How to Score a Round Robin

Round robins are commonly employed in fencing tournaments to establish seeding prior to direct elimination rounds. They are also used in clubs for practice, as round robins allow every fencer to see every other fencer. With a little practice, scoring a round robin is very easy.

The United States Fencing Association kindly provides easily printable round robin sheets at its website (see the resources section).

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A round robin sheet

1. Scoring goes down, then across. Thus, you read down the list, find the number, then read across for the opponent. For example, look for 2 against 7, then 7 against 2. Notice that the blacked out boxes form a divider; no bout will be scored on the same side for both fencers.

2. Write “V” for the winner, then the touches made for the loser. So, if fencer #7 wins the bout, 5-4, you first write a “4” for 2 against 7, then a “V” for 7 against 2.

3. Total the victories first. Add these in the first column, labeled “V”.

4. Working ACROSS the sheet, total the Touches Scored – put this number in the next column, labeled “TS.”

5. Working DOWN the sheet, total the Touches Received – put this number in the next column, labeled “TR.”

6. Calculate the indicator by subtracting Touches Scored from Touches Received. This will generally be a negative number for fencers with losing records.

7. Determine place, if necessary. If victories are tied, go to the indicators; if indicators are tied, most touches scored wins. If those are equal, flip a coin. In tournaments with multiple pools, place within the pool is irrelevant, as Bout Committee will attend to the overall placement.

8. Allow the fencers to check your math. Make them initial next to their names to validate the scores.

Tips & Warnings

• If a bout goes to time, mark the score and add a “T” for the victor. So, let’s say a bout ends 3 to 2 after time. Write “3T” for the winner, and “2” for the loser.
• The “Warnings” section is most useful during the bout, so that you can keep track of yellow-cards awarded. You needn’t worry about formally describing the charge; just write a note, like “yellow, left, 3 vs. 4.”
• Record all scores immediately upon completion of the bout. Never rely on short-term memory.

Resources

• You can find round robin sheets here