IBEScore Technical Manual – section 3 Director

INTRODUCTION
SECTION 1: Basics for all users
SECTION 2: Player Guide
SECTION 3: Director’s functions
SECTION 4: Common Questions
Download IBEScore Technical Manual as a pdf

IBEScore can be used to score any duplicate event. In contrast to expensive, bespoke hardware with low-resolution, low-contrast displays, IBEScore allows club players to use their own mobile devices as terminals for score entry, resulting in no or minimal hardware outlay for your organiser.

IBEScore can also be used for entering results from paper travellers. This is particularly useful for a director who is playing, since they can begin to enter scores at their table during the final rounds.

IBEScore’s design prinicple is unique in that all game administration can be done using the mobile app. You should not need a PC at the club unless you want to use it as a rankings display or to upload a deal file stored on the pc.

Setting up a basic club game using IBEScore

What you need:

  • A GAME CODE(s) unique for your organisation. Get a GAME CODE from https//www.ibescore.com 
  • An internet connection for each device in use

Logging in as director

Most administration tasks, including game creation, are done in director mode on the app, from a smart phone. To access director mode, you have to authenticate (“log in”) using the Director Key assigned with your GAME CODE.

To log in on the app, use the key-shaped icon on the extras menu (accessible via the IBE logo). Type in your password when prompted.

You will now be shown the director control screen. You are in director mode.

While you are in director mode, most screens have a red background, in contrast to the white background common in player-mode screens.

To leave director mode, tap the key icon again, or press your device’s back button.

Creating the game

On the director control screen, tap “New game”.

Select the type of game from individual, pairs and teams or Swiss pairs and Swiss teams events. Select the number of tables and sections (all sections must currently be identical copies, and multi-section movements may not have half-tables).

Tap “find movement” (or swipe left). Wait a short time while IBEScore loads the current movement dictionary from the internet.

Browse the movements by tapping below the current movement name to bring up a list, or by swiping left and right or tapping the left and right arrow buttons,. When you find the movement one you want, tap “select”. You will be shown the “New game options” screen. If you change your mind about the movement, tap the Back button to return to the movement browser.

You now have the chance to change various settings for the game. When you are done, tap “Create game”. After a short time, IBEScore will confirm with a “Game created” message.

Check the game settings by tapping “View slot info”. Check the movement, by tapping “movement” on the extras menu (two diverging arrows icon on iPhone/iPad menu bar).

Playing directors please note. The scoring software assumes the game creator to be Pair 1 for that session. And will automatically take you to the appropriate table for Pair 1 in Round 1. So you must quit the game and return as any player would via the entry globe image button. (or you may choose to reassign your device if this permission is activated). It also explains why if if you create the game but are not playing you can arrive at some random table when you logout of the director area.

WARNING: If you see a green screen when you logout, this usually means that Pair 1 is the sitout pair in the movement so IBEScore doesn’t know what to with Pair 1 for that round. However it might also flag up that something more worrying is going on. Please check the event by logging in to any table and if you see error messages or bad spelling eg bord – assume something is not correct and create the event again. If this error repeats please choose a different movement and contact our support team if the problem persists.

Setting up the players’ mobile devices

Ask the players to make sure they are connected to the internet, then to start IBEScore and join your game with the appropriate pair number:

From their IBEScore app home screen, tap “Duplicate client”.

If they have not used IBEScore recently in a duplicate game, they will be prompted for “game code”. In “game code”, tell them to enter your slot username.

Normally, they should now be able to tap “Enter duplicate” and enter the reception screen, where they will be able to select their table and orientation and to identify themselves. If so then jump ahead to Running the game.

Alternatively, you can set the game up so that they must type in their “pair number” immediately. They should then tap the text field and enter their pair number. If the pair number involves letters (11A, 2B, 1EW etc), use the blue “ABC” button to change the keyboard from numeric to alphabetic. Tap elsewhere on the screen to get rid of the keyboard. Tap “Enter duplicate”. Or you can simply tell them the actual pair number – this will work too.

If they have used IBEScore before in a duplicate game, and the last time you played was not under your GAME CODE, tap the menu button, followed by “settings”. Tap “join game”. Tap-type your slot username and tap “OK”, then enter “Settings” again. Next to “Pair number”, use the plus and minus buttons to choose the correct pair number for the players in question, or tap on the shown pair number to select it from a list. Tap ‘save’.

Players’ devices should all display their match-ups for round 1, with default names.

Entering the players’ names

Log in as director and tap “Game settings”. Scroll to the bottom of the settings. You can now enter the names of each player in turn by tapping on the first name. You can choose the order of entering players’ names: either by table starting from table 1, or by pair starting from  pair 1. Tap on ‘Start table’ or ‘Pair number’ to change the order.

When you tap on the first name, you will be able to start typing the first player’s name immediately. You can also type their initials, eg  R V or Ro Va for “Rosemary Vase”  if they are in your IBEScore GAME CODE’s Player database, IBEScore lists all names that match, and you will be able select their name. Tap “Next” to proceed to their partner. If IBEScore has information about their last game, it will use the most recent partner as a suggestion.

Tap “Prev” to go to the previous name in the order.

Tap “OK” to save the current name and return to the game settings screen.

Tap “Cancel” to return to the game settings screen without saving the current name.

After returning to the game settings screen, tap “Save”.

Player name entry may be done on any device, by the director or by the players themselves, and at any stage during or after the game.

You can also enter names in a web browser, log in with your GAME CODE and director key, and click “game”. Enter the names of all the players, using Tab to progress to the next one, and Shift-Tab to go back to the previous one. Click “Save” when finished. For the web browser details please contact your IBEScore account manager.

Printed start positions and movement cards

Once the event has been created, IBEScore can generate a couple of pdf documents which can be printed out. We do not encourage this practice and expect users to quickly become familiar with viewing movement instructions via their devices.

  • Movement cards: These ¼ A4 or Letter sheet, to sit on each table, scheduling which pair numbers will play at that table in each round, and what boards they are going to play. They also show two sets of movement instructions to be followed by North-South and East-West pairs respectively after playing at that table.

To generate the movement cards you must use the web browser ie NOT the APP, log in at Click on “Upload/Download”, then “Move cards”. Optionally, input a title to act as a header on the printed sheets. Then click on “Preview” or “Download” and print the result. Use a scissors or paper cutter to cut each printed sheet into four.

