Compass Position

[Chris3875]

Here's a weird question I was asked by one of our neighbouring clubs. When they play a Howell movement and there is a table where North/South are stationary, except for a few rounds when they move to E/W at the same table they have agreed to not physically move players, but to simply move the board around. The reason for this is because they generally put players who have mobility issues at this table or tables. Is there a rule about which way the board should be moved in these instances e.g. North moves to East or West ?

[blackshoe]

I don't think there's a rule in the sense of law or regulation, but all the Howell guide cards I've seen instruct North to become East.

[Chris3875]

That's very true - thanks ! Didn't think of that.

[bluejak]

No, there's no rule. But a club could make a rule if they wanted to. Furthermore, if a club does not make such a rule, a TD could make such a rule under Law 8A1. But I cannot really see why he would bother.

 

Arrow-switching is interesting. When this happens the whole room changes polarity, and there is a question whether North becomes East, or whatever. Some players have told me there is a rule, but there isn't. Should the TD make a rule?

 

Jim Proctor, an English TD with a well-deserved reputation for brilliance over details has a very sensible rule. He says that if there is only one arrow-switched round you can let the players sit whichever way they want. But if there are two arrow-switched rounds you should instruct them which way to sit. Why? Because otherwise moving pairs will sit the same way at two consecutive tables and find that one of them is North then South - and this is the sort of thing that upsets them. Ever since he explained this I have followed it as a TD.

[barmar]

I was sure the question was going to be whether it's legal to do this board rotation in the first place. And just as there's no law saying which seat they should move to, there's nothing saying they have to move physically.

 

Does the guide card have the force of law or regulation? Law 5B says "Players change their initial compass direction ... in accordance with the Director’s instructions." I suppose we should consider the instructions on the guide card as included in the TD's instructions (he put the cards on the tables), unless he explicitly says otherwise.

 

However, I can't really imagine anyone caring. It's preferable to be consistent about it within the session, but I don't see it really mattering.

 

The only case where I can see it mattering is in something like a Pro-Am. In these, it's common to arrange for all the pros to be sitting in the same two compass directions (some mixed pairs games also put all the women in the same two directions). If you use a Howell movement, you'll want to ensure that the pros follow this requirement as the pairs switch between NS and EW (whether they're staying at the same table or moving).

[pran]

I was sure the question was going to be whether it's legal to do this board rotation in the first place. And just as there's no law saying which seat they should move to, there's nothing saying they have to move physically.

 

Does the guide card have the force of law or regulation? Law 5B says "Players change their initial compass direction ... in accordance with the Director’s instructions." I suppose we should consider the instructions on the guide card as included in the TD's instructions (he put the cards on the tables), unless he explicitly says otherwise.

 

However, I can't really imagine anyone caring. It's preferable to be consistent about it within the session, but I don't see it really mattering.

 

The only case where I can see it mattering is in something like a Pro-Am. In these, it's common to arrange for all the pros to be sitting in the same two compass directions (some mixed pairs games also put all the women in the same two directions). If you use a Howell movement, you'll want to ensure that the pros follow this requirement as the pairs switch between NS and EW (whether they're staying at the same table or moving).

Guide cards have the force of "instructions of the Director" (based on law) and failure to exactly follow these can be subject to procedure penalty. (See laws 81 and 90B8)

 

This is relevant for progression between rounds (e.g. "go to East" means that the player must go to East, not to West). It does not prevent the Director from changing the guide card rather than the physical positions at the table in the case of a disabled player.

[Chris3875]

When I inspected our Howell movement cards they just say (under the Go To column) 7NS or 3EW, etc. - not very helpful for this question really.

[bluejak]

I was amazed to find that any guide cards - except for individuals - actually tell a player whether to sit East or West. As pran says, if they do, then the player must. As always, if there is a difficulty with that, refer it to the TD.

[pran]

I was amazed to find that any guide cards - except for individuals - actually tell a player whether to sit East or West. As pran says, if they do, then the player must. As always, if there is a difficulty with that, refer it to the TD.

Many of the guide cards available in Norway do indeed specify the exact next position (e.g. East or West instead of just East/West).

I have no idea if this was a result of an older "problem" which I was given at my first TD training course back in 1980:

 

A partnership wants to move between North and West and between South and East for reasons best known by themselves. How shall the Director rule?

 

I was unaware at the time that it was common for the stronger player within a partnership to sit North (and East), and the real reason for the players' request was eventually revealed to me as to always have their stronger player sitting "behind" the stronger opponent.

[mycroft]

I had a set of Howell cards that told North to move to East, and so on...except that the way the cards were printed, you'd end up going around the circle (I believe it was X North -> 1 East -> 2 East -> 3 East -> 4 *South* -> 4 *West*)

 

I made sure I used the other set for that movement (which said to go N/S or E/W)...

[pran]

Anybody interested just go to:

 

http://www.bridge.no/var/fckeditor/bridgeno/file/PDF/nedlastning/bordplansjer/4-bord%20Howell.pdf

 

for a typical set of Norwegian guide cards (this one for 4 tables)

[Vampyr]

Anybody interested just go to:

 

http://www.bridge.no/var/fckeditor/bridgeno/file/PDF/nedlastning/bordplansjer/4-bord%20Howell.pdf

 

for a typical set of Norwegian guide cards (this one for 4 tables)

 

Ah, right. So these sit in the middle of the table -- I was wondering how each player got her own set of instructions!

 

In other places where there is just a little guide card in the corner, there may be constraints imposed by eg the use of software that supposedly tracks a player's performance.

[pran]

Ah, right. So these sit in the middle of the table -- I was wondering how each player got her own set of instructions!

 

In other places where there is just a little guide card in the corner, there may be constraints imposed by eg the use of software that supposedly tracks a player's performance.

Guide cards similar to these are depicted in "Duplicate Contract Complete" by Alfred M Gruenther, New York 1933. (and also in a Norwegian TD Guide I have that was issued in 1945)

Yes, I suppose these guides usually sit in the middle of the table with the board on top of it during play.

[blackshoe]

The thing that amazes me is the number of players who know that the guide card sitting in the middle of the table, under the boards, tells them where to go for the next round, and yet they still ask North, or the Director, "where do we go next?" :blink: :o

[Finch]

As already given, the simple answer to the original question is that it is up to the TD to give instructions and these must be obeyed; the instructions may already be on the guide cards.

[Finch]

No, there's no rule. But a club could make a rule if they wanted to. Furthermore, if a club does not make such a rule, a TD could make such a rule under Law 8A1. But I cannot really see why he would bother.Arrow-switching is interesting.

 

 

I was unaware at the time that it was common for the stronger player within a partnership to sit North (and East), and the real reason for the players' request was eventually revealed to me as to always have their stronger player sitting "behind" the stronger opponent.

 

There's another reason why players should be asked to sit North/East and South/West in Howells. Most Howells are actually quite carefully written - if you analyse them (which I've done for many of the standard movements you can find on the web) then they are actually very nicely balanced to give players, as far as possible, all the same number of times they are dealer, in second seat, in third seat, in fourth seat. You are much more likely to play the hand if you are in first seat and hogs/stronger players often like to be dealer. If players sit North/West then this gets unbalanced.

 

Does it _matter_? Well, not very much, but it seems a shame to ignore something that's been written to avoid a particular potential bias.