Bridge will participate in World Mind Sports Games (WMSG) with the World Bridge Games (WBG). These consist of the WMSG National Open Teams and National Women Teams, the WMSG National Youth Teams, Pairs and Individual.

• WMSG National Open Teams and National Women Teams
	Each member country of the World Bridge Federation is entitled to send one Open and one Women national team to the World Bridge Games. There will be a qualifying stage, followed by the KnockOut (KO) stages. Teams eliminated from the qualifying stage and the Round of 16 (or 8) may re-form to become Mixed Teams and compete in the World Transnational Mixed Teams Championship.
• WMSG National Youth Teams, Pairs and Individual
	Each member country of the World Bridge Federation is encouraged to enter one Youth national team, consisting of players aged under 28 (i.e. born in 1980 or later). A (national) Youth Pairs competition and a Youth Individual will follow, in which all team players may participate. In addition, newcomers from countries unable to field a team of four are also welcome to participate in the Youth Pairs or Youth Individual Championships. Please note that all participants in any of these events must be under 28 years old (i.e. born in 1980 or later). The Youth Teams competition will be played as the former World Bridge Olympiad, i.e. with a qualifying stage, followed by a KO phase until the winners are determined. The Youth Pairs will be played in qualifying, semi final and final stages. Players from the WMSG Youth Teams who fail to qualify for the KO stages of that event are encouraged to participate in the Youth Pairs. Note that partnerships must be national - transnational pairings will not be permitted. However, if an NBO has been unable to send a team to play in the Youth Teams, they are encouraged to send a national pair to compete in the Pairs Championship. NBOs with teams participating in the Youth Teams event may not send additional Pairs to compete in the Youth Pairs. The Youth Individual competition will be played in qualifying, semi final and final stages. The Youth Individual will take place after the conclusion of the Youth Teams and the Youth Pairs semi final. All young players may participate. However, if an NBO has been unable to send either teams or pairs to the WMSG Bridge Youth events, they are strongly encouraged to send an individual player to take part in the Youth Individual Championship. NBOs with teams participating in the Youth Teams event or Pairs playing in the Pairs event may not send additional individual players to compete in the Youth Individual.

The World Youth Team Championships, comprising series for zonal representative teams of players Under-26 (formerly, Juniors) for the Ortiz-Patiño Trophy and Under-21 (formerly, Schools) for the José Damiani Cup, will also be contested in Beijing. The World Under-26 Team Championship is for players aged under 26 (born in 1982 or later). The teams for this event will qualify through their own Zonal Championships. The World Under 21 Team Championship is for players aged under 21 (bon in 1987 or later). The teams for this event will also qualify through their own Zonal Championships.

As teams are knocked out of the World Youth Team Championships, they may join play in the WMSG Youth Pairs and then in the WMSG Youth Individual.

The Senior International Cup will be played alongside the Open and Women Teams. There will be a qualifying stage followed by the KO stages. Senior players eliminated in the quarter final may participate in the World Transnational Mixed Teams. Each member country of the WBF is entitled to send one Senior Team to the Senior International Cup competition. All players must be at least 58 years old at some time during the calendar year 2008, i.e., they must be born in 1950 or earlier. The Senior International Cup will not be included in the medal roll of WMSG, but medals will be awarded by the WBF as usual.

The format of the World Transnational Mixed Teams Championship will depend on the final number of entries, but is likely to be Swiss type, with a KO (round of 16 or 8) stage being played in order to determine the gold, silver and bronze medallists. The bronze medal will be awarded to the losing semifinalist higher placed in the Swiss ranking. Teams must consist of two or three Mixed Pairs playing in partnership. Players must be members in good standing of their National Bridge Organization (NBO) which must, in turn, be a paid-up member of the World Bridge Federation. Teams should contact their NBO or NBOs and request nomination to play in the Mixed Teams Championship. There is no quota restriction for this exciting and challenging Championship and NBOs may nominate as many teams as they wish. The 4th World Transnational Mixed Teams will also not be included in the medal roll of WMSG, but medals will be awarded by the WBF.

Invitations were sent to many men and women World Grand Masters and Champions, representing many Zones and Countries in accordance with their titles and performances, and as a result the Men's Masters Individual Championship will be played with the 36 players and the Women's Masters Individual Championship will be played with the 24 players who accepted the invitation. (To see the list, go to the Participants section).

Players will all play using the same Convention Card. The schedule of play will be:

• Friday 3 October: session 1 (11.30 - 15.00 hrs) - 22 bds (Men) / 21 bds (Women)
• Thursday 9 October: sessions 2 (10.30-14.00 hrs) & 3 (15.00-18.30 hrs) - 24 bds

All entries, registration of names, teams, systems, etc., must be submitted through Mrs Anna Gudge.

