Initial order and schedules

The process of ordering or placing participants before play, usually using rating or another criterion defined by the event.

A participant's position in the tournament's ordered starting list before results begin changing the standings.

The Tournament Pairing Number, or TPN, identifies a participant's initial position in the ordering used by the tournament pairing system.

A predefined table that turns pairing numbers into a complete round-robin schedule.

A restricted tournament-number draw table designed to help keep players from the same federation apart in the final rounds.