Three-Player Bracket Format
How the Three-Player Bracket format handles pools of exactly three athletes, including the Comeback and Shortcut Winner variants.
Applies to: Event organisers · Bracket managers
Pools of exactly three athletes don't divide evenly into a standard bracket: someone always ends up with a bye, or you need a small round robin. Three-Player Bracket is a purpose-built format for the 3-athlete case, with two variants depending on how much you value everyone getting a fair shot versus finishing quickly.
How the bracket works
Two athletes fight first, and the winner faces the third athlete in a second match. What happens after that depends on the variant you choose.
Comeback (IBJJF)
If the same athlete wins both the first and second match, the tournament ends after two matches. If the third athlete wins the second match, a decisive third match is played between the third athlete and the athlete who sat out the second match. This guarantees that all three athletes face each other at least once, in up to 3 matches. It mirrors the classic IBJJF three-athlete bracket.
Shortcut Winner
The tournament always stops after two matches: if the winner of the first match also wins the second match (going 2-0), they're declared the winner immediately, without a third match. This is faster than Comeback but doesn't guarantee every pair of athletes faces off.
Configuration reference
| Setting | What it controls | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Three-Player Variant | Comeback (IBJJF), where everyone fights at least once, or Shortcut Winner, which skips the third match if the winner goes 2-0 | Comeback |
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 Three-Player Bracket.
- Under Format Configuration, choose Comeback (IBJJF) if every athlete should face each other at least once, or Shortcut Winner for a faster resolution.
- Save the speciality and proceed to register athletes.
- Once all three athletes are registered, open the bracket and click Generate: Hajime will schedule the matches automatically based on the chosen variant.