[caseygshoe]

Have you ever noticed that the pairings in BBO/ACBL tournaments are inconsistent? Some days you play against 5 A or B teams and 1 C team and others, just the opposite.

How about if the fields were not only balanced between sections, but placed so that all teams played "similar" levels of competition in the event.

BBO usually puts large games in sections of 15 with 5A 5B and 5C teams usually (although not always... big problem there).... How about starting each game with A's vs A's and B's vs B's and C's vs C's and having them in order throughout the group.

So A teams (N/S and E/W) would be at tables 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13 to begin

and B teams would be at tables 2, 5, 8, 11, and 14

and C teams would be at tables 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15

Magically, each team in the tournament would play against 2A, 2B and 2C teams. A balanced field like this should be easy to set up and result in the "fairest" game possible.

This method can be adapted for any size tournament and would result in best games possible for all teams to play on a level field.