Players’ guide to using the app in events scored with the IBEScore system

What you need:

• A iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet with a working internet connection and IBEScore installed.

All players can score, review scores on their own device.

Connecting to the internet

You can test whether you are connected to the internet just opening your phone’s web browser and tap-typing “google” in the navigation bar, and making sure that the google search webpage is loads correctly within at most a few seconds.

Most smartphones have mobile (3G/4G/5G) internet, so phone owners will be already connected. The data your phone will use during a IBEScore game is negligible: at most a couple of megabytes for a large duplicate.

If you have an iPad (without sim card) or an Android tablet, you will need to connect to a WiFi network. This may be a public network, or one provided by your club, or by a neighbouring facility.

Wi-Fi connection

To connect to a Wi-Fi network, try the following:

Android:

• Starting at the top of the screen, swipe downwards. On the menu which appears, touch and hold the Wifi symbol.
• If swiping does cause the menu to appear, tap on the “Settings” icon. This will either be on your home screen, or will show up as one of your apps when you tap the Applications button (the applications button usually looks like a grid of white squares). After tapping “Settings”, tap “Wireless and network” followed by “Wi-Fi settings”. Make sure the top item on the list (“Wi-Fi”) is ticked.
• About halfway down the screen a “Wi-Fi networks” list will be displayed.
• Tap a network high up on the list in order to connect. Don’t try networks that say “not in range”.
• Your club director may recommend a specific network, but that shouldn’t stop you trying others. The best networks will be at the top of the list.
• Some Wi-Fi networks are password-locked; these show up with a padlock. Your director, or the venue staff (eg  at a café or pub) may know the password.
• After you tap on the network, the “Wi-Fi” item at the top should show “Obtaining IP address from network”, followed by “Connected to network”.

iPhone/iPad:

• Go to the home screen, and tap the “Settings” icon.
• Tap “Wifi”. A list of networks will be displayed.
• Tap a network high up on the list in order to connect. Don’t try networks that say “not in range”.
• Your club director may recommend a specific network, but that shouldn’t stop you trying others. The best networks will be at the top of the list.
• Some Wi-Fi networks are password-locked; these show up with a padlock. Your director, or the venue staff (eg  at a café or pub) may know the password.
• After you tap on the network, a rotating pinwheel should appear next to the network. This will transform into a check-mark when the connection is completed.

Press the your phone’s home/square button and start a web browser. Try to connect to google. The network may redirect you to a further login page. Again, you may be able to obtain the username and password from staff. Once you can connect to google, you are ready to start IBEScore.

Even if you have a phone with 3G/4G/5G data, there are a couple of reasons why you might choose to use Wi-Fi:

• Wi-Fi connections can be much faster – you won’t have to wait as long for IBEScore to accept your scores or refresh the game.
• If you are in a different country from where you bought your phone, using Wi-Fi will save you having to pay a roaming internet fee.

Even if there are Wifi networks available, there are a couple of reasons why you might to choose to use your phone’s 3G/4G/5G data connection:

• The Wifi connection may in practice not offer a route to the internet, or only offer connectivity after you fill out a marketing form.
• In a cafe bridge or any event where you need to move between venues, you will not have to re-connect after every move.

Joining the game

Start IBEScore and tap on the GLOBE icon (the big circle at the top).

Enter the game code

The next screen will be empty, except that you will see white box asking for your “Club name”. OR you may see a blank white box with a pink arrow box to the right of it.  Please type into the box the IBEScore GAME CODE for the club or game which you are playing in. The tournament director or event joining instructions will tell you what it is.

If you have used IBEScore before, the game code for the event you last played at will already be filled in. You can change it by tapping the pink arrow box, and selecting from a list of game codes which you have used in the past.  You can also enter a new game code, by tap-typing it in the white box.

When you have input the game code, tap the “Enter duplicate” button which appears, or swipe the screen leftward.

You will now normally be shown the Reception screen.

However, if you are entering the game late (i.e. after round 1 is finished), IBEScore will immediately ask you to enter your pair number. If you don’t know it, please ask the Tournament Director. Input your pair number in the box marked “Pair:”. If your pair number involves letters (eg  2A or 5EW), use the blue “ABC..” box to enter the letters. When done, tap “Enter duplicate”; IBEScore will bypass the reception screen and take you straight to your next matchup.

There are certain other situations where the reception screen will not be shown. These include events where players have been pre-assigned starting positions (especially Cafe Bridge), and events where the director will enter player names details. Or if the table has a scoring device supplied by the organisers.

Reception screen: choosing your start table

You will now see a grid of squares numbered from one upwards, representing all the tables which will be used in the event. The table you are sitting at should have a number card on it, or a number assigned to it. Tap the grid square labelled with that number.

