4-Table Movements

🃏 4-Table Movements — 7 or 8 Pairs

Table Movement Cards for 4-table duplicate bridge sessions. A serious competitive session for 8 pairs, or 7 with a sit-out rotation.

Eight pairs (16 players) — now you’re talking! Four tables is where cruise bridge really comes alive. You’ll find this size group on many longer voyages, especially on ships with a dedicated card room. The 4-table Howell movement is a proper competitive tournament — every pair plays a different opponent each round across 7 rounds, and the final rankings feel genuinely earned.

This is a great size for organising a small daily tournament over a long cruise. Download your movement cards before you sail, and appoint one person as tournament director to hand out the cards, collect traveler sheets and calculate the scores at the end.

14 Boards — Standard Session (~2 hours)

7 rounds of 2 boards • 8 pairs, full Howell movement

The standard 4-table session fits comfortably into a cruise afternoon. Seven rounds, two boards per round — everyone plays everyone, and you finish with a clear winner. This is the movement to use for a daily cruise bridge game.

📄 4-Table Howell • 14 boards • ~2 hours 99 KB Download PDF
💡 Tip: For a daily cruise tournament, this is the ideal movement. Print four cards — one per table — and keep them for the whole voyage.

28 Boards — Full Session (~3.5 hours)

7 rounds of 4 boards • 8 pairs, full Howell movement

A full sea day session for the serious bridge group. 28 boards gives you proper club-standard duplicate, and with 8 competitive pairs the matchpoint differences will be tight. Clear the whole afternoon, bring snacks, and enjoy.

📄 4-Table Howell • 28 boards • ~3.5 hours • Full session 100 KB Download PDF
Only 7 pairs? The 3.5-table sit-out movement handles this perfectly. One pair sits out each round on a fair rotation, so no one misses too many boards. The sit-out pair can keep score, socialise, or just watch — they still compete in the overall rankings based on the boards they played.

14 Boards — 7 Pairs with Sit-Out (~2 hours)

7 rounds • One pair sits out each round • Fair rotation

Seven pairs, four tables — this movement rotates the sit-out pair fairly across all rounds. Works smoothly once everyone understands the concept, and produces a fair competitive result.

📄 3.5-Table Howell • 14 boards • ~2 hours • 1 sit-out 88 KB Download PDF

28 Boards — 7 Pairs with Sit-Out (~3.5 hours)

7 rounds • One pair sits out each round • Full session

The full-length version for seven pairs. A long but rewarding session — each pair plays 24 boards, plenty for a rich competitive result.

📄 3.5-Table Howell • 28 boards • ~3.5 hours • 1 sit-out 89 KB Download PDF
📂 Other Movement Pages 2-Table (4 pairs) 3-Table (6 pairs) 5-Table (10 pairs) DIY Bridge Boards Guide

Scroll to Top