SINGLE TABLE GAME SETUPS
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DIVISION B. SCHEDULES OF PLAY.
It should be noted that both rubber and duplicate bridge can be single or multiple table. In most cases, the play of SINGLE TABLE RUBBER BRIDGE does not end until one partnerdhip has completed a "rubber" which can go on indefinitely or until someone says "That's enough". But this is not true of MULTI-TABLE RUBBER BRIDGE and DUPLICATE BRIDGE, both of which dictate a specific "SESSION" end point by limiting the total playing time to a fixed number of "ROUNDS".
We define a "ROUND" as the play of a predetermined fixed number of hands comprising a hand group, after which occurs a change in player positions and hand groups at the table. In MULTI-TAABLE-RUBBER BRIDGE, aka PARTY BRIDGE, CHICAGO, etc, the round is usually defined as being 4 hands long, after which players rotate and 4 hands are reshuffled, dealt & played.
In duplicate bridge, the hands are pre-dealt and stored in containers call boards. The boards are then aranged into equal groups, preferably one group for each table. The movement (ie rotation) of the players & boards as they progress from one round of play to the next must be orchestrated throughout the session in such a way as to prevent the repeated playing of the same hands and the same opponents. The "SCHEDULE OF PLAY" is the means by which this orchestration is accomplished. It is the specification of who is to play against who at what table with what board groups. And it depends upon how many total individual players there are and how many total hands are to be played.
What follows is a description of the Duplicate Schedule Of Play for a variety of table numbers. We being with the bare minimum number of 4 players comprising just one table. And then we add another 4 players to give us 2 tables, and so on.
1. SINGLE TABLE RUBBER BRIDGE. (Previously described.)
2. SINGLE TABLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE. In single table duplicate there is only one table of four players. Yet they still have a choice between playing partnership competition and individual competition.
a] PARTNERSHIP COMPETITION: Here two players remain partners and do not move throughout the session. A group of 9 or more boards is played as one round with the North/South pair remaining the same. After the round, the direction of the entire board group is repositioned with the pair who was East/West now becoming North/South. The board group is now played a 2nd time. To diminish the possibility of a player remembering a hand on the 2nd round of play, the boards should be playedd in a different sequence.
After two plays of the same board, it is then possible to compare which partnership pair played better as NS on the exact same board by comparing the "RAW SCORES" of the two NS pairs. For each board played, a "MATCH POINT" of 1 is awarded to both individuals of the winning pair. At the end of all of the rounds to be played, the "MATCH POINTS" for each pair are added up to determine the winning pair.
b] INDIVIDUAL COMPETITION: This is probably the better choice, because it makes it far more difficult for a player to remember the hands. Six rounds are required wherein three of the players will rotate after each round to play partners with one fixed position player #4. In round 1 fixed player #4 plays partners with player #1. In round 2 fixed player #4 plays partners with player #. In round 3 fixed player # plays partners with player #3. After the first 3 rounds, the same rotation of players is repeated to complete 6 rounds in total.
Three board groups, A (or 1), B (or 2) & C (0r 3) are required with each group containing 3 or more boards. Each board group is played in the first 3 rounds with fixed player #4 always being north. After round 3, the board groups are played again, only with fixed player #4 always being East. After the 6 rounds, it is then possible to determine which player did the best.
The following score sheet in FIGURE 4 depicts the schedule of play when competing for an individual win . It is the equivalent of a bunch of MULTI-TABLE traveler score sheets all in one. It depictes the details of who plays with who as partners sitting NS & the boards that are played on each round, along with the recording of the raw score & resulting match points.
3. ONLINE SINGLE TABLE DUPLICATE BRIDGE. (Same as SINGLE TABLE DUPLICATE.)