Skip Mitchell

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E.T Baker devised the skip Mitchell circa 1892. It proceeds the same way as the standard Mitchell with the exception that after the half way round, the E-W pairs skip one table by proceeding up two tables rather than one. The boards move the same as the standard Mitchell throughout.

Clearly, the E-W pairs will reach the table before the one at which they started, one round before the end. If the last round is played, the E-W pairs will play the pairs against whom they started: called the revenge round. Note that the E-W pairs do not play the N-S pair that they skip at the halfway mark. This means that the comparison of players is not equal, but on the other hand the movement is very hard to foul up, whereas the relay Mitchell has many areas in which things may go wrong.

Where there is an even number of tables and an incomplete Mitchell (curtailed Mitchell) is needed, then the skip Mitchell must be used. This can be terminated at any point during the movement and all the boards will have been played an equal number of times.
It was pointed out that the skip should occur just after the half way point in the tournament. This means, for example, that in a 14 table Mitchell, the skip would occur after the 7^th round has been played.

It is also possible to skip earlier than this point. This is handy if you have two or more sections of even tables, but of different sizes, and all sections are going to play the same number of rounds. This means that the skip can be announced for all sections at the same point. The formula for finding the earliest round at which the skip can be announced is:

E = R – T / 2

where:

E = the earliest round

R = the number of rounds to be played

T = the number of tables in a section.

If, for example, you have two sections, one of 14 tables and one of 16 tables and you want to play 13 rounds, making a 26 board tournament, then clearly, the skip for the 14 table section will be made after the 7^th round. The play will finish when the E-W pairs have played the table just before the one at which they started. In the 16 table section the earliest round at which the skip may occur is:

E = 13 – 16 / 2 = 5

Therefore the skip may also be called after round seven in the 16-table section.

Further curtailing of the movement is possible if desired, such as terminating after 12 rounds in the above example.

If the early skip has been used it is also possible to continue the movement right to the end if it is decided not to terminate the movement early. All that is changed is the pair against whom the revenge round is played. If the skip is made one round earlier than the normal skip point, then the E-W pairs remain at the table of the second last round and only the boards move for the change into the last round.

If the skip was made 2 rounds before the normal change point then the E-W pairs play against the same N-S pair for the 3^rd last and the 2^nd last rounds and move normally into the last round. With the skip three rounds before normal, the repeat occurs on the 3^rd and 4^th last rounds and so forth.

In the example above, the 16-table movement could continue normally to the 15^th round; then for the last round, only the boards would move.

An alternative procedure for the skip Mitchell could be called the REPEAT Mitchell. The movement is basically the same as the normal Mitchell movement, but instead of the skip at halfway, the E-W pairs repeat play against the same pair. For example, in a 14 table Mitchell the move after the 7^th round is:

·   N-S remain stationary

·   E-W remain stationary

·   Boards move down (up) 1 table.

This procedure eliminates the skip and moves the repeat play from the first pair played to the middle pair.