If the numbers on the screen don’t go up high enough to include your table:

• Tap the “Refresh” menu option (two arrows going around in a circle)
• If nothing changes, inform the Tournament Director.

After you have chosen your start table, the table grid will give way to reveal the second part of the reception screen, with the table you have chosen displayed at the top in a blue square titled “Start table”.

If you now wish to change your start table, tap the blue square displaying the table you initially selected. The table selection grid will re-appear, and you will be able to make a different choice.

Choose your seat

Immediately below the displayed start table is some text saying “I am sitting: North – tap”. If you are indeed in the North seat at your table, leave this alone and proceed to identifying yourself.

If you are sitting South, East or West at your table, tap the “I am sitting” text repeatedly to cycle through North, South, East and West until the seat displayed is the one that applies to you.

Identify yourself and/or others at the table

Now you have the chance to tell IBEScore who is sitting at your table. In the case of a pairs or individual event, these will be you, your partner, and two opponents. In the case of a teams match, this will be your team of four (you are assumed to be sitting at the table with the same number as your team number (NB: Please check that you are the only scorer, otherwise let please let the others complete their own details).

Start by tapping on “North”. A text box will appear. You can type any of the following into the this ID text box:

• North’s full name.
• North’s initials. Use spaces to separate them, eg  R V or Ro Va for “Rosemary Vase”. IBEScore will show a list of all the players whose names match these initials, who are in the club database. Scroll down the list if necessary to find the player you had in mind, and tap their name in the list. IBEScore will transfer their name into the name box for you. If the player’s name does not appear on the list, just type their full name.
• A number, corresponding to North’s club number or national federation number (eg  EBU or SBU). It is the tournament director’s choice what types of number, if any, may be used to identify players. If there are multiple possibilities (eg  EBU or club number), a drop-down list will allow you to choose what type of number ID number you are using. After you start typing the number, look at the title above the text input to see how it will be interpreted (it will say something like “North club number” or “North EBU number”).

After you have finished typing, tap “Next”. You will now be invited to identify South in the same way. If IBEScore has information about North’s last partner, it will use this as a suggestion for South’s name. Use “Next” to proceed to East and then West.

You can also tap the “Prev.” button to go in the reverse direction (from South to North to West to East, etc.) and the “OK” button to accept the name or number ID currently in the text box, and go back to the reception screen. If you want to go back to the reception screen without accepting the current text box contents, tap the blue “Back” button.

In a teams match you will also be able to input your team name. On the reception screen, tap the text at the bottom which say “Team” or “Side”.

When you have completed this step, tap “Enter duplicate”. Provided the game is not locked, you will proceed to the information screen for your first round.

Locked games

When you tap “Enter duplicate” you may be shown a message saying that the event is not yet ready. Tournament directors lock events either for security, or because they anticipate having to change the movement. The tournament director will announce when the game is live and unlocked. You will then be able to tap “Enter duplicate” and proceed to the round information screen for your first matchup.

Round information screen

You will now be shown your match-up for the first round. Assuming it is not a bye (sit-out) round, check that the pair number sitting N/S and E/W at your table are the same as shown on the screen, and check that the board numbers and table number are correct. When you are ready to enter your first score, tap “Enter round”, or swipe the screen leftwards.

If you are sitting out, make sure you consult IBEScore for your next movement instructions. When you are ready to move, tap the screen.

The round information screen is shown at the beginning of each round. To consult your movement instructions again, swipe right.

Entering scores

When you enter the round, the score input screen will appear.

Make sure the number shown at the top of the screen is the board you are playing first. If it is not, correct the board number by swiping the screen leftward or rightward, or by tapping on the board label and selecting from the list of board numbers that appears.

Bid and play the board against your opponents. When you have finished, enter the contract and result into IBEScore – see the sections Entering a contract and Entering a result to find out more.

Subject to the tournament director’s setup preferences, you may also record the lead, auction and/or full deal by tapping the text “Lead”, “Auction” or “Deal” text at the top just beneath the board number.

• Lead: Tap the word “Lead”, select the suit and rank of the card led, and tap OK.
• Auction: Tap the word “Auction”, and proceed as described in Entering an auction. Tap OK when done.
• Deal: Tap the word “Deal”, and proceed as described in Entering a deal. Tap OK when done.

Press OK. IBEScore will then ask for your opponents to check whether you entered the result correctly. We recommend you check verbally rather than share device. You can then tap, responding either by verbal (dis)agreement, or by tapping “Yes”/“No”.  You may also be warned at this stage if the score you entered is unlikely. This can be a sign of an entry error, or that the board number is wrong.

After communication, the results screen will show for the board you have just played.

