Tournament formats explained

Which format fits your event, with match counts for each.

Single elimination

Lose once and you are out. Fastest format: n − 1 matches for n participants (plus one for a third-place match). Best when time is short or the field is large.

Double elimination

Everyone must lose twice. Losers drop into a lower bracket and can fight back to the grand final. 2n − 2 matches, or 2n − 1 if the bracket reset is played. Fairer than single elimination, roughly twice as long.

Round robin

Everyone plays everyone. n(n − 1) / 2 matches per meeting; double round robin doubles that. Produces the fairest ranking but grows quickly — ideal for 4–10 participants.

Swiss system

Fixed number of rounds (typically log₂ n) where each round pairs participants with similar records. Nobody is eliminated, no rematches. Great for large fields with limited time — chess, card games, esports opens.

Groups + knockout

World-Cup style. Round robin groups first, then the top N (optionally with best third-placed teams) advance to a knockout bracket seeded across groups.

Free for all, leaderboard and racing

For events without head-to-head matches: placement-based heats (battle royale), cumulative points across events (leaderboard), and time trials, single races or multi-race Grand Prix series with F1-style points.

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