Tournament pairing notation

A crosstable of results by round and opponent.

Also known as: Crosstable, Swiss pairing table

Sport & gamesStandard profile

Meanings

A tournament crosstable lists players against players, with each cell giving the result and the colour or side. Swiss pairings are generated from the standings after each round, which is why a crosstable has empty cells where two players never met.

Common modern usageVerified fact
Records a tournament as a table of players against players, each cell giving the result of their game.
Contexts: History
Officially standardisedVerified fact
Leaves cells empty in a Swiss tournament, where pairings are generated round by round from the standings and most pairs never meet.
Contexts: History

Visual description

A square grid of cells with player names down one side and along the top, containing numerals and letters.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

Sources

FIDE Laws of Chess, Appendix C: Algebraic Notation
Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) · retrieved 2026-08-02
The governing body's own handbook. Authoritative for the notation FIDE requires in competition — the piece letters, the capture and check marks, castling — and for nothing outside it. Annotation symbols expressing an opinion about a move are deliberately absent from the Laws and are not cited here.
Go (game)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-22
Tertiary reference, cited for the conventional description of a mark, its usual name and where it is encountered. Where an issuing body defines the mark, that body is cited alongside and governs.
Go rules and notation
Nihon Ki-in · retrieved 2026-08-23
The Japanese Go association, one of the bodies whose rules are in international use. Go has more than one rule set — Japanese, Chinese and AGA scoring differ — and records say where a claim is rule-set specific.

Last reviewed 2026-08-23

Part of

Board game and score notation

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Meanings

Common modern usageVerified fact

Records a tournament as a table of players against players, each cell giving the result of their game.

Contexts: History

Officially standardisedVerified fact

Leaves cells empty in a Swiss tournament, where pairings are generated round by round from the standings and most pairs never meet.

Contexts: History

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but multiple independent sources agree.

Sources

FIDE Laws of Chess, Appendix C: Algebraic Notation
Fédération Internationale des Échecs (FIDE) · retrieved 2026-08-02
The governing body's own handbook. Authoritative for the notation FIDE requires in competition — the piece letters, the capture and check marks, castling — and for nothing outside it. Annotation symbols expressing an opinion about a move are deliberately absent from the Laws and are not cited here.
Go (game)
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-22
Tertiary reference, cited for the conventional description of a mark, its usual name and where it is encountered. Where an issuing body defines the mark, that body is cited alongside and governs.
Go rules and notation
Nihon Ki-in · retrieved 2026-08-23
The Japanese Go association, one of the bodies whose rules are in international use. Go has more than one rule set — Japanese, Chinese and AGA scoring differ — and records say where a claim is rule-set specific.

Last reviewed 2026-08-23