DISTRICT 17 GNT CHAIRMAN
Jerry Gaer, 5900 E. Thomas Rd, #E126, Scottsdale, AZ 85251-7554
Telephone: (480)949-1264 or (602)321-3496
E-mail: jgrevoke@aol.com

INTRODUCTION
The 2007-2008 District 17 Grand National Team Event will be conducted in two stages, a Club Level Qualifying Stage and a District Finals Stage.

STAGE 1 - CLUB LEVEL QUALIFYING
A. Club Level Qualifying Games may be conducted by Clubs or Units. There is no limit on the number of Club Level Qualifying Games that a Club or Unit may hold. Players qualifying at the club level stage are eligible to participate in the District Finals. Anyone from anywhere is permitted to play at a Club Level Game. Players may play in as many games as desired, except that in no case can players compete in more than one District Final. Clubs and units are not required to hold GNT qualifying games, but are strongly encouraged to do so. Non-members may play at the club level, but must be paid-up ACBL members to continue to the next stage. See "Membership Requirements" below.

B. Players qualify as teams. Teams will be composed of four, five or six members. Each team must select a captain. At the beginning of each game, the captain is responsible to assure that entry blanks are clearly filled out, listing all players' names, player numbers, and the captain's e-mail address.

C. Club level events must be held between September 1, 2007 and February 15, 2008, but may not be held during the Fall NABC in San Francisco CA between November 22 and December 2, 2007. Club Level Qualifying events may not be scheduled during the International Team Trials (ITT) nor the Women's International Team Trials (WITT) which would preclude continued participation in these events.

D. The 2007-2008 GNT competition is divided into four categories:

Championship Flight (unlimited masterpoints).
Flight A will be open to players with fewer than 5,000 masterpoints.
Flight B will be open to players with fewer than 2,000 masterpoints.
Flight C will be open to Non-Life Masters with fewer than 500 masterpoints.

E. Clubs and Units have the following options for club level games:

1. Stratified Games
   
2. Flighted Games where all four flights compete simultaneously, but separately.
   
3. Flighted Games where each flight is conducted as a separate event; either on separate days, or where one, two or three flights are held on one day and the other flight(s) are held on other days.
   
4. Strati-flighted Games where one flight plays by itself, and the other flights play a stratified game.
   
5. Games may be conducted as Swiss or Round Robin events
   
6. Games may be held as one or two session events.

G. If the event is flighted, and only one team is entered in any one flight, that team will be automatically qualified for the District Final. That team must pay the club qualifying fee, even though they will not have to play in that event to qualify.

H. Matches will be scored by Victory Points - 20 point scale. Ties will not be broken.

I. Fifty percent (50%) of the teams entered (rounded up), including those tied for the last qualifying position, will qualify for the next stage of competition.

J. ACBLscore will automatically assign the appropriate scoring and qualifiers. If a club or unit does not use ACBLscore, please contact your GNT Chairman to obtain proper forms. Points awarded at the club level stage are half red and half black, at sectional rating.

K. Sanction forms are not required. If you desire to have your games published in advance in the FORUM, please notify the District GNT Chairman of the dates you plan to hold GNT games by completing and mailing a Notification Form.

SANCTION FEES AND REPORTING FOR STAGE 1
Sanction fees of $4.00 per team per session are due District 17. Club owners/managers and Unit officials will establish their own entry fees. Send to the District 17 GNT Chairman promptly at the conclusion of each game:

• A check made out to District 17 for the District 17 sanction fees of $4 per team per session for each event;
  
• One copy of the report form and result forms. ACBLscore press sheets may be substituted for the result forms. Please state whether or not results are being included in monthly reports to ACBL.
  
• Completed entry forms. Club managers/owners and Unit GNT Coordinators are responsible to assure that each entry form is properly completed with the team captain's name, player number, address and e-mail address, and all team member names and player numbers. The correct flight must be noted in the upper right and left hand corners of the entry blanks.

ACBL SANCTION FEES
ACBL Sanction Fees are $1.25 per team per session for each event. If you are using ACBLscore Version 7.0 or higher, this fee will be included in your monthly report and your check for your monthly report to ACBL will include this fee with all ACBL fees incurred for that month. If you do not use Version 7.0 or higher, please mail the ACBL GNT sanction fees directly to ACBL with a copy of the results for each game.

