How to Run Swiss-Style Rounds

Introduction
Swiss-Style tournament pairing offers several advantages several advantages over single
elimination and round-robin formats. First, everybody plays: all players participate in the
same number of opening rounds, allowing everyone to enjoy a full day of play. It’s also
more fun, because even players who are brand-new to the game have a chance to win
some victories. Finally, it’s easier to organize and run, because even an odd number of
players can participate without difficulty.

The Basics
This type of tournament is divided into two sections: The Swiss (or opening) rounds, and
the Final rounds. All players participate in all the opening rounds, paired according to
their current tournament records. Those players with the best records for the day advance
to the Final rounds. The Final rounds are conducted in single-elimination style, which
means that players who lose a battle during the Finals are out of the tournament. The
Finals continue until one player is the winner of the tournament. Track all players’ round
records and their Victory Points on a scorecard (a sample is included).

How many rounds do I need?

Number of Players Players Number of Number of players Number of Final

Swiss Rounds advancing to Finals Rounds
2-8 4 2 1
9-16 4 4 2
17-32 5 4 2
33-64 5 8 3
65 and higher 6 8 3

Pairing for Round 1

To pair players for Round 1, simply take all the completed scorecards, shuffle them
thoroughly, and then randomly draw two cards at a time. Continue until all players are
paired. If you have a card left over after all the pairings are completed, that player
receives a bye for the round.
Scoring Round 1
When players finish their battles, record the results on their scorecards. In the Round
Score column, give the winning player 1 point and the losing player 0 points. In the
Victory Points column, enter the total number of Victory Points the player earned in that
round. A player who has a bye receives 1 point for the Round Score and 300 Victory
Points.

Pairing for Round 2

To pair players for Round 2, place all the scorecards with 1 Round Point in one pile, and
all the scorecards with 0 Round Points in another pile. Look through the scorecards in
the 1 Round Point pile. Pair the two players with the highest total Victory Points. Next
pair the two players with the second highest total Victory Points. Continue until all the
cards in this pile have been paired. If there is a card left over, pair it with the card in the
second pile that has the highest total Victory Points. Look through the scorecards in the 0
Round Point pile. Repeat the process, matching players according to total Victory Points
until all are paired. If you have a card left over after all the pairings are completed, that
player receives a bye for the round.

Scoring Round 2 and later rounds

As the players complete their battles, follow the process described in “Scoring the first
round.” Add the Round Points from rounds 1 and 2 as you record the results of the round
(so that a player who won in rounds 1 and 2 receives a total of 2 Round Points). Add the
total Victory Points for rounds 1 and 2 (so that a player who earned 200 Victory Points in
round 1, and 250 Victory Points in round 2 receives a total of 450 total Victory Points).

Pairing later rounds

Put all the scorecards with a total of 2 Round Points in one pile, 1 Round Points in a
second pile, and 0 Round Points in a third pile. Look through each pile and pair the
players according to total Victory Points. First pair the two players with the highest total
Victory Points from the first pile, then the two players with the next highest total, and so
on, until you have completed the pairings.

A note about byes

A player may receive a bye only once in Swiss-Style tournaments. But by Round 3, it’s
possible that a player who received a bye earlier in the tournament might receive another.
To prevent this, look at the last pairing you completed from the last pile of scorecards. If
the player with the lowest total Victory Points in that pair has not yet had a bye, give that
player the bye for the round, swapping him or her with the player who would have
normally received the bye for the round. It may be necessary to work backward through
the last few pairings until you can complete this procedure.

Final Rounds
The Final rounds of the tournament are paired according to the number of finalists,
determined by the number of players in the tournament.
8 Players or fewer
Only the top two players advance to the Final Rounds in this tournament. The two players
with the highest total Round Score and Victory Points play one battle to determine
victory for the entire tournament.

8-32 Players
The top four players advance to the Final Rounds in this tournament. The pairing of these
players is as follows:

1st --------|
| --------|
th
4 -------- |
|---------
nd
2 ------ -| |
| --------|
3rd --------|

33 Players or more
The top eight players advance to the Final Rounds in this tournament. The pairing of
these players is as follows:

1st -----------|
---------|
8th -----------|
----------|
4th -----------|
----------|
5th -----------|
|----------
2nd -----------|
-----------|
7th -----------|
----------|
3rd -----------
----------|
6th -----------