How to Schedule a Round Robin

Round robin tournaments ensure that all of the competitors play each other the same number of times. It is easier to set up a round robin when you have an even number of teams. Failing that, one slot needs to be assigned a bye and every team must get a chance to get a bye in the tournament.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper
  • Pen
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Instructions

    • 1

      Assign a letter to each team. If there are six teams, name them A, B, C, D, E, and F.

    • 2

      Write down all of the required match-ups. A, for example, will have to play A-B, A-C, A-D, A-E, A-F, while B will have B-C, B-D, B-E, B-F. Since B is already playing A, there is no need to repeat that in B's schedule.

    • 3

      Use these matchups to create a schedule. As you schedule each game, cross it off the list so it is not repeated. A finished single round robin tournament might look like this:
      A-B, C-D, E-F (for round one); A-C, F-B, D-E (for round two); A-D, F-C, B-E (for round three); A-E, F-D, B-C (for round four) and A-F, D-B, C-E for round five.