Xref: nntpa rec.games.bridge:23121
From: wolk@ccm.UManitoba.CA (Barry Wolk)
Newsgroups: rec.games.bridge
Subject: Re: Square Mitchell?
Date: 23 Aug 1995 16:32:24 -0500
Organization: University of Manitoba
Message-ID: <9508232130.AA08113@rigel.cc.umanitoba.ca>

The 8 table movement you are looking for is buried in the schedule for a
32-player 24-board Individual movement, which appears on page 201 of my old
edition of Groner. Delete all player numbers 17 and higher, and ignore
anything that specifies a player's direction. What's left shows you which
two of the 16 numbers will play each board during each round.

If you visualize the 8 tables as positioned at the corners of a cube, then
you can translate this schedule into movements, such as "move horizontally"
or "move vertically" or "move to the other level", or combinations of these
3 basic movements. I will not do this translation, since there is an easier
way to run an 8-round, 8-table Mitchell without a bye-stand and share.

This easier movement is called a criss-cross Mitchell, and is a practical
movement for either 8 or 12 tables. Here are the instructions for 8 tables.

NS -- remain stationary.
Boards 1-3,7-9,13-15,19-21 -- always move down 1 table.
Boards 4-6,10-12,16-18,22-24 -- always move up 1 table.
EW 1 -- play at tables 1,2,3,4, 8,7,6,5
EW 2 -- play at tables 2,1,8,7, 3,4,5,6
EW 3 -- play at tables 3,4,5,6, 2,1,8,7
EW 4 -- play at tables 4,3,2,1, 5,6,7,8
EW 5 -- play at tables 5,6,7,8, 4,3,2,1
EW 6 -- play at tables 6,5,4,3, 7,8,1,2
EW 7 -- play at tables 7,8,1,2, 6,5,4,3
EW 8 -- play at tables 8,7,6,5, 1,2,3,4

Ther pattern for 12 tables is similar. If anyone needs the full instructions
for the 12-table case, just let me know.

One final question: Has anyone reading this article ever run this movement?
I did it once at a club game, many years ago. However, the games I run
usually play more than 24 boards.

Barry Wolk
Dept of Mathematics
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg Manitoba Canada