← All formatsRound Robin
Round robin
Everyone plays everyone. Max matches, max precision.
- formula
- N × (N − 1) / 2
- complexity
- simple
- best for
- 4–12 players
How it works
All players meet once (single round robin) or twice (double). Winner is decided by total points: 1 for a win, 0 for a loss, 0.5 for a draw in some sports. Ties are broken by head-to-head, set/game differential, or Buchholz.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Fairest format — everyone plays everyone
- Full ranking, not just a champion
- No draw luck
- Guaranteed match count for every player
Cons
- Matches grow quadratically — 16 players means 120 matches
- Only works for small groups (up to 10–12)
- Takes 2–7 days depending on size
- Weak players keep playing meaningless matches
When to pick it
- 01Small group of 4–12
- 02Club championship, league, season-long play
- 03Full ranking matters, not just the winner
- 04No one-day deadline
How many matches
Match and round count by participant number — plan your courts and schedule.
formulaN × (N − 1) / 2
Each player faces N−1 opponents, giving N × (N−1). Divide by two — otherwise each pair is counted twice.
| Participants | Matches | Rounds |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6 | 3 |
| 6 | 15 | 5 |
| 8 | 28 | 7 |
| 10 | 45 | 9 |
| 12 | 66 | 11 |
| 16 | 120 | 15 |