  • Start positions list: This is a printable document which lists the North-South and the East-West pair names starting at each table. It is typically used in events where start positions are pre-assigned. It can be generated after the event is created and player names have been entered.

To generate the start positions list, log in to the web browser. Click on “Current game”, then “Names”. Scroll down below the names grid and click on “Generate start positions pdf”. If generating a list for a date other than today, use the “Forward date” input box to specify the date when the event will take place. 

Please do remember that players can access their seating for the next round from their device, so there is no real need to print table cards for players.

Starting positions can also be created as an webpage link that can be pre-circulated to participants via the new IBECompanion WebApp – the tool is in beta currently so bear with us if things go wrong! Please ask your account manager for details.

Running the game

At the beginning of each round, players should check that their names and pair numbers, and those of their opponents, match those displayed by IBEScore. And check they have the correct boards to play. The players will then tap “Enter round”, and play will proceed.

Players have wrong names

The most common reason that players have the wrong names/boards or Table Seating in Round 2 is when East/West have told their device that they were actually North in Round 1. This is a common error that is easily remedied by asking the players where they sat in Round 1, then checking the movement for them and telling them their pair number. Then ask them to leave the IBEScore game and re-enter using their correct pair number. This should fix the problem immediately. To change a player from East to West or North to South, simply click on their little name at the very bottom of the device screen.

Monitoring play

There are several ways of monitoring play within the app.

  • The movement screen:  Tap the “Movement” menu option (diverging upward arrows icon).  Match-ups which have been started but not completed will be displayed in bold in an olive colour. Match-ups where no scores have been entered despite other matchups in the round being finished appear in red; these tables may need special attention either for slow play or for help entering scores. Tap on any match-up within the movement table to show the pairs and boards involved, and the completion status of that match-up.
  • Spectator mode: If you are in director mode, tap the back button. Now tap the “Settings” menu option. Tap the pair number, and select “Spectator” from the list. Tap “Save”, and “OK” to confirm spectator mode. You can now watch the results as they come in.
  • The leaderboard: Tap the “Rankings” menu option (person in front of three horizontal lines icon). The current rankings will be displayed.

Your app will updated automatically with scores entered by the players. To make sure you are looking at the most up-to-date information, tap the “Refresh” menu option (two arrows going around in a circle).

Clearing, entering and adjusting results

If a player calls you over, and you need to award an adjusted score, or re-enter a score which was entered incorrectly, it is simplest to use that player’s device to correct the score.

  • Take the players’ device, and tap back until you can see either the score entry screen or the end of round screen.
  • Tap the “Refresh” menu option.
  • If you can see the score entry screen, tap the < or > symbols to step through the boards until you find the board under scrutiny.
  • If you can see the “End of round” screen, tap the purple “Review scores” button, and tap the brown “Cancel” text next to the board under scrutiny. The cancel option can be de/activated in the director settings.
  • To cancel the score, tap “cancel”, and confirm by tapping “Yes” in the pop-up. The player can now enter the correct score for this board. This option can be de/activated in the director settings.

When you need to correct or adjust a result after the players have moved on from the round when it was played, or after the end of the event, you need to be in the director mode.  

  • Log in as director 
  • Tap “Edit results”. This will take you to the Edit options screen. 
  • Tap “Adjust a result” 
  • Navigate to the result using the +/- controls or click for lists. Use the top control + to select the board, and then use the bottom control to choose which play of the board you wish to change. 
  • To cancel the score, tap “Clear”, and confirm by tapping “Yes”. If desired, you can now input a corrected score immediately by tapping “Enter result”. 

To award an artificial adjustment, or to record that a board has been played in the wrong orientation,  tap the green “Adjust” button. This will bring up the adjustment screen. Use the controls to select the type of adjustment as applied to N/S, and the adjustment applied to E/W. 

  • To specify that a board was played in the wrong orientation, select the “Reverse” item from the control for N/S and E/W. 
  • To remove a board from play entirely, select the “Delete from movement” item.
  • If the adjustment has a numeric parameter, eg  60% of matchpoints, tap-type the number (eg  60) into the text field below the adjustment type. 
  • To award a “zero-sum” adjustment, specify the adjustment for N/S and then tap “Balance”. This will impose an E/W adjustment which is the complement of the N/S adjustment, i.e. both no-play, or both reverse, or matchpoints summing to 100%, or IMPs summing to zero, etc. 
  • To tell system that for example a different pair played a board as EW, but NS remain unchanged it is necessary to assign the same pair number to NS and the new Pair Number to EW in order to activate the Apply button.

When you have finished specifying the adjustment, tap “Apply”.  

If you don’t see the “Adjust” button for the board you have selected on the Edit options screen, (eg if no score has been entered) tap “Enter result”, and enter any fake score, eg  a pass-out for the result. Tap “OK”. You will be taken back to the previous screen and the green “Adjust” button should now appear.

When you have finished specifying the adjustment, tap “Apply”.

If you don’t see the “Adjust” button for the board you have selected on the Edit options screen, tap “Enter result”, and enter any fake score, eg  a pass-out for the result. Tap “OK”. You will be taken back to the previous screen and the green “Adjust” button should now appear.

Splitting a board

If some cards are returned to a board in different pockets from the ones they were taken out of (eg  with the North and West hands swapped, or with North and South having exchanged two cards) and the board is played multiple times in its new configuration, the laws of bridge say that the old and the new configurations should be scored as if they were two separate boards.

If the board is fouled yet again, then the third configuration becomes a separate board, and so on.

This is called Splitting a board.

IBEScore supports splitting boards. To specify that a board should be split, do the following:

  • Log in as director.
  • Tap “Edit results”, then “Split a board”
  • Use the control at the top to specify the number of the board you want to split.
  • Scroll through the list of plays of that board, and tap the first entry where the board was played in its second configuration. That entry, and all subsequent entries, should turn green.
  • If multiple copies of the board are in play, only one of which was fouled, now tap the last entry where the board was played in its second configuration. The subsequent entries should revert to white.
  • If a board was subject to a second fouling incident, tap twice the first entry where the board was played in its third configuration. After the first tap, it will turn white. After the second tap, it and all subsequent entries will turn yellow.

The end result is that each configuration of the board is represented by a different colour. The colour of a play denotes which configuration of the board which was in use at that time.

You can split a second or further boards by using the control at the top to switch between boards.

When you have finished specifying board splits, tap “Save”.

