country you represent. If you're playing in the USA, you will represent the USA. If your country doesn’t have at least 10 players, you’ll represent the “Rest of World”.
What are the dates?
Qualifiers: March 29 to April 1, 2021
Finals: Saturday, April 3rd and Sunday, April 4th, 2021
There’s no need to pre-register for this event. You can start playing at any time during the qualification phase.
What's the format of the qualifiers?
The qualifiers are individual tournaments with robots - 12 boards, not-best hand. There are 10 BIC tournaments (daylong style) to choose from every day. Your top five scores count towards your ranking. To be ranked you need to play at least 5 tournaments. Finish with an average score of 56% or higher at the close of play on Thursday and you’ll progress to the BIC Finals. You can play more to improve your average score.
What's the format of the finals?
For the Finals, there’ll be 6 BIC daylong tournaments to play, with your best 4 scores counting towards your overall ranking - so you'll need to play a minimum of 4 tournaments. There'll be 12 deals, not best hand, and the tournaments will be available 48 hours. Finish top and you’ll be the 2nd ever BBO BIC International Champion!
How do I register?
There’s no need to pre-register for this event. You can start playing at any time during the qualification phase. Qualification tournaments can be played for 24 hours, from midnight to midnight US Central time. Finals tournaments can be played for 48 hours, from midnight to midnight US Central time. To start playing, pick any BIC tournament, click on it, and then click on the ‘Register’ button. You can play at any time within that 24 hour period. You don’t have to play each tournament in one go – you can stop if you need to, and resume later.
How much will it cost to play?
BIC Qualifier games cost 3 BB$ each. You'll need BB$ in your account to pay the entry fees. Click here to buy BB$.
Your best 5 scores will count towards your ranking. You'll need to play in a minimum of 5 tournaments to qualify for the final. You can of course play more games if you like. If your average score is 56% or higher, you’ll go through to the Finals. The finals are free to enter for those who've made the cut.
What are the prizes?
BIC Prizes
BIC Country Prizes
All players who make it to the finals will receive a BB$ 3 prize and a congratulations card.
*10 players minimum needed to represent a country. Where there are fewer than 10, players will represent the 'Rest of the World' and be in the running for the BBO BIC 2 Rest of the World podium and prizes.
Ranked players will also be awarded WBF points. (BIC results will be reported to the WBF, which will award points according to its rules.)
What if I don’t have time to play in the BIC?
Mini-BIC and BIC Survivors are also available. All the details can be found here
Can I play if I’m a beginner?
Anyone can take part in the BIC, but you can play in our Mini-BIC if you prefer. There is a Mini-BIC for players with less than 100 BBO points and a Mini-BIC for players with less than 1000 BBO Points. These one session a day games (daylong style, Matchpoints scoring, 12 boards) take place from Monday to Sunday. They cost 1 BB$ per session.
How should I prepare for the tournament?
You’ll be playing against Robots during the tournament so it will make sense to understand how to play against them. Here’s a video with tips to help:
It will also be a good idea to work on your declarer skills. The award-winning Bridge Master software is one of the best ways to improve. In game you can click on 'Practice', then 'Bridge Master' to hone your declarer skills and train for the BIC. Or you can play it anonymously, by clicking here.
