FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions


TOURNAMENT
 
Do I have to sign up in advance to participate in the Topbridge tournaments?
You can enter the Topbridge tournaments whenever you want .
To compete for the money prizes you have to play at least one session (16 boards) before the tournament closes.
Broken tables are added to the 16  , so if you experienced 1 broken table a session will be 16+1.
When are the Topbridge tournaments starting?
You start your session when you are ready to play! The server is down a few minutes at the end of each tournament.
Tournaments end 06:00 GMT.  That is 08:00 in the morning in Norway.
Do I have to play 16 boards in a row to complete a session?
You can take a break whenever you want by clicking "Will finish",
you resume your session after the break by clicking "Login".
 
What is Top Points?
You collect Top Points in regular Topbridge tournaments.1st - 25th place recieves Top Points.
A first prize gives you 25 points. 2nd 24 points , 25th gives you 1 point.
The TopPointslist is reset annually , when the first tournament in the new year is completed.
Currently the lists purpose is only for friendly leaderboard competition, in the past Topbridge arranged a few larger tournaments where Topbridge added significant moneyprizes to the prizepool. This has not been possible the last years. But will hopefully be possible in the future.


RESULTS
 
Where are the results?
The official results are published at the Results as soon as they are ready. Shortly after the tournament ends.

An overview of the boards you have played this session, is displayed under "Results" in the bridgeclient.
Where do I find my personal results?
Enter your userid in the white form on our main page and click: "Look at Results"
How do I navigate in my own result page?
By clicking the left number indicating the playing day you get a list with all the boards you played that actual day. Here you can see the userIDs for the 3 other players and you can see the score on the actual board.

By clicking the date to the right on your result page you see the official results from that day. Did you finish in the money?
Did you have a better session than your friend?
How do I read the scores from my session / result page?
The first "Score" indicates the score (in %) you received on the board. You can find out what happened on the other tables by clicking on the board number in the javaapplet on the left.

The second "Score" display you running rating at Topbridge. Check Top 100 to see the rating needed to be listed among the best players.

The third score is your running session score. The score after 16 boards is your session score which will be printed on the resultspage (Only the 200 best sessions are listed).
What is "BT" meaning in the results?
"BT" is an abbreviation for "table breakdowns".
The player who caused the breakdown is listed in the "number of tricks" - column.
The "table breakdowns" are added to your session score.
This means that a session always contains 16 completed boards, in addition your session score is adjusted for "table breakdowns".
I experienced "table breakdowns", but I cannot see that in my results.
"Table breakdowns" that happened early in the play, i.e. at latest in the first round of bidding, will not be registered in the results.
Why am I not listed among the Top100?
To be listed in the Top100, you need to have played at least 500 boards, and of course have a rating qualifing for the list.
 


BRIDGE PROGRAM
 
Explaination of the Topbridge Client
What is the vulnerability of the board?
At the centre of the table, there is an icon showing the vulnerability. White icon = none vulnerable. Red line pointing E-W = EW-vulnerable. Red cross = all vulnerable.
My bidding box is not complete, what is wrong (I miss: Pass / X / XX )?
You have to adjust your screen area. Push your right mouse button while pointing at your Desktop. Choose "properties" and "settings". Adjust your "Screen area" to 1024 by 768 pixels (or more).
What is "Claim"?
When you claim, you show your cards (as declarer) to the opponents saying that you take X out of the remaining tricks. If the opponents accept your claim, the play of the board will end, but if any opponent does not accept the claim, then the play will continue.

Please use this feature with caution. Claim is not a tool to punish your partner for mistakes made.
Opponents have a responsibility to refuse obvious irrational claims.
What is "New board"?
If you push this button as dummy, you will move on to a new board!
What is "Will finish"?
Press this button when you want to finish or take a break, otherwise you will be dealt a new hand (and you will cause a table shutdown "BT" = 0%) Remember if you are in the "waiting for more players" position and leave you will also cause a BT and recive 0%.
What are the two numbers displayed under the buttons?
  1. number shows  number of  players currently online.
  2. number shows  number of boards available on your account.
What is wrong when nothing happens for a long time?
You can check if you still have contact with the server by pushing the green button in front of you on the table.
When you click, the icon turns yellow, and if you have contact it will turn green again, and the server will write you a message telling you how long time (in milliseconds) it took to receive signal from the server. If the icon stays yellow, then you have lost connection to the server. Try a new "Login" and if this doesn't work, check your Internet connection. Take down the client (bridge program), and wait for a minute, then try a new "Login".
What is wrong when I receive the message: "The table has been closed. Push "Login" to continue playing" during play, and how are the boards being scored in the tournament?
  • A table will be closed when it has been inactive for 75 sec., meaning that maximum time for thinking before each bid or play is 75 sec. (this limit can be changed).
  • The player causing the break (by exceeding the 75 sec. or by losing connection to the server) is given 0% on the board, while the three remaining players are given 66,66 %
  • A player causing "table shutdown" ( BT) in the first round of the bidding the BT will be given 0% on the board. (The other 3 players will not see the board in their results).
  • It is not possible to differentiate between breaks caused by technical problems on a person's computer and connection losses provoked (intentionally) by a player.
  • By giving 0% score nobody will gain anything by "arranging" a connection loss. In addition, this will stimulate players with unstable equipment to update their hardware, which in turn will give a more efficient and entertaining game for all players on Topbridge.



Firewalls.
 
The IP address for Topbridge is :  193.71.199.73
The client use port 8080 to communicate

If you have problems connecting to Topbridge , try adding an exception in your firewall.


Unstable connection with the server.
 Probably you have a firewall or you are behind a router with a firewall

Use client under alternativ II at our download page. This client use push and pull through http at port 8080.
This means that all messages are triggered from the client which means that the firewall will let the answer go through.
This client can sometimes be very fast and sometimes slow due to the timing of the push and pull nature.
Use the " Last trick" in the client  to see last trick if it went to fast.
Use the green button over your card to manually make a pull and push against the server.
(The same button will measure your connection to the server).


Your GUI is frozen and hangs during play
 Probably you are the victim of a bug in older versions of java.

You can get the latest version of java here
http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp

Order boards / Payment policy
 
You can order boards with VISA , MASTERCARD , AMERICAN EXPRESS and PAYPAL

 We use PayPal as our paymentprocessor.
 You do not need to register with Paypal or have an account to order boards thru Paypal.
 Only sign in/up to PayPal if you intend to order boards with PayPalmoney.

 Prizes won will be credited to your Topbridgeaccount 6 boards per $1 same rate as when ordering boards.
 if you want Topbridge to payout the prize to your bankaccount or paypalaccount let us know by email within 60 days  of winning the prize.
 
 
Look here to see details on our Payment Policy
 

We communicate in English and Norwegian
contact us at support@topbridge.com

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