Swiss Format
How the Swiss Format works and how to manage it in Hajime
Swiss Format
Applies to: Event organisers · Bracket managers
Swiss System pairs athletes with similar records each round, without eliminating anyone, so every athlete competes a fixed number of times regardless of results. It suits medium-to-large pools where a full round robin would need too many matches, but you still want every athlete to face multiple opponents.
How pairing works
The first round is seeded. From the second round onward, athletes are paired against opponents with the closest possible win/loss record, avoiding repeat pairings wherever possible. No athlete is ever eliminated: everyone competes in every round until Total Rounds is reached.
How points work
Each match awards points to both competitors based on the result:
| Result | Default points |
|---|---|
| Win | 3 |
| Draw | 1 |
| Loss | 0 |
These defaults are fully configurable per speciality. You can set Points for Win, Points for Draw, and Points for Loss to any value from 0 to 10.
How rankings are determined
Athletes are ranked by their total accumulated points across all rounds once Total Rounds is complete. Because every athlete plays the same number of rounds, Swiss produces a clean final ranking without needing a separate playoff phase.
Configuration reference
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Total Rounds | Number of rounds each athlete competes in | 3 (1–20) |
| Points for Win | Points for a match win | 3 |
| Points for Draw | Points for a draw | 1 |
| Points for Loss | Points for a loss | 0 |
Quick setup walkthrough
- Open your event and go to Specialities.
- Click Add Speciality and fill in the name, weight, and gender category.
- Set Competition Type to Swiss System.
- Under Format Configuration, set Total Rounds based on your pool size and available match time: a common rule of thumb is enough rounds to separate the top athletes without repeating opponents too often.
- Adjust point values if your federation uses different scoring.
- Save the speciality and proceed to register athletes.
- Once all athletes are registered, open the bracket and click Generate: Hajime will pair the first round automatically, then re-pair each subsequent round based on results.