Swissjärjestelmät

Swissjärjestelmät, often referred to as the Swiss system in English, is a tournament format designed to allow participants to play a set number of rounds without immediate elimination. It is widely used in competitive games such as chess, bridge, and various tabletop and video games. The core principle of the Swiss system is to pair players with similar scores against each other. In the first round, pairings are typically random. Subsequently, players are grouped based on their current number of wins and losses. A player with a perfect score will be paired against another player with a perfect score, and so on. This system ensures that players progressively face tougher opponents as the tournament progresses, while still offering a chance for players who lose early rounds to compete against others of similar standing. The ultimate winner is usually the player with the highest score after the predetermined number of rounds. Tie-breaking systems, such as the Sonneborn-Berger score, are often employed to determine rankings when players have identical final scores. The Swiss system is favored for its efficiency in handling a large number of participants and its ability to provide meaningful competition throughout the event.