To discard the splits which you have specified, tap the green “Back” button or use your phone’s back button.

Altering the movement: Arrow-switches, rovers, phantom pairs

This section deals with actions such as introducing an arrow-switch, a rover or a missing pair, or removing a round. These actions must be done in director mode.

Log in as director, and tap “Adjust movement” (or tap the movement menu option). This will bring up the movement screen.

You can now perform the following actions:

  • Arrow switch a round: Tap on the round number at the head of that round’s table row, and select “Arrow switch”. You may not arrow-switch a round for which results have already been entered; clear these results first. To remove an arrow-switch which you introduced, simply repeat this action.
  • Arrow switch a specific table in a round (all boards): Tap on the entry for the table in the appropriate round, and select “Arrow switch”. You may not arrow-switch if any results have already been entered for this match-up; clear any results first. To negate, simply repeat this action.
  • Specify the missing pair:  Tap “Players” at the top of the movement screen. Then go to “Missing pair” at the bottom and tap onthe long button to the right. Select the missing pair number. You may not introduce a missing pair if the movement already has a rover; remove the rover first.
  • Remove the missing pair: Tap “Players” at the top of the movement screen. Then go to “Missing pair” at the bottom and tap onthe current missing pair number. Select “−“ from the menu which appears.
  • Introduce a rover pair: Tap “Players” at the top of the movement screen. Then go to the bottom of the screen and click “Add rover”, or “Add cuckoo”. IBEScore refers to rovers as cuckoos for non-Mitchell movements, since they are stationary rather than moving. When adding a cuckoo, IBEScore will calculate the allowed table numbers and directions where the movement can admit the cuckoo pair, and prompt you to select one of them. Mitchell-movement rovers are seated in the standard locations given in eg  Manning’s the EBU Manual of duplicate Bridge Movements. You may add a rover or cuckoo at any stage in the tournament and it will take effect immediately. Some movements do not admit a rover.
  • Remove a rover pair: Tap “Players” at the top of the movement screen. Then go to the bottom of the screen and click “Remove rover”, or “Remove cuckoo”.
  • Remove a round from the tournament: Tap on the round number at the head of that round’s table row, and select “Remove”. You will be prompted if you are sure. Deleting a round is permanent and cannot be undone.

You will not be allowed to perform an action which changes a part of the movement for which a result has already been entered. You can, however, clear those results and then perform the action.

Your changes to the movement will be picked up by each device the next time it is used to enter a score, or when an explicit refresh is done on it (tap “Menu”, then “Refresh game”). It is almost always ok to just allow client devices to pick up the movement alteration in their own time, particularly if it is done well in advance of the round which is being altered. Rarely there is a possibility that a result may be entered by a device for a matchup which has been altered before the alteration is reported to it. In this case the director can explicitly refresh the devices.

Boards per round

The boards per round are set during the game creation process. After selecting the movement, tap “Edit movement”, followed by “Boards” (near top of screen). Use the “Boards/round” spinner to modify the movement’s default boards per round, and produce a shorter or longer event.

You can then edit the number of boards in each individual round.

Entering results from paper travellers

You can enter results from paper travelers in quick succession, sending them to the server only at the end, rather than one by one. Entering scores can be done by more than one person at a time, allowing the travellers to be divided among several people each with their own device.

Log in as director. Tap “Edit results” followed by “Enter all results”. An options screen will appear.

Some travelers come with North-South pair numbers pre-printed in the first column. Other are blank, and North-South write their pair number on the first available line. Depending on which of these styles you have, make sure either “Enter results in N/S pair number order” (for the first type), or “Enter results in order played” (for the second type) is ticked.

We also recommend that “Show completed results” is ticked, at least the first time you enter results from traveler.

The tap “Go”.

The screen will now show a results entry layout. At the top of the screen is a label showing which traveler line is currently being entered.

Tap this label to switch between travelers by selecting from the list which appears.

Step through the lines on each traveller by swiping left or tapping the “Next” button. Stepping through from the last line of a traveler shows the first line of the next board’s traveler. Stepping from the last line of the final traveler goes back to the first line of board 1. To step back a line, swipe right or use the “Prev” button.

Enter the relevant score. If you are reading sequentially down a traveler, press “Next” to step through to the next one.

If the score you are about to enter is the same or similar to the last score you entered, consider tapping the “Repeat” button, and then making whatever small changes are necessary (eg  an extra overtrick, or West instead of East). This can speed up the entry process for travellers which are quite “flat”.

If you are entering scores quickly, it can happen that you get out of step, and enter eg  one result ahead of the one which IBEScore is anticipating. To help avoid this, the background colour changes:

  • Red background: the first line of a traveller is always red.
  • Green, blue background: other traveller lines alternate blue and green backgrounds.

Example: You are about to enter the last line of a traveller, and you see a red background. This tells you that you are out of step, since the red background marks the first line of the next traveller. You must have inadvertently tapped “Next” twice at some point. You need to step backwards (using “Prev.”) and find out which traveller line you skipped over.

At the top right corner of the screen, a count is shown of traveler lines which have still not been entered. If you have entered nearly all the traveler lines in your event, but are having difficulty identifying which ones you haven’t entered yet, tap and hold the “Next” button, and it will fast-forward to the next result which has not been entered, or for which the entry is incomplete.

After you have entered some scores, tap “Send all results” to commit them. If you are working as a team, you can now update your device with scores entered by your colleagues: tap the

Back button twice followed by the “Refresh” menu option.

At a certain point, your device or one of your colleagues will have all the scores in the event. You can now go back to the director screen and use the “Rankings” menu option to read off the winners. You can now finalise the game.

Finalising the game

This section deals with what to do when the event is finished.

First of all, double-check that all the results have been input.

  • Tap the “Refresh” menu option
  • Look near the top of either the director control screen or the rankings screen.
  • The text should say Results in: all. If not, attempt to find any missing scores.

Optionally you may want to have a quick check there are no patently wrong scores. To do this:

  • Log in as director.
  • Use the “results” menu option, and tap the > button next to the board label to scan the travellers one by one.
  • Traveller lines containing results which IBEScore thinks are unlikely will be highlighted in red. IBEScore judges that a result is unlikely if the tricks made are four more or fewer than that number suggested by the available trick analysis.

The next step is to prepare the results for publication. This is done using the green “Finalise game” button on the director control screen. Despite the name, “finalisation” is not “final”; you will still be able to make corrections if necessary.

