
We’ve added a new automatic check in pair tournaments to help avoid last-minute no-shows. Five minutes before the game starts, the BBO system will check if both players in each registered pair are online. If one partner is offline, the online partner will get an on-screen alert so they have time to call their partner or find a replacement before the game begins.
This helps players avoid being left out of the tournament and reduces the need for TDs to manually track down missing partners.
Who this is for: BBO tournament organizers running pair events, as well as players who like to play pair games.
What it solves: Last-minute no-shows/disconnects that leave a single player stranded at start time and cause seating headaches.
Explanation of the feature for the players: New! Partner-Offline Warning
If you are happy with the 5-minute warning, you don’t need to do anything. The feature is active on virtual club and some other pair tournaments by default.
If you wish to change the timing of the warning or turn it off for a specific tournament, add this flag to the tournament description:
+warnpartner=X+
+warnpartner=10+
+warnpartner=0+
Because the warning is sent only once, if you want a second reminder closer to start time, you can manually add another setting to re-issue it.
Example: A first warning has been sent at 5 minutes (default), and you want to add another one at 2 minutes because you still see there are a number of players offline. After the first warning has triggered, add this to your tournament description, and save:
+warnpartner=2+
+allavail+
.We hope you enjoy this new feature and find it useful for your games. For comments, questions, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us at tournaments@bridgebase.com.