PLAY REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CLUB AND DISTRICT STAGES

• For any overall award, a player must play at least 50% of the boards played by the team at the time he/she (and the team) earned that award.
• For the first place award, when the team wins the final, a player must play at least 50% of the combined boards in the semifinal and final matches.
• For any given overall award, the players must have played at least 50% of the boards in the match in which they earned the award. EXAMPLE: A player plays 100% of round one and 100% of round four, the final. If the team loses the final match, that player will receive masterpoints (match awards) only for the first round victory.
• In stages consisting of two or more sessions of unequal numbers of boards played, half of the sessions is deemed to be half the boards played.

ZERO TOLERANCE
ACBL policy on Zero Tolerance will be observed at all levels of the GNT competition. For the purpose of any Zero Tolerance penalties accrued, Stage 1 and Stage 2 will be considered as one total event.

CONVENTIONS
Conventions on the ACBL General Convention Chart must be allowed at all stages. Use of ACBL Mid-Chart conventions will be allowed only in the Championship Flight and in Flight A, and only during the District Final competition.

DIRECTORS
The Director In Charge at the Club qualifying level must hold the rank of "Qualified Club Director" or higher. ACBL regulations state that non-playing Directors are encouraged, but are not required for games of 17 tables or less in Stage 1. For Stage 2, the District Finals, the Director must hold Regional rating or higher. Where ACBL-rated directors are to be used, ACBL headquarters will be the final authority on assignment, and requests for ACBL-rated directors should be received in Memphis at least 90 days prior to the game.

GRAND NATIONAL TEAM FUND RAISER
Clubs and Units may hold as many GNT Fund Raiser games as desired. Fund Raiser Games are sectionally rated and may be played as Pairs, Individuals or Team Games. Fund Raiser Games do not qualify players for the next stage. The games may be run as Open, Invitational, Novice or Stratified. District Sanction Fees for Fund Raiser Games are $3.00 per table per session, and should be sent directly to the the District GNT Chairman along with results of the game. ACBL fees are $1.00 per table per session, and should be sent to ACBL in accordance with the directions set forth in the ACBL Sanction Fees paragraph above. Entry forms are not required for the Fund Raisers.

STAGE 2 - DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP
The District Finals will be held in Las Vegas NV February 29 - March 2, 2008 in connection with their Regional. The Finals will be conducted in separate, but simultaneous events including the Championship Flight, Flight A, Flight B and Flight C. District Finals will be played over a period of three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 29 - March 2 for the Championship flight and Flight A. Flights B and C will be two days, on Friday and Saturday, February 29 - March 1. Starting times will coincide with the times for the Regional Events.

ENTRY FEES
Entry fees will be $44.00 per team per session.

QUALIFICATION
All players must be members of a District 17 unit, and must be paid-up members in good standing of the ACBL. Exception: A participant who is a full-time student, a member of the armed forces, or whose employment requires temporary relocation may play in the District in which he/she temporarily resides. See elsewhere in these Conditions for membership requirements.

FURTHER ELIGIBILITY
Players not eligible to represent the U.S. in World Bridge Federation competition for reasons of residency or citizenship, or because they have previously represented another country, may not enter the Championship Flight or Flight A at any stage beyond Stage I. Entry in Stage 2 into the Championship flight or Flight A will constitute a declaration of intent to represent the U.S. in WBF competition.

FLIGHT MASTERPOINT REQUIREMENTS
Flight masterpoint requirements for Stage 2 are the same as for Stage 1.

DISTRICT WINNERS
Winning teams of each flight category of the District Finals are eligible to compete in the National Finals.

RULES OF PLAY FOR DISTRICT FINALS

1. Every team entering the District Finals will be guaranteed to play two sessions on the first day of play. There will be no byes.
2. In all flights having 9 or more teams, there will be a double session Swiss Team qualification on Friday to reduce the field. In the Championship flight and Flight A, the field is reduced to 8 teams. The surviving 8 teams will them play two knockout matches on Saturday and a 2 session final match on Sunday to determine the District winners. Flights B and C will be reduced to 4 teams and will play two knockout matches on Saturday to determine each flight's winners.
3. In all flights having between 5-8 teams inclusive, all teams will play a double round robin on Friday to reduce the field to 4 teams for knockout competition on Saturday. The Championship flight and Flight A will play 2 session semifinal matches on Saturday and another 2 session final match on Sunday to determine winners. Flights B and C will play a single session semifinal knockout and a single session final knockout match on Saturday.
4. Flights of 3 or 4 teams will play a double session round robin on Friday to reduce the field to two teams for a knockout championship on Saturday.
5. In the event only two teams are entered in any one flight, they will play a double session knockout on Friday.
6. In the event only one team is entered in any one flight on Friday, that team will be declared the District Representative to the National Finals in that flight, provided they pay card fees for the first session of the District finals.
7. Knockout matches prior to the finals will be 28 boards. The finals will be 56 boards for the Championship flight and Flight A. If a KO match ends in a tie, a four board playoff will be used to determine the winner. Should subsequent playoffs be required to break the tie, each playoff will be four boards.
8. Points awarded in which the District Champion is declared are gold for overalls and red for match awards at Regional rating. Swiss Team events that qualify to a knockout are considered to be a part of the District Finals, and do NOT award overall masterpoints. The point awards for the District Finals are as follows:

