Algorithm for Howell?
Geezer
I don't mean descriptions, as found on the large cards that are placed
on the table. I'm looking for an algorithm that can be programmed
into a computer.
Where can I find it?
John (MadDog) Probst
<jfes...@charter.net> writes
Nope. Designing Howells is an arcane art. Store the Howells in a file
and load them as required. (Well that's how everyone else does it). the
best format is to have one record per round and one entry per table per
recprd; thusly:
1; 6 A 1; 2 C 5; 3 D 4
etc where the letters represent board sets and the numbers pair
numbers. Be warned there is one Howell where each round a table plays 2
board sets.
You can write a movement generator based on stationary pairs; and 2 line
s of moving pairs and 2 lines of moving boards, which suffices for most
normal movements (excluding the above mentioned Howell).
Are you busy re-inventing the wheel?
>
>Where can I find it?
--
John (MadDog) Probst| . ! -^- |icq 10810798
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John Crinnion
> In article <47d34209.03111...@posting.google.com>, Geezer
> <jfes...@charter.net> writes
> >Is there a recipe for Howell movements?
> >
> >I don't mean descriptions, as found on the large cards that are placed
> >on the table. I'm looking for an algorithm that can be programmed
> >into a computer.
>
> Nope. Designing Howells is an arcane art. Store the Howells in a file
> and load them as required. (Well that's how everyone else does it). the
> best format is to have one record per round and one entry per table per
> recprd; thusly:
>
> 1; 6 A 1; 2 C 5; 3 D 4
>
> etc where the letters represent board sets and the numbers pair
> numbers. Be warned there is one Howell where each round a table plays 2
> board sets.
>
>
> You can write a movement generator based on stationary pairs; and 2 line
> s of moving pairs and 2 lines of moving boards, which suffices for most
> normal movements (excluding the above mentioned Howell).
>
> Are you busy re-inventing the wheel?
> >
As ISTR being told that the Howell in question was a professor of
mathematics at MIT, I am not surprised that the nuts and bolts of the
H movement are pretty abstruse.
Seriously, though, what on earth could he have had against Colonel
Mitchell and the NY Whist Club?
Geezer
> <jfes...@charter.net> writes
> >Is there a recipe for Howell movements?
> >
> >I don't mean descriptions, as found on the large cards that are placed
> >on the table. I'm looking for an algorithm that can be programmed
> >into a computer.
> Are you busy re-inventing the wheel?
Perhaps. My partner is disappointed with the MSDOS program for
scoring that is provided by the ACBL. We are thinking of writing our
own.
Sven Pran
............
> As ISTR being told that the Howell in question was a professor of
> mathematics at MIT, I am not surprised that the nuts and bolts of the
> H movement are pretty abstruse.
>
> Seriously, though, what on earth could he have had against Colonel
> Mitchell and the NY Whist Club?
Why do you think that Professor Edwin C. Howell had anything against
John T. Mitchell?
But while the Mitchell movement effectively divides the participants in
two groups where each player in one group meets every player in the
other and vice versa (resulting in two separate ranking lists) the Howell
movement ensures that every participant meets every other participant
so that they all compete in the same "group".
(And please do not mention the various techniques that exist for obtaining
a single ranking list with Mitchell. They are nothing more than poor
surrogates for a fair arrangement).
regards Sven
Sid Ismail
: "John (MadDog) Probst" <jo...@asimere.com> wrote in message news:<zI+N+XA$mFt$Ew...@asimere.com>...
This scoring program is easy to use, Windows based, and has "Handicap" and
other facilities built in, including many movements (facility to print table
cards too). I use it, and I am very happy with it:
http://www.scorebridge.com/
Sid
Gordon Rainsford
>
> This scoring program is easy to use, Windows based, and has "Handicap" and
> other facilities built in, including many movements (facility to print table
> cards too). I use it, and I am very happy with it:
> http://www.scorebridge.com/
>
> Sid
I'll second that. I've been using it recently, and it's the best of the
half dozen or so programs I've used.
--
Gordon Rainsford
London UK
John Crinnion
> "John Crinnion"
> ............
> > As ISTR being told that the Howell in question was a professor of
> > mathematics at MIT, I am not surprised that the nuts and bolts of the
> > H movement are pretty abstruse.
> >
> > Seriously, though, what on earth could he have had against Colonel
> > Mitchell and the NY Whist Club?
>
> Why do you think that Professor Edwin C. Howell had anything against
> John T. Mitchell?
I wonder which branch of mathematics Howell specialised in. Which
regiment/campaigns Mitchell was involved in?
>
> But while the Mitchell movement effectively divides the participants in
> two groups where each player in one group meets every player in the
> other and vice versa (resulting in two separate ranking lists) the Howell
> movement ensures that every participant meets every other participant
> so that they all compete in the same "group".
>
> (And please do not mention the various techniques that exist for obtaining
> a single ranking list with Mitchell. They are nothing more than poor
> surrogates for a fair arrangement).
I have always considered all that arrow switch stuff terribly bogus,
if that is what you are referring to.
> regards Sven
Mark Brader
> > > ISTR being told that the Howell in question was a professor of
> > > what on earth could he have had against Colonel
> > > Mitchell and the NY Whist Club?
> > Why do you think that Professor Edwin C. Howell had anything against
> > John T. Mitchell?
> I wonder which branch of mathematics Howell specialised in. Which
> regiment/campaigns Mitchell was involved in?
