Duplicate Bridge Schedules, history and mathematics

Alan Truscott Memorial Award, 2013

Recipient: Ian McKinnon, Australia

The Alan Truscott Memorial Award is presented periodically to a person who does something for bridge that the IBPA Executive believes Alan would have appreciated. This year's recipient is Ian McKinnon of Australia for producing Duplicate Bridge Schedules, History and Mathematics, an essential book for tournament directors as well as bridge players curious about the history of the game of duplicate bridge. This comprehensive volume supplies all the movements ever thought of and many hundreds of new ones. Included for each movement are the variations, modifications, origins, authors and history of its development. Each movement is then assessed for its measure of quality, called calibre.

The author presents a brand new event type, the Scissor movement, in which any event can be run and scored as a pairs game and as a teams game. The book also delves into the lives of well-known figures such as John T. Mitchell and Edwin C. Howell. In addition, many lesser-known historical figures are examined for their contributions to the development of duplicate movements.

For the mathematically-inclined there are plenty of interesting oddities. The mathematics of balance of movements, giving the measure of quality, is thoroughly discussed. The controversial debate over movement quality, along with its history, is presented through the ideas and opinions of players and mathematicians.

Use this web site to find the recommended pairs' movements for the number of tables of your choice.

Included in the list is a page reference to "Duplicate Bridge Schedules"

To choose number of tables:

Duplicate Bridge Schedules, history and mathematics is a book for all Tournament Directors as well as bridge players who are curious about the history of the game of 'duplicate bridge'. This book supplies you with all the movements ever thought of and many hundreds of new ones. Each movement includes all the variations, modifications, origins, authors and the history of their development. Each movement is assessed for the measure of quality, called calibre.

For all bridge players and organizers there is a brand new event type. This is called a Scissor movement and is run like any Howell movement. In this type of event the players play as pairs as usual, but also have their team mates as another pair, never meeting each other. This allows the event to be scored both as teams and pairs, producing a winning team and a winning pair.

All duplicate bridge players will find the history of their favorite game most intriguing. The history of the commonly known people like Mitchell and Howell is outlined. When did they live; what did they contribute to bridge; and what was the politics of their time? In addition there are many other people not so well known today.

For the mathematically inclined there are plenty of interesting oddities. The mathematics of balance of movements, giving the measure of quality, is discussed thoroughly. The history and the controversial debate over movement quality are presented with all the ideas and opinions of players and mathematicians.

Ian McKinnon is a mathematician, expert bridge player, Tournament Director, author and computer professional. Through circumstance, around 1970, he started tournament directing at a major bridge club in Sydney which eventually led to him being the senior Tournament Director within the Australian Bridge Federation during the 1970s. He produced his first book 'Bridge Directing Complete' in 1979. All his years of experience, and the last 10 years of intense research and computer programming, have resulted in this book.

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