   Championship Flight: 36.00 gold points
   Flight A: 30.00 gold points
   Flight B: 26.00 gold points
   Flight C: 15.00 masterpoints, of which 25% are gold and 75% are red

9. The first place finishers in the Championship flight, Flight A, Flight B, and the second place finisher in the Championship flight earn Blue Ribbon qualifications. The first place finishers in Flight C earn Red Ribbon Qualification.

REIMBURSEMENTS
Teams advancing to the District Finals will receive a nominal mileage reimbursement. The amount will be determined by: (a) the distance the teams have to travel, and (b) the total District sanction fees collected at the Club Qualifying events, after expenses; supplemented with $2,000 from the District 17 treasury. This reimbursement will be calculated on a per team basis, and will not be based on the number of team members. Mileage will be calculated from the site of each team's Club Qualifying to the site of the District Finals, Las Vegas NV. No reimbursement will be paid to "local" teams of Unit #373. After entering the District Finals, checks will be issued to the team captains for distribution among their team members.

SUBSTITUTION DURING PLAY AT DISTRICT FINALS
The District GNT Chairman or the Tournament Director may approve a substitute in an emergency. Only one substitute is permitted at any time, and no substitute is permitted if four or more team members of record are available. A substitute may not appreciably strengthen a team, and is subject to the following limitations: a) the substitute must be a member of a District 17 Unit; b) at the club Qualifying stage, if a substitute plays more than 50% of the boards, he/she becomes the contestant of record; c) the substitute must be eligible to play in the flight in which the team requiring the substitute is competing; and d) a substitute is not permitted for more than a 24 hour period or for more than 50% of the boards played, whichever is less. Also, no substitute is allowed when a team member is suspended or expelled per the section below, "Ineligible Players and Disqualifications".

REPLACEMENTS
The permanent replacement of a player who, for cause, cannot continue in the event is permitted only with the permission of the District 17 Chairman. The replacement must be: a) a member of a District 17 Unit; b) must not be eligible for further competition in another flight. He/she may cancel such eligibility by stating to the District GNT Chairman in writing his/her intentions to withdraw from the other flight; c) must be eligible to compete in the flight in which the team needing the replacement is competing; and d) must not appreciably strengthen the team. Also, in the event a team has only two original members, at least one of the replacements must have competed in a 2007-2008 District 17 Qualifying event. A replaced player permanently leaves the event with all masterpoints already earned, and the replacement continues in the event earning points thereafter. Play percentage requirements apply to the replacement only for the portion yet to be played. A team becomes ineligible to continue in the event: a) when fewer than two original team members (as established at the Club Qualifying Level) can continue and meet the play percentage requirements, or b) when any team member is suspended or expelled for disciplinary reasons for actions occurring during the 2007-2008 Club Qualifying games or during the 2008 District Finals, regardless of the number of members on the offending player's team.

AUGMENTATION
Augmentation of a fifth and/or sixth player to a team after completion of the Club Qualifying or District Final will be allowed provided: a) the District GNT Chairman is notified and approves, b) the augmentation does not appreciably strengthen the team, c) the players to be added are eligible to compete in the flight in which the team wishing to add them is competing, and d) the players to be added are members of a District 17 Unit and paid-up members of ACBL. A player still qualified for further competition in another flight cannot be added unless that player indicates in writing to the District 17 GNT Chairman his/her intentions to drop out of the other flight.

INELIGIBLE PLAYERS AND DISQUALIFICATIONS
An ineligible player is disqualified. The ineligible player's team will be disqualified unless the Director-in-Charge determines that the teammates were unaware of the deficiency of the disqualified member. Any team reduced to fewer than three original members due to disqualification of ineligible player(s) is disqualified. When a player's team is disqualified after the correction period, the disqualified team's position remains vacant. In ongoing events, teams move up one position as appropriate.

