Swiss Pairs

For a change we are going to run the final night's competition as a single competition using the Swiss format This is  most usually used in large Teams competitions where the number of entries is such that there is no possible way that every team can play every other. In such a situation, how do you design a fair competition? There are a variety of solutions, of which the Swiss Movement is arguably the most elegant.

In its simplest form, the movement works as follows:

• For the first round, you play against a pair which is chosen at random.
• At the end of the first round, the computer produces a list of the pairs in rank order of their results. The results are usually calculated on the basis of IMPs and VPs rather than Match Points (MPs).
• For the second round, the pair at the top of the list play against the pair second on the list; the third pair play the fourth and so on down the list.
• As the competition proceeds, players become increasingly stratified, such that strong pairs are pitted against other strong pairs, moderate against moderate and so on. This tends to produce a competition in which, for the most part, pairs are playing against their peers, making for an enjoyable game.

There are several reasons why a Swiss movement might be chosen, including:

• If the number of tables exceeds the number of boards, typically if there are 12-15* tables.
• If there is a wide mixture of ability in the competition.

Players who are not used to playing in a Swiss Pairs tournament on BBO should be made aware of the following:

• They may encounter the same pair more than once.
• They will find themselves switching between N/S and E/W.
• They will be scored using IMPs rather than Match Points.
  Many players enjoy Swiss once they get used to it.