7 Tables - All play all
Yes, I know this can be done in a full Howell, but the aim is to have a mid-session break and naturally I would prefer it if players could look at the boards in the first session whilst they have their sandwiches/ cup of tea or coffee.
So far all I can envisage is 21 boards in a 7-table Mitchell (1 round arrowswitched) followed by two 3 1/2 table Howells (21 boards of which each pair plays 18 and sit-out three).
Players may naturally wonder why I need 8 tables for the second session and only seven for the first and why there are two sit-outs - and of course not everyone plays the same boards.
Any suggestions?
Comments
There's a standard format for two sessions, a Mitchell followed by a double Howell. with an even number of tables, this is trivial. But with an odd number, the double howell is 'interwoven', whereby the two pairs that would be sitting out play each other instead. Because these two pairs would also have met in the Mitchell, you run an incomplete Mitchell (6 rounds out of 7), usually skipping the first round (1v8, 2v9, etc.). This should all be in Manning.
In EBUScore, the Jannersten Interwoven Howell does the trick: you will see at table one, 1v8 in round 1, 2v9, etc.
When setting up a Mitchell, there is a tickbox to omit the first round.
p.s. I might be wrong about this being in Manning (I don't have a copy to hand), in particular for small numbers of tables.
Wouldn't the simplest and most balanced way be just to run 2 x full Howells with 3 board rounds?
Hmm. I think John is trying to play 3 boards against each other pair. It's hard to divide that into 2 complete all play alls without mucking up the total board count. But the interwoven Howells mentioned work well, I've never seen the one for 7 tables but the higher numbered ones are useful.
Sorry, wasn't thinking straight. Just ignore my idiocy.
Thanks
I have the same task coming up on Sunday, where I'm expecting fourteen pairs. Two session movements for seven tables are not found in Manning (he starts at eight tables), but EBUScore does have a seven-table interwoven Howell for the second session, and the Jannersten / Haller / the other bloke Swedish manual says that for the first session you need a seven-table Mitchell arrow-switched on rounds 3, 5 and 6, skipping round 1. That's what I plan to do.
The advantage of this over playing two identical full Howells in each session is that you have more control over the number of boards. You can't play three boards against each other pair without playing one-board rounds at some point, and 52 boards may be considered too many.
I think the serious players would sniff at playing only 39 boards in a county championship pairs, and the don't-want-to-be-home-too-late crowd would baulk at 52, so I'm going to play four-board rounds in session 1 and three-board in session 2, for 45 boards in total.
That may disturb the careful balance created by the session 1 arrow-switching a little, but I hope not too much.
oh well i only arrow-switched the last round. working out fairness of movements is not my strong point - and i don't understand jeanie.