LIST of ALL PRODUCTS:

1. Tournament organization.
   
   1. AoIG with Team Effort Bridge Club(BC) or other established Bridge Clubs:
      

      Fully run by AoIG. AoIG will be responsible for advertisement, facilitation, directing, ACBL points, AoIG rating, bridge supply, food and other miscellaneous expenses.

      There are two types of the games guarantees.
      
      - Guarantee to be a game:
      Each game has a specified (guaranteed) date, a predetermined structure (pair, team, or individual) the following costs to the players.

      Cost for players to play:
      $5 per player with advance registration (at least 24 hours before game time).
      $10 per player at the door.
      In addition, a minimum $5 per player Prize Money Pool (PMP) contribution is mandatory for all.

      Registration for the game is fully transferable to any other bridge player by the current holder any time before the game start! After the game begins, players who did not either cancel or transfer their reservations and did not show up will forfeit their $5 deposit, but all PMP contributions, if any, will be fully refunded. Each player's deposit is fully refundable if game is canceled.

      - Guaranteed number of players per game:
      Game is advertised to be conditioned on 20 players (5 tables) registered in advance (24 hours before game time). Easy one-button click online registration (for AoIG members) or optional registration by phone.

      Cost for players to play:
      $5 per player with advance registration (at least 24 hours before game time).
      NO EXTRA CHARGE at the door.
      In addition, a minimum $5 per player Prize Money Pool (PMP) contribution is mandatory for all.
      As a part of advance registration, a $5 per player deposit will be required and players will be given an opportunity to vote on the format of the game to be held (teams, pairs, or individual). List with number of player registered and their vote will be instantly available through AoIG website. Any player, pair, or team that registered in advance may cancel up to 24 hours prior to the start of the game; their deposit will either be refunded or applied to a different game.

      At the 24 hours prior the game start, the player’s vote is counted, game format is determined, and announced on AoIG and CCBA websites.

      (Advantage of advance registration: Registered players will have an opportunity to vote on a game format and they will be provided with pre-printed name tags. The more people register in advance, the better we are able to start SHARP on time)

      Registration for the game is fully transferable to any other bridge player by the current holder any time before the game start! After the game begins, players who did not either cancel or transfer their reservations and did not show up will forfeit their $5 deposit, but all PMP contributions, if any, will be fully refunded. Each player's deposit is fully refundable if game is canceled.

   2. Other BC with establish games + AoIG service of PMP distribution.

      Other BC which runs their normally scheduled games may occasionally or on a regular basis request the AoIG service of PMP distribution. In which case BC will collect a slightly higher entry fee at door to be determine by owner/manager of the BC (AoIG suggestion is from $10 to $12 , which will include $5 mandatory contribution to PMP). Players who register in advance with AoIG will pay $5 + their PMPE (minimum $5).

      AoIG will either send a representative to collect a PMP and distribute the checks to the players, or make a special arrangement with the director in charge to submit all results and winners' mailing addresses for PM check distribution.

2. Special contest rules.

   All PM Bridge events in which AoIG is involved eligible for all services AoIG offering to bridge players (unless specifically stated otherwise on a full copy of rules of individual contest).

   The current (as of December, 2005) list of AoIG services and contests:
   - AoIG bridge rating (including c-points, team game only, for playing and non-playing Captain and Coach);
   - AoIG combined rating (across all Mind Sport Games);
   - End of Year PM Bonus Pool distribution (starting in 2006);
   - Bob Hamman Challenge 2005-06 (expires April, 2006);
   - Pro-Am Bridge Charity Tournaments;
   - Win a catering party for your BC contest.

3. Bridge Lessons.
   (For inquiry and registration: 847-778-5259 or 847-541-7560)

   AoIG will help bridge players of any level to improve their game.

   AoIG offers any new client a 1 hour one-on-one skill assessment appointment (for discounted price of $25.00). Your current skill level and game learning ability will be assessed. Based on this information and your short and long term expectation from a bridge game, AoIG will find for you group or individual lessons which most suits your needs.

   Instructional fee for one-on-one lesson and playing session (about 4 hours) starts at $75.00 and may vary depending on the instructor. Price includes short game analysis and supplemental written material.

   Price for group lesson (about 30-45 minutes) + game time, depending on the number of students in a group, number of prepaid lessons, and what type of the game it adjoins, start at about $10-15 per student (which includes the entry to the game).

4. Pro-Am Bridge Charity Tournaments.

   AoIG will organize Pro-Am bridge charity tournaments where AoIG will ask bridge experts to donate their time and play with the students at a one session event. The intended charity will be the future of duplicate bridge itself.
   (See donation solicitation letter for details).

