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Swiss Pairs and Teams are very popular at the bridge congresses organised by counties and the EBU.

So, what is a “Swiss” competition?

A Swiss competition starts with a random draw assigning each pair or team to a table by table number and direction (North/South or East/West). The first of a series of head to head matches is played.

At our Christmas Party each match consists of five boards. The whole field, often twenty tables for our party, play the same five boards, so there are many copies of these five boards being shared by two tables, or passed from table to table in a circle.

When all tables have played all five boards, the computer calculates a score for each table distributed between the two pairs at the table. The score awards each pair a share of 20 victory points (VPs). North/South may have won the match 20/0, or drawn it 10.10, or lost it 7/13. The computer makes a list of the pairs in order of the number of VPs they have scored. It then assigns the pairs at tables 1-20 in that order, so that the pair that has done best plays the pair that has done second best at Table 1 and so on.

Players move to their assigned table and direction for the next round, and the field plays another five boards. Again, the computer calculates a result for each table, adds the VPs from the match to the pair’s running total, re-sorts the list, and assigns the pairs for the next round. The computer adjusts the assignments to avoid re-matches.

Each time a pair sits down to a new match, they will be playing a pair doing as well as they are. The pairs doing best are on the tables from 1 downwards and the pairs not doing so well have a party at the highest numbered tables.

It’s a popular format because you play against pairs with a more similar success rate to you as time goes on and you don’t face many pairs much stronger than you or indeed much weaker. It gives every pair a good chance of some good results.

You and your partner will have partnership agreements. They may be simple. Most of your bids may be "natural". However, there are always some assumptions attached to every bid or call. Many pairs play using well known sets of partnership agreements such as Basic Acol. Other pairs may play their own unique system.

In either case, it's a fundamental part of the laws of the game that these agreements must be disclosed to opponents. It is against the laws of bridge to have “secret” agreements. (See law 40.)

Some agreements must be explicitly disclosed using "Announcements". If you agree that an opening of 1 club may refer to a hand holding no clubs, partner must announce "May be zero". If there could be one club in the suit, partner must announce "May be one", if  it can be as short as two cards in the suit, partner must announce "May be two". The authorities regard opening on a three-card club suit to deny a five-card major to be "normal". However, most of us play ACOL and expect an opening suit to be at least four. For this reason, we have a local rule in our club that you tell your opponents that you are playing five-card majors. This makes them aware that your opening club, and often opening diamond, bid may show a three-card suit.

Some agreements must be implicitly disclosed using the ALERT card. If you ALERT, you do not announce. For example, if you have agreed that your 1C opening shows a hand with 16HCP or more, and says nothing about clubs, then this bid must be alerted.

There are occasions when a bid is made, has an artificial meaning, and is neither announced nor alerted. However, at your turn to bid in the auction, you may ask the partner of an opponent, what they understand by their partner's bid. You should need the information to bid or call. If you do not immediately need the information, wait till the end of the auction and ask for a "Review of the Auction".

In formal competition, partnership agreements are disclosed using written documents called convention cards. There is a specific layout required in the regulations. A convention card is different from a system card. A system card should fully document the agreements of all kinds between the players and is used to improve their success rate. NEITHER a convention card, nor a system card, may be used as an "aide memoire" during the auction or the play of the cards. You must rely on memory.

Convention cards are getting very rare in all but the most competitive clubs. We do ask that you give a general idea of the system you use verbally, and you find out about more details through Announcements, Alerts or by asking Questions as you play.

Every bridge session can only proceed at the pace of the slowest player. All must finish the current round before the move to the next round can start. Some boards are more difficult to play and may slow everyone who plays them down. As a non-playing director, you can often watch such boards go around the room.

However, there are also players who are always last to finish. They seem to resent being asked to speed up. They don’t understand it is not acceptable to hold up the whole room.

If you often play your last boards against rising noise, with the TD standing over you, you are one of these players. The noise is caused by players who have already finished, chatting while they wait for you. You are not popular with the director or other players. You won’t get a lot of sympathy about the noise level.  

Occasionally the director will remove a board from your table to get you caught up with the rest of the room. We don’t like doing this, but sometimes its unavoidable. You should be penalised by a score adjusted downwards. Your opponents should be compensated for losing a board through no fault of their own with a score adjusted upwards. We are probably a bit lenient here as we like to keep things relaxed, but if you persist in holding up play, we’ll get a bit tougher.

There are some simple habits to help you keep up, that don’t lose “playing” time:

• Don’t chatter at the start of the round. We are amazed how often slow players ignore the next opponents standing by the table, waiting to sit, and yet talk to each other about the last hand (not good practice at any time) and take time greeting the opponents. Just say “Sorry to keep you” and get on.
   
