Preferred Movements

When considering movements for a duplicate pairs event your primary choices are between a Mitchell and a Howell.  Your goal should be to accommodate your players, maximize opponents & boards played, consider mobility, fairness and master points.

Mitchell Movements

Characteristics

  • NS pairs are stationary while EW pairs move from table to table
  • NS pairs play EW pairs, but compete with NS, for EW it’s reversed, there are two winners

Benefits

  • A Mitchell has more stationary pairs
  • Use a Mitchell for larger groups (9+ tables, but as few as 3)

 

Howell Movements

Characteristics

  • Most pairs move, while only one (maybe two or three) are stationary
  • Pairs switch from NS to EW and (nearly) everyone plays everyone else, there is one winner

Benefits

  • A Howell awards more master points, all pairs play each other, may avoid a 4-board sit out, no field balancing needed
  • Use a Howell for smaller groups (3 to 8 tables)

 

Recommended Movements

2.5 to 5.5 Tables

• Use a Howell movement
• If you need one extra stationary, consider moving the table to them
• If you have exactly 5 tables, and have 3+ stationary pairs, a Mitchell (5×5) is OK.
• 1 stationary for 3, 4, & 5 table Howells
• 3 stationary for 6 table Howell

6 to 7.5 Tables
  • Prefer a Howell
    3 stationary for 6 & 8 table Howells
    1 stationary for 7 table Howell
  • With a half table, a Howell avoids the Mitchell 4-board sit out
  • Use H8 Rover for 7.5 tables with 4+ stationary pairs.
  • Players do not like 2-board movements, Extra movement takes more time, BUT, it MAY be better bridge
8 Tables
  • Good choices: Criss-Cross Mitchell (8×3), or
    Bye-Stand/Relay Mitchell (8×3), Both are perfect movements
  • Howell (13×2): miss 3 pairs, play all boards One winner: good for championships
  • Skip Mitchell (7×4): miss 1 pair & 4 boards
  • Criss-Cross is complicated (for you)
  • Howell & Bye-Stand/Relay are easy, Seat fastest pairs at relay tables (1 & 8)
8.5 to 10 Tables
  • 8.5 To 9: Mitchell (9×3), Perfect!,
    Sit out can be either direction (your choice)
  • 9.5: Bump (Rover) Mitchell,Print guide cards for EW6&9 and NS10,
    NS sit out, boards on only 9 tables!
  • 10: Skip Mitchell, everyone misses one board set and one pair, not too bad.
10.5 to 12 Tables
  • 10.5 To 11: Mitchell, 9×3,
    Players miss 2 pairs AND 2 board sets,
    Sit out can be either way
  • 11.5 To 12: Skip Mitchell, 9×3,
    Everyone misses 3 pairs and 3 board sets,
    Sit out can be either way
  • Consider a Web movement!
    Requires 2 duplicated sets of boards,
    Everyone plays all boards
10.5 to 11 (Odd) Web
  • 2 sets of boards, 27 in play, 9×3,
    Players move normally
  • Tables 1-9: standard Mitchell, use set 1,
    Boards on table 1 go to table 9
  • Tables 10 & 11 use set 2
    Table 10 normal order: 1-3, 4-6, etc.
    Table 11 reverse order: 25-27, 22-24, etc.
  • Round 5: Tables 10 & 11 relay 13-15
    Sit out pair: NS10, NS11, EW6, or EW7
11.5 to 12 (Even) Web
  • 2 sets of boards, 27 in play, 9×3,
    Players move normally
  • Tables 1-6: standard Mitchell, use set 1,
    Boards on table 1 feed bye-stand for 6
  • Tables 7-12: use set 2 in reverse order
    Boards on table 7 feed bye-stand for 12
  • Table 12: 25-27, Table 11: 1-3, Table 10: 4-6,
    Table 9: 7-9, Table 8: 10-12, Table 7: 13-15
  • Sit out can be either way (your choice)
12.5 to 13 Tables
  • 12.5 To 13: Mitchell (13×2), Perfect!
    Sit out can be either direction (your choice)
14.5 to 15 (Odd) Web
  • 2 sets of boards, 26 in play, 13×2,
    Players move normally
  • Tables 1-13: standard Mitchell, use set 1,
    Boards on table 1 go to table 13
  • Tables 14 & 15 use set 2
  • Table 14 normal order: 1-2, 3-4, etc.
  • Table 15 reverse order: 25-26, 23-24, etc.
  • Round 7: Tables 14 & 15 relay 13-14
  • Sit out pair: NS14, NS15, EW8, or EW9
15.5 to 16 (Even) Web
  • 2 sets of boards, 26 in play, 13×2,
    Players move normally
  • Tables 1-8: standard Mitchell, use set 1,
    Boards on table 1 feed bye-stand for 8
  • Tables 9-16: use set 2 in reverse order
    Boards on table 9 feed bye-stand for 16
  • 16: 25-26, 15: 1-2, 14: 3-4, 13: 5-6,
    12: 7-8, 11: 9-10, 10: 11-12, 9: 13-14
  • Sit out can be either way (your choice)

Other Considerations

Web Mitchells

  • Typically used when there are more tables than rounds, to allow everyone to play all the same boards. Need at least two sets of boards.
  • Originally based on even numbers of tables and odd numbers of board-sets, but variations for other setups are possible.
  • Pair movement exactly as any other Mitchell – NS stationary, EW up one table.
  • Board movement is down a table, but within a sub-section of the whole movement.
  • Two-winner movement can be arrow-switched to have one winner.
  • Need to take care when putting out boards as it is hard to recover from errors.
  • Options for expanding movement after starting are limited.

Arrow switch

The switching of North-South and East-West hands, usually on the last round or rounds of a Mitchell Movement, provide a fairer comparison of scores across the field and produce a single winner. When an arrow switch is in use, the movement is a Scrambled Mitchell..

The use of an arrow switch tends to be popular in club competitions where it is necessary to produce a single winner.

Arrow switching about 1/8 of the boards (i.e. rounds) in a Mitchell allows one to declare an overall winner with a great degree of fairness. Arrow switching more than this is incorrect.

Physical

A PDF of the contents of this page is available at the link below.

Preferred Table Movements (PDF)