NATIONAL GNT FINALS

1. The District winners of each flight will be eligible to participate in the National GNT finals, which will begin on Wednesday, July 16, prior to the Summer NABC in Las Vegas NV July 17-27, 2008. The Championship flight and Flight A will commence with the afternoon session, and Flights B and C will start in the evening. Should the first place team in any flight elect not to advance to the National Finals, the second place team in that flight will be extended the invitation to participate. If neither the first nor second place team in a particular flight elect to advance to the National Finals, District 17 will not be represented in that flight.
2. ACBL provides no subsidy to teams participating in the National Finals, and does not require the Districts to do so. District 17 will provide $1,600 per team in each of the four flights to assist with expenses. NOTE: This subsidy will not be paid unil the teams have actually participated in the National Finals. A check will be issued to the Team Captain for distribution to the team members.
3. Replacement and Augmentation rules detailed above apply to teams advancing to the National Finals. Teams advancing to the National Finals must consist of at least three of the team members who participated in the District 17 Finals.
4. The first place finishers in the Championship Flight, Flight A, Flight B, and the second place finishers in the Championship Flight at the National Finals will earn Blue Ribbon qualification. These teams will earn qualifying points, if applicable, for international competition on the same scale as in the Blue Ribbon Pairs and the Life Master Pairs. The first and second place finishers in the Non-Life Master Flight C at the Nationals will earn Red Ribbon qualification.
5. The point awards for the first place teams at the National finals are as follows:

   Championship Flight: 100 gold points
   Flight A: 75 gold points
   Flight B: 60 gold points
   Flight C: 40 points of which one-third are gold points and two-thirds are red points

MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

1. For the GNT, a member's principal physical residence as of Sept. 1 of the year prior to the NABC finals shall establish the district in which the member is eligible to participate beyond the qualifying stage.
2. Entry forms for the unit and district finals shall include the following statement: "By entering this event, I hereby certify, subject to penalties as provided in the conditions of contest for this event and in the ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations, that I am eligible to play in this district."
3. A credentials committee shall be formed and comprised of six (6) members of the ACBL Board of Directors; two each from the Eastern, Central and Western zones. Panels hearing exceptions will be comprised of three of the six members. The president of the ACBL shall select the members of this committee annually. The members shall hear all matters pertaining to the events begun that year.
4. If a member is unsure which district is the appropriate district in which he may play, the member may seek clarification from the credentials committee prior to the start of the event.
5. If, at the unit final stage or later, an ACBL member believes that another player is playing in the wrong district, he or she may challenge that player's eligibility to the credentials committee.
6. The credentials committee may request documentary evidence from the member whose eligibility is in question. If a member requesting clarification as provided in paragraph 4 above fails to provide the requested evidence, no ruling shall be made and the member shall play at his own risk. If a member is unable to verify to the committee's satisfaction that he or she has played in the district of principal physical residence, the Credentials Committee shall automatically disqualify the member and and his teammates (GNTs). If a member is found to be ineligible, the matter may be referred to the ACBL President to make charges to the ACBL Disciplinary Committee.
7. If players wish an exception from the requirements of section 1 above, they must begin the process for the GNT by July 1. Players must seek permission in writing from the district directors of the district in which they live and the district in which they wish to play. Both district directors must agree for the exception to be granted. For the Open Championship Flight in the GNT, this written permission from both district directors will be forwarded to the credentials committee for final approval. If the directors do not agree, the exception is not granted. There is no appeal from this decision.

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR CLUB LEVEL GAMES

1. September 1, 2007 marks the start of the 2007-2008 GNT season. No club level games should be held prior to this date, nor after February 15, 2008.
2. September 1, 2007 masterpoint cycle also marks the cutoff date for eligibility for any particular flight below the Championship Flight. Any player eligible for any particular flight as of this date remains eligible for that flight throughout the 2007-2008 GNT regardless of masterpoint or rank change accomplishments after that date.
3. In setting up your game in ACBLscore, be sure to correctly identify the game at the "event rating screen".
4. DBADD your game to the monthly report for masterpoint postings and payment of fees due ACBL if your version of ACBLscore is 7.00 or higher. If less than 7.00, DBADD your game, print and fill out the Report Form, attach payment of fees due ACBL, and send the package to the ACBL - Special Events Department.
5. Surcharges due the District should be sent directly to your District GNT Chairman in accordance with the instructions above.