Every tournament has players who miss rounds, withdraw, or get forfeited. Handling these correctly is important for fair pairings and accurate tiebreaks.

Bye (odd number of players):

When there's an odd number of players in a round, the system automatically assigns a bye. The player receiving the bye gets 1 point (full-point bye). The pairing engine assigns the bye to the lowest-ranked player in the lowest score group who hasn't already had a bye.

Half-point bye (requested):

A player can request a half-point bye in advance (for example, if they know they will miss round 3). You can configure this in the player's settings. The player receives 0.5 points for that round. This does not count as a pairing — the player simply gets the half-point.

Withdrawal:

If a player withdraws mid-tournament:

1. Mark them as "withdrawn" in the player list
2. The system will exclude them from future pairings
3. Their past results remain in the standings and continue to affect opponents' tiebreaks

Forfeit (no-show):

If a player doesn't show up for their game:

1. Record the result as a forfeit win for the opponent present
2. The absent player gets 0 points
3. For tiebreak calculations (Buchholz), the forfeit is handled according to FIDE regulations

Best practices:

1. Process withdrawals and forfeits before generating the next round's pairings
2. If a player informs you they'll miss a round but wants to continue, use a half-point bye rather than leaving them unpaired
3. Keep a written log of all arbiter decisions regarding byes and forfeits — this helps if results are questioned later