How are victory points and player scores calculated in a Swiss round tournament?

Players’ victory points in a Swiss round tournament are calculated from the results of each match, and these points are used to determine the participants’ provisional and final rankings. Here’s a detailed explanation of the various steps and methods used to calculate scores:

1. Victory points

After each match, players receive victory points based on their performance. The basic rules for awarding points are generally as follows:

  • Victory: 3 points.
  • Tie (format permitting): 1 point.
  • Defeat: 0 points.
  • Bye (no opponent): 3 points (in most cases, to ensure that the player without a match is not at a disadvantage).

These victory points are accumulated over the rounds for each player.

2. Detailed score

The score represents the detailed results obtained during the match, often calculated from the points scored in the game itself. It depends on the game or activity. For example:

  • In a card game : Total points scored during the game.
  • In a sport: Goals scored
  • In a video game: Total points or objectives reached.

This score is used to evaluate a player’s relative performance in a given game, and can be used as a tie-breaking criterion when several players have the same number of victory points.

In our software, you can decide to use either victory points or the detailed game score, or both, to rank your players. Numerous ranking criteria (score difference, score quotient, resistance, etc.) are available and calculated from these two metrics. You can activate them in the ranking criteria, in the settings.

3. Player rankings throughout the game

The provisional ranking of players after each round is determined by the order of the ranking criteria. In the event of a tie, resistance and goal difference are used to break the tie. You can configure the ranking criteria and their order in the tournament settings.

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