Swiss Team Events
Similar to Pairs Events, But . . .Starting times, purchasing an entry and finding your first table are the same as for Pairs events except there are at least four of you.
Most, but not all, Swiss Team events are two sessions long, just as in Pairs events.
4 and 4, Usually. You will play eight matches in a two session, day long event; usually 4 in the afternoon and 4 in the evening, but sometimes 5 plus 3. There are special team play score sheets (see below), which you should get at the supplies table before starting to play.
Starting a Swiss Team Event
The Home Table. Your assigned section and table, hand written on the entry form, will be your 'home table' for the first round only. The half of your team playing N/S will stay there and the E/W half will move to the corresponding table in another section when the director announces the 'crossover'.
Sections exchange E/W players as follows: A with B; C with D; E with F; etc.
Lot's 'O Boards. There will usually be seven boards to play, starting with 4 at one table and 3 at the other to start. There are no hand records or duplication in Swiss Team events, so the boards are to be shuffled (three times only) and dealt before play starts. Each player should help shuffle and put the cards into the boards. Shuffle All Boards First. Boards should be played in sequence. When a board is finished, each pair records the score on their score sheet.When finished, each board is placed face down, under the unplayed boards, in the center of the table on the table marker. Caddies will come to get boards for relay to the other table and will bring boards not yet played to your table. North should hold up played boards and say "CADDIE" out loud when boards are needed. Hold the boards up so the caddie can see what table is calling. North must check the new boards to be sure they are yours and put them in sequence, face up in the middle of the table, with the arrow pointing towards North.
The Final Score. No score tickets are prepared for Swiss team scoring -- only the winning/losing team numbers are turned in, along with the margin of victory.The Winning Team Captain gets to turn in the score to the scorekeepers.
(c) Robert D. McConnell, 1998 All Rights Reserved