The 2021 Beth Palmer Women's USBC will select the 2 USBF teams for the 2021 Venice Cup, to be held sometime in the late summer of 2021 in Salsomaggiore, Italy.

Location & Dates

The 2021 Beth Palmer Women's USBC will be held at the Schaumburg, IL Hyatt Regency, starting Friday, May 21 (more than 4 teams) or Sunday, May 23 (3 or 4 teams). We expect that the room rate for the USBCs will be $136 per night, including internet; there is no early departure fee. You will be able to make a reservation for any or all of the 2021 USBCs at our online reservation page, or by calling Hyatt at 877-803-7534 and mentioning USBF - when there is an online reservation page link, reservations are open. You may be able to find a lower AAA or Senior rate on the Hyatt website. If you have any problems with hotel reservations, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she will try to straighten things out. The cut-off date to make reservations at our rate is ???, but the online site will remain open after that and reservations will be accepted as long as the hotel has available rooms.

Entry Information

Entries are now open. To assure entry in the 2021 Beth Palmer Women's USBC, you must enter your team by March 31, 2021 (this date may change). Additional entries will be accepted until May 9, but only if they do not change the dates of any stage of the event.

Entry Fees

There will be an event entry fee of $360 for each team, and session fees for the 2 day Round Robin of $600. In addition, or if there is no Round Robin, each team will pay session fees for KO matches of $200 per session of play ($400 per day). $960 is collected at the time you enter the event: this is the event fee and Round Robin fee. The event fee is normally not refundable; ession fees are refundable if you withdraw from the event.

Format

There will be 3 or 4 stages, depending on the number of teams: if more than 4 teams enter, the first stage will be a 2-day Round Robin to select 4 teams for the Semifinal; if fewer than 5 teams enter, the first stage will be the Semifinal KO. The event will continue with a 2 day Final and the USA2 Semifinal and end with a 2 day USA2 Final.

Seeding

We do not have a good way to seed the Women's event. If there is a Round Robin, the Round Robin winner will choose their opponent from the teams that finished 3rd and 4th in the Round Robin (the 2nd place team may make itself available to be chosen). If the event starts with the Semifinal, teams will be randomly assigned bracket positions.

System Forms

Each pair is required to submit a System Summary Form 2 weeks before the Beth Palmer Women's USBC starts. To create or edit an SSF, first log in to this site, then click on "Create or Edit SSF" under the User Menu, which appears in the left hand column when you log in. You can either create a new form or copy an old one. If you have any problems, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and they will try to help.

Each pair is also required to submit an ACBL convention card 2 weeks before the Women's USBC starts. We haven't yet been able to set up a way for you to upload your ACBL convention card or link to a BridgeWinners card online, so please either share your BridgeWinners card with Jan or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. the "print" URL from your BridgeWinners card or a PDF or JPG version of your convention card to Jan, and she will upload and link. If you sent Jan a convention card or link in a prior year and it's the same for this year, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and let her know to copy that card or link to this year. Thanks.

If you are playing a method that is allowed under paragraph 3 or paragraph 7 of Opening Bids on the new Open+ Convention Chart, and there is not now an ACBL approved defense fo the method, you must submit a full description of the method and a recommended defense at least 4 weeks before the start of the Women's USBC. Our software no longer allows you to create an Advance Submisstion Form online, but you can download the form as a Word document and use it as an outline of the information you should submit. Complete it, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she will convince the website to see it as an ASF and link it to your SSF. She will also send it to the USBF Conventions Committee for review. If the committee has not rejected it within 1 week of submission, it is accepted and you may play the method and must bring the recommended defense to the table with you.

Results

When the event has started, you will be able to click here to get to the results page for the Women's USBC. Once there, you can click on the stage of the event in which you are interested.

Relevant Dates

Wednesday, March 31st: Last day to enter for guaranteed entry.

4 weeks before start: Final day to submit Recommended Defenses for any paragraph 3 or 7 methods.

Probably about 2 weeks before start: Last day to make hotel reservations and be assured of receiving our hotel rate. The hotel may honor the rate for later reservations, but is not required to do so.

2 weeks before start: Final day to submit System Summary Form and ACBL Convention card. Penalty for late submission is loss of seating rights in one segment of a KO match (starting with the first match the team plays) per day that either the SSF or Convention Card is late. SSFs will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the ITTC and rejected if not adequate.

May 19th: Last day for roster changes without Credentials Committee approval.

Available Documents

Draft Special Conditions of Contest for the 2021 Beth Palmer Women's USBC in PDF format will be posted by 11/1/2020

Conditions of Play for the 2021 Beth Palmer Women's USBC in PDF format will be posted after entries have closed.

2020 General Conditions of Contest in PDF format.

ACBL Convention Charts in PDF Format; the Open+ Chart will apply for USBF events.