Finalisation has the following effects:

  • Preparing for publication: Finalising creates html and pdf files of the results, as well as files in csv and USEBIO formats which can be uploaded to Bridgewebs, Ecats and to national federation masterpoint aggregation servers eg  EBU, SBU.
  • Event backup: After an event has been finalised, it will be added to your list of historic events. Even after you create subsequent events, you will be able to restore the event in order to make corrections.
  • Database update: Names of new players will be introduced to your account’s player database. Existing players will have their “last played” date updated. Partnerships, team names, and the event name will also be saved in the database so that they can be used as suggestions for future events.

Tap “Finalise game”. IBEScore will communicate with the internet for up to 30 seconds.

When finished, IBEScore will present the publication screen.

Publishing and uploading your results

IBEScore supports a variety of targets and publication formats for your event results. Most of these can be executed within the app; a few need a PC or Mac.

Publishing from the app

The following uploads can be done from the IBEScore app publication screen. Each upload is based on a short form which needs to be filled out. When you fill in each form, IBEScore may suggest values for some of the information, based on what you have entered in the past. If IBEScore’s suggestion for any piece of information is correct, then that information does not need to be re-entered.

If a form is not filled out correctly, the “Publish” button will be greyed out, and the incomplete parts of the form will be underlined in red.

  • BridgeWebs:
    • Tap the “BridgeWebs” title text until the BridgeWebs form is visible.
    • Tap “BridgeWebs account” and type in your account name.
    • Tap “Director” and type in the name of the tournament director for your session.
    • Tap “Scorer” and type in the scorer’s name, if different from the director.
    • Tap “Master points” to toggle between “Yes” and “No” depending on whether master points are awarded for the event.
    • Tap “Publish”. Enter your BridgeWebs password.
    • If successful, you will then be invited to “go to page” to review the upload.
  • English Bridge Union:
    • Tap the “EBU” title text so that the EBU form is visible.
    • Tap “EBU club name” and type in your club’s name, eg  “Richmond Bridge Club”
    • Tap “Club EBU ID” and type in your club’s EBU id. This should be a number, headed by as many zeroes as necessary to make it up to eight digits.
    • Tap “Director” and type in the name of the tournament director for your session.
    • Tap “Director email” type in a contact email which can be used by the EBU in case of problems.
    • Tap “Master points” to toggle between “Yes” and “No” depending on whether master points are awarded for the event.

If Master Points were awarded, then:

  • Tap “MP type” to select the colour of master points awarded for the event (normally black).
    • Tap “MP scale” to select the master point scale, if the event is not a basic club event.
    • Tap “MP charge code” to select the rate at which P2P should be charged.

Finally:

  • Tap “Publish”. Enter your club’s EBU password.
    • If the event is rejected by the EBU, try uploading it from a computer.
  • Scottish Bridge Union
    • Tap the “SBU” title text so that the SBU form is visible.
    • Tap “SBU club name” and type in your club’s name, eg  “Aberdeen Bridge Club”
    • Tap “SBU id code” and type in your club’s code. This should contain four capital letters with a slash between the first and the second, eg  “A/BCD”.
    • Tap “Director” and type in the name of the tournament director for your session.
    • Tap “Director email” type in a contact email which can be used by the EBU in case of problems.
    • Tap “Master points” to toggle between “Yes” and “No” depending on whether master points are awarded for the event.

If Master Points were awarded, then:

  • Tap “MP type” to toggle the colour of master points awarded between black (normal) and red.
    • Tap “MP scale” to select the master point scale, if the event is not a basic club event.
    • Tap “SBU event code” to select a suitable event code.

Finally:

  • Tap “Publish”.
    • If the event is rejected eg  due to missing SBU numbers, try uploading it from a computer.
    • Otherwise, provided you typed your E-mail correctly, you should receive a confirmation E-mail within about 15 minutes.
  • Ecats simultaneous pairs
    • Tap the “Ecats” title text so that the Ecats form is visible.
    • Tap “Ecats session number” and type in the four-digit numeric code for the session.
    • Tap “Club or group name” and type the name of your club.
    • Tap “National federation id” and type in your club’s eg EBU or SBU number (leave blank if none)
    • Tap “Director” and type in the name of the tournament director for your session.
    • Tap “Director email” and type in an address to which Ecats will send a confirmation that your results were received.
    • Tap “Country” to select your country. This refers to your “bridge country”, so select eg  England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland rather than United Kingdom.

Optional:

  • Tap “County”, “Town”, “Phone” to enter your county, town and phone number respectively.

Finally:

  • Tap “Publish”. If you typed your E-mail correctly, you should receive a confirmation E-mail within about 15 minutes.

To leave the publication screen, use the back button.

Publishing from a PC or Mac

While you will usually be able to upload directly from the app, publishing from the website is more versatile in that you can download the files that you are trying to upload in order to diagnose any problems. Also certain publication formats are available only on the website.

To publish using the website, navigate to the web browser, and log in using your game code and director key.

Once logged in, click on “Upload/download”. The vertical row of buttons towards the left offers several options for publishing:

  • Bridgewebs:
    • Click on the “Bridgewebs” button.
    • Enter the director and event names in the text boxes provided.
    • Enter your Bridgewebs ID and Bridgewebs password (not your IBEScore slot name and password).
    • Click on “Upload”, and wait up to 10 seconds. The results page will now be on your Bridgewebs site, and you will be invited to click a button to view it there immediately and check it over.
    • If you are interested in what the uploaded file looks like, click “Download”.
  • Html/pdf:
    • Click on the “html/pdf” button.
    • Enter the director and event names in the text boxes in the form on the left.
    • Optional: Type a comment to appear at the top of the published results, eg  Thank you to everyone for coming – we had a wonderful afternoon. Well done to winners Oscar and Peregrine who just pipped an unlucky Karapet and Walrus into second place. See you all next week!
    • Select either “html” or “pdf”. Html tends to be better than pdf for a full breakdown of the event with including hand diagrams, travellers and personal scorecards. Pdf is recommended for a neat one-page document showing only the rankings.
    • Click “Preview” to check your results.
    • Click “Download to fetch the html or pdf to your computer. You can then circulate this or otherwise publish it.
  • EBU:
    • Click on “EBU P2P file”.
    • Fill in the form.
    • To submit directly to the EBU, click on “Upload”.
    • If the file is not accepted, download the P2P file by clicking on “Download”. Then log in at https://www.ebu.co.uk/members/v2/ and upload your session using this same file. You will be able to resolve name conflicts here as well as adding new members.
  • SBU:
    • Click on “SBU MEMPAD file”.
    • Fill in the form.
    • To submit directly to the SBU, click on “Upload”. If you typed your E-mail correctly, you should receive a confirmation E-mail within about 15 minutes.
    • If you are interested in what the uploaded file looks like, click “Download”.

