How does a bye work in a Swiss rounds tournament?
A bye is assigned when the number of players is odd. The player with the bye does not play that round, but receives an automatic win.
Explanation
In a Swiss rounds tournament, you need an even number of players to create all matches for a round. If the number of active players is odd, one player receives a bye. In practice, the bye is usually assigned to a lower-ranked player who has not received one yet, so the same player is not advantaged multiple times.
Concrete example
Example: with 9 active players, there are 4 matches and 1 bye. The player with the bye gets 3 points for the round, then returns to pairings in the next round.
Common mistake
Do not assign the bye randomly every round without tracking history. The same player should not receive multiple byes while others have never had one.
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