Float

A Swiss tournament generally tries to pair players who have the same score for pairing purposes. Sometimes that is impossible because of an odd number of players, previous meetings, color constraints or other criteria. The system then creates a pairing across different scoregroups, and a played game between those players produces float marks.

If a player from a lower scoregroup is paired with someone from a higher one, that player receives an upfloat. The player from the higher group receives a downfloat. These labels let the pairing system track movement between score levels and, where its criteria require it, avoid unnecessary repetition.

Floats are technical pairing information, not rewards or penalties. The FIDE Dutch system also has an administrative special case: certain byes or points scored without playing generate a downfloat mark even though no game between two scoregroups took place.