Swiss Tournament Calculator

Type the number of players and the sheet works out the Swiss rounds, the games a round and the bye.

Swiss Tournament Plan

Rounds

Type names and scores in the boxes. Totals add up as you type.

Rounds: a column for each event. Totals fill in as scores are typed.
	Event 1	Event 2	Event 3	Event 4
Players2 to 1,024
Swiss roundsOne for every doubling
Games in a roundHalf the players
Byes in a round1 for an odd field
Games in allRounds times games
Most unbeaten after round 1Half, rounded up
Most unbeaten after round 2A quarter, rounded up
Most unbeaten after round 3An eighth, rounded up

Type a score and the totals fill in.

Scoring key

2 players 1 round: One game settles it.
3 or 4 players 2 rounds: With 4, the two winners of round 1 meet in round 2. With 3, one player has a bye in each round.
5 to 8 players 3 rounds: A full field of 8 has 4 unbeaten players after one round, 2 after two and 1 after three.
9 to 16 players 4 rounds: The ninth player is the one who adds a round: with 9, two players can still be unbeaten after three.
17 to 32 players 5 rounds: A full field of 32 plays 16 games in a round, 80 in all.
33 to 64 players 6 rounds: At 64 players that is 32 games in a round and 192 in all.
65 to 128 players 7 rounds: At 128 players, 64 games in a round and 448 in all.
129 to 256 players 8 rounds: One player more than 128 already needs the eighth round.
257 to 512 players 9 rounds: Doubling a field adds one round and never more.
513 to 1,024 players 10 rounds: The largest field this sheet works out: 512 games in a round at 1,024 players.

How each row scores

Players: 2 to 1,024
Swiss rounds: One for every doubling
Games in a round: Half the players
Byes in a round: 1 for an odd field
Games in all: Rounds times games
Most unbeaten after round 1: Half, rounded up
Most unbeaten after round 2: A quarter, rounded up
Most unbeaten after round 3: An eighth, rounded up

The numbers stay in this browser until you press Clear the numbers.

Next step Draw the top cut as a bracket Small field? Let everyone play everyone

How it works

This Swiss tournament calculator turns a number of players into a plan: the rounds it takes to leave one unbeaten player, the games a round, whether someone has a bye and the games in all. It does not make pairings.

Read the full guide

Type the players

Type how many players or teams enter, from 2 to 1,024, in the Players box. Every row under it fills in at once. Add an event puts up to four fields side by side.

Swiss tournament rounds by field size

Each round halves the unbeaten players, so there is one round for every doubling: 2 players need 1, 4 need 2, 8 need 3 and 16 need 4. One player over a doubling adds a round.

Add a top cut or the clock

With a top cut adds the knockout rounds of a cut to 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32. Time on the day multiplies the rounds by the minutes you allow for one.

Tips

An odd field leaves one player without a game in every round. That bye is usually scored as a win.
With drawn games, two players can finish level on points even after every round.
An event's own rule book may set more or fewer rounds than this sheet shows. The rule book decides.

Questions and answers

Swiss tournament number of rounds: how is it worked out?

It is the binary logarithm of the number of players, rounded up: count how many times 1 must double to reach the field. 8 players need 3 rounds, 9 to 16 need 4, and 17 to 32 need 5.

How many games are played in a Swiss tournament?

Each round has half as many games as players, rounded down. Multiply by the number of rounds. 16 players play 8 games a round for 4 rounds, which is 32 games. In an odd field one player sits out each round.

Does this page make the pairings?

No. It works out the size of the event only: rounds, games, byes and time. Pairings depend on the results of each round, and this sheet does not draw them.

What happens with an odd number of players?

One player has a bye in each round: no game, and usually the same points as a win. The article this page was checked against says a player who has had the bye is not given another.

Can an event run more or fewer rounds?

Yes. The sheet shows the fewest rounds that leave one unbeaten player when no game is drawn. Many events add a round or a top cut, and an event's own rule book may set a different number.