• If you are scoring, select the number of each board as the cards are being drawn from it. It avoids mistakes and saves time at the end of the auction.
   
• When the auction is over, if you are on lead, make your lead before entering the contract and lead. If you are dummy, wait for the lead to be turned over and then put the dummy hand on the table before entering the contract and the lead.
   
• Always enter the lead before the card play starts. It wastes time to find out what was led after the hand is played. If you are scoring, return your cards to the board, shuffled, before entering and agreeing the result. Don’t make the director wait or ask for cards to be returned to the board to move the board.
   
• Advise your opponents, if moving, where they are going and encourage your opponents to move promptly. Make a note yourself if you are moving and move promptly yourself Listen for the call to move, and don’t miss it because you are too busy chatting and make the director ask your table to move again.

None of this will cut into your “playing” time and will help the whole session move smoothly for everyone else.

Law 7A: When a board is to be played it is placed in the centre of table where it shall remain, correctly oriented, until play is completed. (Text was added in the 2017 revision of the laws.)

All players should check that boards are the correctly orientated. Listen carefully and check the tablet or table card carefully for “arrow switches”.

Many players want to move the board away from the centre of the table, or even off the table entirely.  This is not lawful. The board must remain in the centre of the table during the auction.  Players need to see who dealer is and what the vulnerability is.
If the board is moved, there is always a risk that the cards go back into wrong pockets and the board is “fouled” for the remainder of the session.

Although there is no law, North should be the only player to touch or move the boards. It is rude for anyone else to touch them.
North can remove other boards in the same round from the table, and this will avoid the masking effect of a “tower” of boards.
If the board is moved slightly towards declarer once card play starts, it will leave room for dummy to be laid down.
In our club the board can be moved to the edge or corner of the table. However, the board must not be turned. 

This often leads to fouled boards.

If players take the cards out of the board to compare the hands after play, they must be extremely careful to put them back correctly.
Again, this behaviour is not lawful. (Law 7C). In our club we do permit this if there is time for discussion, conversation is very quiet, and cards are returned correctly.

Terse or silent indication of the cards to play in dummy may be a sensible way to prevent unauthorised information leaking to other tables.

Law 46 describes the required effect of various “terse” instructions by Declarer:

A. Proper Form for Designating Dummy’s Card

When calling a card to be played from dummy declarer should clearly state both the suit and the rank of the desired card.

B. Incomplete or Erroneous Call

In case of an incomplete or erroneous call by declarer of the card to be played from dummy, the following restrictions apply (except when declarer’s different intention is incontrovertible):

1. (a) If declarer in playing from dummy calls ‘high’, or words of like meaning, he is deemed to have called the highest card.

    (b) If he directs dummy to ‘win’ the trick he is deemed to have called the lowest card that it is known will win the trick.

    (c) If he calls ‘low’, or words of like meaning, he is deemed to have called the lowest card.
 

2. If declarer designates a suit but not a rank he is deemed to have called the lowest card of the suit indicated.

3. If declarer designates a rank but not a suit:

(a) In leading, declarer is deemed to have continued the suit in which dummy won the preceding trick provided there is a card of the designated rank in that suit.

(b) In all other cases declarer must play a card from dummy of the designated rank if he can legally do so; but if there are two or more such cards that can be legally played declarer must designate which is intended.

4. If declarer calls a card that is not in dummy the call is void and declarer

may designate any legal card.

5. If declarer indicates a play without designating either a suit or a rank (as by saying ‘play anything’ or words of like meaning) either defender may designate the play from dummy. (Did you realise this??)

So by saying “Win the trick”; or “Low”; or “Heart”, declarer can give away very little information about dummy’s hand to another table. Dummy needs to stay alert (good practice anyway).

But Dummy must be careful not to seem to indicate any particular card or suit should be played….

Law 45F. Dummy Indicates Card

After dummy’s hand is faced, dummy may not touch or indicate any card (except for purpose of arrangement) without instruction from declarer. If he does so the Director should be summoned forthwith and informed of the action. Play continues. At the end of the play the Director shall award an adjusted score if he considers dummy suggested a play to declarer and the defenders were damaged by the play suggested.

It’s common to see a change of mind when a card has been played, or nearly played, to a trick. In a friendly club like ours, and especially on a Lesson or Friendly Practice session, we often allow the card to be withdrawn and another substituted.

However, there are strict laws about it, and it is worth knowing the formal position for the occasions when you play in serious, or external, competition.