Here are their biographies from the Official Encyclopedia of Bridge,
5th edition. Nothing is said about Mitchell being in the army,
although Howell did work for the navy as a civilian.
HOWELL, Edwin Cull (1860-1907) is credited with the invention of the
Howell movement in 1897. Born in Nantucket MA to clergyman George
Howell and his wife Frances Sarah Cull, Howell attended prep school
Charlier Institute in New York City prior to entering Harvard in 1877.
He left in 1881 before completing his degree and taught in a private
school in Asbury Park NJ. He returned to Harvard in 1883, graduated
11th in his class and took honors in math; taught math at Johns Hop-
kins U 1884-85 and in two private schools. After leaving the teaching
field in 1887, Howell joined the staff of The Daily News in Baltimore.
For 14 years beginning in 1889 he worked for the Boston Herald. He
became assistant city editor in 1896 and assistant news editor in 1898.
In July of 1903 he became assistant in the National Almanac Office of
the U.S. Navy in Washington DC, a position he held until his death.
Howell learned whist at Harvard and became its best player. He took a
prominent part in the activities of the American Whist League and in
1896 published "Howell's Whist Openings: a systematic treatment of the
short-suit game", and in 1897 "The Howell Method of Duplicate Whist
for Pairs".
MITCHELL, John Templeton (1854-1914) of Chicago, known as "Father of
Duplicate Whist" because of the movements of boards and players he
designed for tournaments. He invented many schedules for individual,
pair and team contests, the most notable of which is the Mitchell
movement. He helped to adapt the matchpoint scoring and used whist
for the purposes of duplicate auction. See also History of Bridge.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Mitchell was a lineal descendant of Sir
Roger Kirkpatrick, a famous Highland chieftain who supported Wallace
and Bruce in the struggle for Scottish independence around 1350.
In 1875, Mitchell emigrated to the United States and became a natur-
alized citizen. In 1888 he took up whist when he clipping from the
London Field regarding a duplicate whist match between two clubs in
his native Glasgow, using James Allison's automatic hand registers.
This interested Mitchell in duplicate whist and he formed the Chicago
Duplicate Whist Club. He wrote the world's first book on duplicate
whist, 1892, revised in 1896; joined the Hyde Park team-of-four in
1895 that won the fifth American Whist League Congress (nat'l champ-
ionship). Mitchell, a director in the American Whist League, favored
the long-suit game; his modified American leads were published in
Whist, 1896.
Note that the town where the teaching phase of Howell's career began
was Asbury Park. This is a seafront community, about 30 miles south
of New York (farther by land), with a population today of about 12,000;
but the reason it's interesting here is that from 1930 to 1941 it was
the fixed site of what we now call the Summer North American Bridge
Championships. The championship now called the Spingold was once the
Asbury Park Trophy.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | I am a mathematician, sir. I never permit myself
m...@vex.net | to think. --Stuart Mills (Carr: The Three Coffins)
My text in this article is in the public domain, if you can find it.
Sven Pran
"John Crinnion" <jcri...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:2f389bab.03111...@posting.google.com...
Exactly!
(Mitchell is probably the best schedule you can have when you split a field
in
two groups to be scored separatly. The moment you introduce any kind of
arrow-switching in an attempt to obtain a single ranking list you destroy
the valuable features of the Mitchell movement).
regards Sven
David Stevenson
They are to provide what the customer wants - and that means they are
not poor surrogates.
--
David Stevenson Bridge RTFLB Cats Railways /\ /\
Liverpool, England, UK Fax: +44 870 055 7697 @ @
<bri...@blakjak.com> ICQ 20039682 bluejak on OKB =( + )=
Bridgepage: http://blakjak.com/brg_menu.htm ~
John (MadDog) Probst
<bri...@nospam.demon.co.uk> writes
>Sven Pran wrote
>>"John Crinnion"
>>............
>>> As ISTR being told that the Howell in question was a professor of
>>> mathematics at MIT, I am not surprised that the nuts and bolts of the
>>> H movement are pretty abstruse.
>>>
>>> Seriously, though, what on earth could he have had against Colonel
>>> Mitchell and the NY Whist Club?
>>
>>Why do you think that Professor Edwin C. Howell had anything against
>>John T. Mitchell?
>>
>>But while the Mitchell movement effectively divides the participants in
>>two groups where each player in one group meets every player in the
>>other and vice versa (resulting in two separate ranking lists) the Howell
>>movement ensures that every participant meets every other participant
>>so that they all compete in the same "group".
>>
>>(And please do not mention the various techniques that exist for obtaining
>>a single ranking list with Mitchell. They are nothing more than poor
>>surrogates for a fair arrangement).
>
> They are to provide what the customer wants - and that means they are
>not poor surrogates.
I think they are the best of a bad job. If the customer wants a single
winner, this is best. It's about as good as you can get and in that
contest it *is* a poor surrogate.
David Stevenson
Most customers I know do not want everyone to move.
DavJFlower
>
>--
>David Stevenson
Best would be a movement (sic) in which nobody moves, and they get to play
against all the other pairs in the room
Dave Flower
John Crinnion
> Sven Pran wrote
<big SNIP>
> >
> >(And please do not mention the various techniques that exist for obtaining
> >a single ranking list with Mitchell. They are nothing more than poor
> >surrogates for a fair arrangement).
>
> They are to provide what the customer wants - and that means they are
> not poor surrogates.
Surely governing bodies, however useless and officious they may be in
other respects, exist (a) to tell the customer what he ought to want
and (b) to make sure that only what the customer ought to want is
provided in the name of said governing body.