LEAGUE & TOURNAMENT
SCHEDULING GUIDE

One of the most important functions and responsibilities of the League or Tournament Director is the game schedule.

Scheduling games by using the proper method and recognized scheduling procedures will result in less problems for the Organizing Committee as well as make the competition interesting and fair.

There are a number of different method for scheduling League and Tournament contests, however, the round-robin for leagues and double-elimination for tournaments seem to be the most popular and commonly used.

The double-elimination tournament requires a much longer period of play than the single-elimination. Each team must be defeated twice before being eliminated from further competition.

Requiring an even longer period of time for completion is the round-robin tournament. However, the round-robin

provides more participation than any other type of tourney. Every team competes against every other team, which stimulates interest throughout the tournament.

The final outcome in round-robin is decided on a percentage basis. The winner is determined according to the percentage of victories, which is obtained by dividing the number of victories, by the number of games played, unless of course there is a play-off.

The single-elimination tournament is the quickest method of determining a winner. However, it has a disadvantage of providing fewer opportunities for teams to play.

Aside from the regular elimination tourney, a consolation tournament may be conducted with losers from the first round of play participating. This arrangement enables every entry to play in at least two games.

HOW TO MAKE A LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Key-schedules for a round robin are shown below. In order to make use of them, teams draw or are assigned numbers. Then pick the proper schedule - 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, or 12 teams. Leagues of 9 or 11 teams use the next higher schedule with a "bye" for the teams scheduled to play a number for which there is no corresponding club.

5 Teams
1- - -2
2 - - -4

2 - - -3
5 - - -1

3 - - -5
4- - - 2

4- - - 5
3 - - -1

5 - - -2
1 - - -4

6 Teams
1- - - 2
3 - - -4
5 - - -6

2 - - -3
4 - - -5
6 - - -1

3 - - -6
4 - - -2
5 - - -1

6 - - -2
5 - - -3
4- - - 1

5 - - -2
3 - - -1
4- - - 6

7 Teams
1 - - -2
3 - - -4
5- - - 6

1 - - -3
2- - - 4
5 - - -7

1 - - -4
2- - - 6
3 - - -7

1- - - 5
2 - - -3
6 - - -7

1 - - -6
2 - - -5
4 - - -7

1 - - -7
3- - - 5
4 - - -6

2 - - -7
3 - - -6
4- - - 5

8 Teams
1- - - 2
3 - - - 4
5- - - 6
7- - - 8

2 - - - 3
4- - - 5
6 - - - 7
8- - - 1

3 - - - 5
2- - - 6
4 - - - 8
7 - - - 1

4 - - - 6
7- - - 3
8- - - 2
1- - - 5

5 - - - 7
8 - - - 3
6 - - - 1
2 - - - 4

5- - - 8
6 - - - 3
2- - - 7
4- - - 1

1 - - - 3
2 - - - 5
4 - - - 7
6 - - - 8

10 Teams
1 - - - 2
3 - - - 4
5 - - - 6
7 - - - 8
9 - - - 10

1 - - - 3
2 - - - 4
5 - - - 9
6 - - - 8
7 - - - 10

1 - - - 4
2 - - - 6
3 - - - 9
6 - - - 8
7 - - - 10

1 - - - 5
2 - - - 3
4 - - - 8
6 - - - 10
7 - - - 9

1 - - - 6
2 - - - 7
3 - - - 10
4 - - - 5
8 - - - 9

1 - - - 7
2 - - - 8

3 - - - 5
4 - - - 10
6 - - - 9

1 - - - 8
2 - - - 9
3 - - - 6
4 - - - 7
5 - - - 10

1 - - - 9
2 - - - 10
3 - - - 7
4 - - - 7
5 - - - 8

1 - - - 10
2 - - - 5
3 - - - 8
4 - - - 9
6 - - - 7

12 Teams
1 - - - 2
3 - - - 4
5 - - - 6
7 - - - 8
9 - - - 10
11 - - - 12

1 - - - 3
2 - - - 5
4 - - - 6
7 - - - 9

8 - - - 11
10 - - - 12

1 - - - 4
2 - - - 6
3 - - - 5
7 - - - 10
8 - - - 12
9 - - - 11

1 - - - 5
2 - - - 4
3 - - - 6
7 - - - 11
8 - - - 10
9 - - - 12

1 - - - 6
2 - - - 3
4 - - - 5
7 - - - 12
8 - - - 9
10 - - - 11

1 - - - 7
2 - - - 8
3 - - - 9
4 - - - 10
5 - - - 11
6 - - - 12

1 - - - 8
2 - - - 9
3 - - - 10

5 - - - 12
6 - - - 7
4 - - - 11

1 - - - 9
2 - - - 10
3 - - - 11
4 - - - 12
5 - - - 7
6 - - - 8

1 - - - 10
2 - - - 11
3 - - - 12
4 - - - 7
5 - - - 8
6 - - - 9

1 - - - 11
2 - - - 12
3 - - - 7
4 - - - 8
5 - - - 9
6 - - - 10

1 - - - 12
2 - - - 7
3 - - - 8
4 - - - 9
5 - - - 10
6 - - - 11