Other National Bridge Organisations:

The IBEScore team are working with other nations outside of the UK to automate the submission of masterpoints.

The file formats generated by IBEScore for post game processing are currently csv, pdf, xml, and html. Samples of each type are available on the website.

Please download the samples and try to upload them to your usual masterpoint or website. Please speak to your IBEScore account manager for help to prepare files for publication to your organisation.

If these files are not suitable for your national affiliation, please contact us and we will do our best to help with subscriber customisations (there is no charge for post-game processing until we have a solution that talks successfully to your national organisation masterpoint submission requirements).

  • Ecats:
    • Click on “Ecats”.
    • Fill in the form.
    • To submit directly to the Ecats organisers, click on “Upload”.   If you typed your E-mail correctly, you should receive a confirmation E-mail within about 15 minutes.
    • If you are interested in what the uploaded files look like, click “Download”. You will be sent a zipped directory containing four files.

If submission to a national federation fails because some players are missing national federation ids, find out what their ids are (registering them if necessary), and add them to the player database and save it. Finalise the game again, and try re-submitting.

Making corrections to a published or historic event

If you wish to make corrected to an event in the past, that event must be restored from your GAME CODE’s event archive. Restoring an event can only be done using the website.

To restore an event, navigate to the web browser, and log in using your GAME CODE and director key. Click on “Settings” followed by “Historic games”.

Inspect the list of archived events, scrolling down if necessary, to find the event that you wish to correct. When you find it, double-click on the event. A message will appear saying “Game restored”.

Warning: do not attempt to restore a historic event while a current event is in progress. The restored event will replace the current event, which will become inaccessible to players.

After restoring the event, enter your account using the app; you should find yourself in the restored event. Log in as director, and make any desired corrections to the results or the game details.

When you have made the desired corrections, finalise the game again and re-publish. The game must be finalised after making the corrections and before publishing. This is a ideal way to handle handicapped events should you need to publish a original and handicapped ranking list.

Payment and credit system

On receipt of your annual payment, IBEScore you may run your events for 12 months, with provision for reasonable support and training. You may opt to pay monthly where we renew access as each monthly payment is received.

As an alternative to an annual or monthly payment you can choose to make an  ad hoc payment, each time you run a game. This is our premium service activated by ad-hoc payment that ensures we support you to setup and run your game successfully, in case you are not experienced setting up the system or do not have a scoring director at your venue.

Please ignore any credit usage messages that might appear in the app – these are a throwback from the cousin BriAn resourcing.

Game settings

This section deals with the choices, options and parameters available for an event, eg  game security, what the players are allowed to see and do, and how the devices are set up.

Some choices must be made as the game is created, and they cannot be changed without re-creating the game. be created from scratch. However, most game settings can be changed at any point during the event.

To access the game settings options during the creation process, tap “Advanced options” directly after selecting a movement.

To access the game settings after game creation, tap “Game settings” on the director control screen.

The game settings screen is divided into sections: “Security”, “Scoring”, “Players can see”, “Players can change”, “Ask players for”, “Warnings”, “Spectators”, “Naming”. Tap on one of the section titles to reveal the settings in that section.

Any changes made to settings after game creation must be committed by tapping the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen.

Client devices will adopt the new settings the next time they communicate with IBEScore’s server computer, which will be either when a score is entered or when the “refresh” menu option is used.

Security settings (game creation only)

If you are concerned that people on the internet may impersonate players in your game and enter bogus results, you can generate a PIN to be given to players at the start of the game. It will not be possible to join the game without entering either this PIN or the director password.

To generate a PIN, tap the “Require PIN” checkbox. By default, this will set a numeric PIN of length 3. You can increase the length up to 10 using the “length” slider next to the “Require PIN” checkbox. You can also specify that the PIN should be made out of letters rather than numbers (tap “Word”) or in addition to numbers (tap “Mixed”).

After you have created the game, immediately tap “Slot info”. The PIN will be displayed on the second line from the bottom.

Security may only be set during game creation. Changes to security require the game to be created from scratch.

Scoring settings

You can use the “Scoring” spinner to choose the scoring method for the game, eg  Butler IMPs or matchpoints.

If matchpointing is selected, a option will appear allowing you to turn off the widely-used Neuberg correction. The Neuberg correction increases the spread of matchpoints on boards which have been played by fewer pairs. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuberg_formula for an explanation.)

In a teams event, where the movement is compatible with eg  Either teams of four or teams of eight, you can change between scoring the event as teams of four and as teams of eight. Teams 1 and 2 (of four) become team 1 (of eight) and so forth.

The scoring method settings may be changed at any point during the game.

“Players can see”: visibility settings

In this section you can specify what players will have access to on their devices. Change each parameter by clicking on the yellow settings text. The following options are supported:

  • Rankings – allow players can see the leaderboard throughout, just at the end of the event, or never. Default setting is throughout. The “Rankings” menu option will be greyed out on players’ devices when they are not allowed to see the leaderboard.
  • Hand diagrams and analysis – visible by default. Show the table with hand diagrams and available tricks on the players’ results screen.
  • Own results – visible by default. If not, then the results screen will not be shown to players at all after each result is entered.
  • Others’ results – visible by default. If not, then the results screen will not display the table comparing the different outcomes for each board, and the scorecards of other players will not be visible.
  • Adjustment details – visible by default. An visible adjusted score on a traveller is represented by “Adjusted (tap)” such that tapping on the text displays the adjustment as eg  60%NS/40%EW. If not visible, the text just says “Adjusted” and tapping does not show what the adjustment is.
  • Post mortem timeout (secs) – 30 secs by default. After this time, the screen showing the hand diagram and results table will disappear, as a signal to the players to move on to their next board.
  • Flash up results – yes by default. Displays a prominent sign showing the current percentage or IMPs  when the players enter a result.

These options may be changed freely during the event. In director mode, everything is visible, regardless of the game’s visibility settings.