   How the experts will be selected:
   The experts are players who register through the AoIG website and designate themselves as Club/Regional Expert, National Expert, and World Class Expert with "interest in teaching" check box set to "yes".

   The following AoIG guide lines should be used:
   Club/Regional Expert is player with high degree of success in duplicate bridge regional tournaments and/or extended bridge teaching experience, Life Master (if member of ACBL for more then 5 years).
   National Expert is a player with high degree of success in duplicate bridge National tournaments and extended bridge teaching experience.
   World Class Experts is a player with high degree of success in duplicate bridge on an International Level.

   After an Expert is registered, the AoIG representative will contact him/her to obtain a photo and a short profile to be posted on AoIG website under Players (2nd letter in SPORT).
   After the Expert player profile is posted on AoIG website and the date for next Pro-Am tournament is set, any bridge player regardless of his/her skill level can request a play with specific Expert, by paying the tournament entry for him/herself and the Expert. The payment will be treated according to the rules of advance registration, as described (see Guarantee to be a game).
   With the exception of PMP entry refund: if expert did not show up and AoIG unable to find a substitution, which should be approved by student, then students entry fee FULLY refunded and a voucher for one free session of AoIG PM bridge will be issued. If student does not show up, his/her whole tournament entry (EEFE + PMPE) will be forfeited.

5. AoIG current PM Group entry fee in correspondence to the expert level and PM payoff distribution %.

   As a result of PM Bridge tournament an Expert with student may win Prize Money. The individual checks will be issued , like to any other winning pair. Everybody is entitled to keep money they win. They also have an option to receive a trophy instead of prize money, or donate their winnings to any charitable cause of his/her choice, including the AoIG's ongoing effort of fostering amateur Mind Sport Games competition.

SoloBRIDGE™ Rules
SoloBRIDGE™ is a trademark of Academy of Intellectual Games (AoIG)

SoloBRIDGE™ overview.

The object of the game is to score as much points as possible.

You can choose between 3 or 4 players per table setup.
A 52-card deck is distributed randomly between West, North, East, and South, 13 cards in each direction.
The dummy’s cards, always at the North side of the table, are placed face up.
The other 3 players (West, East, and South) will not see each other’s cards. They will go through the bidding process to determine the declarer, who will play the final contract.
The declarer will always sit on the South seat, switching if necessary with the player who had occupied it during the bidding.
After the bidding is over, 2 temporary partnerships will form: declarer-dummy against East-West.
The declarer, at his turn, will play one card from his own hand and call cards from the dummy at dummy’s turn to play.
East and West will each play one card to the trick from their own hands.
Each deal has 13 tricks. Only the number for tricks won by declarer-dummy or East-West partnership matters for the calculation of the result; the size/value of the cards played to the trick and who exactly won a trick for partnership DOES NOT.

Bidding in SoloBRIDGE™.

The dummy does not participate in a bidding process; s/he will become a partner to the highest bidder.
East will always start the bidding by choosing one of 35 (7 levels x 5 denominations) available contracts or by PASSing.
The lowest possible contract is 1♣ and the highest contract is 7 NT.

The next player can either make a higher bid or PASS.
A player has an option to DOUBLE the last non-PASS bid.
If DOUBLE was the last non-passed bid, the bidder of doubled contract has an option to ReDOUBLE.
The contract becomes final, when follow by 2 PASSes.
The hand is re-shuffled if all 3 players choose to PASS at their first opportunity to bid.

To Play SoloBRIDGE™.

West will always make an opening lead, selecting any card of her/his choice from   her/his hand.
The players from each direction, going clockwise, should contribute 1 card to the trick. 
The players must follow a suit, or play any card from their hands, if they do not have any more cards in a suit lead.   [single/plural pronoun issue]
The highest card in a suit lead or highest trump will win the trick.
The player who wins the trick will be on the lead for the next one.
The declarer will decide which cards to play from his/her own hand and dummy.

Dummy options in SoloBRIDGE™.

Unlike standard Contract Bridge, in SoloBRIDGE™, after the bidding is over, the dummy does not automatically become a partner to the declarer. The dummy has an option to make the declarer an offer to be partners [her/his partner], which the declarer must accept. When playing with a computer partner, a human has the right to decide which will play the hand as the declarer.
(When both declarer and dummy are Humans, the declarer will decide who will play the hand).
However, a player who sits North can attach one, two, or BOTH of the following conditions to her/ his offer:
  - First, to see South’s hand before making a decision;
  - Second, to play the deal himself, instead of South.
South has the right to refuse any CONDITIONAL offer; and receive North’s points as well.
After making conditional an offer South can NOT go back to the unconditional offer.

Scoring in SoloBRIDGE™.

