Round robin
Every participant plays every opponent. The entire cycle is scheduled in advance; results do not change later pairings. Round robin suits a small, stable group where all planned encounters matter.
The service uses Berger tables. Before creating a cycle, participants are ordered by rating, then by name for equal ratings. The complete set of rounds is then generated.
Choose round robin when creating a tournament and view matches on Pairings.
When to choose round robin
Round robin gives a complete set of head-to-head results, but rounds and games grow quickly with each additional participant.
It is usually used for 8–10 participants. Above 12, the schedule often becomes long; estimate available time and boards first.
For eight participants, one cycle contains 7 rounds of 4 games, totaling 28 games. Each participant meets all seven opponents once.
Compare systems in Tournament systems.
Cycles, rounds and games
A round is one playing round. Each participant has at most one pairing. With an even field, everyone plays; with an odd field, one receives a BYE.
A cycle is a sequence of rounds in which every possible pairing occurs once. After a cycle, everyone has met everyone; the next cycle repeats the pairings.
| Participants | One cycle | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Even, for example 8 | 7 rounds | Everyone plays each round. Total: 28 games. |
| Odd, for example 7 | 7 rounds | One participant receives a BYE each round. Total: 21 games. |
Rounds per cycle are calculated automatically: N − 1 for an even field, N for an odd field.
Number of cycles multiplies this schedule:
- 1 cycle — each pair meets once;
- 2 cycles — each pair meets twice;
- 3 cycles — each pair meets three times.
For 8 participants and 2 cycles, the service plans 14 rounds and 56 games. All rounds of a cycle are created together.
Round-robin settings
Round robin has the following parameters.
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Number of cycles | How often each pair should meet. Round and game counts are calculated automatically. |
| Time control | Starting time and increment. 10 + 5 means 10 minutes plus 5 seconds per move. See Time controls. |
| Time control category | Rating category: Bullet, Blitz, Rapid or Classic. Suggested from starting time, but can be changed manually. See Time controls. |
| Tiebreak | Separates equal scores. Currently Buchholz is available: the sum of all opponents’ points. |
| Random colors for the final odd cycle | Color assignment for the last cycle when the total is odd and greater than one, such as three. Opponents and round order never change. |
See the Round-robin section of Creating a tournament for setup.
Schedule and colors
Pairings are known in advance
Generating a cycle creates all its rounds at once, so you can see every scheduled opponent. Unlike Swiss, results do not recalculate pairings.
In multi-cycle tournaments, each pair meets again in each cycle. Colors swap from the previous cycle: a player who had White gets Black next time.
Colors in the final odd cycle
With three, five or another odd number of cycles, each pairing cannot split colors equally: one player must have an extra game with White or Black.
For example, players A and B meet in three cycles:
| Cycle | Colors |
|---|---|
| 1 | A plays White, B plays Black |
| 2 | A plays Black, B plays White |
| 3 | A plays White, B plays Black |
The first two cycles mirror each other. The third repeats one arrangement because it is an odd-numbered game.
Enable Random colors for the final odd cycle to randomize colors in that cycle instead of continuing the mirrored schedule. A player with White in cycle one and Black in cycle two then receives a random color in cycle three, rather than a predetermined extra White or Black game.
This does not change pairings: participants still meet the same opponents in the same round order.
BYEs with an odd field
An odd field adds a vacant slot to the schedule. Each round, one participant meets that slot and receives a BYE without an opponent.
Each participant gets exactly one BYE per cycle. It appears as a separate row and can remain without a result. In round robin, this does not block completion or require manual scoring. No points are awarded automatically; without a result, it gives 0 points.
Running the tournament
After starting, open Pairings. The header shows the time control category and counts of created cycles and rounds.
- Click Generate cycle 1 pairings. The service creates and saves all first-cycle rounds.
- Open a round and enter its results.
- Use the same button for later cycles. It creates a whole cycle, not one round.
- After reaching the planned cycle count, additional cycles require confirmation.
Results do not affect the schedule of existing or later cycles, so cycles can be generated in advance. See Managing a tournament.
Viewing the schedule
A view switch appears above the matches.
- By rounds — chronological match order, with each round also showing its cycle.
- By cycles — groups all rounds of a cycle together, useful for reviewing its entire schedule.
Team round robin
Random teams are unavailable and disabled during registration. Round-robin schedules require stable rosters, so only fixed teams are supported.
Teams are the entrants: each meets every other team. Games within a team match follow the selected chess variant and scoring format.
See Format and teams for rosters and team results.
Round robin in a mixed system
Round robin can be the qualification stage of a mixed tournament. Final qualification places determine playoff selection and seeding.
See Playoffs for the next stage’s settings.