When you have finished looking at this, or when it times out,  continue to the next hand. IBEScore will automatically return to the score input screen for the next unplayed board in this round after a few minutes. Use the device’s back button (or swipe right) if you need to go back to the input screen immediately.

After you have played and scored all the boards in the round, IBEScore will show an “End of round” message, along with movement instructions for the next round. Tapping the pink “Review scores” button at the bottom of the screen will show a sequential list of the scores in the round; if you need to correct one of the scores in the round, tap the brown “Cancel” text next to that score, and see reviewing and cancelling scores.

When you are ready to move, tap the “End of Round” screen. IBEScore will then show you the next round’s information screen. If you need to review your movement instructions, swipe right to return to the previous “End of Round”. The “Review scores” button formerly shown on this screen will have vanished, and it is no longer possible for you to cancel scores from the previous round; this now has to be done by the director.

Reviewing and cancelling scores

If you input a score and your opponents verify it, and you then realise it is wrong, you can cancel and correct it provided your device has not been moved on to the next round.

If the board you want to cancel is not the one displayed, then swipe left or right, or tap one of the small black arrows on either side of the board number to find the completed result, or tap the board number to select it from a list. Then tap the “Cancel score” button in the middle of the screen. Your opponents will be asked to confirm that they agree to cancel the result.

If this feature is not available, it means the director has removed the option from the game. So you will need to call the Director to clear the erroneous score so that it can be re-entered.

Artificially adjusted scores, eg  50%/50%, can only be cancelled by the director.

Also call the director to correct a past score which you did not realise was wrong until after you proceeded to the next round.

If you are scoring a game without a director at the venue, you will need to contact your IBEx virtual scorer who can make the changes for you easily. Details for this service are available here.

The results screen

Every time your table inputs and verifies a score, IBEScore will show a results screen for that board. Initially IBEScore will flash up a headline for how well you did, as two numbers separated by a “/”. If the tournament is matchpoint-scored, the two numbers will be N/S’s and E/W’s respective percentage of maximum matchpoints available. If the tournament is IMP- or aggregate-scored, the two numbers will simply be N/S’s and E/W’s respective score. Tap “OK” to dismiss the headline and reveal the results screen.

The results screen is divided into two sections:

• Analysis section: This contains a diagram of the cards held by North, South, East and West, and a note of the dealer and vulnerability. Beneath the hand diagram is a short table of the number of tricks available to each side as declarer (N/S and E/W), with each of the possible suits as trumps and with no trumps. These available trick counts are calculated by computer on the basis of declarer and defenders being able to see each other’s hands, and each side trying to maximize their trick count. Most of the time, North declaring can make the same number of tricks as South, and East the same number of tricks as West. When there is a difference, two numbers will be given in the table, separated by a “/”. For instance if East can make nine tricks declaring no-trumps, but West can only make seven, the table entry for E/W by NT will read “9/7”.
• Travellers: Below the analysis section is a list of what happened when the board was played by other people so far in the event. Your result is displayed in blue. The results table is sorted from top to bottom in decreasing order of the N/S score column by default, but to sort by the values in a different column, click on that column’s heading. To reverse the sort, click on the same table heading twice.

The results screen also gives you a second opportunity to enter the lead, auction or deal; tap on the relevant text in the brown bar underneath above the travellers section. If none are available, the setting for entry has been switched off for this game. But can be reactivated by changing the settings after logging in with the Director Key.

To leave the results screen after score input, tap “Continue” at the bottom.

You can re-enter the results screen at any time and browse the results on boards you have played. Simply tap “Results” in the extras menu revealed by clicking on the IBE icon. On the iPhone/iPad, the “Results” icon looks like a stack of three duplicate boards. Remember refresh for new input by clicking the two arrows chasing themselves.

Board mode

To browse different boards, tap the small black arrows on the left and right of the board number for the next lower- or higher- numbered board respectively, or tap between the arrows to select from a list of boards.

Tap on any result line to display the names of the pairs involved and other details about the result.

IBEScore will only permit you to see the results for a board if both you and your current opponents have already played it or will never play. Otherwise “Access denied” will show.

Scorecard mode

Tap on the “Scorecard” button to the right underneath the board number to display all the matchups and results so far for yourself, or any of the other pairs or players participating in the event.

The scorecard is displayed in board order, with percentages or imps as appropriate next to each result, and also aggregated over each round.

To browse different players’ scorecards, tap the small black arrows on the left and right of the pair for the next lower- or higher- numbered pair respectively, or tap between the arrows to select from a list of pairs.

Tap on any result line to go to “Board mode” and show the board played.

IBEScore will only permit you to see scorecard entries for boards already played by both you and your current opposition; other entries will show as “Access denied” in the scorecard.

To return to board mode, tap on the “Boards” button to the left underneath the pair number.

To leave the results screen, tap your device’s back button.

