Chess by the Numbers: Standings, Rating Expectations & Updates, Performance Ratings, Swiss Pairings, Tie-Breaks, Opening Statistics & Time Controls
Run a chess club's numbers like a tournament director. You will build standings from a game log, compute expected scores and rating changes for a whole event, estimate performance and first ratings, pair Swiss rounds by score group, break ties with opponent-based scores, judge openings from a fictional game database and plan rounds around time controls, with every cell checked as you go.
One-time payment · lifetime access · lessons, labs, exam and certificate included · no subscription.
About this course
This course shows how a chess tournament director works with numbers, one spreadsheet cell at a time. You turn a game log into standings with points from both colours, score % and colour balance. You calculate expected scores with the 400-point formula, look up K-factors in a fictional club table and apply a rating floor. You estimate performance and first ratings with a score-% table and the linear rule, seed and pair Swiss rounds, find floaters and rematches, and split ties with opponents' scores and a composite key. You finish with opening statistics, a simple interval, time controls, a round timetable, prizes by rating band and a rating chart.
Lessons
- From Game Log to Standings: Points, Score %, Colours and the Leader Pro
- Expected Scores and Rating Changes for a Whole Event: E, K-Factor Table and a Rating Floor Pro
- Performance and First Ratings: Average Opposition, a Score-% Table, the Linear Rule and a Cap Pro
- Swiss Pairings, Round 1: Seeding by Rating, Top Half vs Bottom Half and Alternating Colours Pro
- Swiss Pairings, Later Rounds: Score Groups, Floaters, No Rematches and Colour Preferences Pro
- Tie-Breaks: Opponents' Scores, Dropping the Lowest, Result-Weighted Scores and a Composite Key Pro
- Opening Statistics: Win, Draw and Loss Shares, White's Score, an Interval and a Minimum Sample Pro
- Capstone: Time Controls, Rounds per Day, the Event Timetable, Prizes by Rating Band and a Rating Chart Pro