As the result of ANY bridge deal, some players will always win points and some will always lose points. The total number of points distributed to the players as a result of a single bridge deal is always ZERO.
SoloBRIDGE™ scoring most closely follows the Chicago-style bridge scoring. The main difference is that the declarer will get the double points, plus or minus, if the dummy will opt to stay out of the current deal.

Also, the vulnerability is assigned based on the rules of Rubber Bridge (the game where it was invented and used, for the last time, in a “natural way”). The declarer becomes vulnerable for the duration of the current round when s/he has already bid and made a Game or Slam. A round usually consists of 4 deals or hands (a 3-deal round is used in a single table format of 3 players and, occasionally, in a SoloBRIDGE™ tournament set-up).
When North (dummy) joins the declarer (South) in sharing the points for contract (plus or minus), the dummy always will “take” declarer’s vulnerability.

SoloBRIDGE™ tournament set-up.

SoloBRIDGE™ offers tremendous advantages for small bridge clubs, since it can accommodate any number of Duplicate Bridge players, starting with 6. (Just to compare, the current ACBL regulations set the minimum number of players for Duplicate Bridge to 10, i.e. 5 pairs. After that, any odd number, like 11, 13, 15, etc. will land in “no-man zone.”) The SoloBRIDGE™ format allows simultaneous accommodation of any number of players greater that five, including odd numbers. For example, 11 players will start in a 3-table set-up: 4-4-3; 13 in 4 tables: 4-3-3-3; 15 in 4 tables: 4-4-4-3 (recommended); or, in 5 tables: 3-3-3-3-3 (alternative).  Complete rules of a SoloBRIDGE tournament organization are available for distribution from AoIG.

SoloBRIDGE™ Tips and Strategies.

The most significant advantage of SoloBRIDGE™ is that it has all the properties of standard Contract Bridge as created by Vanderbilt. In other words, all techniques for declarer and defensive play developed by previous generations of bridge players will apply.
Also on a plus side, SoloBRIDGE™  DOES NOT REQUIRE  any of the complex bidding systems, which are in a common use today, especially in the expert circuits. (Today, use of such systems is one of the main reasons why the general public withdraws from Contract Bridge tournament activity.)
In SoloBRIDGE™, without any further restrictions, only natural bidding will make sense in most cases. Only a few most basic forms of “artificial” bidding may surface, such as lead-directing opening/overcall or Lightener double.

In addition to the following helpful basic information, Serge Bondar has compiled an eight-page booklet of easily understood guidelines for assisting complete beginners in playing their first SoloBRIDGE™ games.
(A SoloBRIDGE™ for Beginners booklet is available for distribution from AoIG).

Help display contest:

Rubber Bridge Scoring Table (revised by international committee in 1993)
Tricks bid for and made count toward game:
		Not Doubled	Doubled	Redoubled
Each trick over 6 (Book):	♣ Clubs	20	40	80
	♦ Diamonds	20	40	80
	♥ Hearts	30	60	120
	♠ Spades	30	60	120
	No trump (1st trick)	40	80	160
	Each add’nl trick	30	60	120

These points are score below the line.

Trick over 6 made but NOT bid for (tricks over your contract) do not count toward  game:

	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
Undoubled, each	Trick value	Trick value
Doubled, each	100	200
Redoubled, each	200	400

First side to score 100 points in trick-score wins game.
Having win the game, a side is vulnerable.
First side to win two games wins the rubber.
For winning the rubber, if opponents have NO game	700
For winning the rubber, if opponents have game	500
If rubber is unfinished, for winning game	300
If game is unfinished, for having a part-score	50

Premium
	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
For bidding and making Small Slam(12 tricks)	500	700
For bidding and making Grand Slam(13 tricks)	1000	1500
For holding four trump honors in one hand	100	100
For holding five trump honors in one hand	150	150
For holding four Aces in one hand at No Trump	150	150
For making any DOUBLED contract	50	50
For making any REDOUBLED contract	100	100

Penalties
If declarer fails to make his contract, opponents score:
	Not Vulnerable			Vulnerable
	Not Doubled	Doubled	Redoubled	Not Doubled	Doubled	Redoubled
1 Down	50	100	200	100	200	400
2 Down	100	300	600	200	500	1000
3 Down	150	500	1000	100	300	600
Add for each additional trick
Down	50	300	600	100	300	600
Those points are scored above the line

Chicago style and duplicate scoring bonuses (Premiums)
	Not Vulnerable	Vulnerable
For bidding and making contract below the game	50	50
Bidding and Making a game	300	500
Bidding and Making a small SLAM (12 tricks)	800	1250
Bidding and Making a Grand  SLAM (13 tricks)	1300	2000

The numbers above reflect the combine bonus per hand. Thus, when you make Non-Vulnerable 7NT, the 1300 figure already include the game and small slam bonus. When doubled (or redoubled) contracts are made, tricks over book will be multiplied by 2 (or 4) and counted toward the GAME but not SLAM making.

