NICKO, Hubert Phillips, Gerard Faulkner, Silver Plate, Crockfords Cup

The following arrangements have been announced in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the above competitions.

1. Cancellations of previously agreed match dates since the coronavirus pandemic broke will not result in matches being awarded to either side.

2. All play-by dates are being extended. When social distancing recommendations are relaxed sufficiently to enable face to face bridge to resume, new deadlines will be announced. These will give captains approximately four weeks from then to arrange matches for the current round, but with more generous than usual provisions for extensions. Subsequent rounds will have play-by dates on a slightly tighter timetable than usual to allow some catching up, but again with more generous than usual provisions for extensions.

3. Do please play online if you can. It is accepted that this is not for everyone, although it seems probable that there will be quite a lot of players playing online in the current situation who have not done so previously. Please refer to the Online Match Regulations for further information. If you are concerned about security, you can always use Skype or equivalent, so that each player has a video connection to one of his opponents at the table.

For the Crockfords Cup, along with the above arrangements, a decision will be made at a later date as to whether there is time for the two remaining knockout rounds in both Crockfords Cup and Crockfords Plate to be completed in time for the scheduled 8-team finals on 5th - 6th September, or whether the finals weekend will have to be re-scheduled.

For all of the above competitions (NICKO, Hubert Phillips, Gerard Faulkner, Silver Plate, Crockfords Cup) the entry deadline for the 2020/21 competition is being extended indefinitely. New closing dates will be announced in due course.

March 24, 2020