Law 45 covers the playing of cards, and starts with the description of how cards should be played:

• 45A says that each player, at his turn to play, except dummy, detaches a card from his hand and “faces” (places it face up) on the table immediately in front of their seat;
• 45B says that Declarer plays a card from dummy by naming the card, after which dummy picks up the card and faces it on the table. In playing from dummy’s hand declarer may, if necessary, pick up the desired card;
• 45C considers when a card must be played. For either defender, any card they have detached from their hand and held so that their partner might have seen it (note, not has seen it), must play the card;
• A card in dummy must be played if declarer has called for it or touched it. Rearranging cards, or touching one while trying to get to another doesn’t count, but it’s as well to say that you are rearranging cards if that’s your intention;
• There is a “mechanical error” provision where a player can change a card if it is done “without pause for thought”. So realising it’s not the best card to play is thought and does not constitute a mechanical error;
• Dummy cannot choose a card to play and any card “moved” by dummy is not considered played until declarer has indicated it should be played. If dummy misplays a card, i.e. mishears the instruction from declarer, it can be corrected as long as attention is drawn to the error before BOTH sides have played to the NEXT trick;
• Declarer must play a card once it has been turned face up and touched, or nearly touched, the table or it’s been maintained in a position indicating it’s been played. Obviously there is room for interpretation here especially, so declarer really should be clear in movement of cards;

In general, you shouldn't detach a card from your hand until you are sure you are going to play it.  During our practice sessions, everyone is there to learn, and that will often mean a bit a give and take in this area.

In club duplicate sessions, or any external event we cannot expect opponents to tolerate change of cards once they have been seen and put in a played position. If we are put under pressure by opponents to accept their change of a played card, the best thing to do is smile, and say gently: Let’s get the Director to sort it out, and call “TD please”.

We have had an incident where the players could not agree which card they heard declarer call for, or even which card had been played by dummy.

It helps all players to be clear what is going on if the card played is placed on top of previously played tricks, face up, and turned to be horizontal. It’s not acceptable for dummy to tap a card, or give it a little push, so that it is still amongst the unplayed cards. There may well be misunderstanding amongst other players as to which card has been played. No players should place played cards anywhere near the centre of the table because of the risk that cards get confused or mixed up with other players hands.

The beginning of every duplicate bridge session sets a puzzle for the Tournament Director. He or she has to pick out a “movement” or pattern of play consisting of a suitable total quantity of boards, in a suitable number of rounds, that gives the players who have turned up for the session an opportunity to play the highest possible proportion of the boards they can manage in the time, against as many of the other pairs as possible.

If there is an odd number of pairs, there will be a “sit out” round. The TD will try to keep the number of boards per round low so that the sit out time is short.

Suppose ten pairs arrive to play a two and a half hour session of bridge. Generally their pace of play is about 8 boards an hour. It should be possible to play twenty boards. Dividing the boards into rounds of 4 boards would give 5 rounds altogether. The TD might choose that all North South pairs will remain stationary; East West pairs will move “up” one table; and boards will move “down” one table at the end of each round. After two rounds, the boards previously played by a given East West pair will “pass” that pair as they move for round three. The movement will complete when all five East West pairs have visited all five tables and each set of boards has been played at all five tables. Very neat!

This is a Mitchell movement because North South pairs have sat still, and East West pairs have moved up one table. There are many variations on Mitchell movements, but if that is what is (mostly) going on, it’s a Mitchell.

In this case the North South pairs have all played the boards one way, and the East West pairs have all played the boards the other way. It’s effectively two competitions, and is often described as a “two winner” movement with two separate ranked lists.

Suppose that nine pairs had arrived. If you use the above movement, there will be a long sit out round (about half an hour), and some players will play much fewer boards than others. This is a more difficult puzzle. The TD may choose a “Howell” movement.

A Howell movement is based on the principle that the rounds will be shorter, perhaps only two boards, and each pair will play every other pair, making nine rounds of eighteen boards in all. This means that pairs will only sit out for two boards, hopefully about fifteen minutes. All pairs will play sixteen boards. However the room will have to move eight times, taking up time each time. The next step up is 27 boards which could never be played in the time.

Only one pair will remain stationary at a table, and everyone else will find their new position in each round and it may be either North South or East West. There will be no discernible pattern in the table numbers. TIP: Work out which pair you are “following” and look around for where they are at the beginning of each round. Then just go to that place at the end of the round.

Most pairs will play some boards as North South and others as East West, so the results are well “mixed up”. There will be only one ranking list, and this is described as “single winner” movement.

So there are easy solutions to some combinations of time to play and number of pairs, but others are tricky. The TD has a short interval between the time he or she can be sure of the numbers of players for the session and the time the players expect to start playing to choose the movement, set it up on the computer, distribute the boards and pass out the scorers.

So please try and arrive a little before the start of play, or at least make sure that your partner will, to give the TD time to think. A late pair arriving when the movement has a half table may seem a small problem, but from the above, you can see the TD may have made a very different plan for the movement when there is half table and has to decide if they are committed already or whether they change it for a simpler movement, quite possibly allowing more boards to be played.