Viewing the current rankings

Tap “Current rankings” on the IBEicon menu, (icon person in front of three horizontal lines). A table will show the pairs or teams in the current game with their current scores, starting with the highest.

The rankings shown are as of the last time your device communicated with the server, eg  to send a result. To update them, tap the yellow “Refresh” icon (2 arrows chasing themselves).

Use your device’sback button to leave.

If this feature does not display, it has been switched off, and will only be accessible by logging in with the Director key and changing the Players Can See settings.

“Global settings” – display preferences

You may choose how the IBEScore app should display things according to your taste on your own device only.

These options can be accessed using IBEicon then “Global settings” on the start screen of the app. They can also be accessed during a game by tapping the IBEicon then “Settings”, followed by “More settings”.

Here you can choose:

• Brightness: You can ask IBEScore to run at a lower screen brightness to conserve battery life. This option only applies to duplicate mode.
• Screen orientation (Android only): You can set the screen to automatically change between portrait and landscape mode based on the gravity sensor, or you can fix it in portrait mode, or in landscape mode.
• Display results as: You can decide whether to show overtricks/undertricks (eg  4H N -1) or trick count (4H N 9 tricks)
• Exactly made contracts: Whether to represent a “making” contract as a tick mark or an equals sign.
• Analysis: When a mathematical analysis of a hand is presented, you can choose whether to show the number of available tricks (eg  NS can make 9 tricks in hearts), or the level of contract (eg  NS can make 3 hearts). In the latter case, if fewer than 7 tricks are available, a dash will be shown. This option only applies to duplicate mode.
• Assume device-for-table: This option is for organiser-owned devices only. For player-owned devices, this should be “No”.
• My default name: You can ask IBEScore to remember your name, so that when you specify your seat (N, S, E or W) in the reception screen, IBEScore will immediately assign your name to the player in that seat.  
• My default E-mail: This option is for the paid-for version of the app, IBEScore Electronic Bridge Score, only. IBEScore uses this E-mail as the suggested destination when you export your scorecard.

Global settings are saved onto your device, not to the cloud. They do not affect any other devices in the duplicate game you are playing. They will persist even if you close or kill the app.

If you uninstall the app, your global settings will be deleted. If you install the app on a new device, the new device will not know about your old device’s global settings.

Entering an auction

Enter the calls in the auction consecutively, starting from the dealer’s first call.

• Pass: Tap the pink “Pass” button
• Bid: Tap the pink button which matches the contract level and the white button which matches the trump suit, one after the other in either order.
• Double or redouble:  tap the pink “x” or “xx” button respectively.

IBEScore uses a cursor to highlight the call in the auction which you are currently editing. To move the cursor backward to the previous call , use the green button marked “<”.

To jump to any call in the auction, tap on that call.

To clear the auction, tap the pink “Clear” button.

To accept the auction and leave the auction entry screen, tap the white “OK” button.

IBEScore will warn you if the auction becomes illegal,  (eg  containing an insufficient bid, a double of partner’s bid, or a bid followed by four or more consecutive passes). You can, however, accept an illegal auction.

If you came to the auction screen from the score entry screen, and you have not yet entered the contract there, IBEScore will infer the final contract from the auction which you enter.

To leave the auction entry screen without accepting the auction you have entered, use your device’s back button.

Entering a deal

To allocate cards in a suit to one of the hands,

• Select the ranks of the cards held in that suit by tapping on the corresponding green buttons A, K, Q etc. in the central area. Each card that you select will light upwhen you select it. To remove a selected card from the selected group, tap on it. To void your selection, tap on the blue “Pop” button.
• When you have completed the selection, find the white-coloured suit holding area corresponding to the hand and suit you are building. For instance, the holding area for north’s diamonds is the rectangle with a diamond symbol just below the title “Enter cards”.
• Drag your selected card ranks from the middle of the screen to that suit holding area.

As soon as you have specified the holdings of three of the hands in a specific suit, the fourth hand will immediately be given the remaining cards in that suit.

If any cards among a group that you are trying to distribute have been allocated already, your action will have no effect. You can however allocate further cards in a suit to a hand whose holding in that suit has already been allocated.

To clear a hand’s holding in a suit, drag the suit holding area itself into the middle of the screen and on to the trash can/dustbin image which will appear.

When every card in a suit has been allocated, all four holding areas for that suit will display a tick mark.  When every card in the deck has been allocated to a hand, all 16 suit holding areas will display a tick mark.

To accept the deal and leave the deal entry screen, tap the white “OK” button. If every card in the deck has been allocated, the available tricks analysis will be performed in the cloud. By the time the result is entered for the next play of the board, the hand diagram and analysis will be ready for display.

To leave the deal entry screen without accepting the deal, use the device’s back button.