“Players can change”

In this section you can decide what players will be able to modify. The following options are supported:

  • Device assignments – Yes/No – allowed by default. Players can change the pair number or table number associated with their device during the game.
  • Player/team names – Yes/No/1st round only – changeable always, just during the first round, or never. Default setting is during the first round.
  • Results(current round) – Yes/No enabled by default. If disables scores can only be corrected or removed in director mode.
  • Quick-adjust button – Yes/No enabled by default. If disabled, then scores can only be adjusted in director mode. If enabled, then the director can use a player’s phone for convenience to specify an adjusted score, without entering director mode. It is not intended that this button actually be used by players.

These options may be changed freely during the event.

“Ask players for”

This section controls what extra information players are able to, or are required to input for each result, over and above the contract and outcome. The following options are supported:

  • Score verification – enabled by default. If disabled, tapping the scoring screen’s “OK” button will send the score immediately, without showing the popup which asks the opponents to verify.
  • Leads, auctions, full deals – entry can be disabled, enabled or required. If disabled, players will not see the eg  “Lead” text on the score entry screen or the results screen. If “required”, players will not be able to send a score unless the lead/auction/deal is entered; the eg  “Lead” text will show up in red rather than white. Default setting for all is disabled.
  • Notes – disabled by default. If enabled, players will see the Notes button at the bottom of the scoring screen between “Clear” and “OK”. The notes button looks like a writing hand. Tapping on the notes button allows the player to make notes on that hand. When the game is finalized, all notes entered by players are sent to the Email in the club’s account settings.

These options may be changed freely during the event.

Warnings

This section controls whether the players should be warned about board shares, attempted out-of-order plays, arrow switches, unlikely results, and names which are not in the database.

The score-related warning messages are displayed in red on the score verification popup.

  • For switch  – disabled by default. If enabled, warns on arrow-switch.
  • For share  – disabled by default. If enabled, displays “Warning: shared boards may be out of order”, prompting players to double-check that they have changed the board number if they are playing the boards out of order.
  • For out of order  – disabled by default. If enabled, displays “Warning: no score for previous board”, in case the board number was accidentally changed.
  • Unlikely result  – enabled by default. If enabled, displays “Warning: this result is unlikely. Please check the orientation and board number”. IBEScore judges that a result is unlikely if the tricks made are four more or fewer than that suggested by the available trick analysis. In principle this warning could be used by a player to gain unauthorized information about which contracts are makeable.
  • For new name  – disabled by default. If enabled, then when a player tries to enter a new name on the reception screen eg  Hideous Hog,  displays “Warning: Hideous Hog was not found in the database”. This can indicate a misspelling or an extra space character between the forename and surname, either of which can compromise IBEScore’s ability to find the player’s federation id number correctly. This warning is also displayed when the director attempts to enter a name via the game settings screen which is not in the database.

Spectators

In this section you can specify whether the ongoing game can be viewed, using the following options:

  • Phone spectators Yes/No – allowed by default. If not, then people will not be able to use “spectator mode” on their phones.
  • Web spectators – allowed by default. This determines whether internet users can access an auto-refreshing leaderboard from their web browser. It can be set to “Yes”, “With PIN” (users can only see the leaderboard if the know the game’s PIN), “With password” (the director password must be supplied to access the leaderboard display) or “No” (web leaderboard completely prohibited).

Spectator options may be changed freely during the event.

Player/Team/Table names

This section contains various naming options:

  • EW add:  this is only available in Mitchell movements. You can choose to refer to the EW pairs (eg  for a 6-table Mitchell) as 1EW, 2EW etc. (based on their starting table), or 7, 8, 9 (add the number of tables), or 11, 12 ,13 (add 10) etc. Adding 10, 20, 30 will be offered depending on the number of tables. You can change this at any point in the event although it may cause confusion for the players. Web displays of starting lineups will always give the add number of tables pair numbering.
  • Section table names: In multi-section games, you can choose to add a letter to the table number to identify its section (eg  1A, 1B), or to add some multiple of ten depending on how many tables there are in each section. You can choose whether the first section should be 1, 2, .. or eg  21, 22 (if adding 20 per section). Web displays of starting lineups will always give the add number of tables pair numbering eg a 10 table game played as 2 sections of 5 will assume pair numbering is as follows: Section A NS pairs 1-5 & EW pairs 6-10 and Section B: NS pairs 11-15 & EW pairs 16-20. Pairs can enter the game using EITHER the number displayed on the round info, or by their actual pair number.
  • Player defaults: The players are names by default. This option allows you to select the style of these default names. It is only available before the game is created, since the default names are generated then.

How the devices are set up

By default, players carry around their own mobile phones, and each phone knows which player it is attached to, so that it can present the appropriate boards.

If you club has invested in tablets, each of which stays on its own table throughout every event, those tablets need to be set up as follows:

  • Make sure you are not in director mode; log out if necessary.
  • Enter Global settings.
  • Make sure “Assume device-for-table” is set to “Yes”

This setup only needs to be done once-off.

Occasionally you will want a personal device, either your own, or a player’s, to stay on its own table for the rest of the current event, but revert to being carried in future events. To achieve this:

  • Enter the settings screen using the knob-shaped menu option.
  • If the text near the top says “Pair number”, tap it until   says “Table number”.
  • Use the control immediately to the right to choose the table number which the device should stay on.
  • Tap the yellow “Save” button.

Locking the game

This section deals with how to prepare an event without allowing players to enter it prematurely. This prevents the situation where you have to re-create the game after some players have already entered, which would mean that these players see the “Game superseded” error and would have to be told to refresh. It also prevents them entering a score prematurely and potentially being able to see a hand diagram.

To lock the game, enter Director mode and tap the padlock image near the top right of the director control screen. To unlock the game, tap it again.

When you next create a game, it will be unlocked automatically; this is the default behaviour. If you wish to create a game in a locked state, tap the padlock image that appears to the right of the “Create game” button which appears after you select the movement.

You can also lock or unlock the game via the website and click Settings->Game actions->Lock or unlock.

The director login and password

Your director key is created when you got your GAME CODE the same password as for your IBEScore slot account. We store it unencrypted, so it is strongly advisable that you not use a personal password from elsewhere. Use a short word which you can easily type on your phone, since as director you will have to enter it regularly. The minimum length is four characters. Including punctuation and numeric characters is permitted, but not necessary.

