From 1st January 2016, for a session to be eligible for the award of Master Points, it is necessary for each pair to be scheduled to play 70% or more of the boards which are in use. This applies only to pairs events – teams sessions are not affected.
This only affects whether a session is eligible for Master Points - the session will still earn Magazine Points and contribute to the NGS as well as being liable for Universal Membership Subscription (UMS, formerly P2P) regardless of whether it complies with the regulation.
The ‘70% rule’ is an amendment to the ‘75% rule’ which was originally announced in 2014, and the implementation of which was postponed earlier this year. We hope this will be a practical solution that answers the objections some of you raised, without abandoning the underlying principle that others favoured.
Those who provide the scoring software programs that are used by most clubs have already implemented it so that you will be warned if you are about to set up a movement that would fail to comply with this regulation.
A document of suggested movement, to help you to comply, is available here.
Do feel welcome to contact Gordon Rainsford – Gordon@ebu.co.uk – with any requests for help with its implementation, or consult our FAQ page.