Do Movements Matter?
Does the movement used make a difference to the popularity of a duplicate pairs events?
My impression is that it does. There are various pressures on a Tournament Director when a movement is being chosen.
The first is obviously the number of tables. If there are 5, 6 or 7 full tables the obvious answer is a Mitchell Movement. This seems to me to be popular because it is so simple. Some pairs like to play N/S when possible -maybe as a result of a disabiity. The movement of the E/W pairs and of the boards is simple and predictable, cutting down the chance of mistakes. There is more of a problem with an even number of tables when we generally use a 'share and relay' rather than a 'skip' movement.
The real problem arises when there is a half-table. For example five and a half tables is awkward and seems to happen quite often. One solution is to use a Howell but all pairs play only 20 boards and these movements are generlly unpopular because of all the moving around and they can be quite slow. Another option is the Mitchell. This gives a four board sit-out (too much), although 20 boards are still played. We do have our own alternative movement with a three board sit-out but this enables 21 boards to be played. It also requires everyone to move around quite a lot.
When we have a competition that requires one winner, we tend to use our own movements rather than the simpler Mitchell. These have large numbers of 'arrow switches' since the theory is that the more of these there are, the fairer the result. I am not sure if this is true and I think the likelihood of mistakes is much greater.
What seems to be true is ' the simpler the better!'.
What is your experience?
My impression is that it does. There are various pressures on a Tournament Director when a movement is being chosen.
The first is obviously the number of tables. If there are 5, 6 or 7 full tables the obvious answer is a Mitchell Movement. This seems to me to be popular because it is so simple. Some pairs like to play N/S when possible -maybe as a result of a disabiity. The movement of the E/W pairs and of the boards is simple and predictable, cutting down the chance of mistakes. There is more of a problem with an even number of tables when we generally use a 'share and relay' rather than a 'skip' movement.
The real problem arises when there is a half-table. For example five and a half tables is awkward and seems to happen quite often. One solution is to use a Howell but all pairs play only 20 boards and these movements are generlly unpopular because of all the moving around and they can be quite slow. Another option is the Mitchell. This gives a four board sit-out (too much), although 20 boards are still played. We do have our own alternative movement with a three board sit-out but this enables 21 boards to be played. It also requires everyone to move around quite a lot.
When we have a competition that requires one winner, we tend to use our own movements rather than the simpler Mitchell. These have large numbers of 'arrow switches' since the theory is that the more of these there are, the fairer the result. I am not sure if this is true and I think the likelihood of mistakes is much greater.
What seems to be true is ' the simpler the better!'.
What is your experience?
posted by Joe Ridyard at 3:10 am
1 Comments:
I need a 2-table movement with two stationary players at separeate tables.
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