October 2024 - 16

BOARD News
These are highlights of actions
taken by the ACBL Board of Directors
during its face-to-face meetings held
before the Summer NABC in Toronto
and at its Aug. 27 special meeting
online. The Board, task forces and
committees meet regularly online.
Increasing Grass Roots
participation
The Board passed two motions
relating to Grand National Teams
(GNT) and North American Pairs
(NAP), mainly to promote participation
in the lower flights. A fourth
flight was added to NAP to mirror
that of the GNTs, with an Open Flight
and a Flight A limited to participants
with 0-6000 masterpoints. The lowest
flight, Flight C, exclusively for
non-Life Masters with up to 500 masterpoints,
was expanded to include
non-Life Masters with up to 750
masterpoints for both NAP and GNT.
Flight B (0-2500) was expanded to
include participants with 0-3000
masterpoints for both NAP and GNT.
These changes will take effect for
the 2024-25 GNT competition year
and for the 2025-26 NAP competition
year.
The initial motions as they were
passed in Toronto would have allowed
all players with up to 750 masterpoints
to play in the NAP and GNT
Flight C. But the Advisory Council at
its Aug. 3 meeting required the Board
to reconsider these motions because
of objections raised to opening the
lowest flight to all players with 0-750
masterpoints.
At the Board's Aug. 27 special
meeting there was lengthy discussion
that ultimately raised the limit of
Flight C to 750 without allowing Life
Masters to play in Flight C. New data
provided by ACBL and additional
feedback from membership drove
this decision. The 0-750 masterpoint
range now mirrors that of the nonLife
Master regional, providing a
potential glide path for participation.
16 | Bridge Bulletin | October 2024
Solidifying strategic direction
The Board established the strategic
goals of the organization. Focus
remains on membership recruitment
and retention and establishing
a Social Bridge Division. Also, on
refining the strategic direction for
online bridge, the approach to VACBs
and how NABCs are conducted.
Combatting cheating, both online
and F2F, is a top priority. The modernization
of ACBL IT infrastructure
continues.
A Membership Recruitment &
Retention Task Force, an Online
Provider Task Force, a Club Task
Force and an NABC Task Force have
been formed to facilitate and streamline
planning. Each are comprised
of Board members and non-Board
liaisons.
The Membership Recruitment &
Retention Task Force is supporting
the launch of a Social Bridge
Division, identifying pathways to
participation, required infrastructure
and strategies for engagement.
An ACBL Online Provider strategy
has been developed to foster innovation,
eliminate dependency on one
provider and give ACBL the flexibility
to meet the current and future needs
of its members. The strategy includes
offering e-sanctions to educational
platforms and to tech platforms to
hold ACBL games. Current trials with
potential platforms are underway.
The Club Task Force is soliciting
club best practices and providing
pathways to usage, improving the
functionality of the Club Corner page
of the ACBL website and identifying
ways to combine online teaching with
traditional F2F play.
The NABC Task Force is developing
strategies to revitalize the current
NABC business model to maximize
attendance, customer satisfaction
and the profitability of future
NABCs. Experimental formats and
schedules will be proposed in the fall.
Battling online cheating
ACBL is using a computer-based
cheating detection program, EDGAR,
to detect cheating in ACBL masterpoint
games held on BBO.
After an initial launch of six weekly
runs, ACBL is now submitting
monthly requests to The EDGAR
Association (TEA). 5250 players have
been submitted to TEA for screening
since Feb. 1. A total of 17,501 players
have been examined. This includes
partners of the submitted players
as well as some redundancy (some
players may have been submitted
more than once, e.g., due to being
under " Heightened Scrutiny " and
then being part of a random draw for
screening). EDGAR has identified
242 players as cheating and about
200 as needing further review. The
rate of cheating is estimated to be
under 2%.
Since 2020, approximately 83,000
ACBL members have played in ACBL
games held on BBO. All players will
be screened. It is estimated that the
running of all online players will be
completed in or before Q1 of 2026.
Hearing reports and the Under
Discipline list can be found on the
Ethics & Discipline page of the ACBL
website: acbl.org/ethics.
NABC site selection
The Board approved the Rio Las
Vegas Hotel and Casino as the site
for the summer 2027 NABC. The Rio
offers financial benefits, including
favorable room and event terms,
a superior playing site and many
affordable dining options.
Supporting youth bridge
The Board passed a motion giving
districts the ability to hold one
annual Junior, youth or collegiate
regional in addition to the five annual
non-Life Master regionals already
allotted.
continued on page 30
http://www.acbl.org/ethics
October 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of October 2024