All 30 lines

Numbers you type 3

Minutes a round The time you allow for one whole round, with the wait for pairings and the walk to the tables in it.
Players How many players or teams enter the event, from 2 to 1,024. Every other row is worked out from this one number.
Players in the top cut How many of the leaders go on to a knockout after the Swiss rounds: 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32. Leave it empty for an event with no cut.

Rows the sheet works out 12

Byes in a round 1 when the field is odd and 0 when it is even. With 3 players, one of them has no game in every round.
Games in a round Half the field, rounded down, because every game takes two players. 17 players play 8 games and one of them sits out.
Games in all The rounds times the games in a round. 16 players play 8 games in each of 4 rounds, which is 32.
Games in all, with the cut The Swiss games and one knockout game for every player the cut sends home. 24 players with a cut to 8 play 60 and then 7, which is 67.

Show all 30 lines (23 more)

Rows the sheet works out, continued

Hours for the Swiss rounds The same time in hours, to two decimals: 250 minutes are 4.17 hours, which is four hours and ten minutes.
Knockout rounds of the cut One round for every halving of the cut: 1 for a final between 2, 2 for a cut to 4, 3 for 8, 4 for 16 and 5 for 32. It stays at 0 while the cut is larger than the field.
Minutes for the Swiss rounds The rounds times the minutes you typed. 5 rounds of 50 minutes come to 250.
Most unbeaten after round 1 Half the field, rounded up: every winner, and the player with the bye where there is one. Of 9 players, at most 5.
Most unbeaten after round 2 A quarter of the field, rounded up, when unbeaten players are paired with each other. Of 17 players, at most 5.
Most unbeaten after round 3 An eighth of the field, rounded up. Of 1,024 players, at most 128 have won all three games, and it takes seven more rounds to bring them down to one.
Rounds in all, with the cut The Swiss rounds and the knockout rounds together. 24 players with a cut to 8 play 5 and then 3, which is 8.
Swiss rounds The rounds it takes to leave one unbeaten player when no game is drawn: one round for every doubling of the field. 8 players need 3, and 9 players need 4.

Rounds by field size, 2 to 1,024 players 10

129 to 256 players One player more than 128 already needs the eighth round.
17 to 32 players A full field of 32 plays 16 games in a round, 80 in all.
2 players One game settles it.
257 to 512 players Doubling a field adds one round and never more.
3 or 4 players With 4, the two winners of round 1 meet in round 2. With 3, one player has a bye in each round.
33 to 64 players At 64 players that is 32 games in a round and 192 in all.
5 to 8 players A full field of 8 has 4 unbeaten players after one round, 2 after two and 1 after three.
513 to 1,024 players The largest field this sheet works out: 512 games in a round at 1,024 players.
65 to 128 players At 128 players, 64 games in a round and 448 in all.
9 to 16 players The ninth player is the one who adds a round: with 9, two players can still be unbeaten after three.

Notes on the top cut and the clock 5

A cut larger than the field The knockout rows stay at 0 until the cut is no larger than the number of players.
Sizes of a top cut A cut to 2 is a final, 4 adds semifinals, 8 adds quarterfinals, and 16 and 32 each add one round before those.
Time for a top cut This sheet times the Swiss rounds only. A knockout after them adds its own rounds, which the With a top cut sheet counts.
What a round's minutes hold Type the whole length of a round as you plan to run it: the play, the wait for the next pairings and the move between tables.
Your event's own rule book These are the fewest rounds that leave one unbeaten player when no game is drawn. An event's own rule book may set a different number.

How this list was compiled: Arithmetic worked out by the editors from one rule read on 2026-10-04 in Wikipedia, Swiss-system tournament, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss-system_tournament: with no drawn games and byes counted as wins, a clear winner needs as many rounds as the binary logarithm of the number of players, rounded up (three rounds handle up to eight players, four handle up to sixteen), and an odd field leaves one player with a bye in each round. The article is published under CC BY-SA 4.0; no text is copied from it, and no publisher's or federation's table of rounds is used. Every line of the list was checked on 2026-10-04 against the sheet's own sums for every field from 2 to 1,024 players. An event's own rule book may set a different number of rounds. Licence: own work