Swiss system
Swiss lets a large field compete in a limited number of rounds. Unlike round robin, participants do not play everyone: each round gives them one opponent with a similar score.
The first round is random. From round two, pairings use current standings, seeking similar scores, avoiding repeat opponents and alternating colors where applicable to the chess variant.
Configure Swiss when creating a tournament; generate rounds on Pairings.
When to choose Swiss
Swiss is especially useful when a large field cannot complete a round robin in one evening. After several rounds, points identify leaders and tiebreaks separate equal scores.
An odd number of rounds, usually 5–11, is commonly chosen to reduce tied scores and give pairings more opportunities to separate participants by results.
With 24 players and 7 rounds, each plays seven games instead of twenty-three. The event fits into an evening while still producing meaningful standings.
Compare systems in Tournament systems.
Swiss settings
Swiss has the following parameters.
| Setting | Choice and effect |
|---|---|
| Number of rounds | Planned rounds. Each participant gets at most one pairing per round. Usually 5–11 odd rounds are chosen. Additional rounds can be created after confirmation. |
| Time control | Starting time and increment. 5 + 3 means 5 minutes plus 3 seconds per move. See Time controls. |
| Time control category | Rating category: Bullet, Blitz, Rapid or Classic. Suggested from starting time, but can be selected manually. See Time controls. |
| Tiebreak | Separates equal scores. Currently Buchholz is available: the sum of opponents’ points. Stronger-performing opponents produce a higher value. |
| For a bye | Points for an unopposed participant: 1, 0.5 or 0. Written immediately into the BYE game, but editable within that game. |
See the Swiss section of Creating a tournament for setup.
How pairings are generated
First round
With no results or standings yet, the service randomly pairs active participants. With an odd number, one receives a BYE without an opponent.
Subsequent rounds
Before each round, the service groups current standings by points, for example 3, 2.5 and 2 points. It first tries to pair within these groups.
The service considers previous rounds:
- repeat encounters between the same pair are completely excluded;
- colors account for earlier games, balancing totals and avoiding consecutive identical colors where possible;
- pairings are displayed in current ranking order, with BYEs last.
If no suitable pairing exists in a score group, a participant moves to a neighboring group. Opponents may differ in points, but a previously played pairing will not repeat.
Tip
Enter the previous round’s results before creating the next one so pairings use current points and places. If results are missing, calculations use the standings as they are.
BYE: sitting out a round
A BYE appears with an odd active field or when constraints prevent a complete pairing. The participant has no opponent but still gets a separate match row.
From round two, BYEs go only to participants with the fewest previous BYEs. A player will not receive another while an active player has had none. Among equally eligible participants, the service chooses from the lower end of the standings.
For a bye determines its result: win 1, draw 0.5, loss 0. The game is immediately complete; no manual result is needed, though administrators can change it.
Running the tournament
After starting, open Pairings. The Swiss header shows the category, time control and progress, such as Rounds created 3 of 7.
- Click Generate round pairings. The service creates the next numbered round and saves its matches.
- Expand the round to view pairings. Seating shows all pairings in a separate dialog.
- Enter match results. See Tournament pairings for round order, game cards and results.
- Once results are ready, generate the next round. Pairings change because they use the updated standings.
The button remains available after the planned round count is reached. Creating an additional round requires confirmation.
See Managing a tournament for results and administrator actions.
Team tournaments
The Swiss principle remains the same: pair entrants using current results. With fixed teams, teams are the entrants. With random teams, lineups are formed separately for each round before matches are created.
See Format and teams for team modes, rosters and scoring.
Swiss in a mixed system
Swiss can form the qualification stage of a mixed tournament. Rounds work as in standalone Swiss. Qualification standings then determine playoff selection and seeding.
See Playoffs for bracket settings and advancing to the next stage.