8-player Swiss pairing sheet
3 rounds for 8 players. Nobody is knocked out; pair by score every round.
Prints on one Letter or A4 page. Type your own names on the home page or after you click Run this live.
Round 1 for 8 players
Split the ranked field in half and pair across: 1 v 5, 2 v 6, 3 v 7, 4 v 8. That is 4 games in round 1 and in every round after it.
Why that many rounds
If every game had a winner, about 4, 2, 1 players would still be unbeaten after rounds 1 to 3. With 8 players, 3 rounds leave one player with a perfect score, which is the reason for the number.
Games and time
3 rounds of 4 games make 12 games. At 30 minutes a game that is 6 h of table time, or 1 h 30 min if you have 4 tables and every round finishes together; with half as many tables, 3 h.
How the field splits, round by round
Suppose every game has a winner and the results fall evenly. This is roughly how 8 players spread out, shown as players on each number of wins. The pairing engine always pairs inside a group first, so the groups below are the pairings you will make.
| When | Players on each score | Groups to pair |
|---|---|---|
| After round 1 | 4 on 1, 4 on 0 | 2 score groups |
| After round 2 | 2 on 2, 4 on 1, 2 on 0 | 3 score groups |
| After round 3 | 1 on 3, 3 on 2, 3 on 1, 1 on 0 | 4 score groups |
What round 2 looks like
If the higher seeds win round 1, the winners meet each other in round 2: 1 v 3, 2 v 4. The losers meet inside their own group: 5 v 7, 6 v 8. If results go differently the pairings change, so make round 2 only when round 1 is finished.
A top-2 cut from 8 players
With 3 rounds, about one player finishes unbeaten. To fill a top 2 you would usually reach down to 2 wins, which about 4 players reach. That is 2 more than the 2 places, so a tiebreak (Buchholz first, then a playoff game) decides who gets the last seats.
Time by number of tables
Every round has 4 games. The columns show how long a round takes and how long the whole event takes at 30 minutes a game, plus 10 minutes between rounds to pair and seat players.
| Tables | One round | Whole event |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 h | 6 h 20 min |
| 2 | 1 h | 3 h 20 min |
| 4 | 30 min | 1 h 50 min |
If your field changes
Going up to 10 players gives 8 more games, and a round longer. Page sizes differ by the formats the numbers allow, so check the nearest size before you commit.
Questions
How many rounds for 8 players?
3. Add one round if you want a single undefeated winner to be very likely.
What if two of the 8 players tie on points?
Buchholz, the sum of your opponents' scores, decides it. Then a playoff game if the prize needs one.
Is 8 players too many for Swiss?
No. Swiss suits fields too big for a round robin (which would need 28 games) and too long for elimination.
Last updated