Bristol Open Grand Prix rules and formats
Rules for 2012
The Open Grand Prix (OGP) is open to all players who enter any of the following monthly grand prix tournaments -- the four £20 entry Lesters Trophy tournaments, and the eight £10 tournaments.
All the tournaments are individual competitions in their own right. However, over the year, points will be accrued by all entrants based on their achievements in whichever events they enter.
£1 will be levied from each of the the entry fees of all the tournaments to cover the provision of year end prizes. Where players are eligible for both the OGP and the IGP the £1 levy will be split 50:50 between the OGP prize fund and the IGP prize fund. Otherwise the £1 levy will go to the OGP prize fund.
£1 will also be levied for administration expenses. The remainder of the entry fee money goes on prizes for the individual tournaments.
The £20 Lesters Trophy events and the £10 tournaments will all be two flight straight knock-out affairs, provided there are at least seven entrants. All main flight matches will be to 7 points, except the main flight final, which will be to 11 points.
N.B: In all of the £20 and £10 knock-outs, players eliminated in their first match will be entered into a consolation flight, where matches will be to 5 points. These consolation flights will be subject to approximately 25% of the night's prize fund in the case of the £10 tournaments, and around 20% in the case of the £20 tournaments.
Should there be between four and six entrants, however, the format will change, with a round robin. All matches here will be to 7 points (if there are 4 players), or 5 points (if there are 5 or 6 players). Should the round robin finish with leaders having won the same number of matches, then each player's total points difference in the round robin will be the first level of tie-break. Should that fail to separate the players, then the results -- but not the scores -- of meetings of those players will decide; failing that, a short play-off will be ordered.
NOTE: All the above events have associated with them an optional side pool, while the Lesters events may also have an auction of players. While these aspects of tournament night provide additional elements of entertainment, they have no bearing whatsoever on either the OGP or the IGP.
The OGP scoring system
O G P POINTS AWARDED
for knock-outs |
|---|
| For: | Lesters
£20 | Other
£10 |
|---|
| Main | Cons. | Main | Cons. |
|---|
| Entry | 10 | | 10 | |
|---|
Win before
semis | 20 | 6 | 15 | 5 |
|---|
Semi-final
win | 30 | 12 | 25 | 10 |
|---|
Final
win | 40 | 18 | 35 | 15 |
|---|
N.B: In the event of an odd number of entries to the main flight, it is possible that one player may gain entry to the consolation flight after losing his/her second match of the main flight. In which case that player would only benefit by his/her higher scoring flight.
O G P POINTS AWARDED
for round robins |
|---|
| For: | Lesters
£20 | Other
£10 |
|---|
| Entry | 10 | 10 |
|---|
Round robin
win | 20 | 15 |
|---|
N.B: A round robin play-off win will not accrue any points.
A player's best seven tournament points performances throughout the year will count towards his/her final total, thus anyone entering more than seven of the tournaments will discard low point scores.
In the event of a tie on total points, there will be four levels of tie-break: (1) fewest tournaments entered in total during the OGP season; (2) results of any meetings of the players in question during the OGP season; (3) highest percentage of wins in all OGP matches throughout the year; and (4) a play-off where necessary to separate significant positions. Otherwise, i.e. where the positions are not otherwise significant, such players will be deemed to have finished equal.
For general terms and conditions of entry to Bristol Backgammon tournaments, click here.
"Slow play" penalty points
Although it is not feasible, when the Director is competing, to note all timings in knock-outs, it is possible to monitor finishing times of each player's opening match, whether in the first round or, after a bye, in the second round.
This data will be used in the OGP for a second year trial period, to form the basis for a "slow play" penalty system, albeit modified from the system used in 2011.
Players whose opening match length exceeds 90 minutes will become eligible to incur penalties.
The penalty system is designed to act as a deterrent to playing long matches (at least in the first stage of the competition), and all such occurrences during the season will be logged.
The three players with the highest percentage of such "loggings" over the season will respectively incur 50, 30 and 10 point penalties at the season's end. Eligibility for penalty under this system will be limited to players who have played at least five of the twelve tournaments.
Standings in the "Slow Play Penalty System" will be reflected in the overall OGP standings from the September tournament onwards.
The rewards
The player finishing with the most OGP points at the end of the year is the OGP champion, and will hold the OGP Shield for twelve months.
The winner and runner-up receive engraved mementoes, and the top three receive small cash prizes.
Finishing positions will also be used to determine substitute entry into the annual Bristol Masters event, in the event of qualifiers for that competition not taking up their places.
Historical rule changes
2012
Abolition of "top ten" qualification for Premier Status, a further revision of round robin formats, and simplification of the Slow Play Penalty System.
2010
This was the final year before the introduction of "slow play" penalty points and a revision of the round robin formats.
2009
This was the final year where Lesters events did not have a Round Robin option for fewer than eight players.
2007
This was the last year before the deduction of administration expenses.
2005
Only year of inclusion of Handicap Knock-outs. Final year of single flight Lesters Trophy competitions, pending an experimental period.
2004
Final year before introduction of Handicap Knock-outs to the OGP.
£10 consolation win points were 5, 5 and 10, as opposed to the current 5, 10 and 15.
2003
Rules identical to those for 2004.
2002
This was the last year when four of the "non-Lesters" events carried a £5 entry fee, the other four being £10.
And the number of Lesters Trophy events was raised from the traditional three to four.
2000 and 2001
The competition consisted only of eight designated OGP tournaments, with the best five scores counting for each player.
Five of these events were subject to a £5 entry fee. The other three were Lesters Trophy events, which cost £20 to enter.
Main flight matches were to 7 points (except for Lesters finals, which were to 11 points).
And only the top eight OGP finishers were allotted Premier Status.
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Current OGP positions
OGP history