County League

General
A league for teams of four played in two/three divisions. Six players may be nominated but only four may play in any one match. Any player not nominated initially, must be nominated to the League Secretary before the match is played.

In exceptional circumstances and to enable matches to be arranged within the required schedule dates, teams may be allowed to use up to two additional players. Note that a request to use a new strong pair at a late stage of the season is unlikely to be approved.

All players must be paid-up members of Surrey and no player may play for more than one team.

Promotion and Relegation
At the end of the season the two highest placed teams in the second and third division will normally be promoted to the next higher division, and the two lowest placed relegated to the next lower division. Where two teams are tied on victory points, the team that has not won any matches is relegated. The League Secretary may vary this to maintain an appropriate balance of standard in each division.

Any player that plays for a team relegated to a lower division, will not be allowed to play for a team in a higher division in the next season.

Name of teams
A team's title will be the Captain's name, and to retain its position each season more than half of its nominated members must be re-nominated. The placement of any new team shall be determined by the League Secretary.

Dates for Matches.
Matches should be played in Surrey (old boundary) or at any Affiliated Club outside Surrey or at a private residence within a three mile radius of an Affiliated Club.

Matches should be played within the scheduled periods, following Surrey guidelines for arranging matches. Any difficulty in arranging a match should be notified to the League Secretary at an early stage and all matches must be completed before the end of May. The League Secretary is empowered to award results for matches unplayed at the end of May taking into account the circumstances in each case.

If a team fails to arrange a date for a match, or cancels without valid reason - and thus concedes the match - the team to whom the match is conceded will get 13VPs or, if greater its average against all other the other teams, or if greater, the average of all the other teams against the defaulting team. The defaulting team receive no VPs.

The organisers may impose the penalty of non-entry on members of the defaulting team in the next season.

If there is a valid reason for cancelling a match, the match should be re-scheduled.

Play
Matches shall consist of 28 boards, which may be reduced to 24 by prior agreement of the captains. Matches are played in two equal halves, changing opponents at half-time.

A fouled board in the first half should be replaced by adding a board to the second set. A fouled board in the second set is not replaced.

No correction of scores is allowed after the result has been agreed by the captains.

Refreshments
The home team is expected to provide light refreshments.

Late Arrival
If a team is 45min late, or 90min late having notified late arrival, the match is awarded to the non-offending side. If a member of a team is present within 45min of the starting time, that is an indication that the whole team intends to arrive and constitutes 'notification' within the meaning of this clause.

After 30 min of late arrival, whether notified or not, the match is reduced by 2 boards and for each further complete 15min period the match is again reduced by 2 boards. The maximum number of boards that can be removed is eight (which occurs after 75min of late arrival). The non-offending side is awarded 3 IMPs per board. See also item 4.

Systems and Conventions
Systems and conventions permitted by Level 4 Licence as set out in the current EBU Conventions handbook may be played.

Results
A result form must be signed by the captains at the end of each match. It is the responsibility of the winning captain, or the home captain in case of a draw, to send the results to the League Secretary within two days of the match being played. The names of the team members and their EBU numbers are required.

Scoring is by total IMPs converted to VPs using the following scale (28-boards):

IMPs (24 boards)	0-1	2-4	5-8	9-12	13-16	17-21	22-26	27-32	33-39	40-50	51+
IMPs (28 boards)	0-1	2-5	6-10	11-15	16-20	21/25	26-31	32-38	39-47	48-60	61+
VPs	10-10	11-9	12-8	13-7	14-6	15-5	16-4	17-3	18-2	19-1	20-0

Smoking Regulations (as per Surrey AGM 1993 )
In all Surrey competitions held in clubs or private homes, in addition to the published rules at the venue, any player may request that there shall be no smoking at the table at which he/she is playing.

In matches played in private homes, it is the duty of both captains to indicate the likely wishes of their team in this matter when arranging the match.

Appeals
If possible, an initial ruling should be obtained from the Chief Tournament Director during or immediately after the match. Otherwise the following should be submitted to the Chief TD within three days of the match:

Full details of the hand with dealer, vulnerability, bidding and play.
Results of the board in both rooms and results of any substitute board.
Details of grounds for appeal and statements made by players on the day.
Further statements on behalf of each team signed by the captains. The appealing team make their statements first and then the other team.

The Chief Tournament Director will arrange for copies to be sent to three members of the Surrey Appeals Committee. They will consult and should reach an agreed verdict within about a week.

Only in exceptional circumstances will an actual meeting of the Panel be convened. Team captains may request an actual meeting and the team would have to pay a deposit of £30 which will not be refunded if the Panel deem that the appeal has been frivolous.