Tiebreaks decide the final ranking when two or more players finish with the same score. Choosing the right tiebreak criteria is important — and it should always be announced before the tournament starts.

Here's a summary of the most common tiebreaks available on ChessPairings.org:

Buchholz (BH) — Sum of the scores of all opponents. Rewards playing against strong opposition. Variants: Cut-1 (removes the lowest opponent score), Median (removes highest and lowest).

Sonneborn-Berger (SB) — Sum of the scores of defeated opponents, plus half the scores of drawn opponents. Rewards beating stronger players rather than drawing weaker ones.

Average Rating of Opponents (ARO) — The mean FIDE rating of all opponents faced. Simple and objective, but doesn't reflect game results.

Direct Encounter (DE) — If tied players have played each other, the result between them breaks the tie. Intuitive and fair, but only works for 2-player ties.

Number of Wins — Players with more wins rank higher among tied players. Encourages aggressive play.

FIDE recommends for Swiss tournaments: Buchholz Cut-1 → Buchholz → Sonneborn-Berger (in this order).

All these tiebreaks are computed automatically by ChessPairings.org. You configure them when setting up your tournament, and the standings update in real time.

Questions about tiebreaks? Ask here!