Choose your tournament format.
Give everyone several games, build towards a final, or combine both. Here is how round robin, group stages, knockout and Swiss fit different events.
Start with the experience you want.
A few friends may want to play everyone. A club event might need several rounds and a final. Choose around your entrants, time and playing space.
The formats below describe head-to-head competition between two players or teams. For other participant setups, see custom activity tournaments.
Four formats, different strengths.
- Round robin
- Every entrant meets everyone else in the field. Useful for small groups where everyone wants the same opponents. The match count grows quickly as the field gets larger.
- Group stage
- Split the field into pools, with round-robin play inside each pool. Useful for giving players several matches before qualifiers advance. Decide the qualification places and tie rules in advance.
- Knockout
- Winners advance through the draw. Useful when a clear title path is the priority. An early defeat ends that title run, and every encounter needs a winner.
- Swiss
- Play a chosen number of rounds, generally pairing entrants with similar tournament points. Useful for repeated play without a full round robin. The next round depends on the results, and ties may need a decision before qualification.
For formal chess Swiss principles, see the FIDE Swiss rules. Elo-X uses its own competition system; this is not a claim of FIDE-certified pairing.
Give your event more than one stage.
Combine these formats in stages to shape your event. Announce the round count, qualification and tie rules before play.
Swiss → final four
Let the whole field play several Swiss rounds, then advance four qualifiers to semi-finals and a final. A fit for a chess club or chess-bar event that wants a shared finish.
Pools → knockout
Start in smaller pools, then take qualifiers into a knockout. For example, two four-pair pools can send their top two pairs to semi-finals. See the padel tournament example.
Choose the activity, then the format.
Match length, recovery and equipment affect what fits. Explore badminton, squash, table tennis or tennis for activity-specific considerations.
Your own game? Start from a custom group variant. Available tournament formats depend on its participant and scoring settings.
Bring your players together first.
Choose your stages, invite your players and run the event in Elo-X.