Registration for the Youth Pairs and Youth Individual competitions will take place onsite. All players eliminated from the youth teams competitions are encouraged to participate in these events.

Visitors are requested to contact the Chinese consulate in their home country and try to find if it is possible to get the short-stay (tourist) visa directly. If they can, this would save a lot of time; if there really exists difficulty, then please fill in the attached form to obtain a sports visa invitation from the Chinese government and send by email to Lillian Sun (sunchengmo82@yahoo.com.cn). The Chinese Organizing Committee is only authorized to send invitation for a sport visa.

All the people who would like to get the visa invitation from the Chinese government please confirm that the full name is definitely the same as the name on their passport. According to the latest laws on visa application, everyone who has got the visa invitation must go back to their home country Chinese consulate to get the visa. It is no longer possible to get a sport visa from the country of residence. The deadline for sending the visa application form is 31 July 2008, and the invitation for the visa will be returned to the applicants one week later.

According to new regulations, applicants should present the original letter of invitation to the Chinese consulate in their country. The organizers will return the letter of invitation by post, so it is imperative that the full address including postal code, should be submitted. It may help if a telephone and a fax number are also supplied. The organizers need to know if the application will not be made for the entire team at the same moment, in order to return separate invitation letters.

Please specify 'NPC', 'player', or 'official' in the function field of the application form and the city in which the application will be made, i.e. where a Chinese consulate exists. Also, the arrival and departure dates must be clearly stated to ensure that the appropriate invitation letter is returned.

Attention: The organizers are only authorized to request a visa for the period of the WMSG, so the longest possible stay with such a (sports) visa is 19 days. People wishing to stay longer in China, for sightseeing etc, must apply for a tourist visa.

Each participant in the World Mind Sports Games, whether a captain, coach or player, a team scorer, a member of the press or anyone associated with the teams and needing to be able to enter the convention center will need to complete an ID Accreditation form which must be returned to their own National Bridge Organization (NBO) no later than 26 July 2008. The Organizing Committee has clarified that it will not be possible to issue ID cards to people who have not applied in advance.

The steps to be followed are:

• Click here to download the Guide to Completion for the ID Accreditation Card and click here to download the Instructions for the format of the digital photograph that must accompany the ID Accreditation form; this document also suggest how such a photograph may be obtained.

 
• Next, the ID application form must be downloaded. To do so, click here and save the form at an appropriate place on the local computer.

 
• The downloaded file must be renamed to the applicant's own name (lastname_firstname.xls - for example, gudge_anna.xls). Do NOT forget the extension (.xls) at the end of the filename.

 
• The digital photo of the applicant must also be renamed as specified, i.e. with the applicant's full name and passport number separated by underscores (lastname_firstname_passportno.jpg - for example, gudge_anna_203026457.jpg)

 
• The ID application form should now be filled out.

 
• All Players, Captains, Coaches, Scorers and other Team Officials should fill out this form.

 
• Team supporters should also fill out this form, ticking the box marked 'staff'. The Organizing Committee has clarified that companions are forbidden to enter the playing area. For the vugraph, they can go to the vugraph room in the hotel near the China National Convention Center (CNCC). Tickets will be issued for the sessions for anyone who does not have an ID Card.

 
• IBPA members who are also members of teams in any capacity should complete the same form. This will give them access to the area where the Bridge Press Room will be. No other form is needed.

 
• IBPA members not in a team as well as Professional, full-time Journalists and Reporters requiring access to the Press Facilities should contact Anna Gudge.

 
• Email the ID application form, together with the applicant's digital photograph, to the National Bridge Organization.

 
• ID application forms, with the accompanying photographs must be forwarded by the NBOs to the WBF (Carol von Linstow at carolwbf1@aol.com with a copy to Anna Gudge at anna@ecats.co.uk)
  

Full systems regulations will be published in due course, but players should note that for Open & Women Teams, the Seniors and the World Youth Teams it will be a requirement that systems are registered in advance, by email, for publication to the other teams. Please also note that neither Brown Sticker nor HUM Systems will be permitted at any stage of the events.

Individual tournaments will be played in accordance with a common bidding and play system described in the attached conversion card.

The 1st World Bridge Games will be played in accordance with the WMSG General Conditions of Contest, the WBF General Conditions of Contest (updated 17 September 2008), as well as the Supplemental Conditions of Contest, available in PDF format.

• Women: Special regulations for the KO phase are available here, in PDF format.
• Youth: The detailed program and regulations for all youth events is attached herewith, in PDF format.

Players are subject to anti-doping control, and may be required to undergo a suitable test in accordance with WBF Anti-Doping regulations.

More information is available at the official website of the 1st World Mind Sports Games. To visit this site, click here.