Following is a complete treatment of 5 table Howell movements, but as there are Howell movements with shares between tables, they will be shown 5-7/2-6. For the sake of convention the first table shown is thus considered to be the lower numbered table.
Table of differences for 5 tables:
Table of skeletons:
All 5 table Howell movements:
A balanced version of the BS is shown at the start of each set.
a · 10-1 2-9 8-3 7-4 6-5
b · 10-1 R 4-2/8-7 3R 5-9 R 6-3
c · 10-1 9-4/7-6 R 5-3 2-8 4R
d · 10-1/7-4 2R 5-3/2-6/9-8 5R
e · 10-1 2R 9-8 6-4/3-7 2R 5-2 R
f · 10-1 R 9-6 2R 7-5/4-8 3-2 2R
g · 10-1/7-4 5R 5-9/8-6/3-2 2R
h · 10-1 4R 3-9 8-6 R 5-4/7-2
i · 10-1 8-5 R 2-6 3R 9-7/4-3 R
b · 10-1 4-2 5-9 6-3 8-7
c · 10-1 5-3 2R 9-4 2-8 2R 7-6
d · 10-1 5-3/7-4/9-8 4R 2-6 2R
e · 10-1 9-8 6-4 4R 3-7 5-2
f · 10-1 2R 7-5/9-6 R 3-2 2R 4-8
g · 10-1/5-9 7-4 2R 8-6/3-2 4R
h · 10-1 R 7-2 R 8-6 R 3-9/5-4 2R
i · 10-1 R 8-5 2R 4-3/9-7 2-6 2R
c · 10-1 3-5 9-4 2-8 7-6
d · 10-1/3-5 R 2-6/9-8 2R 7-4 3R
e · 10-1 4-6 9-8 3-7/5-2 5R
f · 10-1 R 5-7 R 4-8 3-2 R 9-6 R
g · 10-1 2R 6-8 R 5-9/7-4/3-2 3R
h · 10-1 3-9 R 6-8 3R 5-4/7-2 R
i · 10-1 R 2-6 R 7-9 R 8-5/4-3 2R
d · 10-1 3-5 2-6 7-4 9-8
e · 10-1/9-8 4-6/3-7 5R 5-2 R
f · 10-1 R 5-7/4-8/9-6 3-2 5R
g · 10-1/7-4 2R 6-8/5-9/3-2 5R
h · 10-1 2R 6-8 R 7-2/3-9/5-4 3R
i · 10-1/2-6 8-5 2R 7-9/4-3 4R
e · 10-1 4-6 3-7 5-2 9-8
f · 10-1 5-7/4-8 R 3-2 9-6 4R
g · 10-1 R 6-8/5-9/7-4 3-2 5R
h · 10-1 R 6-8 R 7-2 5-4 R 3-9 R
i · 10-1 2R 7-9/8-5 4-3 3R 2-6
f · 10-1 5-7 4-8 9-6 3-2
g · 10-1/3-2 6-8/5-9 5R 7-4 R
h · 10-1 6-8 5-4 7-2/3-9 5R
i · 10-1 4-3 7-9 4R 2-6 8-5
g · 10-1 6-8 5-9 7-4 3-2
h · 10-1/6-8 R 7-2/5-4 2R 3-9 3R
i · 10-1 7-9/8-5/4-3 4R 2-6 2R
h · 10-1 6-8 7-2 3-9 5-4
i · 10-1 7-9 2R 2-6 8-5 2R 4-3
Upon examining these 5 table Howell movements, it becomes clear that there are movements for particular applications.
(e) on (b) for example is the best starting position for the standard Howell as all the bye-stand boards are in one group and only one relay table is required. In this movement it is suggested that board set 1 starts at table 3 so that after 5 rounds it comes out of the movement first and so can be scored. This is the earliest time (5 rounds) that the boards will come out without board sharing in the movement.
If the scores were required earlier the best choice would be (e) on (d) where most sets (all but 3) would be scored by the last round. As there is sharing of boards between tables, this movement needs 3 boards per round so as not to slow the movement down.
Any Howell can be played with stationary boards, with one set per table. A movement of this type would expand to a schedule the same as the "comparison of pairs" schedule shown earlier, with each board set number the same as the table number. If you need a stationary board movement for 5 tables, then the choice would be (f) on (c) as the players are spread over the entire length of the movement. This means that it is less likely that the players will overhear each other during the bidding and play.
To summarize the 5 table Howell movements, the following movements are recommended.
Standard movement.
10-1 8-9 6-4 4R 7x3 2-5
Note that table 4 is shown by 7x3. This means that the switching of this table reverses the comparisons. For checking purposes, the base skeleton is:
10-1 4-2 9x5 3-6 7-8
It would be more convenient to arrange the switch at table 1 where there is a stationary pair, but this is impossible with 5 tables (cf 7 and 9 tables).
An alternative:
10-1 4-3 9x7 4R 6-2 5-8
Early scoring movement:
10-1 8x6 5-4 2-7/9-3 5R
Spread movement (stationary boards):
10-1 R 5x7 R 8-4 3-2 R 9-6 R
The switching is difficult in this last movement when using stationary boards as it occurs at a different table on each round (and there are different pairs at the switching table on each round).
For the reader interested in constructing Howell movements it is suggested that the aid of a computer is obtained for more than 5 tables. The following table indicates why this is so.
Tables Skeletons Howells Good Howells
3 1 0 0
4 3 6 6
5 9 72 12
6 25 600 80
7 133 17,556 1,760
8 631 397,530 5,958
9 3,857 14,872,592 not determined
