This movement is an extension of the combined Howell-Mitchell movement, but whereas that movement is designed for three session events, this is used in five session events. It provides an orderly arrangement and movement of the pairs so that all pairs play each other and they play all boards.
The standard Howell-Mitchell is set up and to this is added one more Mitchell movement. The normal table arrangement would be one row of Mitchell tables, one row of Howell tables, and then another Mitchell. The use of the stationary-board Howell-Mitchell is recommended so that the number of tables in the Howell row is the same as the number in the Mitchell rows.
The same principles apply to this movement as those of the Howell-Mitchell with the extension of three rows sharing boards instead of only two. If the boards have been duplicated then sharing is eliminated. Where the sharing is between the three rows then obviously at least three boards must be played on each round and preferably more than three.
Therefore when there is board sharing the movement is only useful for 36 or 46 pairs. Another possibility is 26 pairs, but at least 5 boards per round are required as the Howell for 3 tables needs to share boards, so that a 5-way share is required.
Where there are 3 groups of pairs in the Howell-Mitchell, there are 5 groups in this movement. Each such group has as many pairs as there are tables in the Mitchell movements. There is one stationary pair in the Howell. One group is placed in the Howell and each of the other groups is placed as either N-S or E-W in a Mitchell.
The 5 groups can be shown diagrammatically as:
Mitchell1 Mitchell 2 Howell
N-S G1 G2 G3+1
E-W G5 G4
After each session the groups are rotated about each other; G1 moves to the position occupied by G2, G2 to that of group G3 etc. After 5 sessions all pairs will have met each other.
The scrambled Mitchell (or possibly the Bofors Mitchell) should be used for the Mitchells in this movement.
