EGF Tournament System Rules
Tournament Systems
The most frequently used tournament systems for a tournament or one of
its stages are:
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McMahon
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Swiss
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knockout
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league
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match
McMahon is the default. A tournament system can specify a seeding. A tournament
can be part of a series of tournaments or have similar effects. For special
purposes, well-defined combinations of different systems can be derived.
Top Bar
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In a McMahon, the number of players above the top bar depends on the number
rounds, should not be so small to exclude a likely winner, and should not
be so big to let the winner greatly depend on the opponents' strengths.
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By default, a supergroup is not used.
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A tournament's Particular Tournament Rules may have a supergroup or otherwise
special groups dealing with a great number of players.
Game Result
General
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For his game, a player receives one of the values below, whichever has
the most appropriate of the listed reasons.
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If a tournament system accumulates such values over several rounds, then
the value below is the current round's increment. As an exception, in a
Swiss or McMahon, a player's accumulated values are rounded down; this
also affects all tiebreakers.
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In a McMahon, a player's McMahon Score is increased; in other tournament
systems, a player's Number of Wins Score is increased.
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In case of pairgo or rengo, "player" denotes a pair or team. In case of
a team tournament round, a team's sum of game results are compared with
the opposing team's sum of game results: The increment of a team's Number
of Wins Score is 1 for the team with the greater sum, 0 for the opposing
team, 1/2 if the sums are equal.
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In exceptional circumstances, arbitration might assign appropriate other
combinations of default results.
1
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win due to the rules of play
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win due to the opponent's loss on time
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win due to the opponent's resignation
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default win due to the opponent Bye
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default win due to absent or late opponent
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default win by the opponent's default loss due to arbitration
1/2
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tie for both players due to the rules of play
-
default tie for both players due to arbitration
-
The player does not play in a round of McMahon or Swiss and this is in
agreement to all valid tournament rulesets.
0
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loss due to the rules of play
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loss on time
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loss by resignation
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default loss due to absence or delay of both players
-
default loss due to absence or delay of the player
-
default loss of the player due to arbitration
Equal Players
In the final results list, players can be equal if tiebreakers are not
used at all or if they are not broken by further tiebreakers. By default,
the following applies to equal players:
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They have the same place number, which is one greater than the number of
better placed players.
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Each of them receives the title issued for their place number.
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By default, each of them receives the same amount if there are money prizes.
They equally share the sum of all money prizes issued for those place numbers
that they would have got if they were not equal. Other divisible prizes
like, e.g., points accumulated in a series of tournaments, are distributed
similarly.
-
Indivisible prizes like seeding places or flight tickets are issued by
tiebreakers
even if otherwise equal players share place number, title, or divisible
prizes.
Tiebreakers
General
Tiebreakers might be used for none, one, or several of these purposes:
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ordering the players in the final result list
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distributing otherwise indivisible prizes
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ordering the players for making pairings
-
determining seeded players
Different tiebreakers might be used for different purposes. Pairing
programs should allow such.
If only one tiebreaker is used, then these tiebreakers are recommended:
More than one tiebreaker might be used in a relative order of priority.
Only in tournaments with a special system, other tiebreakers may be
used. E.g., in a combined groups and KO system, a global tiebreaker might
be used after the per-group tiebreakers and before Lottery.
To a player's SOS, SOS-1, or SOS-2 in a round without an opponent or with
the opponent Bye, in a McMahon his own start McMahon Score is added and
in a Swiss 0 is added.
For the final results of a McMahon or Swiss, tiebreakers should be considered
meaningful only near the top of the result table; below tiebreakers might
as well be ignored.
Usage of in particular these tiebreakers is not recommended: SOSOS,
SODOS, ROS (CUSS), IROS.