N.6. Detailed Pairing Procedure
N.6.1 For the pairings of the first round, assume that there are 2N teams, ranked according to section 3. The first team is paired with the N+1 team; the second team is paired with N+2; … team N is paired with team 2N.
For the pairings of the first round in the case of accelerating pairings, assume that there are 4N teams, ranked according to section 3. The first team is paired with N+1 team; the second team is paired with N+2; ; … team N is paired with team 2N. Team 2N+1 is paired with team 3N+1; team 2N+2 is paired with team 3N+2; … team 3N is paired with team 4N.
N.6.2 For accelerating pairings, in the second round, ‘imaginary’ two match points shall be added to the score of each of the teams in the top half of the initial ranking list. These two imaginary points shall then be deducted before making the pairings of the third round.
N.6.3 After the 1st round, teams in a score-group (including ‘floaters’ from another score-group) shall be arranged in the order of the tie-break rules of the specific tournament. Teams, whose tie is not broken by the procedure, shall be arranged in the order of their initial pairing numbers. The first team shall be number 1 in the group.
N.6.4 In each median score-group or higher, priority shall be given to pairing the highest team (according to rule 6.3) with the lowest team in that group that it has not already played. The second highest team shall be paired with the second lowest team, etc.
N.6.5 To illustrate the procedure, suppose there are six teams in a score-group, ordered 1 through 6 as described in rule 6.3. There will be 15 combinations of pairing within the group, in the following descending order of priority.
(1) 1 x 6, 2 x 5, 3 x 4
(2) 1 x 6, 2 x 4, 3 x 5
(3) 1 x 6, 2 x 3, 4 x 5
(4) 1 x 5, 2 x 6, 3 x 4
(5) 1 x 5, 2 x 4, 3 x 6
(6) 1 x 5, 2 x 3, 4 x 6
(7) 1 x 4, 2 x 6, 3 x 5
(8) 1 x 4, 2 x 5, 3 x 6
(9) 1 x 4, 2 x 3, 5 x 6
(10) 1 x 3, 2 x 6, 4 x 5
(11) 1 x 3, 2 x 5, 4 x 6
(12) 1 x 3, 2 x 4, 5 x 6
(13) 1 x 2, 3 x 6, 4 x 5
(14) 1 x 2, 3 x 5, 4 x 6
(15) 1 x 2, 3 x 4, 5 x 6
N.6.6 If there is an uneven number of teams in a group, the same procedure is followed and the remaining team is floated to the next score-group (provided it is not a floater from another score-group) and is paired with the first team of this group it has not played yet.
N.6.7 To illustrate the procedure, suppose there are 5 teams in a group. There will be 15 combinations of pairing within the group, in the following descending order of priority:
(1) 1 x 5, 2 x 4, 3-floater
(2) 1 x 5, 2 x 3, 4-floater
(3) 1 x 5, 3 x 4, 2-floater
(4) 1 x 4, 2 x 5, 3-floater
(5) 1 x 4, 2 x 3, 5-floater
(6) 1 x 4, 3 x 5, 2-floater
(7) 1 x 3, 2 x 5, 4-floater
(8) 1 x 3, 2 x 4, 5-floater
(9) 1 x 3, 4 x 5, 2-floater
(10) 1 x 2, 3 x 5, 4-floater
(11) 1 x 2, 3 x 4, 5-floater
(12) 1 x 2, 4 x 5, 3-floater
(13) 2 x 5, 3 x 4, 1-floater
(14) 2 x 4, 3 x 5, 1-floater
(15) 2 x 3, 4 x 5, 1-floater
[If, for example, No. 2 is a floater from an upper score?group, pairings (3), (6) & (9) are not valid].
N.6.8 If the group from which the floater has been dropped is such that a complete pairing of all remaining teams in the group cannot be made, or if the floater has already played every team in the next group, then the floater shall be moved back to its original group, trying the next possible pairing according to the order of priority. If a complete pairing of all teams in two adjacent groups cannot be made, then these two groups shall be considered as one group, and rules 6.2 – 6.6 shall accordingly apply.
N.6.8.1 In the case the median score group contains floaters coming from higher score groups and floaters coming from lower score groups they shall not be paired each other.
N.6.9 In any group below the median group priority shall be given to pairing the lowest team (i.e. the team with the lowest board points) in the group and the same pattern of pairing shall apply as outlined in rules 6.3 – 6.7 but in reverse order.