In short: How it is decided who plays whom in a tournament. The most common systems are round robin, where everyone plays everyone, and the Swiss and Monrad systems, where players on the same score meet.
Before every round of a tournament it is decided who plays whom and who gets White. Those are the pairings, and there are rules for how they are made. Which rules apply depends on how many players there are and how many rounds will be played.
Round robin: everyone plays everyone
In a round robin each player meets every other player once. With an even number of players there is one round fewer than the number of players, so ten players meet in nine rounds. Who plays whom in each round, and with which color, is set out in ready-made tables, often called Berger tables. Round robins are common for club blitz tournaments and club championships.
Swiss and Monrad: winners meet winners
When there are too many players for everyone to meet, the pairings follow the score. After each round, players on the same score meet, so that winners play winners. The same two players may not meet twice, and the colors are kept as even as possible.
- Swiss. FIDE's way of pairing. Within each score group, the top half plays the bottom half: of eight players on the same score, number one plays number five and number two plays number six.
- Monrad. Common in Scandinavia. The players are ranked, and the highest-placed player meets the highest-placed player they haven't met before: one against two, three against four and so on.
If the number of players is odd, one player is left over in each round and gets a bye. In the Monrad system the lowest-placed player usually gets it, and nobody gets a bye more than once.
Pairings on LaviChess
If you play in our tournaments, the site takes care of the pairings, so all you have to do is show up. If you play blitz at a club, it can still be fun to understand the table on the wall. Read more about blitz and about Elo, the rating often used to rank the players.
Frequently asked questions
What is a bye?
When the number of players is odd, one player is left over in each round. That player gets a bye. In the Monrad system the lowest-placed player usually gets it, and nobody gets a bye more than once.
How many rounds does a round robin have?
One fewer than the number of players, if the number is even. Ten players meet in nine rounds.
Updated November 14, 2026