SWISS SYSTEM
GUIDE

When have completed your Double Elimination training, you may request training on Swiss tournaments.

In this type of tournament, every player plays in every round regardless of the match results. A player may withdraw from the tournament after any round if they no longer wish to compete. Each win counts as one (1) point, and each loss counts as zero (0) points.

All of the initial creating steps for Swiss are identical to Single-Elimination except for the actual bracket type. Once you choose Bracket Style (Swiss-System), the only limitation imposed is that the number of "teams per match" is limited to 2 Teams.

Types Of Swiss Tournaments

You can host a Swiss Tournament as a Singles or Doubles tournament, as well you can host a True Swiss (you designate the amount of rounds to be played) or a Regular Swiss (The tournament continues until 1 team is undefeated). You can also host a Single Game Swiss which means the game for all rounds is the same game. Or you can host a Crazy Swiss, this means that the game changes each round.

*PLEASE NOTE*
If you host a Crazy Swiss it must be marked *CRAZY SWISS* on the Main page of your Tournament and under Game Format when you create the tournament. A lot of Staff state "Please Read Rules page for list of Games". On your rules page you should have a list of games for each Round as well as the rules for each game!

Regular Swiss Tournament

The tournament is finished as soon as there is only one player remaining who is undefeated. The number of rounds is set before the tournament in order to specify a maximum number of players. If the tournament is set for six (6) rounds, this does not guarantee that there will be six rounds of play since players withdrawing from the tournament may shorten the rounds required to reach an undefeated player. If for some reason after the given number of rounds has been played there is still more than one undefeated player, the tournament will be extended in order to determine a win.

True Swiss Tournaments

In True Swiss System format, the number of rounds is preset by the TD before the tournament starts and regardless of the number of registrations, the number of rounds does not change once the tournament begins. The TD can manually change the number of rounds prior to the tournament starting. After all the rounds are complete, the player with the most points wins. If there is no conclusive point leader, there is no winner of the tournament. If two players are tied with points, they will split whatever bux are designated for the winner(s). However, as an example of a True Swiss system, suppose there is only one undefeated player after 5 rounds of play, and the tournament is set for 8 rounds of play. The tournament does not stop, giving those players who have already a lost a chance to still win the tournament.


Important Information

It is always important to make the members aware of what type of tournament they are playing in. If they do not see this from the calendar, you need to make it visible on your main page and your rules page.

Main Page and Rules Page

Here is the information you will need to post on your pages with the HTML information so that all you need to do is copy and paste it. You can adjust color to accommodate the specifics of your tournament.

<b><big><big><center><font color="white">THIS IS A SWISS TOURNAMENT, YOU PLAY ALL ROUNDS WIN OR LOSE UNLESS YOU ASK THE TD TO TAKE YOU OUT! </b></big></big></center></font>


Administration of Swiss Tournaments

Table / Lobby Spams

When you call the game, please post the following information at the table and with your post in the lobby: PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A SWISS TOURNAMENT AND YOU PLAY ALL ROUNDS

Check Before Advancing

Please remember before you advance to the next round in a Swiss to ask in lobby if any of the players want out. If no one wishes to be removed, then advance to the next round. If any player says they wish to be removed, do so before you advance to the next round.

MIA'S And DQ'S

If a player DQ's in a Swiss they get a loss but they can continue to play if they choose to. If a player Times out in a Swiss, then they get a loss but if they are back and wish to continue to play the next round they can. If a player Times out in a round and is still not back before you advance to the next round then please remove them from the tournament before you advance. It is up to you to check the lobby and make sure the player is there before you advance to next round. In a Doubles, if 1 player is MIA and you have gotten a sub, ask the remaining player if they wish to continue to play with a sub or if they would like to be removed. They are more than welcome to continue with a sub.

*PLEASE NOTE*
If you have a sub for more than 1.5 rounds, and they won at least one round, you must fill out a sub report in order for the sub to receive credit. They will not get any bux from the tournament, but they will receive adjusted stats.

Adjust Match

This is identical to the Adjust Match found in administration of single-elimination tournaments. The biggest difference is that the rounds will not advance themselves; this must be done manually by the TD as follows:

After all the matches for a particular round have been reported, the link to advance to the next round will appear. Before you advance, verify the following:

1. All match reports are correct – there is no going back

2. You have asked in the lobby if anyone wishes to be removed from the tournament

3. Any player that wants to withdraw has removed their name or that you have removed it for them

Once the three items above have been verified, click the link to Advance.

On the right of your screen, you will see a table listing each player/team's Past Matches. On the left you will see the Possible Pairings for the next round. If you do not see any pairings highlighted with a bright blue background, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and click ACCEPT CURRENT PAIRINGS. You will then see a confirmation message that the pairings for the next round are up.

If however, any of the pairings are highlighted with a bright blue background, you must swap those players using the following rules:

  • NEVER change the top 2 teams (players) - Undefeated players need to play other undefeated players so that the tournament eventually comes to an end.

  • Players should be swapped with other players having the same number of points (indicated in parenthesis next to each player's name).

  • Players should never play the same person twice (this may be unavoidable in True Swiss depending on the number of rounds).

  • The lowest number of points/lowest skill rating will get the bye. Players should only receive one bye. Therefore, if a player is about to receive his/her second bye, this player should be swapped. The next player in line to receive the bye should be the player with the lowest number of points and the lowest rating (in that order).

  • Pairings should NEVER be decided by players asking to play certain other players or by players asking for a “bye”. Manipulating the pairings and not following the above rules is ground for removal of your Swiss System approval.

  • Once you determine who will be swapped, choose each of their names in the pull-down lists and click “swap players”. Review the Possible Pairings again. Repeat this step until you have no BLUE, then scroll to the bottom of the page and click Accept Current Pairings.

    Whenever a player is forced to play another person who has a different number of points than them, that player is said to have been "floated". For example, assume player A has 1 point and player B has 0 points. If they play each other, then it is said that player A was floated downward and player B was floated upwards. This should be taken into consideration whenever possible. A player floating upwards has had more difficult pairings, and therefore should not be floated upwards again if at all possible. The player being floated downwards is considered to have had an easier pairing and should not be floated downward again if at all possible.

    The remainder of the administration steps are identical to administering a Single Elimination tournament.

    Only One Player Remains

    In a True Swiss tournament, there are times when you will only have one player remaining because all the other players have requested removal or have gone MIA and were therefore removed from the tournament. When this happens you just advance through the remaining rounds until you reach the screen to close out the tournament.