3/4 Howell

[euclidz]

What's the difference between a full Howell and a 3/4 Howell? Is there a 1/2 Howell?

[euclidz]

We use ScoreBridge, I'm on the latest version, I think earlier versions indicated which movements on their list were the EBU suggested movement for that number?

[mycroft]

a '3/4 Howell' is the generic term for a Howell movement that is designed to play fewer rounds than all-play-all. The difference between this and curtailing a full Howell is that all-play-all-boards. The actual fraction played doesn't much matter to the naming.

 

It's designed by creating more stationary pairs and fewer moving pairs - but all but one "stationary" pair swaps between N/S and E/W on a schedule designed to maximize comparisons.

 

I believe they're called 3/4 Howells because the classic ones are close to 3/4 of the actual movement: the 6-table, 9x3 (instead of 11x2 (too few) or 11x3 (TOO MANY)), or the 9 table 13x2 (rather than 17x2). But a 4-table, 6x4 instead of 7x4 would also be called a "3/4 Howell".

 

I played one of the closest to 1/2 "3/4 Howells" for one of my crazy bridge games - 11 tables, 12 rounds of 2, 10 stationaries. Given that the players were dealing with "on this board, partner of the person who won the trick leads to the next one" or "on this board, queens rank higher than kings", and that it was held in a bar, I was impressed that there was only one "fail to switch" the entire night.

[blackshoe]

Not sure who came up with the "3/4" terminology. I think it may date back to Whist. Haller, et. al., (Movements: A Fair Approach) use the terms "Expanded Mitchell" and "Reduced Howell" for movements with more and fewer moving pairs, respectively. That seems more sensible to me.