Fairness of movements online
There's been a lot written about the fairness of movements, especially where the movement isn't all play all (or all N/S play all E/W).
I have been unable to find any that address the fundamental difference with online play - that they are barometer events (so everyone plays every board).
As far as I can tell, this negates most of the arguments as to which movement is fairest, as (assuming no manipulation of seating). they're all pretty much the same.
Yes you can get unfairness (a pair plays a flat board against a strong pair but a "volatile" one against a weak pair), but that's just luck, not anything inherently wrong with the movement.
Comments?
Comments
Balance still has an effect with barometer movements. It is affected by how many times you play in the same direction as each other pair and how many times in the opposite. For example, in the recent 5-table Open trial, it was necessary for one table to arrow-switch half of each round in order to achieve perfect balance.
Ian McKinnon has written about this. https://qldbridge.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BRIDGE_DIRECTING_COMPLETE.pdf
...and I always thought the M39 5 table movement was balanced but it is not.
Everybody compares 4 times with pair 10 but taking pair 2 as an example, they compare 3 times with 1, 3 5 and 8 and 5 times with 4, 6, 7 and 9.
Following on from this is it possible and has anybody written a balanced movement without resorting to arrow switches?
Hasn't the narrative and switches on pp 29-30 now been discredited such that we now arrow switch between 1/7 and 1/8?