UPDATE (24/2): Here is the playing link for participants in the virtual Coen Trophy (players only please):
https://play.realbridge.online/dg.html?p=220227126050&q=CBAICoenMixed2022
This weekend sees the virtual mixed championships competitions online. Please note that both events start at 11:00, and are two sessions with a short break (approx an hour), so should finish by 19:00. You need to be pre-entered with us for both events, and you can enter online here. Entries close on Friday 25 February at noon, and subsequent entries will be accepted only at the discretion of the Tournament Director, with no commitments being given in that regard.
The Spiro (Pairs) is on BBO, so everything will work as normal on that platform. You will need to register for the competition on BBO in the usual fashion. Please make sure to do this no later than 10:40, to allow for any technical difficulties. And if you encounter any, please contact the chief TD, Fearghal O’Boyle, on (086) 2652871 urgently. The entry fee is BB$15 per person, to cover the two sessions. Please ensure that you have sufficient funds in your BBO account when you register.
The Coen (Teams) is on RealBridge, which makes things a little more complicated. You will need to call CBAI HQ in advance to pay the entry fee by credit card. The fee is €12.50 per person, or €50 per team, and it would be appreciated if one person could pay for the entire team, if at all possible. Links for the RealBridge sessions will be posted on the CBAI website (in an update to this post) and on Fearghal O’Boyle’s website on Friday; all players will need to access these links to join the competition on the Sunday. We expect that most participants will be familiar with the RealBridge platform at this stage. If that’s not the case, we encourage you to trial it beforehand – at a minimum by testing your camera and microphone beforehand at this site.
The Tournament Director has instructed that cameras and microphones should be left ON throughout the competition. When you join any session, please sit in your intended compass position at your home table (it’ll be indicated by the name of your captain, the first player in the entry listing). The programme will automatically bring you to your randomly assigned opposition (or them to you) when the competition starts. Please log on in good time for each session, in case of any issues, and please use your full name (first name and surname) to log on.
We will using a slightly different variant of RealBridge than you will have experienced within a club setting if your club uses the platform. The main difference is that you will only be able to see and hear one of your opponents, and not your partner or the other opponent, during bidding and play. As a result, the alerting procedure is that you should self-alert YOUR OWN CALLS, as you do on BBO, by pressing the “Alert” symbol and using a chat function that will appear on your screen to explain your call, as indicated in the screenshot below. Either opponent may ask for further clarification by private chat to the player who made the call. ALL explanations should be made only using this option, and NOT in general chat. For the avoidance of doubt (and any potential embarrassment!), please remember that one opponent can both see and hear you throughout proceedings. All participants are asked to keep background noise to an absolute minimum (preferably zero) during the event.
Undos will be permitted ONLY for misclicks in the bidding. There is a double-click option for making your calls and plays that can be activated if you wish – again as on BBO. If you are prone to misclicks, you should take the precaution of activating this double-click option. If you DO misclick in the bidding, please call the TD, who will allow the substitution of another call if 100% certain that the original call was unintended.
For a claim or concession, if there is any doubt or disagreement, please call the TD. Do NOT use the “play on” option.
RealBridge have prepared a most helpful User Guide to the version of the platform that we will be using, that covers every question you might have about it. It’s well worth reading even if you think you know the technology well.
And if anything goes wrong with your technology DURING the competition, for instance if you lose connection and cannot rejoin, please contact the chief TD, Fearghal O’Boyle, on (086) 2652871 urgently, and he will do whatever he can to help.