Changing the director key (password)

If you want to change the director key, or seek a new one because you forget it, please contact us.

Director-only functions

During a game, logging in as director on your phone gives you the following abilities:

  • Create games
  • See all the results to date and hand diagrams for every board (useful if a hand has been mis-boarded and needs to be put right)
  • Alter the movement in play
  • Adjust, clear or enter any result
  • View a summary of all the current game info, including the PIN if any
  • Generate & publish results pages for the game so far

Hand diagrams and analysis

If you have access to an electronic deal file for your game, IBEScore can show a hand diagram and available trick analysis to the players after they have completed each hand. If the deal file does not contain trick analysis information, IBEScore calculates this information using Thomas Andrews’ deal utility. More about Thomas’ excellent and versatile software can be found on his website http://bridge.thomasoandrews.com/deal/.

This section explains how to deploy your deal file so that the information will be accessible to the players and integrated into your published results.

Uploading a deal file

Either send the file to your chosen device and save it where you can find it – be sure if you save it from an email or Dropbox that the file is not a 0 bit BIN file which won’t work. Now you can log in with the Director key during the game and navigate to any board traveler and click on the New Deal file button.

You can also add deal files from the website page. Login then Click on the “Upload/download” below the login bar. Click on “Upload new”, and navigate to the .dup, .dlm or .pbn file which you want to use for your next game.

IBEScore will then calculate a table of the available tricks in each suit and no-trumps with N, S, E and W as declarer, for all the hands you upload. During the game, this table will be shown on the players’ devices after they have played each hand. You can upload the hand record file at any time before or during the game, and the computer that you upload it from can be anywhere in the world.

If you wish to run several consecutive games based on the same hand records, they only need to be uploaded once.

Deleting a hand record file

If you are running a game without hand records, open the webpage, login and click on “Delete current”, otherwise IBEScore will display the wrong use the most recent hand record file you uploaded. If you are using the app only, you will need to change the display settings to NOT SHOW deal files until you locate the correct file and can upload it via your device. There is no way to delete a deal file in the IBEScore app itself.

Player database

Your IBEScore GAME CODE comes with a player database, which stores the names of players who have taken part in games played with your GAME CODE. When a game is finalized, the database adds any new players and updates their most recent finalized game.

You can edit the database directly using the website, recording players’ id numbers and contact details.

Players’ id numbers can be club numbers, national federation numbers, or anything that your bridge club uses to identify players. Each player can have more than one id number, eg  a club number, an EBU number and an ACBL number.

Player ids are an important component of IBEScore’s database. They serve two functions:

  • Shortcut to name entry: typing an id to identify a player at the beginning of the game is less effort than typing a name, and less prone to mis-spellings
  • Masterpoints: national id numbers are included in the files which IBEScore uploads to national federation masterpoint aggregating servers.

Editing the database

The player database can only be edited at the webpage.

Log in and click on the “Game” tab followed by the “Player database” button. You will now be shown the player database and you can make edits.

You must click the “Save” button after you have edited the database. If you leave the website without clicking “Save”, all your intervening edits will be lost.

The following edits can be made:

  • Add a player: Type the new player’s name into the box next to “Find”, then click “+ Add player”. You cannot add a player with the same name as an existing player.
  • Remove a player: In the database, find the player’s row, and click on the “x” button at the far right end of the row.
  • Change a player’s ids, name, E-mail or phone number: In the player’s row, click in the box that you want to change and type in the new text.

The correct format for a player’s national federation number is EBU:00324235

The correct format for a player’s club number is club:35

The correct format for the id field of a player with multiple ids is  EBU:00324235,ACBL:52345,club:35

Do not use any punctuation other than commas (to separate ids) and colons (to separate the id type from the code). For a club number, use the word club exactly and in lower case.

To find an entry in the database by name, type a forename or surname, or part thereof, in the box next to “Find”, then click “Find” to show the first match. Click “Find” again to show the second match, and so forth.

Remember to click “Save” frequently.

Bulk lookup of EBU numbers

IBEScore allows you to look up all unknown EBU number in your database at once. We hope to extend this to other national federations in the future.

To fill in your players’ EBU numbers in bulk, take the following action on the website database screen:

  • Click on “Advanced” (below the database table)
  • In the popup window, click on the select box and choose “Fill in ID numbers”
  • Make sure “EBU numbers” is selected
  • Click “Execute”. This may take up to 10 minutes.

Importing and exporting the database

IBEScore allows you to import and export your account database, either to IBEScore’s own csv format or directly to your Bridgewebs account. This is done using the “Advanced” button (below the database table).

When you click on “Advanced” a popup will appear, from which you will be able to select “Update from BridgeWebs”, “Update to BridgeWebs”, “Export to disk”, “Import from disk”, or “Fill in ID numbers” (discussed above).

Update from Bridgewebs / update to Bridgewebs: This will attempt to retrieve or put any new entries from or to Bridgewebs respectively. Fill in the form with your BridgeWebs account and password respectively, click “Execute” and wait for up to 10 minutes.

Export to disk: This will allow you to create a file on your computer with the current contents of your IBEScore database. You can use this file to populate the database of another IBEScore account, or as a backup file.

Import from disk: This will invite you to select a file on your computer from which to overwrite the current contents of your IBEScore database. This can be useful if populating a blank database, or restoring a database which has taken a turn in the wrong direction. Be warned that this action is irreversible, and you may wish to Export a backup first.

Swiss Teams and Swiss Pairs

In a Swiss event, players are matched up, round by round, against opponents who have a similar running ranking or score. This is different from a normal, non-Swiss, duplicate, in which all the matchups in the tournament are scheduled at the start of the event.  Nonetheless, running a Swiss event in IBEScore is similar in most respects to running a non-Swiss event. This section describes the extra operations needed to run a Swiss event in IBEScore:

  • Creating a Swiss event: choosing the number of rounds, boards per round, scoring method, how to assign tables, and how to deal with an odd number of teams
  • The draw: drawing the matchups for the next round based on the current rankings
  • Additional notes

Swiss teams events with an odd number of teams, and Swiss pairs events with an odd number of pairs, will entail a “Triple” – a set of three sides in every round who play a three-way, rather than a two-way match. Configuring the triple will also be described below.

Creating a Swiss event

Log in as Director, and tap “New game”. Tap the “Type” control, and select Swiss teams or Swiss Pairs according to your preference.

