Masterpoints won in other bridge organizations, such as the ABA and foreign organizations, must be taken into account for placement in the appropriate flights.

1.  Flight A: Open to any Player

2.  Flight B: Players with fewer than 2500 MPs as of the 2024 June masterpoint cycle.*

3.  Flight C: Non-Life Masters with fewer than 500 MPs as of the 2024 June masterpoint cycle.*

Clubs may decide what conventions are allowed at the club qualifiers. At the District level, ACBL Conditions of Contest Conventions apply. In Flight A, Open+ is allowed; in Flight B (0-2500) and Flight C (0-500 Non-Life Master), Basic+ is allowed.

Remember, by ACBL rules, no Multi is allowed.

Appeals of director’s rulings and protests of scoring errors are to be dealt with in accordance with ACBL rules by the normal tournament authority. The Director-in- Charge and the District head of appeals is authorized to form telephone committees if an appropriate committee cannot be formed on-site. In Flight A, at the discretion of the Director-in-Charge, the Chairman of the District 6 GNT/NAP Planning Committee, and/or the District 6 NAP Coordinator, such telephone committees may include players from outside District 6 in order to obtain the best and most objective ruling possible.

If the appeals committee should judge the appeal to be substantially without merit, it may assess penalties in accordance with ACBL and District 6 policies. Such penalties may be expressed in match points or seeding points, as appropriate. Seeding point penalties may be applied to future Grand National Team Final seeding.

Except as provided in the ACBL Conditions, no participant may qualify for the District Finals who is not a bona fide member of a Unit within District 6 on June 1, 2024. If questions arise, it will be the responsibility of the player to satisfy the Regional Director (or designee) as to his/her eligibility.

See Appendix for making requests for exceptions.

A one-session substitute who does not substantially strengthen or weaken the partnership may be permitted to keep the original partnership alive. Substitutes must be eligible to play in the flight in which they are substituting, must be a member of District 6, and must be club-qualified or already eliminated from the event. For Flights

A and B, substitutes must be approved by the Player Evaluation Committee. For Flight C, approval may be given by the Regional Director, District Coordinator, or Player Evaluation Committee. Replacements are not allowed.

Pre-registration is required in order to play in the District Finals. Pairs in all three Flights must pre-register by Thursday, October 24, 2024. You and your partner must pre-register as a pair and not as individuals.

To pre-register, fill out and submit the NAP entry form which will be posted on the District 6 website https://www.districtsixbridge.org/

District Stage

District Qualification and Final Rounds

For Flights A and B, District 6 will schedule a two-day final with a two-session playthrough qualifier on the first day and a two-session playthrough final on the second day. Approximately 50% of the field will qualify from day one to day two. Carryovers will be assigned using the ACBL standard carryover formula. The ACBL director assigned to the event reserves the right to adjust the qualification, movement, and conditions as necessary to achieve as fair and equal conditions for all qualifiers as possible.

The Flight C event will be a two-session playthrough event.

All three D6 NAP finals will be held in person at the Fairfax Elks Lodge, 8421 Arlington Boulevard, Fairfax, VA 22031.

The Flight A and Flight B events will be a two (2) session qualifier on Saturday, November 2, 2024, with a two (2) session final played on Sunday, November 3, 2024. Play will start at 11 am.

The Flight C event will be two sessions on Sunday, November 3, 2024, starting at 11 am.

The top 3 pairs in Flight A and the top 4 pairs in Flights B and C will qualify for the National Finals. The top 2 pairs in each flight will be subsidized by the ACBL, the first place pairs receiving $700 per person, and the second place pairs receiving $300 per person. District 6 will subsidize the second, third, and fourth-place pairs as follows: The second-place pairs will receive $200 per person in addition to the ACBL subsidy. Third-place pairs will receive $300 per person. Fourth place in Flights B and C will receive $200 per person.

The National Finals will be held in conjunction with the Spring NABC in March 2025 in Memphis, TN.

As noted above, the expectation is that exceptions will be rare. Following are three situations where an exception may be considered:

∙ “Snowbird”. A member with seasonal residences who spends more than half of the GNT (September 1 – February 28) or NAP (June 1 – August 31)

qualifying period in a district other than the district of his principal physical residence may play beyond the club qualifying stage in the district of seasonal residence. If he chooses to do so, he may only play in the district-level final of one district. He must play in that District’s District Finals to be eligible to play in the national finals. Such a player will not be eligible to be added to a team from his other district. All necessary approvals must be obtained before play begins at the district level.

∙ A player with multiple domiciles should apply to the Credentials Committee for a one-time choice of district in which he wishes to play. This application must be made before the start of the event’s qualifying period. This player may be asked to document his time in each of his residences. The player must spend at least three months each year in a district in order to have it considered as a domicile possibility. Once a player chooses a district in which to play, he must play only in that district until he no longer has a domicile in that district.

∙ 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 temporarily resides.

In rare cases, a player who is a member of a unit in a district in which he does not reside may seek permission to play in the district in which he has a unit membership.

Such an exception will be considered only if all of the conditions below are met:

o  Lives sufficiently close to the district borders o Has been a member of the unit in which he wishes to play for at least 5 years continuously prior to the start of the competition in the year for which the exception is being requested.

o  Must not have played in the GNT or NAP in another district for that period of time.

o  Must have been actively involved as a volunteer in the Unit or District in which he wishes to play for at least two years. Possibilities include but are not limited to: Unit or District Board Member, Chair of NABC or major NABC Committee, District or Unit Recorder, Tournament Chair, or Club Manager.

Note: Simply playing bridge in the other District/Unit or having a regular partner who resides in the other District is not considered sufficient reason for an exception to the “play where you live” rule.

Any player seeking an exception for this reason must document the reasons why an exception should be considered and send it to both District Directors involved, as described above. This application must be made before the start of the event’s qualifying period. The District Director of the District in which the player is a member must confirm the fact that the player has been an active volunteer in the District (or Unit) where the player does not live before forwarding such requests to the Credentials Committee (highest flight only). Should an exception be granted for this reason, the player is eligible to play only in that district and may not change unit affiliation unless the player’s principal physical residence changes.

The Credentials Committee may consider exceptions under unusual circumstances for otherwise eligible players who change their District through a change in their physical domicile after September 1 (GNT) and June 1 (NAP). Requests shall be made at least 30 days before the appropriate District Level final.

∙ Prepare drafts of District Conditions and Procedures for review by the District 6 Board and/or the GNT/NAP Planning Committee and/or ACBL Special Events Staff

∙ Select dates and sites for District Final (with concurrence from the District 6

Board), arrange for supplies, staff, and amenities

∙ Serve as liaison to the ACBL for the District levels

∙ Submit voucher for expenses to District Board

∙ Provide full information and recommendations to the District Board

∙ Publicize the club and District events within their Unit

∙ Provide information on club qualifying games to the District 6 Webmaster

∙ Provide assistance to club managers

∙ Obtain the names of qualified individuals (by flight)

∙ Encourage clubs to hold NAP qualifiers and Grass Roots Fund games.