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Tie breaker
Keywords: Tournament
Tie breakers are used in tournaments to distinguish between players finishing the tournament with the same score/number of wins. It is possible to have more than one tie breaker. They can be used in McMahon or Swiss System tournaments. Popular combinations are:
All known tie breakers:
These days, when computers are routinely used for pairing tournaments - more sophisticated methods are available. These are called Maximum Likelihood or ML methods. My own preferred option was given in a set of Hints for Tournament Organisers, many years ago; The tie-break order should be Nigiri, SODOS, SOS. TMark? Anonymous: Speaking of tiebreakers, isn't it incorrect to take the arithmetic mean of schedule strength? Shouldn't it be the geometric mean? You should calculate the estimated probability of losing each game, and multiply them together. For example, two players play the exact same opponents, except the second plays an extra game against a weak player (with the other getting a bye). The opponent strength should be equal, but average strength favors the player with one fewer game. Or consider each player plays two games, where one player plays a top pro and a beginner; the other plays two intermediate players. Who had the tougher opponents? This problem is particularly notable in college football, where teams play a different number of games and different opponents. This is a copy of the living page "Tie breaker" at Sensei's Library. ![]() |