To change the number of tables or rounds in your event, use the “Tables” and “Rounds” controls directly below. Swiss events of between 8 – 90 tables and up to 20 rounds are supported. For tournaments outside of these ranges please contact your account manager or the support team for more information.

The number of boards per round defaults to six. It may be changed using the same method as for a non-Swiss event.

The following options are available

  • First match (Swiss teams):
    • By default, the first round opponent of each team is the team whose number differs from theirs by half the number of tables. If there is an odd number of tables, the three highest numbered teams play in the triple, and these three tables are ignored in calculating the non-triple matchups. So for a 17-table Swiss teams, the default first round matchup option would show as “First match: Up/down 7 tables”.
    • Under the alternative scheme, “First match: Random opponents”, each team plays against a randomly numbered opposing in the first round, and the three teams playing in the triple are selected by the computer at random.
  • First match (Swiss pairs):
    • By default, the first round opponent of each pair is the team whose number differs from theirs by half the total number of pairs, rounded up. If there are an odd number of pairs, the pairs in the triple are those with the following numbers:
      • One less than half the total number of pairs rounded down
      • The total number of pairs
      • The total number of pairs plus one.

and the phantom pair’s number is equal to half the total number of pairs rounded up.

This default setting shows as “First match: Pair number order.”.

  • Under the alternative scheme, “First match: Random opponents”, each pair plays against a randomly numbered opposing pair in the first round. If there are an odd number of pairs, the three pairs playing in the triple are selected at random, and phantom pair’s number is still equal to half the total number of pairs rounded up.
  • Later rounds (Swiss teams only): This refers to how matches are assigned to tables. The options are
    • NS Stationary, the default option. Tables are numbered from one up to the number of teams, and each team has a “home table” whose number is equal to their team number. Every North-South pair plays all their matches at their home table, and East-West pairs play at the home table of their opponents.
    • EW Stationary –  “Home tables” are assigned as with “NS Stationary”. Every East-West pair always plays at their home table, and North-South pairs play at the home table of their opponents.
    • Tables by rank – Tables are split into two sections, ‘A’ and ‘B’. The match between the highest-ranking teams in every round takes place at tables 1A and 1B. The second-highest ranking match takes place at tables 2A and 2B, etc. If there is a triple, the triple tables are called T1, T2 and T3.
    • Triple type (Swiss pairs or teams): In the case where there is an odd number of teams or pairs, Determined by the lowest ranked teams/pairs who have not yet played in a triple match, the three teams/pairs in the triple can complete their triangular match in the space of one round, by playing two opponents with half the number of round boards (Short triple), or they can play their match over two rounds (Long triple). In a Swiss pairs, typically matches are completed in round whereby one pair plays the entire round eg 6 boards, competing for 3 boards against one pair, then 3 boards against another. That way each pair sits out only half the boards in a round.

After setting these options, press ‘Review’. You can now access the settings screen and the movement browser as normal. The movement table will be mostly greyed out, since, unlike a normal duplicate, the matchups for rounds 2 and onwards are not yet known; they will depend on how the various teams or pairs perform. Change the number of boards per round by tapping “Edit movement” followed by “Boards”, and using the “Boards per round” control.

When you are done, tap “Create game”. It is highly recommended that the game be created locked. After a short time, IBEScore will confirm with a “Game created” message.

“Drawing” subsequent rounds

After each table enters their final round 1 result, they will see a screen that says “Wait for draw”. Go to the director control screen and observe the “Draw round 2” button, which is located in the position usually occupied by “Finalise game”. If the “Draw round 2” button is greyed out, that either means that not all the results have been entered for round 1, or possibly that you need to use the “Refresh” menu option to update your phone with the latest information. The movement browser will help you see which tables have not entered all their results.

Before you draw each round, you can change the settings governing triple type, table assignment and scoring method. To do this, use the “Swiss” sub-menu on the director’s “Game settings” screen.  For example:

  • You started the event assigning match tables by rank, but from now on, you want N/S to be stationary at their home table
  • You have been using long triples so far, but want next round’s triple to be short.
  • You have been matching teams up based on similarity of total victory points, but this round you want to choose opponents based on similarity of total IMPs.

After successfully drawing round 2, you will be shown the movement browser, and informed that players should be told to use their “Refresh” button to find out their round 2 assignments. It is not too late to change one of the above settings and re-draw: change the setting, return to the director control screen, and tap “Re-draw round 2″

Game finalisation and publication are as for a non-Swiss event.

Additional notes on Swiss events

Revenge matchups: IBEScore’s draw algorithm tries to minimize matchups between opponents who already played against each other in a previous round. Likewise, it tries to prevent pairs having to play in a triple more than once. However, these occurrences are sometimes unavoidable, particularly with few tables and many rounds.

Extra board sets for triple in Swiss Teams: A Swiss teams with a triple, short or long, requires additional boards which are not played by the non-triple tables. IBEScore expects that these boards are numbered starting after the highest board number played in the whole tournament by the non-triple tables. For instance, in a Swiss with seven 6-board rounds, the extra boards should start from board 43. Under normal circumstances, a short triple will require half a round’s worth of boards (in this case, 43-45), and a long triple will require a full round’s worth of boards (43-48). However if there are few enough tables, and many enough rounds, that some teams need to play in the triple twice, then a second set of extra boards will be needed, with numbers starting after the first set of extra boards. If teams need to play in the triple three times, a third set will be needed, and so on.

Scoring method: IBEScore allows Swiss events to be run based on any scoring method. Swiss pairs can be scored on cross-IMPs, aggregate score, matchpoints; Swiss teams can be scored on IMPs, aggregate score, or even point-a-board. However, the only scoring methods which are compatible with Victory Points are matchpoints (for Swiss pairs) and IMPs (for Swiss teams). To use Victory points, go to Game settings, the Scoring submenu, and set Victory points to “Standard scale”. If you do not see the Victory points option, make sure you have set the scoring method to a one which is compatible with Victory points.

Final round triple: IBEScore does not allow starting a long triple in the final round, since a long triple takes two rounds to complete.If the “Triple type” option is set to “Long”, this will be ignored when drawing the final round.

Long/ongoing events: Boardsets can be renewed and restarted from 1, up to 3 times in one game. To do this. Please note that some managed of numbering might be required for display to common bridge results services eg bridgewebs. Please ask for help if you are planning to use new boards sets for a longer game.