FIDE (Dutch) System

The FIDE (Dutch) System is a specific procedure for generating pairings in a Swiss tournament. It does not change how pieces move or how a game is scored; it decides who plays whom in each round and which color each player receives.

Players are first organized by their accumulated scores. A scoregroup contains players with the same score. The system tries to produce valid pairings inside that group and, when all pairings cannot be completed there, moves players between nearby groups. This is called a float: after two players with different scores meet, the higher-ranked player receives a downfloat and the lower-scoring player an upfloat.

The algorithm applies priorities in a defined order. Among other things, it prevents repeat opponents, limits problems created by floaters, and tries to satisfy color preferences. A color preference describes which color a player should ideally receive next to keep the distribution of White and Black reasonably balanced.

It is important to think of Dutch as a pairing system. The Dubov system is another FIDE-approved Swiss system and uses different criteria for ordering some pairings. Two tournaments can both be Swiss events while using different pairing algorithms.