Arrowswitching
The White Book section 8.5.3 page 106 says:
8.5.3 Arrow-switched rounds and Howell-type movements in pairs event
In a pairs movement, where one pairs remains at each table throughout the session, when there is an ‘arrow-switch’ round, the TD instructs that the players to occupy their usual seats but to rotate the boards, so that East plays the North cards.
In other movements, where some moving pairs play other moving pairs (‘Howell-type’ movements), when pairs change direction, players should swap between the North and East seats or between the South and West seats.
In both cases, these provisions match the expectations of software as to where players will play_.___
This indicates that, for a 7 table 8 round Hesitation Mitchell, with an arrowswitch on the last round, NS should stay in their seats, and the board is rotated so that the player sitting in the E seat has the N hand, the player sitting N gets the W hand and the player sitting S gets the E hand.
And for a Howell movement, the player originally sitting N always gets the N and E hands and the player sitting S always gets the S and W hands.
So in the Hesitation Mitchell, N gets the N and W hands, and in the Howell, N gets the N and E hands.
What does the White Book mean about “these provisions match the expectations of software”?
What software does it mean? EBUscore or Bridgewebs or both?
Bridgewebs counts whether a player was declarer or dummy, which needs knowledge of whether a player holds the W hand or the E hand.
How does EBUscore indicate that in the results file loaded up to Bridgewebs?
Is it really that neither EBUscore or Bridgewebs knows whether N held the E or the W hand on the arrowswitch hand? (fair enough, just remove the statement about the expectations of software from the White Book).
Or is it that, on an arrowswitch round, the boards should not be rotated but N should move to E, and S should move to W (in which case amend the statement in the White Book).
Why does this matter
We need to give the right instructions to players on the arrowswitch round (rotate the board, or move seats)
We need to be able to interpret the Bridgewebs report correctly
Comments
A hesitation mitchell is a 'howell' for these purposes because there is no NS and EW lines, the line of moving pairs plays both EW and NS throughout the movement.
So.
1. Everyone should change seats for the arrow switch round as if it were a howell; OR
2. EW should swap seats when moving to a table with a stationary NS, and the board arrow switched so the player who had been sitting East plays the North cards; OR
3. EW should move to their normal seats when moving to a table with a stationary NS, NS should swap seats, and the board arrow switched so the player who is sitting East plays the North cards.
Thank you.