Tiebreak criteria determine the final ranking when players finish with the same score. Setting them correctly before the tournament starts is essential — changing them mid-tournament is bad practice and can lead to disputes.

How to set tiebreaks:

1. Open your tournament settings
2. Go to the "Tiebreaks" section
3. Drag and drop criteria in your preferred order of priority
4. Save

FIDE recommended order for Swiss tournaments:

1. Buchholz Cut-1
2. Buchholz
3. Sonneborn-Berger

What each tiebreak means (quick version):

1. Buchholz (BH): Sum of all your opponents' scores. Higher = you faced tougher opposition.
2. Buchholz Cut-1 (BH C1): Same as Buchholz, but removes the lowest opponent score. Reduces the penalty for facing one weak player.
3. Buchholz Median (BH Med): Removes both the highest and lowest opponent scores.
4. Sonneborn-Berger (SB): Scores of opponents you beat + half the scores of opponents you drew. Rewards quality wins.
5. Average Rating of Opponents (ARO): Mean rating of all opponents. Objective but doesn't reflect results.
6. Direct Encounter (DE): Head-to-head result between tied players. Only useful for 2-player ties.
7. Number of Wins: More wins = higher rank. Encourages decisive play.
8. Number of Games with Black: More black games = higher rank. Compensates for color disadvantage.

Important notes:

1. For FIDE-rated events, check your federation's requirements — some mandate specific tiebreak orders.
2. Tiebreaks are computed automatically and update after every round.
3. Forfeited games are handled according to FIDE C.07-2023: the absent player's score counts as a draw for Buchholz purposes.