How the pairings are made
These are FIDE's Berger tables, the standard order for a chess round robin, printed in the FIDE Handbook (C.05, Annex 1) for 3 to 16 players. The first player in each pair has white. Every pair meets once, and the colors come out as close to even as a round robin allows: with six players, three get white three times and three get it twice.
With an odd number, FIDE plays the table for one more player and counts the highest number as the bye, so with five players, whoever would have met number 6 sits out that round. Everyone sits out once. For a double round robin, FIDE recommends swapping the last two rounds of the first cycle and then playing it again with the colors reversed, so nobody has the same color three games running.
The numbers are the order of the names. To seed by rating, put the strongest player first; to make it fair by lot, tap "Draw numbers at random" before the first round, and keep the order once play has started. The printable crosstable and the round robin spreadsheet use the same tables in the same order, so player 3 here is player 3 there.
How many games and rounds
A round robin of n players has n × (n − 1) / 2 games: 4 players play 6, 6 players play 15, 8 players play 28, 10 players play 45, 12 players play 66, 14 players play 91, 16 players play 120. An even number of players needs one round fewer than the number of players; an odd number needs as many rounds as players, with one player resting each round.
Time the games and keep the scores
Put one phone on each board: Chess Clock & Scorepad, our free app, is the clock, and it can keep the scoresheet as you play. Type both names before the game and it shows their head-to-head record, and every game is saved, ready to share as PGN when the round is over.
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To keep the results:
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Frequently asked questions
How does a round robin tournament work?
Everyone plays everyone else once. With six players that is five rounds of three games, and the winner is whoever scores the most points: 1 for a win, half for a draw. Nobody is knocked out, so every player gets the same number of games.
How many rounds are in a round robin?
One fewer than the number of players when the number is even, and the same as the number of players when it is odd, because each round someone sits out. Six players need five rounds; five players also need five, with a bye in each.
How many games in a round robin with 6 players?
Fifteen. Each pair plays once, so the count is n times (n minus 1) divided by 2: 6 × 5 / 2 = 15. Four players play 6 games, eight play 28, ten play 45 and sixteen play 120.
What is a Berger table in chess?
It's the standard order for a chess round robin, published by FIDE in its handbook. It says who plays whom in each round and who has white, and it spreads the colors so each player gets white about half the time. This generator uses FIDE's tables exactly.
How does a bye work in a round robin?
With an odd number of players, one player sits out each round. FIDE's rule is to play the table for one more player and count the highest number as the bye, so with five players, whoever would have met number 6 has the round off. Each player sits out once.
What is a double round robin?
Everyone plays everyone twice, once with each color. FIDE recommends swapping the last two rounds of the first cycle, so nobody gets the same color three games running, and that is what the "Play everyone twice" box does.