Swiss and round-robin tournaments
How a round robin is drawn up, how a Swiss pairs each round, and what knockouts and arenas are.
The idea
A round robin meets everyone; a Swiss pairs players on equal scores.
- In a round robin you meet every other player once.
- In a Swiss you meet a player on your score, never the same one twice.
- In a knockout the loser of each match leaves the event.
In a game: Before an event, read its format: it tells you how many games you play and whom you may meet.
How the lesson begins
Most tournaments use one of three formats. In a round robin every player meets every other player. In a Swiss each round pairs players on the same score, for a set number of rounds. In a knockout the loser of each match leaves the event.
A round robin is the fairest test, because everyone has the same opponents. But it needs many rounds, so it suits small groups of players of similar strength. The pairings come from tables drawn up in advance: a draw of lots gives each player a number, and the number says whom you meet in each round and with which colour.
A question
Six players meet in a round robin. How many games are played in the whole event?
Show the answer
15.
Right. Each of the six players plays five games, which makes 30, but every game has two players, so it was counted twice. 30 halved is 15.