Judging by the number of queries we are getting and the number of times the NGS page on the website is accessed, the grading system is very popular. We are finding that there are a lot of problems arising that could be reduced if clubs and members take a little extra care.
The most general query we received is along the lines of “ I played at XYZ club three days ago, got a good score but it hasn't been graded”.
Invariably the answer is for one of these reasons:-
1. Your partner was not an EBU member, or their EBU number was not supplied; both members of a partnership must be EBU members for a session to count for them in the NGS.
2. The session was not available for grading (perhaps a teams game). See below though for information about teams games.
3. There were insufficient EBU members playing in that session.
..and the latest fairly regular problem…
4. A player visits a club and is already an EBU member, but the club submits the session with them down as a “Visitor”, which they are to the club, but not to us! The session, as in 1 above, is not graded.
Members; please remember to quote your EBU number every time you play, wherever that may be. Check your results have been graded fairly soon after the event. The results are processed for grading as soon as we get them now, so often that is the day after the session was played. If there is an error it can be corrected only by the club submitting a revised result file. If you wait too long to get the corrections made it may be too late to get the session correctly graded.
Clubs; when you have a visitor to your club, please make sure to ask if they are an EBU member and obtain and use that number in your results submission if they are a member of the EBU, even if not a member of your club. Also, if you use electronic scoring devices, use the EBU number for registration, rather than an "In house" number; this will make it easier for visiting EBU members to register correctly. Please submit your file as soon as possible after the session, preferably at the same time as you update your website.
Mentors and Hosts; please remember that only one person is allowed to be omitted from grading per session and then, only if that is agreed before the session is played; please remember that both players in the partnership will have results will be excluded.
We are awaiting some changes in Bridgemate software before we are able to implement the inclusion of team events into NGS; this will hopefully happen in the next couple of months and will include multiple teams events and Swiss Teams.