Most commonly used bridge terminology

Table set-up:  the instructions for initial starting position and rotation of bridge players during the duration of one session
Bidding: a process of determination of the declarer of the final contract
There are ONLY 15 words could be legally used by players during the bidding stage:
7 contract levels:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 followed by
3 Contract denominations: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, Spades, or NO Trump
PASS: the player’s decision to became a defender
DOUBLE: when followed by 2 Passes, will double the rewards for making the contract and penalty for not-making it
Re-DOUBLE: same as double, only will quadruple the rewards and penalties

Types of bridge CONTRACTS

Contract: the final bid; more specifically, the trump suit (or no trump) and the number of tricks required.
Part score: any contract below the game level.
Game: a trick score of 100 or more, which can be made by a bid of at least 3 NT, 4 ♥, 4 ♠, 5 ♣ or 5 ♦.
Slam: any six-bid; or in general, any six- or seven-bid.
Grand slam: any seven-bid; a contract to win all 13 tricks.

back to SoloBridge™ overview

Summary of features and modifications

SoloBRIDGE™ scoring is based on the Chicago-style bridge scoring system where each player has his/her individual score.

Modifications:

1. Each table can accommodate 3 or 4 players (exception: 5 players will sit at one table only at the 5-player game).
2. There are always only 3 active players at each table during the bidding stage who have their 13 cards dealt face DOWN.
3. At the dummy seat, always located at the North direction of the table, 13 cards will be dealt face UP.
4. 3 active players will be engaged in a bidding process to determine which one has the right to declare a final contract, using the dummy cards as his/her partner.
5. The dummy seat (always North direction) can accommodate 1 optional player (with the exception of a 5-player field when 2 optional players will be seated North).

   Opposite from standard Bridge where all players are active during the bidding and one will become “dummy” after the bidding is over, in SoloBRIDGE™, players at the North seat are “dummy” during the bidding phase and became “active” after the bidding is over. They each have an option to see the declarer hand and choose whether or not they want to join the current deal on the declarer side.  That is why they are called optional players.
   If an optional player decides to join declarer in a final contract – the plus or minus points will be shared between two players. Now the declarer in his/her turn can choose between 3 options:

   1. to play contract by her/himself;
   2. exchange seats with the optional player and let her/him play;
   3. invite an optional player to play together in consulting mode from the South seat (the last option may be prohibited in some tournaments).


6. The plus and minus points are awarded as in standard Chicago-style scoring; however if the optional player refuses to join the declarer, then the declarer will receive the “double” points.
7. The movement of the players is pre-determined and depends only on the number of players in a particular section.
8. Vulnerability is assigned based on the rules of Rubber Bridge (the game where it was invented and used, for the last time, in a “natural way”).The declarer becomes vulnerable for the duration of the current round when s/he has already bid and made a Game or Slam. A round usually consists of 4 deals or hands (a 3-deal round is used in a single table format of 3 players and, occasionally, in a SoloBRIDGE™ tournament set-up).

The rules of SoloBRIDGE™ listed above will stay the same for all types of tournaments from Club to World championships. However, the method of card distribution to each table may vary from club to club and from tournament to tournament, depending on available resources. The fairest barometer format is described below:

1. all tables play the boards in the same sequence;
2. cards are dealt by a computer-controlled device at each table, or pre-sorted cards distributed to the table in special envelopes (or old style duplicate boards);
3. scoring is done in IMPs form based on computer pre-calculated datum for each deal (such datum is easily obtained by four computer programs playing SoloBRIDGE™ against each other);
4. after a 3- or 4-board session, players will be moved to Tables 1 thru N, according to their standings. For more information, see the “Summary of Multi-Table Setup.”

Advantages of SoloBRIDGE™ for the 3rd Millennium:

1. Elimination of the need for a complex bidding system to obtain superior results;
2. Simplicity of administering to any number of players, starting with 3;
3. Empowering of dummy role;
4. Theoretically, the fairest way to defined the winner:


1. Everybody competes against players who hold the same cards
2. The tournament set-up incorporates one of the most popular movements for individuals, the SWISS movement (almost 95% of Chess tournaments are using a similar movement)
3. Finally, the datum is determine by an “objective” computer program which eliminates disproportional big swings;
5. And most important, SoloBRIDGE™, in conjunction with the new method of card distribution, provides the most cheating-proof foundation for serious prize money tournaments.